Dragon Dilemma Read online

  "Dinner is going to burn if someone doesn't come set the table," Mercury yelled into the snowy lawn. Heads popped up like gophers as the kits froze in place and turned to look at Mercury. The novelty of snow warred against the lure of food. Food won. After only a few seconds of thought, a stampede rushed past Dane, flinging snow high into the air around him as they galloped through it. Mercury frowned at Dane before following. In mere moments, Dane was the only one outside. The cold air and the chill as the snow landed on him were a sharp reminder that he had failed yet again as a parent and as a partner.

  He would have to work harder, Dane decided. He would have to remember about chores and bedtimes even when something as unique and beautiful as the first snowfall of the season distracted him. Dane couldn't let himself get swept up by the kits' eagerness either. He was the adult and they were the kits and he had to help them learn, not dance to their tune.

  Mercury was right to be mad.

  Dane had clean-up duty that night, aided by Nickel, 'Ron, and Alloy. Mercury was upstairs getting everyone else bathed and into bed. By the time Dane had finally gotten all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and cleaned the rest of the dishes that needed to be washed by hand, Mercury should have been getting ready for bed too. Except when Dane walked into their shared bedroom, Mercury wasn't there. The light was off, the bed was cold, and there was no sign that Mercury had come and gone. Dane had messed up badly and he was really worried Mercury wasn't going to come to bed at all.

  It was a terrible thought.

  A snowball hit Dane right in the face, sending a cold shock up his nose and making his eyelids clench tightly in protective reaction. He shook his head to clear away the snow and brought up a mittened hand to wipe his eyes clear.

  The memory had been so vivid, as if it had barely happened a few hours ago instead of years ago. It wasn't the first fight Mercury and Dane had ever had, or their last, but it was one Dane would always remember. It was the moment when he had finally decided to take his own responsibility for the rearing of the kits. He also remembered his emotions to be slightly less worried over Mercury being absent from the bedroom. Instead of fretting about it like the memory had seemed to imply just now, he had gone to find Mercury and apologize. Mercury had come to bed like usual and their relationship had progressed unhindered from there.

  Dane knew of only one person who could take a memory, warp it slightly to her own design, and pop it back into her victim's head without them noticing the change.

  "Mother, you're here a day early," Dane said loudly so he could be heard over the squealing and screaming of happy dragon kits. Both Mercury and Nickel heard him and understood the implications. They froze in their tracks, Nickel with a snowball packed tightly in his hand that he let drop back to the ground. It took the other kits a few more seconds to realize the game had stopped, but when they did they dropped their snowballs, returned to human form, and gathered around Dane and Mercury.

  A woman stepped out from behind the trees. She stood tall, her back unbent despite the evidence of age in the wrinkles on her face and the streaks of white through her otherwise black hair. She was scowling, which only emphasized the sharp blade of a nose she had passed down to Dane.

  "Dragons, Dane? Really?" she murmured. Her voice was soft, but disdain dripped from every word. Her heavy British accent underscored her dislike as her consonants became even more clipped. "I had heard the rumors, but I did not wish to believe you had done something so utterly foolish."

  She stalked forward through the messy driveway, daintily avoiding the clumps of snow from the snowball fight. She didn't have a speck of white on her severely black dress.

  "Mother," Dane said, hoping to cut her off before she offended one of the kits. That would end badly, either through tears or when a kit attacked her and she retaliated. "This is Mercury. He's my partner. And these are our kits. Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Chrome, 'Ron, Lumie, and Alloy. Kits, this is my mother, Kendra the Isle Crone."

  "Nice to meet you?" Nickel tried to state, but it came out as more of a question.

  "We shall see about that," Mother replied firmly, luckily not taking Nickel to task for being indecisive. She strode closer, then stopped a few feet away to study Dane's family. Her scowl didn't abate in the least.

  'Ron slipped out from behind Mercury and walked over to Mother. She tilted her head as she studied Mother. "Why do you talk funny?" 'Ron asked suddenly. Dane had to force himself to remain still instead of jumping in between them. Mother didn't handle disrespect easily and he refused to let 'Ron get hurt just because 'Ron didn't offer respect to many people. Still, if he jumped in he might accidentally escalate the situation, which would be even worse.

