The plan

The heat radiating from the blast was so hot it burned her skin. She let out a blood-curdling scream, and her knees hit the floor. She waited for the flames to disappear in the air and to see the burned remnants of a man who had just saved her.

She wasn’t mentally prepared to see it, but her mind couldn’t process that any of this was real and searched for the truth. What she saw stopped her scream midway. Dayton stood in the fire with both arms crossed, somehow protecting himself from the flames.

When the flames diminished from the air, he turned to her. “You just have a death wish, don’t you?” He snapped at her as he walked to her and pulled her up. She mumbled incoherent words as she got to her feet.

She stared into his mesmerizing eyes. “You… you… you saved my dog.” Dayton’s stern expression softened. He didn’t expect that to be what came out of her mouth.

“I like dogs,” was all he said.

“Is she alright?” Kai called from the back door.

Dayton didn’t take his eyes off Juniper. “Yeah, she’s good.”

“Juniper, come inside,” Kai said, summoning her like it was her time to be graced with his presence. If she had figured anything out, it was that Kai saw himself as royalty.

Juniper went to Kai, and his two caring hands rubbed her arms.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” All she did was nod, and he guided her inside. “Please sit down.” He sat her on a high chair at the breakfast counter and then stood at the other side of the counter. He placed both hands on the counter, one on each side of the sink, and looked directly into her eyes.

“So there’s a lot to explain. I need you to be patient and have a very open mind about everything I am about to tell you. Starting with making sure you have zero doubts, there are dragons in your barn, and one of them is hurt badly.” Juniper simply nodded her head as she waited for him to say more. She bit back every sarcastic comment she was thinking.

“Right, so it’s important to note that you also are not supposed to be alive right now. We consider humans as enemies. If I had wished to save you by taking you to a hospital and there was no threat of you knowing about my world, that would have been okay. But, the problem is you clearly wouldn’t have survived the trip to the hospital, and for that, I am sorry. Either way, I would have taken your life. I decided to take your life as mine rather than the underworld’s.”

Juniper’s heart stopped in her chest, and she stopped listening to what he was saying. She sat there trying hard to listen, but surely she was missing something. He was saying something about how he planned to take her, but…

“You left out the part where you have practically condemned her in our world by taking the thing that ripped apart our kind with humankind centuries ago,” Dayton said, standing at the doorway.

“Why?” she asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

“It’s highly addictive to humans. They lose all morals. They go crazy for it. We consider just the thought of one of our kind allowing a human to taste what is sacred to us the highest of all insults.” Juniper sat, shocked, trying to make sense of what was happening. “It’s also probably important to know that you have officially tainted our names with our kind. We have broken ancient laws that will have serious consequences.”

“In that sense, it is also considered the highest honor to be saved. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to ask you to be grateful and not take this new life for granted.” Kai interceded.

“But I can’t just leave….” Juniper was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

“I’m afraid you have no choice. I will be patient for you to come to terms with your new reality, but there’s a price to pay for a second chance.” Kai said. “I can not leave you to live your life as it was before.”

“Is that why I woke up naked next to you? Did you… take advantage of me?” Juniper asked, closing her eyes. The reality was coming to light, and she realized she would have to learn the new rules quickly. She needed to care for herself and hopefully escape a bad situation.

Kai took a long breath. “No, it was the only way to get you to sleep. Stasia helped clean you up, but you refused to put clothes back on. The elixir… it... makes you high and horny. You wanted me, not the other way around.” It was straight to the point and unexpected.

Juniper didn’t notice her jaw drop as she thought about what he had just said. The words you wanted me, not the other way around, floated in the air. She felt rejected and embarrassed that she behaved in such a way. To make matters worse, Dayton’s laughter burst through the room, causing her and Kai to look his way.

“Oh man, you fucked up that explanation.”

“What?” Kai asked, innocently confused.

“It’s okay! I will help you out. He means that he probably wouldn’t have saved you if you weren’t as pretty as you are. Kai is not usually a softy for these things. He just didn’t make the advancements you were so worried about, but don’t worry, darling, he intends to do so when the time is right.”

“That’s enough, Dayton,” Kai said, but his eyes were glued to Junipers. She stared back, seeing that the intention was apparent. “I didn’t mean for it to come across so harsh... I just…”

Juniper took in a breath. “It’s okay. I just need a moment… May I call my family, please?”

“We are not done here yet. When will your family come back?” Kai asked, getting back to business.

“Tomorrow night,” she responded hesitantly.

“Right, so please pack and be ready to go. Afterward, we can discuss whether you can call your family.”

Juniper felt like she was being torn from her family. “I always call them when I am up….”

Kai read her facial expressions and understood where she was coming from. He nodded his head. “If we weren’t here today, what would you be doing?”

Juniper thought and began listing off, “I would have woken up, fed the animals, eaten breakfast, gone to the library to study, in the afternoon, I would train one of the little girls from town how to ride, then movies with my friends. Tomorrow morning I would be at the arena rehearsing with the other rodeo queens.”

“This girl coming in the afternoon, how do we contact her?” Dayton asked, matching Kai’s down-to-business tone.

Juniper reached out her hand. “Give me my phone. I can do it.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed into hers. “No, don’t make me say it again….”

Juniper sat silent for a moment. She felt like crying at that moment. The feeling of being helpless made her sensitive. “Her mom’s name is Claire. You can find her contact in my phone and text her.”

“Good. Dayton, please handle the chores. Juniper, go pack. Am I okay to use the kitchen to make us something to eat?”

She watched as Dayton pulled out her phone and glared. She didn’t move from her seat. Kai gave her a dominating stare.

“If I have to pack for you, you will not like the outcome. I am being nice right now, allowing you to have some say, but it’s all in my rights to take that from you.”

Juniper gave him a world-class mean girl look, slightly glaring, slightly squinting her face. “Do as you please,” then got from her seat and stormed into her room, tossing herself on her bed. A few tears trailed down her face out of frustration. The emotions she was feeling felt very weird.

She was freaked out, yes, but… Dragons. Are. Real. Very. Fucking. Real. And it allowed her to learn and experience this new world, which she was very curious about. She felt helpless because… couldn’t she have her cake and eat it too? Why did she have to leave her family behind? Couldn’t there be another way?

She knew the answer the moment she thought about the question. She could only eat her “cake” if they trusted her, and so far, why would they trust her? She packed as she thought up a plan.