Page 8 of Emergence of Fire
“Why did the portal bring us to such a specific place? I’m used to the overwhelming smell of shifter in the air. This is not our usual location,” Gale says, sounding amused. We seem to be standing across from what looks like an old factory building that has been converted into modern loft style apartments. Whether this is where Cordelia lives specifically remains to be seen. “I’m all about finding our girl as fast as possible but where the hell are we anyway?” He looks at Torin who is studying the building as if he can see through it, then glances at me with a raised eyebrow.
The red brick building climbs seven stories high above us with two large arched windows on every level, I can only assume there are two apartments on each floor and that the windows correspond with each one. If I crane my neck back far enough, I can just about see the trees and plants on the rooftop. It’s the stereotypical answer to a busy city housing dilemma, take all the old factories abandoned decades ago, gut them, and make them pretty. A little urban renewal, slap some roof gardens on the top for the sake of the environment, and call it a day. The only problem is that those who really need this type of accommodation can’t afford it, and in my opinion that is counterproductive. I guess it doesn’t matter what Realm you are in. We all continue to make the same mistakes whether we are human or not.
“A city.” I say to him. I know I can be a bit short at times but I don’t care where we are. That can be figured out later. If Cordelia is in there, then that is all we need to care about.
“I know it’s a city, asshole,” Gale says to me as he follows an eager Torin across the road. “You are not the only one excited to meet Cordelia. Hell, Torin was the only one of us to set eyes on her and she was three months old then.” Gale laughs as he jogs to catch up, and I follow at my own pace.
It isn’t lost on me that Torin hasn’t said anything at all. Torin has a tendency to bottle up his feelings, hence him ignoring the fact that he felt Cordelia just like we had. Eventually he is going to have to open up. If we are going to do the mating thing he will have to because now it is real, no longer just wishful thinking. We are going to have to learn how to share and communicate. For Gale, that would be no problem. I am sure Cordelia will like him instantly. Gale has an easy smile and he’s considered the fun one in our little ragtag brotherhood. Torin and I wouldn’t be so easy, unfortunately. We both have our own shit we need to climb through. For Cordelia, we are both going to have to face it sooner rather than later.
By the time I make my way over to them I can see this is the kind of building that you need to be buzzed into. The fact that she lives somewhere with some form of security eases my mind a bit. The thought of her living here all this time alone pulls at my protective nature and I want to knock down every door to get to her. I walk under the arched awning and look over Torin’s shoulder as Gale peers through the glass entrance door like a stalker. The name of each resident is listed on the front of a metal panel next to an individual doorbell. Torin runs his finger down the list and stops. I take in an audible breath. The portal did bring us to her. I step away and look over at the glass doors with more questions than answers.
I find myself asking the same question as Gale. “How is it possible? We’ve never been here before like the other places we visited when we went to Earth. If we can find her this easily, what’s to say the Barons catch wind of her and come straight here?” I pace back and forth on the sidewalk and Gale looks just as anxious as I do at my revelation. We both look at Torin too for an answer, but he still stands transfixed in front of the buzzer box.
“Cordelia Drake,” Torin says softly. His finger strokes over her name, as if it was her face he was seeing. I look over at Gale and we are both questioning his odd behavior at the moment.
“Torin, she is not in the box,” Gale says, then laughs. “Push the button if you’re just going to stand there.” Gale says as he turns towards the glass doors again and looks inside. I join him. We can both look like stalkers until a certain Dragon decides to get his head back in the game. There are two elevator doors facing us with an unmanned security desk to the right against the wall. The foyer is small, with black iron beams across the ceiling as a reminder of this building’s original use.
Abuzzingsound ringing out has both Gale and I stare at Torin as he paces in front of the box. We all wait for someone to answer. I can almost imagine her running to the buzzer in her apartment, hair messed from sleep, little pajamas on, and bare feet wondering who in the hell would be calling this late. Pick up, Cordelia, I think to myself.Torin pushes the button again, twice this time as he huffs in frustration.
“You think our girl is a night owl?” Gale nudges my shoulder and I shrug. He has a point. We don’t know if she works at night, for all we know she could be out on a date. We haven’t thought this through. What if she’s married? Just the thought of someone else touching her makes my blood boil.
“What if she is with someone? We didn’t factor that in when we came crashing into this Realm after her.” I say to them both. Torin suddenly punches the metal panel, hitting more than just Cordelia’s buzzer and growls.