  There was a brief moment of surprise when Mother's eyes widened slightly, but then they narrowed even further. "You are Iron, correct?" she asked. She didn't wait for a response. "Have you ever pondered the fact that perhaps it is you who are speaking oddly? The English language is a very precise one and the various American accents pollute it horribly. It is no wonder none of the witches on this continent are capable of performing strong magics, considering their garbled tongues."

  Dane scrambled to think of some way to separate them before Mother really got started. It took 'Ron a few moments to parse through what Mother had said, which wasn't nearly long enough for Dane to formulate a viable plan. 'Ron shrugged in answer. "I'm 'Ron, not Iron, Grandma, and I don't need to use words for magic so it doesn't matter how I talk." She threaded her arm through Mother's and started pulling her past Dane and the rest of the family.

  "You may refer to me as Grandmother, Iron," Mother stated. She tried to plant her feet in the ground to keep 'Ron from pulling her, but 'Ron had the momentum. To save her dignity, Mother finally rearranged her arm in 'Ron's so it looked like 'Ron was guiding a willing visitor into the house.

  "Nickel just put new sheets on your bed, Grandma," 'Ron continued, blithely ignoring Mother's futile attempts to stop her.

  Dane let them go. 'Ron had diffused the situation better than Dane could have and Mother had apparently chosen to be cordial today. He would keep an ear out for them, just in case, but he didn't think 'Ron was in any imminent danger any longer.

  This must be the first time Mother had interacted with dragons, Dane realized. He held in his snicker until after 'Ron had closed the door behind them. Mother had absolutely no idea what she was in for. Her proper ways and beliefs were about to be shattered. 'Ron blithely dragging Mother through the house was just one example of what Mother was about to experience. Although, if 'Ron went too far, Mother wouldn't hesitate to punish her, which was unacceptable. She wouldn't be allowed to lay a hand on any of his kits. Dane did not want to have to confront her, but he knew that Mother's visit was going to quickly be reduced to a battle between who was more stubborn: Mother or the kits. That wouldn't end well for anyone, so he suppressed his laughter, and hurried into the house after them.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Mercury had the kits set the formal dining room for lunch. He had a feeling Grandma Kendra wouldn't appreciate sitting around the kitchen island. She certainly hadn't appreciated her accommodation, nor the willy-nilly way the kits had gone about helping Mercury cook their grilled cheese sandwiches. Kendra located a set of cloth napkins she insisted on being used with the table settings, but luckily she didn't insist on everyone using Dane's good china. She had enough common sense to understand the kits needed to use their plastic plates and cups for a few more years, although Mercury wasn't certain how much sense she had about anything else. If she continued to call 'Ron Iron for much longer, she was liable to have a small avalanche dumped on her head.

  Then again, she was the Isle Crone and it was very likely that anything 'Ron sent her way wouldn't harm her in the least.

  Nickel had willingly given up his spot around the table at Dane's side for her. Everyone settled in and Mercury began dishing individual sandwiches out to each plate. Dane brought in a soup tureen—Mercury hadn't known until Dane pulled it
out of a top cabinet that they even owned one—and began ladling tomato soup into everyone's bowls.

  Kendra's grilled cheese sandwich had three different kinds of cheese in it—she had scoffed at the quality of the cheese in their fridge, but had taken four different slices anyway—and wafer-thin slices of tomato and red onion. She daintily cut her sandwich into bite-sized pieces as she ate with a fork and knife and took careful sips of soup with her spoon. It looked almost as if she had never eaten a sandwich dripping with gooey cheese before and was attempting to figure out the correct etiquette on the fly. The kits, on the other hand, didn't care about etiquette in the least. They happily dipped their sandwiches whole into their soup, disdaining the use of a fork, knife, and spoon entirely, and gobbled up the dripping cheese and soup before the bread completely disintegrated. Mercury dipped his sandwich too. He wasn't going to change his eating habits just because Kendra didn't approve. However, he ate considerably more neatly than all of his kits except Nickel.

