4. FLIGHT

FLIGHT

J asper Hawes strode into Wally’s with a faint smile on his lips. Behind him Landry and three hulking human bodyguards with bald heads and the bulges of firearms beneath their armpits, marched inside right behind him. They took a position at the door while Landry stood as close to the door as possible, so close when it closed the bar handle pressed against her spine.

Caden stepped towards Landry and called out her name, “Landry, hey, ah… this is a surprise. Like I said, you shouldn’t be here. You should be with your brothers after what happened last night.”

Her arms were crossed over her chest in a tight hold and her head was lowered, hair covering her face. “They’re fine.”

He reached for her, but she turned away from him, her hands clenching her biceps. Caden glanced at Rose who was scowling, eyes full of suspicion at Landry. He couldn’t blame her. Landry was acting so guilty that she might as well have it written in neon letters across her forehead.

Did she tell him who I am? I need to contact Valerius!

Caden’s right hand went to where his cellphone should be in his back pocket. But he didn’t have it. Valerius had taken it from him last night. So there was now no way to get ahold of him. Yet what could Valerius do? Storm in here and what?

Turn into a Dragon and beat the hell out of him? Tempting but that likely wouldn’t make things better. But it would be good to let him know.

Iolaire’s head was up and it was sitting rather like a large cat with front legs crossed and its tail curled around its large body. His Spirit appeared to be holding off on judgment on Jasper. For his part, Caden’s skin was crawling.

“What brings you and Mr. Hawes here, Landry?” Caden asked.

“Call me Jasper, please,” the man himself said with a wave of his hand.

Caden ignored him and tugged on Landry’s shoulder. “Why did you bring him here?”

“He wanted to come,” she said, her voice so tiny. “I’ve talked about the shop and who I work with. He wanted to meet… you . ”

Caden swallowed. There was only one reason why Jasper would want to meet him, unless Landry had made up some damned tall tales about him having problems with Shifters. But somehow he hoped that was true. If this was some sort of recruiting visit, he could just endure it and tell Jasper where to go. But if Landry had told him that he was the White Dragon Shifter… That was so bad he couldn’t even quite put his head around it.

“Well, Jasper ,” Wally’s voice was cool, “would the head of Humans First like a Dragon Shifter hoodie? They’re 50 percent off.”

Wally was watching with narrowed eyes as Jasper surveyed the rows of sweatshirts. Every Shifter had at least one item of clothing, but he was lingering by the hoodies. Jasper though kept walking between the rows of clothes.

Rose surprised Caden by drifting down a parallel row of clothes. She looked casual as she absently folded a few t-shirts and straightened some knicknacks. Her yellow eyes flickered over to Jasper. She was being protective of him. He was touched by it. Though he had never heard of Jasper physically harming anyone with his fists. His bodyguards seemed to be there to simply observe them. No, his words were what he fought with. He had others do the dirty physical harm.

Jasper let out a laugh. “Does King Valerius get a licensing fee for all of this? I suppose with the other Shifters, you could claim that it was a general image, of no particular Shifter, but there’s only one black dragon.”

Raziel would agree with you.

“What does it matter what my licensing is to you? You can’t think you don’t give money to Valerius through your taxes already?” Wally snorted.

“Perhaps I don’t want to give him any more .” Jasper paused to examine more closely the black dragon hoodie where the hood was the dragon’s jaws. “You don’t have any other dragons here. No blue or red or green--”

“This is Reach. People mostly want the black one. I do have items with the other dragons over in the corner for those who want something else,” Wally answered stiffly. “But Valerius gets top billing, because he’s the most popular.”

“Is he still the most popular?” Jasper dropped the arm of the hoodie and turned towards Wally.

“Nothing’s changed,” Wally said firmly. Though truthfully that wasn’t true. The amount of people wanting White Dragon merchandise was rising.

Rose was tense as a bow at this line of conversation. She was within two feet of Jasper. Caden had this wild idea that she would attack Jasper if he said the wrong thing. She likely could sting someone to death. His hands curled into fists at his sides as he tried to figure out what to do to stem the violence that seemed to be building in the room.

“Now that the White Dragon has appeared,” Jasper said. He threw up his arms and went on, “Everyone is just so very excited about this new Dragon Shifter. I’m surprised there’s not a greater call for that dragon. They speak about how he--”

“Or she!” Rose interrupted, which had Jasper turning to look at her sharply.

He just stared at her before continuing again, “They are talking about how very brave and good and gentle the White Dragon Shifter is.”

