“That’s the thing,” I tell her as I wash my own hands. “I’m not sure that he’s a human that has a dragon form as much as he’s a dragon that happens to have a human form. The way he thinks and his beliefs…they’re just very different from ours.” I wipe my hands off and give her a rueful smile. “And I found out he had a human form when he changed in front of me. I probably wasn’t as shocked as you because my friend Claudia had told me about her relationship with a dragon, but it’s still startling to see for the first time.”
“Your friend hooked up with a dragon, too, you said? Claudia? How did she meet him?”
I bite my lip, wondering how much I should say. “Claudia was exiled from Fort Dallas and left in the Scavenge Lands for him to find.”
Emma’s face goes dark. “Forts are shitty places,” she tells me. “The worst of what’s left of humanity. I was booted from Fort Tulsa. I hope it burns to the ground.”
“You were? What happened?”
The look on her face grows vague. “What always happens when you’re a woman in the After. Someone suggests something and you can either take them up on it or you can take action. I’d rather not talk about it.”
My heart squeezes with sympathy. I’ve been where she’s at. We all have. It’s hard when you’re a woman alone. “I understand. At first when I got together with Dakh, I was terrified of him. Then I realized that the only thing he wants is my happiness. Now I feel safer with him than I ever did in Fort Dallas, surrounded by tons of people with guns. Funny how that works, isn’t it?”
“I’m not surprised. You’ve got the biggest badass on your side. It’s hard to think about just forgiving everything they’ve done, though. In my head, dragons are still the enemy. They still slaughtered millions of people.”
“I’m not forgiving it,” I tell her as we head back to the front of the store. “I just understand it a bit more after knowing Dakh.” Her words are making me uncomfortable, though. In the eyes of humanity, I’m shacking up with the enemy—the monster that destroyed our world. I’m now the enemy, too.
“How can you understand it? What’s there to understand?” There’s remembered pain in Emma’s voice. “We lost everything.”
“So did Dakh,” I tell her. “It doesn’t excuse it, but he and his people had no choice when they came through the Rift. Something about this place destroys their minds and makes them crazy. I’ve seen how hard he fights to beat it. The only thing that helps him is talking to me. If I’m not there, he’s just as insane as the rest of them. It’s not something they can help. I don’t even know if they’re aware of what they’re doing most of the time. I think their minds are just…gone.”
“But how can you be sure? How do you know that he’s not just telling you what he thinks you want to hear?”
Because I can see into his mind? But I don’t share that with Emma. It feels like a betrayal of Dakh. “I guess I have to believe in someone, so I choose to believe in him.”
“You’re a braver woman than me.”
“I don’t think there’s a bit of bravery involved. We’re all just trying to survive the best way we know how.”
“I don’t know what I’d do in your situation,” Emma admits. “I don’t know if I could ever get past the fact that they’re the enemy.”
Sometimes you have to go with your gut, though. I don’t know if Emma will ever understand my situation unless she meets up with a dragon herself. “I don’t know if you’ll ever be in my situation,” I tease her. “Dakh tells me you smell really, really bad.”
Her face lights up with a grin. “That’s the idea.”
We sit down at the table of food, and Emma’s eyes light up at the sight of a package of cookies. “Where did you find this? I thought they were all gone!” She holds it to her chest and closes her eyes, delighted. “This alone is worth the trek.”
I chuckle at her reaction. “I found a couple of them stashed behind some of the soft drinks. You’re welcome to that package.”
“You’re the best.” She slings her backpack off of her back and tucks the cookies in there. “Should we wait for the dragon to start eating?” She glances at the food spread out on the table.
“Not at all! He doesn’t eat this stuff. He grabs himself a nice fresh cow or deer every morning.” I pick up a sleeve of crackers—my personal favorite—and open a jar of peanut butter. “Help yourself.”
She immediately tears into the bag of chips, grabbing a handful and cramming them into her mouth. I don’t judge; food probably has been harder to come by for her lately thanks to the fact that she’s had to leave the store. I feel a surge of guilt over that. “How are you faring? Where are you staying?”
Emma shrugs as she chews. “Found an old gas station up the road. No gas, no food, but it’s got a roof and no one else is squatting there, so it’s mine.”
I slather peanut butter on a cracker to cover the stale taste and chew on it thoughtfully. “You’re welcome to come here any time you like and get some supplies. There’s more than I can eat by myself, you know. And ditto on the clothes and soaps and anything else you can think of.”
The smile she gives me is grateful. “Really? People would kill to have all this crap back in Fort Tulsa.”
“I know, but we outcasts have to stick together. Besides, what am I going to do with an entire aisle of frying pans?”
“Cook up whatever Dakh brings you?”
I laugh, about to make a crack about how Dakh pre-cooks his food with his breath, when a shadow passes overhead. We both stiffen and look up, and I can see the panic cross Emma’s face.
Is that you? I send out automatically.
Yes, Dakh replies. I did not want to interrupt your conversation. I bring back meat for you. He sends me a mental image of a cow with really long horns. It is dead, but I did not breathe fire on it. Shall I drop it to the ground?
Wonderful—yes! Thank you, Dakh! I turn to Emma. “It’s Dakh. He’s back.”
“How can you tell?” There’s a nervous note in her voice.
“Oh, I recognize the scales,” I tell her blithely. “Come on. Let’s see what he’s got for us to cook up.”