Birthright: Daeva and Drach

Chapter 3: Reena

The last thing I expected in that moment was to fumble the shocked, white faced young man who tumbled through the gap in the veil and landed hard on top of me, the slice through the rubbery membrane between words sealing shut behind him. He fell with a whoosh of air, breathing a heated, dusty aroma as though he'd come from somewhere much hotter than here. I caught him so he wouldn't fall, but the parade was passing close by and I couldn't have him distracting me from my job.

Today of all days for something like this to happen. And to me. Why couldn't Phygon have crazy human boys fall in his lap while on assignment?

I had to cram my hand over his gaping mouth, seeing and sensing the shout building in his chest as he drew in more and more air, eyes gaping wide. They were pale gray, almost sparkling around the edges, his skin as pink as mine. Confirming my first guess. Human? But how did he cross the veil if he was human? He'd have to be part demon for that, and I sensed nothing of the kind in him. My training took over, and despite the fact he had a foot of height on me, I wrestled him easily into the half-open alleyway and crushed him physically-and magically-against the stone wall as the cheering crowd sounds grew nearer with the pulse of watchful Daeva magic.

I had to deal with this now and return to my post.

He finally exhaled, seeming incapable of fighting me. But I felt power building inside him, and knew if I didn't take a moment to calm him down I'd be fighting his panic while the parade I was supposed to be guarding marched past. And while I knew this wasn't my fault, that I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, I couldn't help but curse softly at my bad luck.

I could knock him out, I supposed, leave him there for later. He'd be safe enough until I was able to retrieve him. Before I could implement the idea, the heat of his magic pushed against mine and it was my turn to gasp.

"Drach." I stepped back a pace, recognizing his race through the touch of his power. But, part human? I'd never heard of a drach-the first race of dragons-mating with a normal in recent history. Long ago, yes, but currently? This had to be a mistake.

He shook his head while I felt Phygon's power jab me.

Where are you? Damn it. Just damn all of it already.

Unexpected visitor. I flashed an image of the young man before me to everyone in the entourage. No way was I keeping this quiet now. I wanted lots of witnesses when Phygon tried to accuse me of leaving my post.

Deal with him. Phygon's snarl made my stomach churn in rage. He wasn't my boss.

Reena. Raethnn's brusque tone hurt more than it should. My name was all she sent. It was all she had to do. And everyone heard her send it.

I didn't have time to suffer the humiliation of such a rebuke. Or to linger on how unfair that short, terse dressing down really was. Not when the young drach finally finished inhaling and began to shout incoherently at me.

I caught, "Devil!" and "Hell!" and a few other choice tidbits that told me quite clearly he'd never been to Demonicon before nor met one of my race. And yet, he was half drach, it was clear now in the depth of diamond facets in the backs of his corneas, in the faint dragon scales showing and vanishing on his pale skin and the heat of his drach power burning inside his chest.

"Listen." I snapped my fingers in his face, knowing I was scowling and making a bad first impression. If he was really unaware of my kind-how he could be, being what he was, I had no idea-I wasn't going to leave him with the best of memories. But I was out of time and the parade was passing us by. Without me. "I'm going to put you under. Don't fight me or it will hurt. Get it?"

He shook his head, heart pounding loudly, so loudly I heard it through his magic, saw the panic in his eyes. He was already fighting me, his drach power blazing against my demon fire. But he fumbled at it, like he had no idea what he was doing. Without knowing his story, I could only guess at his details. And couldn't manage to muster giving a crap at the moment.

I didn't get to knock him out kindly. Phygon suddenly appeared at my elbow, his magic slamming violently into the drach's chest. I watched the young man collapse as my own shock held me still. But, he was a drach. First race. We didn't treat them like that, we revered them. I looked up into Phygon's furious eyes and saw only contempt.

"Get back to your post," he snarled, spittle dotting my cheeks and making me blink. "While you still have one."

He marched away, flickering a moment into the veil before vanishing. I watched him go, stunned and unable to move. I heard the parade passing by and knew I'd failed my assignment. I didn't really care at the moment. Not while a drach lay crumpled and discarded at my feet.

I couldn't just leave him there. My day was screwed already. No matter what Phygon might think, this drach boy was important, if only because of his race. And I knew my leaders would want to find out who he was and what he was doing here. Maybe I could redeem myself by bringing him to them.

And maybe I honestly just didn't care either way.

It was the first time I admitted to myself this life, this lie I lived, wasn't what I wanted. I bent over the drach and touched his shoulder, my magic pulling him upright so I could tuck one arm around his waist. Watching parades pass me by-was that my existence, what I had to look forward to? A blur of shadow passed over my heart as I stepped into the veil with the young man, his dark head falling to my shoulder.

Well now. What a surprise. I guess not.

Raethnn waited for me when I reappeared in the Daeva underground, stepping through the veil and into the council chamber. The rest of the team was still on the surface, but Phygon appeared shortly after I did, scowling at me and shaking in rage as he pointed in my general direction but refused to look me in the eye.