Iolaire fluttered its wings. Yes, it was all of that.

He’s not a good man, Iolaire. His good opinion is not what we want , Caden cautioned.

But Iolaire was watching Jasper still with an open mind. It frustrated Caden. The urge to shake his Spirit was strong. He did not believe that the Spirit knew anything more about Jasper than he did. Probably a whole lot less. Iolaire sent him an image of two soldiers facing one another with weapons drawn. There could be no peace was its message if one immediately went to war.

People like Jasper don’t want peace. He only knows hate.

Caden turned towards Landry, drawing near to her and touching her shoulder. He said quietly, “Since you’re here, why don’t you help me with doing some work in the back ?”

He said the word “back” meaningfully. He needed to find out what was going on here. How much had she been forced to tell Jasper? He really needed to know. And he was sure that it was forced. Landry wouldn’t have betrayed them for anything less than force. And there was no reason why Jasper would be here, today, unless he knew something.

Are her brothers in trouble? Her family? Herself? We can help her if she’ll just say!

But Landry seemed intent on not even looking at him, let alone asking for help.

“I was hoping that you would stay , Caden? It’s all right to call you Caden, isn’t it?” Jasper called and a line of ice went down Caden’s spine.

He slowly turned to see Jasper coming down the aisles of clothes towards him. The fight or flight emotion took a hold of him, even as Iolaire watched his approach with curiosity.

Why aren’t you worried?! Caden demanded.

Iolaire showed them in their dragon form grasping Jasper in one claw while holding the bodyguards down with one back leg.

Okay, fair enough, he can’t hurt us physically and we can hurt him. But we can’t give him any reason to fuel his hatred against Shifters. Attacking him, even in self defense, could start a big deal.

Iolaire changed the image to them crushing Jasper to their chest in an embrace.

Oh, hell no! Just let’s keep our cool!

Jasper was now just a few feet away. He stopped there and smiled. The smile did not reach his eyes.

“Landry has told me so much about you!” Jasper enthused.

“So she said…”

Landry made a sound and her shoulders curled inwards. Caden’s mouth was flooded with the bitter taste of fear. But he forced himself to appear relaxed. He thought that he looked like one of those video game enemies in a T-pose, frozen but ready to attack. He slid his hands into his pockets. But then thinking that made him look defensive, he slipped them out of his pockets. He crossed his arms and then uncrossed them.

I look guilty! Gotta be cool.

“I’m not that interesting,” Caden said with a shrug. Was the shrug too much?

“That’s not what Landry says.” Jasper smiled more broadly. “And you seem interesting to me.”

“I’ve said like two sentences to you. One of which was how uninteresting I am,” Caden said flatly.

“I’ve hardly said anything to you, but you clearly have feelings about me.” Jasper still smiled.

“Yeah, because who you are is blasted all over the internet and through the media. I’m not a fan of racists,” Caden told him, voice cold.

And that’s another reason for you to dislike him, Iolaire! He hates Shifters, i.e., he hates us!

But Iolaire continued to keep an open mind. He rolled his eyes mentally.

Jasper let out a soft cough. “That’s a misrepresentation of my beliefs that people who hate me have proliferated.”

Caden’s eyes narrowed. “You hate Shifters and are fomenting armed rebellion against them. You call them parasites and the humans they’re bound with hosts!” Caden started warming up to the subjects, his cheeks flooding with angry color. “You’ve talked about putting them in internment camps! You’ve even gone so far as to say that they should be vivisected so that humanity can understand what makes them tick! If there’s a hateful thing you haven’t said about Shifters I can’t think of it!” His voice had risen so loud that when he stopped speaking his final word echoed in the store. “I know who you are. And there is nothing you can say to change that.”

Jasper listened to his rant without reaction. His expression was almost too smooth, too even, too calm. But Caden guessed that he was used to hearing these exact same arguments thrown at him.

And since he has said these things--and believes them!--why would he get angry that I’ve just repeated his own words and thoughts?

“My rhetoric has been, at times, inflammatory,” Jasper agreed evenly. “But what you call racism , is what I call defending my race. The human race is in trouble, Caden.”

“Oh, please,” Rose said with a sharp laugh.

“You don’t think so?” Jasper turned his head towards her.

“I’m a Swarm Shifter,” Rose told him and sauntered over. The bodyguards tensed as she did so, not realizing before that this seemingly innocent young woman in her yellow bell dress was a dreaded Swarm Shifter. But Jasper made a gesture that kept them there. “I can assure you, that if you asked Shifters and humans that we are at the bottom of the heap. Not humans.”

