Fledgling Read online

Chapter Six

  “What?” Austin asked, “I could have sworn that you said I would be going to…whatever the place is called.”

  He looked at her as if he hadn’t been expecting this reaction, or as if he hadn’t planned on sharing that information just yet. If it was the latter, he covered it up well, “Of course. Dustin has already had two days to look for you. We need to pack and leave before he ever gets close to you.”

  Aiden held out his hand and helped Austin up. She leaned against one of the storage boxes as her blood started to flow normally through her legs again.

  She was beginning to wonder if they were really from a different planet. She had never thought to ask Dustin about where they came from. Since she asked no questions, she got no answers.

  “You’ve been there before. Dustin hid you in the forests, right under our noses,” Aiden said, shaking his head, “You loved it in Affelil. It’s clean there, and beautiful. Everything is how it’s meant to be.”

  “Affelil,” she repeated the name, twisting her tongue to say it the way Aiden did. She was relieved that he hadn’t said Jupiter, “So where is it, exactly?”

  “A parallel universe,” he said, “Doors that lead to nowhere actually lead to Affelil. Only those with dragon blood can pass through to the other side.”

  Austin bit her lip. She wasn’t a fullblood. Would that mean that she wouldn’t be able to go?, “Would I be able to?”

  “You’ve been there before,” he reminded her gently, “So I would say yes.”

  Austin nodded, feeling a bit silly for not connecting the dots sooner. She shoved her feet into her boots and spun around, looking for doors. She saw only one, but guessed that wasn’t one that Aiden had been talking about. They were in a storage room of sorts, with bits and pieces of technology spread everywhere, “When do we leave?”

  Aiden looked at the plain watch on his wrist, “We can stop by your place first. You’ll probably want to pack a bag.”

  Fifteen minutes later, after weaving through the busy streets and hiding their faces, they both stood in the middle of Austin’s room. Aiden dumped the stuff out of her backpack and sat it on the bed.

  “Do you want me to help you pack?” he asked. Austin nodded, not sure what to say. She felt nervous all of a sudden, even though there was no reason to be.

  They were alone in her house, granted, but it’s not like that hadn’t happened before. They usually were alone in her room when they hung out and Uncle Demitri never had a problem with leaving the two of them together, even when he wouldn’t be back for a few days. Nothing had ever happened, and nothing would.

  Still, something had changed in their dynamic. The fact that they were alone made her stomach clench.

  Trying to distract herself from the strange (and probably imagined) atmosphere, she turned around to grab a thin binder from her dresser. She laid it flat on the bottom of her backpack.

  Aiden, who knew her too well, didn’t have to turn to see what she had packed. He said in an amused voice, “Don’t show that to anyone.”

  Austin smiled, but didn’t agree to anything. The binder was a makeshift photo album, since she had never gotten around to buying an actual one. She had pictures of almost everything, from her birthdays to Halloweens and Christmases, starting from when she was about six years old. In almost all of her pictures, a tall man with fiery hair stood next to her.

  “How didn’t I notice that you didn’t age?” she asked. It was so obvious now.

  Aiden threw a few of her sweaters onto the bed without turning around, “I asked you not to give it a second thought. Even though you had already lost your memories of Dustin, you didn’t want to be around anything strange. You wanted a normal life.”

  Austin put two and two together and figured that Aiden had used his special dragon powers to keep her oblivious, “That doesn’t sound like me.”

  She folded the clothes that Aiden had thrown out of her closet and, while Aiden’s back was still turned, stuffed her underwear into her bag. She sure as heck wasn’t going top pack that in front of him.

  “Austin,” he turned around just as she zipped the bag up, “There’s something I need to tell you before we go any farther.”

  “Yeah?” she looked around, making sure that she didn’t need anything else. She slipped on her charm bracelet, which had been a fifteenth birthday present from Aiden. Glass and pewter dragons hung from the chain. How long had they been preparing her for this?