  Dane took one look at Kendra's frown and reached for his silverware. His hand hesitated over his fork, then he swallowed firmly and instead reached to pick up his sandwich by hand. He didn't dip his sandwich into the soup, but he ate it like a normal person despite, or perhaps because of his mother's disapproval.

  Kendra tasted the soup, grimaced, and looked along the table. "Aluminum, please pass the salt."

  Lumie ignored her with the intensity only Lumie could manage. The salt grinder sat just in front of him.

  "Aluminum, it is unbearably rude to ignore someone when they are speaking with you." Kendra's scowl deepened. Alloy was sitting across the table from Lumie and the salt. He glanced at the salt grinder, then at Lumie, and quickly reapplied himself to his sandwich. Alloy might be the oddest looking of Mercury's kits, but he was a smart cookie. Grandma Kendra might be an unknown quantity—Alloy didn't know how she might react—but he did know Lumie and the prudent thing would be to stay out of Lumie's way.

  Mercury wanted to open his mouth and tell Kendra to knock it off. He glanced over at Dane to double check that it was okay to say something to his mother and saw Dane's own indecision. They both wanted to defend their kit, but were unsure if their interference might actually make it worse. It was Lumie that eventually made the decision for Mercury. His eyes were gleaming slightly in a way that told Mercury that he was enjoying being harassed by Kendra, or, more likely, was really going to enjoy making her look like an idiot.

  Lumie could take care of himself; Mercury did know that. It was just hard to remember sometimes since Lumie was so young and all Mercury wanted to do was wrap him in a blanket and give him a big hug. Only Alloy and 'Ron willingly submitted to that out of all his kits. Lumie was more likely to run off on some sort of mysterious adventure. Kendra bothering him about the salt was probably just another bit of fun for him, so Mercury decided to keep his mouth shut and let Lumie handle it.

  Kendra's frown grew even more as Lumie continued to ignore her, something Mercury didn't think was possible given how deep her frown had been from the first moment she had walked out of the woods. The salt grinder shivered on the table for a brief moment, then floated upwards. It drifted over Lumie's head and the grinder turned.

  Salt fell like snow, but before it came close to Lumie's head it flared with bright yellow flames and vanished. Lumie didn't even look up, but Kendra's eyebrows lifted slightly upwards in surprise.

  Kendra didn't know anything about dragons, Mercury realized. Even Dane had known something before he came to their rescue. Mercury didn't think Kendra had ever spoken with a dragon before. She probably assumed that dragons were wild, untamable creatures. That was what most people thought about them. Having one speak to her and then another beat her cruel joke with his magic had to be astonishing to her.

  Regardless, enough was enough, even if Lumie was enjoying this far too much. "Lumie, would you please pass the salt?" Mercury asked.

  Lumie finally looked up. He caught Mercury's pointed look, sighed, and plucked the saltshaker out of the air. He passed it down the table towards Mercury, who took it and passed it over to Kendra.

  "Thank you Alum… Lumie," Kendra said slowly. She had paused to consider her words. Saying Lumie's preferred nickname instead of his full name must have been a big concession for her, but she said it without her scowl changing in the least. Lumie had impressed her. Mercury couldn't help wondering what he and the rest of the kits had to do to prove themselves to her as well.

  Lunch finished quickly after that. The kits didn't engage in their usual babble. Epic tales of the snow fight should still be echoing through the house, but they were unusually quiet. Kendra's scowl didn't invite the idle chatter the kits were so good at.

  Mercury pushed his chair back and stood. He was about to ask that the kits whose chores included cleanup duty to come help, but his words were swallowed by a hollow booming sound that rattled the dishes and made 'Ron shriek.

  The boom sounded twice more, sounding almost as if someone were knocking on the door, except much louder.

  "Someone is banging on the wards around the property," Dane hissed, jumping to his feet. Nickel, Copper, and Zinc immediately followed. The four of them dashed towards the front of the house. Mercury turned to the rest of the kits.

  "Clean up, please," he said calmly, even though he wanted to growl. Magic trembled under his fingers and he fought it down. Were they under attack again? The enemy hadn't tried Dane's wards after their first failure years ago, but if they amassed enough power Mercury knew they would try again. He wanted to run after Dane, to guard their backs, but he needed to be with the rest of the kits and ensure their safety.