"This creature," how delightful of him to call me a creature, "has abandoned her post during an important-in, might I say, a misguided and overeager attempt to elevate her status-mission and left Ruler and her family vulnerable in a time all of us are working so hard to protect our most valuable leader." I almost laughed. I caught the smirk before it formed but had to cough softly around the bark that escaped.

Raethnn waved him down, irritation clear as she ignored his accusations. She instead glared at the young man I supported, still unconscious, against me.

"You left your post," she said, not accusing, not really, but in her flat and quiet tone that told me I'd done the wrong thing in her estimation. That she was disappointed in me. Funny, there was a time that would have bothered me. So, why not today? Why not now?

"You would have preferred I abandon a lost drach on the streets of Ostrogotho, one who is clearly damaged in some way and unable to fend for himself?" I didn't mean to be so cold, not

with her. And yet, here I was, the only one wondering, it seemed, what the hell happened and why one of the First Race was in distress.

Raethnn's reaction was, at least, acceptable. She seemed at first surprised but hid it as her energy washed over mine and touched him. "Indeed," she said, waving off Phygon once again when he tried to protest. Instead, she spun on him slowly, gray brows tight over her eyes. "It was you who damaged the drach?"

Phygon suddenly backpedaled and I grinned openly this time. "He's no drach," he spluttered. "Oh," Raethnn said, sharing the touch with everyone in the room, the rest of the dark council

nodding and whispering silently, mental communication just beyond my power's full hearing, "he is."

Phygon paled and I shrugged.

"I attempted to explain," I said, "but I was overridden in the field. As is Phygon's prerogative. However, it is my understanding that Deragors was my superior today."

Raethnn's mind touched mine ever so gently. Carefully, she sent before speaking. "True," she said. "Phygon, explain your actions."

He couldn't. There was nothing he could say. But, he tried, didn't he? Excuses and splutters and garbage I wasn't willing to listen to tumbled from his lying lips as I gently laid the young drach down on the polished stone floor and checked his pulse. His eyelids fluttered briefly, mind waking. He'd be fine. Or would he? Whatever the case, it was out of my hands, as was his fate. I saw that clearly enough in the way Raethnn turned from Phygon and gestured for me to step away from the drach.

"While we are disappointed in the handling of this matter," she said, drawing Phygon into the statement as much as me, like I deserved it, too, "it is clear the situation was a unique one and not any fault of either party."

Damn you, Grandmother. "I did nothing wrong." The words were out of me before I knew I'd spoken and from the tightness around Raethnn's eyes, came unexpected and unwelcome. A chill tingled down my spine, something snapping inside. No, not something. My utter disappointment in this understanding no one, not one person in my life, had my back. How dismally sad. And I'd allowed myself to come to this place, this position. Pathetic, really.

"You left your post," Raethnn said. "And though you did so for good reason, you did so." As if that were the be all and end all, thank you very much for playing but run along like a good little assassin/soldier/demon girl and behave until we need you again.

The worst part was, she was right. I left my post to help a strange young drach, left that small but assigned window of protection for Ruler open and unguarded. The very person I'd sworn above all others-including my own people-to watch over and prove my worth to even if only in my own eyes.

Failure wasn't pretty, was it? "What punishment, then?" There would be one, wouldn't there? Despite the uniqueness of the situation and the fact I literally had no choice. Or did I?

"We shall discuss that," Raethnn said, turning her back to me, Phygon smirking and scowling at the same time. Quite a feat, actually. "Remove yourself, Reena, so we might decide our next steps."

I'd never felt so alone, so cut off. Was she teaching me a lesson even now? As if she needed to hurt me further. The more I considered how things had played out, the more certain I was all this-my life, my work, my existence-was a lie and a fraud and that I'd failed the only thing I'd ever really dedicated myself to.

Odd how there was freedom in that private admission. And clarity beyond anything I'd felt before.

Abandoning me, were you, Grandmother? Well then. Maybe it was time she understood what real abandonment felt like.

"Don't bother," I said, heart lightening with every word I spoke, the very air around me feeling as though it breathed a sigh of relief. "It's clear I don't belong among you. Consider this my resignation from the ranks of the Daeva."

My heavy boots pounded on the floor, carrying me out the door and into the hallway. No one tried to call me back. On my own, for truth. I didn't even pause on my way to my quarters, my mind and heart made up.

I had no place here, no calling remained. I'd failed my Ruler though she knew it not, and the fact that didn't trouble me made it all the more clear I had no place with the Daeva. And, if I was going to be honest, this realization had been a long time coming. And I was ready.

Reena of the Daeva no longer. I was a free agent now.

I only suffered a momentary pang of curiosity for the drach boy. He'd be all right. At least his race wouldn't force him to become an outcast like mine had me.

I should have been upset, worried, afraid, concerned. Instead, I bounced in elation as I retreated to my room to gather my things. And go... where? Well now, I'd work that out as I went.

Freedom. Who would have thought it would feel so sweet?

***