  “Once we get there, I won’t be able to act the same. I have an image to keep up,” his lips curled into a smile, as if he thought that was a good thing, “I won’t be as friendly.”

  “An image,” she snorted. As far as she was concerned, only self conscious and important people kept up images. She couldn’t imagine him as either.

  “Austin, you are my assignment,” he ran a hand through his hair, which was longer than it usually was, “I wasn’t supposed to get close to you. I wasn’t supposed to li- to be your friend.”

  Austin blinked a few times, feeling the familiar flash of anger sweep through her, “So as soon as I’m in someone else’s care, you’re going to leave? Is that how this assignment thing works?”

  “Hell no,” he said immediately, almost shocked at the idea, “But you have to understand. I won’t be able to go easy on you anymore. I’ll have to push you until you break and then push some more.”

  “Is that all?” she asked, deflating. Her anger had left as fast as it had come, “I guess I shouldn’t have doubted you. You are my best friend, after all.”

  Much to her surprise, Aiden grimaced as she talked.

  “Damn,” he whispered, and laughed loudly, “Austin, I’m never going to leave you. It’s not because we’re friends. It’s because I like you.”

  His emerald green eyes shone as they looked into hers, and Austin felt her cheeks heat up. He had always been there for her. He knew her better than she knew herself. She realized now that his feelings really should have been obvious. With her face pink with embarrassment, she couldn’t help but speak her mind, “Aiden, I…I don’t like you that way.”

  He was her friend. He was her best friend. Just nothing more. She would have giant crushes on him in the past, but right now, she didn’t.

  “Not yet,” he exhaled slowly. Austin was heavily aware that she could have phrased that in a nicer way, “But someday you will. Just wait and see.”

  He was delusional, “Don’t hold your-“

  She stopped short when she heard the door to the apartment open. They had locked the door behind them, and they definitely hadn’t invited someone.

  “Dustin,” Austin whispered in fear. Who else could it be?”

  “Stay here,” Aiden hissed. She reached for him, not wanting him to have to face that monster, but he slipped out the door before she could close the distance between them.

  She froze, bombarded by conflicting thoughts. The child part of her brain that had yet to come to its senses was squealing with joy (Big brother!). She tried to ignore that and favored her rational thoughts (Aiden!).

  She came to her senses when she heard a crash. She ran out the door and nearly tripped over Aiden. He was sweeping up a broken glass. She stopped short, confused.

  “Austin,” Demitri was standing at the door, not Dustin, “Couldn’t you have waited until I came home before you got yourself in danger?”

  She relaxed, “It’s not my fault that I have a psycho stalker.”

  Aiden emptied the dust tray into a wastebasket and leaned on the broom. Staring at Austin in disapproval, he said, “I told you not to leave the room. You’re going to have to start following my orders.”

  Uncle Demitri smiled, “You already told her about that?”

  “I told her about everything,” Aiden coughed, his face turning a bit pink. He adjusted his backpack straps, “Are you all ready to go?”

  “Oh,” Uncle Demitri
just then realized the distance between the two of them, “Oh!”

  “One second,” Austin backed away into her room. She slung her striped backpack on, and, giving herself only a moment, she smiled sadly at her room. This had been her oasis, but she had to leave. She had to restart her journey.

  She went back into the hallway, closing the door behind her, “You ready to leave, Uncle D?”

  He was holding a backpack of his own now, so she assumed the answer was yes. Her smile faltered, as she looked at him. He wasn’t really her uncle, not by blood.

  But did blood really matter? He had saved her from Dustin. She remembered that now. Even back then, he had cared.

  “I would say that we’re all ready,” he held up a bag of ridged potato chips in proof, “Wait, Austin, did those girl scouts come by already?”

  “Let’s just go,” Austin rolled her eyes and, with that, they walked out of the door, starting a new chapter of their life. She hoped it would be a good one.