“You should rally for your side. I have to protect me and mine.” Jasper put a hand on his chest.

“Protect it from what? You do know that Shifters are humans, too. They’re just bonded with Spirits,” Caden pointed out. “There could be no Shifters without humanity. So humans aren’t in any danger of being wiped out by Shifters.”

Jasper wagged his finger, which Caden wanted to grab and snap. “Then you haven’t heard of what’s going on in Illarion’s kingdom.”

“I have, and it’s terrible, if true. It should be stopped,” Caden said, and he should talk to Valerius about that, but there were so many things that needed fixing. He pushed that thought away or otherwise he’d be overwhelmed. “Human leaders do bad things too. Think about history!”

“But there are no actual human leaders any longer, are there? It’s all Dragon Shifters,” he said. “And, please don’t point out the elected humans. They don’t have autonomy. They are mere puppets. And humanity is in danger of becoming a permanent underclass if we don’t do something to protect ourselves.”

“Humans have power.” Rose shook her head with disdain. “Not as much power as before the war, but that’s what happens when you piss off flying nuclear weapons.”

“Might makes right?” Jasper lightly taunted.

Caden frowned. “They could have done to you what you wanted to do to them. What humanity was doing to them. But they didn’t. Valerius didn’t. He lets things just run. If people want to do stuff, he lets them. He doesn’t want to be in charge.”

Jasper’s eyebrows rose. “You know him well?”

Caden gritted his teeth. He had spoken too freely, but he quickly covered it up. “No, of course not. I am a shop clerk. But you can tell by how things are run. He’s not hands on. He’s never making speeches, telling people what to do, like some people.He seems like he would rather be left alone.”

“So we have a careless ruler!” Jasper flashed a smile that might have gone over well at rallies but not here.

“It sounds like Valerius can’t win with you. If he’s engaged then he’s a tyrant. If he lets the elected government run things then he’s careless.” Caden shook his head.

“He’s our ruler because he can crush us all.” Jasper’s smile was sharp. “Now, we could discuss this for hours. But I would just like to say about myself is that I am not racist against Shifters as I am pro humanity.”

“Where have I heard that argument before?” Wally’s mouth had flattened with distaste. “You come from a long line of people who have hated others based on their color, gender, sexual orientation, religion or nation. You are a repeat .”

“From time to time, a group must protect itself. I am not talking about some petty division. I am speaking for the health and safety and rights for all of us. There are more of us than of you. But think about how our world is structured now.” Jasper’s hands began to move through the air as he conducted his argument more than said it. “The courts are ruled almost exclusively by Raven Shifters! If there’s a human lawyer or judge it causes a moment of wonder! They are tokens to gloss over the fact that the majority of the people who interpret the laws that govern us all! The police are all Werewolves! Humans are excluded with the reason that we aren’t strong enough, fast enough, able to handle ourselves even though we’ve been doing so for thousands of years! Every professor at our institutes of higher education are Shifters! And that’s just for the start. Shifters are immortal. They can stay in every single job forever . Why hire a human who is just starting out when you can hire a Shifter who has 400 years of experience? There are real inequities that have only been getting worse until we stop it.”

“If you were just arguing for diversity I would agree with you,” Caden said carefully. His father had said some of the same things and he wasn’t completely without reason to say that. But the hate it was usually attached to made the whole thing seem toxic to him. “Different voices are good for society. But you aren’t arguing that. You’re giving us the sanitized versions of the things you say at your speeches and put on your websites.”

“The Shifters are ruling us. We are becoming their slaves. The ones that will sweep their streets, clean their toilets and serve them. We’re being locked out of any positions of power or respect,” Jasper hissed, his eyes glowing with zeal. “Why are you, a smart young man with a brilliant university career behind you, working here ?”

“Hey!” Wally growled. “This is a quality establishment!”

“I know that Landry works here because she can’t get a better job.” Landry’s shoulders hunched more in shame, though Caden was certain that she’d said as much many times to her friends and family outside of work. She’d said as much to him! But the way Jasper said it made it sound like Landry hated it at the shop and found it beneath her. “And I’m betting that’s true for you, as well,” Jasper said. “How will you ever live outside your parents’ home? How will you ever be able to have children of your own? You’ll be unable to make enough money to do so. And this is the new norm . Our parents’ generation is the last one that likely will have it even semi-balanced. For our generation, no. We’re stuck . And thing are only going to get worse.”

