7. Alexandra

Alexandra drooped in her seat. They had taken an Uber of all things back to the motel and Alexandra had a brief moment of alienation. She'd been without a phone and off the Internet for months. Among civilization and yet completely clueless about the latest turnings of the world. She couldn't even order take-out without a credit card or a handful of cash.

They rode in silence because how were they going to explain a fight against shapeshifters in the back seat? Their driver was just here for some extra spending cash. But Alexandra was also conflicted about Dakota. She had moved to help him without considering anything else. The danger to herself or the odds that it might be an elaborate trap for her. She moved to help him when all she had been able to do for the past year was act for herself. She'd done it by instinct.

She couldn't trust him. But that was starting to feel more like an automatic statement than an honest one. She was obviously beginning to trust him on an instinctive level, and she wasn"t sure if that was a good thing. Dakota could do so much damage. Even if he was honest about not wanting to kill her, he was still a threat. And now he was a threat to her by proximity. She should have known Malik wouldn't simply wait to be killed, not when it had become abundantly clear that his prized assassin had turned against him.

Alexandra couldn"t be on the run for two. They simply had to eliminate the vampire master now. It felt more urgent than ever.

Dakota helped her out of the car and she took his hand, aching and tired from their fight even though the evidence was largely missing. She wanted to shower. She wanted a meal.

She wanted to know if she would survive trusting Dakota long enough to take care of this vampire problem.

She'd been injured far worse than this and muscled through it, but for some reason, having Dakota to lean on made her feel weaker. She could handle this herself!

She didn't want to.

She liked the way his hand felt in hers. But when they got to the room she pulled herself free. There was too much indecision in her.

Dakota squeezed her fingers before letting her go and she turned to look at him. He met her eyes with confidence. "We"ll get him," he said.

She believed him when he said that. But could she let go of her own fear long enough for him to see it through? Goddess, she was tired of being afraid.

"Go shower," he said gently. "Food is on the way."

Her rage tried to rise up and protest on principle, but Alexandra was so tired of managing her own survival that she simply turned away and did as he said.

She wondered if she was standing in her own way, but she couldn"t stop the way her mind circled and circled around all the things that could go wrong.

When she emerged from the shower, clean but feeling freshly beat up by her own paranoia, she stopped in the doorway with a towel around her hair.

There weren"t just a couple of boxes of take-out on the dresser. Dakota had found a folding table, maybe taken from the office, and set it up between the beds. The food trays spread across were piled high and had easily enough to feed six. She smelled barbecue. Oh and was that steak? The idea of real proper meat made her mouth water. She dropped the towel in the sink and approached, taking the spread in with wide eyes.

She really was easy to win over. A good night's sleep. A shower. Some decent food. The minimum bar to meet was below ground.

Dakota stood awkwardly at the foot of his bed holding a paper plate in both hands, clearly wanting to say something. She just stared at him for a long moment.

He finally worked up the courage. "I was hoping we"d be celebrating at the end of that last fight. This was supposed to be a rally for the last showdown. You know, the prep before the final boss fight." He looked down at the food, then back to her. "I know it"s not the proper way to start a courtship. I don"t have—" he broke off and shook his head. "It doesn"t matter. I've had nothing but death and violence for twenty years. You haven"t flinched from the violence in me, but maybe we can practice sweeter side of things together…"

He offered her the plate. "Will you eat with me, Alexandra?"

It was the confession that did it. The way he admitted haltingly that he wanted something different than the path the vampires had provided. Alexandra saw herself reflected in him in that moment. A desperate, blind grab toward possibility. He thought he could find it with her.

Alexandra took the plate and bowed her head over it, echoing the starting dance of a traditional dragon courtship that neither of them could have in full. Not without a full court, a ballroom, and an open sky.

The way his smile lit up the room made her heart stop. She had to look away or be overwhelmed. He was so ready to throw his heart into this. So completely free of fear. So ready to trust. How did he do it so easily?

She observed the food. Then blinked in surprise. "Are those ribs?"

"I had to order a day in advance. They're slow roasted."

And lobster, too. And potato salad! She leaned over the table and tried not to drool.

"I figured it"s been a while since you had a real meal," Dakota said softly.

The single paper plate wasn"t going to do justice to the meal ahead of her. She climbed onto the bed to use as her seat and found a spot for the plate on the table. She tucked into the food eagerly, at first tasting a bite of every plate on offer before she could focus long enough to take several ribs. For a while the only thing in her head was how amazing everything tasted. Hot. Saucy. Tangy. The meat tender and juicy over her tongue. She scarfed down the first steak so fast didn"t really notice it, followed by an entire plate of grilled veggies and pineapple, and then a second stack of ribs with a side of lobster soaked in butter.

Dakota put a gentle hand on hers mid-feast and smiled when she looked up, her face covered in barbecue sauce. "No one is going to take it from you."

She tried to take a breath and chew her food but it had been so long since she felt full that she couldn"t help but go back for seconds and thirds. She ate until she felt like she would pop.

The spread was meant for maybe five or six people, but between the two of them they demolish the meats and most of the veggies. For the first time in a year, Alexandra felt full and satisfied.

She groaned softly as she lay back on the bed, admitting defeat before the final rib. "I"m going to have to shift just to make room in my stomach," she said.

Dakota chuckled as he cleaned up what remained. He shoved the napkins, plates, and the leftover trays into a trash bag he picked up from somewhere. Probably the same place the folding table had come from.

Alexandra rolled herself off the bed so she could wash her face and gave herself a glance in the mirror.

Still too skinny, and her hair too thin. Those would take time to correct. But at least she was clean and had slept recently. She felt… Better than she had in a long time. Almost… happy?

She poked at that feeling and found it sturdier than she expected.

Perhaps she was moving in the right direction after all.

Dakota had stepped out to throw the trash away. She folded the table and propped against the wall to clear the room. Then she stepped out the motel door to meet him as he returned.

A small part of her warned that it was stupid to put her life in his hands, but she wanted so badly to believe in the future her dreams had promised. She wanted to see the future he'd seen in his dreams. So she met his eyes in the hallway for a moment then extended her hand to him and asked, "Dakota, will you fly with me?"

He slipped his hand into hers with an easy acceptance she wished she could emulate. He seems to know exactly what he wanted. Alexandra knew what she wanted, but it was hard to believe— She shoved that thought aside. She would trust. She'd made her choice to reach for the future with Dakota by her side.