  'Ron and Chrome grabbed the plates from the table and stacked them in Alloy's arms. When he was holding all he could carry, Alloy rushed into the kitchen. It was frenetic energy, born of fear and excitement. They wanted to bite and attack, to get in on the action, but they also knew that they would only get in the way. Nickel had been fighting for far longer than them and Copper and Zinc were at least old enough to know how to hold their own. They couldn't compete with Nickel, of course. They didn't have his drive or his willingness to kill, but they could and did watch his back.

  Alloy returned empty handed and began taking bowls and drinking glasses from Chrome, scurrying back and forth every time his arms were filled. Lumie had vanished, but he would be fine wherever he had run off to. It was the other three kits Mercury needed to remain behind to protect. Mercury gathered the heavy serving dishes, his teeth clenched to keep his growl hidden. Dane and the older kits would be outside by now, carefully running across the snowy lawn towards the intruder. Any moment now, Mercury would begin to hear the sounds of battle: the roaring of dragons and the shiver of magic in the air as Dane let loose.

  Mercury was trained to handle an intruder the same as Nickel. He had dealt with the enemy before and his work as a field agent with the Federal Bureau of Supernatural Investigations had prepared him even more. But someone still had to watch over the rest of the kits. It wasn't the first time Mercury had been left behind. He knew the necessity of it and that it wouldn't be the last time either.

  "Dane's coming back, right, Daddy?" Alloy asked softly. He was curled in Mercury's lap, just a few months out of the egg and still timid at how bright and new the world was around him. He was the opposite of Lumie right out of the egg, but Alloy's hesitance wouldn't last long. Mercury enjoyed the chance to cuddle with Alloy while he still could, but with half his mind occupied by the reason for Dane's absence, Mercury found he couldn't enjoy the experience as much as he wanted to.

  "Of course he is," Mercury replied firmly. He refused to believe anything else. Besides, Dane was unbelievably strong and he had Nickel guarding his back. They would return unscathed and the dragon they were hoping to help would be freed.

  "Good," Alloy said with a nod. He yawned and curled into a tighter ball on Mercury's lap. Alloy was the main reason Mercury had remained behind instead of helping Nickel watch out for Dane. Sometim
es when Alloy cried, it started raining inside the house. When Alloy was angry, couches caught on fire. He had very little control over his powers; someone with stronger magic needed to be around him at all times to stop him. Daisy didn't have the magic to handle Alloy, nor did any of the older kits. Only Dane and Mercury could do it, which meant Mercury had to stay behind.

  Alloy wasn't the only kit who needed Mercury to stay. They had all wandered into the bedroom he shared with Dane to say hi or ask a silly question over the last hour. Even Copper had spent five minutes sitting in the chair across from Mercury, indirectly asking for whatever reassurance Mercury could give while pretending he was only there for Alloy's sake.

  Mercury hated being left behind—there was no denying that—but he understood the necessity. When Dane came back Mercury would have to yell at him for being left behind.

  … yell at him? Mercury remembered a wonderful bout of relieved sex when Dane and Nickel had returned unscathed. After Nickel and Dane had regaled the family with their adventure, Mercury and Dane had put all the kits to bed and then very eagerly fallen into their own. The only yelling Mercury had done was when Dane had twisted his hips just right and Mercury's spine had turned to liquid. There shouldn't have been any bad feelings at all in that memory.

  "Daddy, the table's clear. Chrome and Alloy are loading the dishwasher. Do you think we have to run it before dinner?" 'Ron asked.

  Mercury blinked and looked down at her, wondering when his mind had wandered off. "Let me check," he said, picking up the soup tureen and following 'Ron into the kitchen.

  The dishwasher was full from their breakfast and lunch dishes. Mercury took over the hand washing before too much water got on the floor, then started the dishwasher when he was done. The whole time he was working he was also straining his ears for the first sound of fighting. He couldn't hear anything over the water in the sink, but it was also possible that Dane had kept his wards up and couldn't engage with the enemy. There was no way to know what was happening out there from the kitchen.