Rose stood there with her arms crossed. She looked at Jasper with distaste, but he was betting she was thinking that the same thing could be said of the Shifters in the Below. Maybe he was even right on some levels. Not in his hatred of Shifters, but how things were getting harder and harder if you weren’t a Shifter.

He must not know I am one as he keeps talking about me like I’m human only.

“Even if every single thing you’ve just said is 100 percent true, all the other stuff you advocate is hateful,” Caden pointed out. “You need to work with Shifters to change things rather that--”

“Or just get rid of them,” Jasper cut him off.

Iolaire’s eyes narrowed at that.

Jasper continued, “Or have them kill each other.”

“What--”

“The White Dragon Shifter,” Jasper said, his eyes glittering with that unnatural zeal. “The White Dragon Shifter has changed things. All the dragons are coming here.”

Yeah, to try and get me to mate with them. Not to fight, you idiot.

But Caden’s throat was dry. Landry must have told him that Caden was the White Dragon Shifter. That was the only explanation for why he was here.

Jasper put his hands together and rubbed them with relish. “All the dragons in one place. All going to fight because there’s another of their kind to take a slice of their pie.”

Caden repressed a snort.

“You’re making a lot of assumptions. Maybe the White Dragon Shifter doesn’t want anything like that. You haven’t seen him or her demanding their rights,” Caden pointed out. Though if his father and his lawyers had their way, wasn’t that exactly what they would be doing? He really had to put a stop to that. “They’ve been staying out of the limelight. Maybe they just want to be left alone, too.”

Jasper drew closer. “Oh, I think he will be revealed. I think he will reveal himself.”

Caden resisted the urge to look at Landry. Rose stared daggers at his back. Wally’s normally happy face was scrunched.

“What does the White Dragon Shifter matter to Humans First? Isn’t that yet another dragon to allegedly oppress humanity?” Caden pointed out. His voice sounded weak though. He couldn’t imagine what it would matter to Jasper to disclose he was the White Dragon Shifter. Unless he believed like Marban that he could use that information against Caden.

Of course, he thinks that. He thinks he can have a dragon on his side.

“The White Dragon Shifter could mean change.” Jasper was all smiles again. “Change in a way that is unexpected. Because the White Dragon Shifter could stand for something else. For humanity against the old guard.”

“That’s nice. Why are you making this argument to us? To me? As you said, we’re just people unable to get jobs outside of a shop,” Caden pressed.

Tell me what you know. Tell me what you think you know.

Iolaire reared a little back as if wanting to get away from Jasper.

“The White Dragon Shifter has only just joined the elite. He probably hasn’t had a chance yet to adjust his expectations,” Jasper said quietly. “Especially, if he was a kind person who went along with the flow of life.”

That was definitely something Landry said about him. She had always acted a bit like it was a weakness in his character.

“Oh, my God!” Rose started laughing. She covered her mouth with one hand as she continued to giggle. “Caden, he thinks you’re the White Dragon Shifter! I can’t think of anything funnier!”

Caden snorted. “Seriously? You think that, Jasper?”

“The kid? A Dragon Shifter? I am going to put together White Dragon Shifter merch! You’ve been holding out on me, Caden!” Wally chuckled.

Caden gave both Rose and Wally narrow-eyed looks as he pretended to be affronted. “At least you don’t think I couldn’t be the White Dragon Shifter, Wally, like Rose seems to! I think I’m getting to be a bit offended , Rose, that you can’t imagine me as part of the elite.”

The mention of “elite” sent her into even larger gales of laughter that evidently stopped her from speaking. She doubled over and held her stomach.

Caden looked at Jasper. “I’m afraid that I can’t help you. I’m not the White Dragon Shifter.”

Jasper gave him a lemon peel thin smile. “That’s a shame then. Because only a dragon could get to your parents’ home in time to stop them from dying.”

Caden stared at him in shock. “W-Wally, call home!”

“He won’t be able to get through. And you’re wasting time,” Jasper said with a dry cough. “Time is of the essence.”

Wally did dial though. Caden could hear the phone ringing and ringing and ringing. Rose was as pale as milk. Panic had Caden looking to the front door where the bodyguards were.

Jasper’s smile was so wide that it looked like a slash across his face. “Only a dragon flying there has a chance to save them. I’d use the back door so no one sees you transform.”

Landry’s hands covered her face. “I’m so sorry, Caden.”

And that was when Caden started running towards the door at the back of the shop to save his family.