“We would feel it if she bonded with someone else, I know it. Her magic is reaching for us, her Dragon is reaching for us. That is why the portal brought us directly to her.” Torin is clearly more keyed up than I thought. His chest is heaving and I can see his bronze-gold eyes glowing and changing.
“Well, at least you finally spoke,” I say with all the sarcasm I can muster. I know I shouldn’t piss him off further but I’m an asshole like that. He is letting his Dragon’s emotions control him and he is not thinking straight. The last thing we need is a forty-foot Dragon in the middle of the street.
“Don’t start with me, Adrian. I’ve heard everything the two of you have said, excuse me if I am trying to figure it all out.” He runs his hands down his face and takes a breath.
“So, I am going to ask another question here. You almost shifted, Torin. We are not supposed to be able to do that here. What the hell is going on? I thought there was no magic here on Earth?” Gale took the words right out of my mouth and I was just about to tell him that when a crackling sound came from the speaker on the metal panel.
“Hello. Who is out there playing with my buzzer at this time of night?” A woman’s voice comes from the speaker, an older woman. Gale and I look at Torin expectantly. We weren’t the ones that went all caveman on the metal panel. He probably woke half the apartment block.
“Ah, I am so sorry” He looks at me and hunches his shoulders clearly not knowing what to say. “Ma’am. We are looking for Cordelia Drake and I must have pushed the wrong button.” We all wait for the older lady to scream at us for disturbing her, but she surprises us all.
“Seventh floor,” she says, then the buzzer sounds for us to come through the glass doors. Gale wastes no time and rushes right in. Torin and I, of course, are more cautious, and it’s as if he read my mind.
“We need to be careful about what we say.” I nod my head in agreement as he begins to look around the building. I guess we all dropped the ball on covering our tracks. Anyone could have followed us. Although, they wouldn’t have come to this exact spot, they could be in the same city.
“Every movement we make from this point on needs to be measured. We can’t risk her being found because we might lead them right to her.” Again, I nod in agreement. Finally, Torin is himself.
* * *
The elevator dooropens revealing a long hallway with two doors on either side. As soon as we take a step out into the hallway the smell of Dragon fire hits our nostrils and Gale takes off running. He didn’t have far to go as he used his nose and stops right in front of the door at the end of the hallway. Torin and I both go on high alert as we make our way down the hall toward Gale.
Gale knocks on the door just in case she is actually in there and was just too afraid to answer before. When no one answers he reaches for the doorknob obviously meaning to break the door. Suddenly, the door behind us opens.
“She won’t be happy if you break her door, young man.” We all turn in unison and look down at a little old lady standing in the doorway. She stands with her hands on her hips, her head full of hair rollers, and her glasses precariously balanced on the tip of nose. Her floral night gown and hot pink, fuzzy, slippers bring a smile to my face. She reminds me of my own grandmother, minus the hot pink, fuzzy, slippers.
“Well, this is a first. I’ve been alive seventy-five years and I never thought I would ever see one Dragon in my lifetime, and now I am seeing three. I thought the firefighters were hot but damn boys, what’s in the water in Arcadia because you are firing this old lady right up.” She smiles up at us, clearly checking us out. We all stand in shock at what she just revealed and none of us has made a move to say anything.
“You might want to close your mouths. Don’t want to trap any flies now, do we. I’m inviting you into my apartment and I expect you to behave. Am I clear?” We are all still standing there in shock but we all manage to nod at the same time as she turns and walks away. Torin goes first and I follow.
“Make sure you close my door behind you.” She yells back at us. Gale takes up the rear and closes the door quietly. We follow her into an open plan loft apartment. Two huge arched windows that I saw from the street below dominate the one wall giving us a beautiful view of the city at night. I wonder if her apartment layout is identical to Cordelia’s. I wonder if Cordelia’s view is the same when she stares out of her window at night? Just getting this small glimpse of her life makes me long to know more about our mysterious mate. We watch as the older woman sits in an armchair and pulls a quilt over her lap, as if she had been sleeping there. She grabs a cup of tea from the side table next to her and takes a sip.
“How do you—” she holds up her hand and we can do nothing but wait. I wasn’t one to disrespect my elders, that’s a line I won’t even think about crossing. She places her cup back down and settles into her chair.
“Well, as you may have already sniffed out, I am not human and neither are you boys.” She points at us all and laughs.
