Marjorie Liu - Within the Flames

“You feel out of place here.”

“More than usual,” she admitted. “Off-balance. Part of that is you, though. It feels strange. . being with someone. I’m so used to doing everything on my own.”

Eddie hesitated. “Do you feel stifled?”

“No.” Lyssa smiled. “No. I’m thinking about what to illustrate for my next job assignment.”

He ducked his head, pleased — and tucked her hand in his.

It was early evening, and the sun was setting. Scattered clouds covered the darkening sky, and seagulls cried. Eddie bought Lyssa hot chocolate, and he sipped coffee as they walked. It felt natural to have her beside him. As right as anything he had ever experienced. It made him feel. . like a normal man.

Scattered memories filled him, flashes of his childhood, his life on the streets. He thought about the cage, and the fire that had wracked him so deeply he had expected his life would never be his again to control.

Out of control. Fighting for control. Stifling his life for control. That described so much of how he had existed.

But with Lyssa. . he could just be.

“I think Estefan might have mentioned Dirk & Steele,” she said, when they reached the building and he undid the locks on the narrow front door. “But I wasn’t really paying attention, and it was just in passing. All I can remember is an impression of his voice saying the name.”

“He knew enough to contact us.”

Lyssa forced a sad smile. “Yeah.”

During the elevator ride up to the top floor, she began to fidget. Eddie felt the same. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Roland.

But it was Long Nu who greeted them when the elevator doors opened.

The first shape-shifter Lyssa had ever met, besides her father, was an old woman with sharp teeth and a sharper heart. Nothing soft inside her. No compassion for anyone who strayed past a certain line.

A line her father had crossed in marrying her mother.

A line, said the old woman, with a price.

Exile, for starters. And one day, perhaps, death.

The threat of death was a bluff, she realized later.

Long Nu would not have dared cross Lyssa’s mother.

Even dragons were scared of the dark.

The old shape-shifter had not changed at all. Same wrinkles, same coiffed hair, old, knowing eyes, and a half smile that was cold as ice.

“You,” Lyssa said.

Long Nu drew in a deep breath. A man appeared at the end of the hall, big in the shoulders and tall. He had a craggy face, and brown hair that needed a cut. He smelled like the inside of a liquor cabinet, but his eyes were sharp with intelligence.

Roland, she thought. Eddie’s boss.

Lyssa had wanted to make a good impression, but with Long Nu present. . she gave up on that plan. Things were going to get ugly.

“Is there a problem?” Roland asked gruffly, striding toward them.

“I don’t know,” Eddie said, watching Long Nu. “Is there?”

“Yes,” replied Lyssa, stepping off the elevator, taking some small pleasure in making the dragon-woman back up. “We’ve got a problem.”

“I’m here,” Long Nu said stiffly. “I’m facing you.”

Lyssa slapped her. Right hand. With all her strength.

“Fuck,” said Roland, while Eddie let out a muffled sound of surprise.

Long Nu did not go down, but almost. Holding her face, she stared at Lyssa with contempt — but also a hint of fear. “Is that all?”

Rage flowed. Pounding, throbbing, fury. The dragon inside Lyssa unfurled its wings, and a terrible ache raced down her right arm. Her vision faded into a golden haze.

“Don’t tempt me,” she whispered. . and, finally, Long Nu averted her eyes. Lyssa stepped closer. “Show me your hands.”

“Hey,” snapped Roland. “What the hell is this?”

“Lyssa,” murmured Eddie.

“I want to make sure she’s not holding a weapon,” she told the men, her gaze never leaving Long Nu. “Do it.”

Stiff, chin raised, the old woman held out her hands — palms up.

“Now back away,” Lyssa told her.

“You’re a stupid child,” whispered Long Nu. “I never tried to kill you.”

“You promised my father that you’d try,” she shot back. “What was it you said? ‘ Monsters shouldn’t breed ’? I remember that like it was yesterday.”

Eddie stiffened. The big man, Roland, stared at the back of Long Nu’s head as though he could see right through it. A scowl tugged at his mouth.

The old woman backed away. Lyssa’s clawed right hand ached to strike another blow, but she fought down the urge with the same strength and desperation that she used to fight her hunger for blood. If she started fighting Long Nu, she would not stop.

And she would win. She knew that, sure as she was breathing.

It would be worth it, whispered the dragon.

Eddie touched her back, placing himself between her and Long Nu. “Come on.”

The old woman’s nostrils flared as Eddie and Lyssa walked past her.

Lyssa saw that the apartment was huge once they reached the end of the long corridor. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched from one end of the room to the other, and the entire space was filled with comfortable chairs, and long antique tables laden with newspapers and books.

She didn’t let herself admire the view, instead putting her back to the window so that she could face Long Nu.

The woman was as graceful as ever, but Lyssa had the benefit now of being older, with ten years of hard living behind her. She was no longer scared of the old dragon. Or as naïve about her own power.

Eddie stood very close: an anchor, her broad shoulder to lean on. His presence helped her focus.

“Be honest,” said Lyssa. “You hoped I was dead, all these years.”

“Not exactly,” replied Long Nu in a cold, flat voice. “I found your parents after their murders. When I realized your mother had not killed the other Cruor Venator, I was upset. I was even more upset, though, when I didn’t find your body. I thought, maybe, if you lived. . that the witch who killed your family was raising you. Which, frankly, was a bomb waiting to go off that I did not look forward to dealing with.”

“Fuck,” said Roland, staring at her.

Eddie said nothing, but heat throbbed off his body, making the air shimmer around them. Lyssa basked in that warmth, breathing deep of it, making herself calm.

“I always suspected,” she said, “that you led the Cruor Venator to my family.”

Long Nu shook her head. “No, I did not do that. I promise you, I did not. But you cannot blame me for wishing that your mother had been strong enough to kill the witch.”

“My mother was strong enough. . but she gave her life to protect mine.” Fury thickened her voice, as did grief. “And yes, I wish she had killed Georgene. But only because I loved her. Not like you. . who only wanted to see the lesser of two monsters gone. ”

Eddie’s hand curled around hers. “Maybe we should go.”

“No,” Roland said gruffly, staring at Long Nu. “Not you.”

Lyssa stepped closer to the old woman, ignoring both men. Power filled her, born from her own blood and spirit, and the dragon waking inside her. She could feel, on the edge of her spirit, the ability to make Long Nu afraid. Afraid, as Nikola and Betty had made others afraid.

But just before she accessed that power, she thought of Estefan, and pulled back.

“Why now, after all these years?” she asked softly.

Long Nu swayed, golden eyes gleaming. “Because the other Cruor Venator began killing. She took the life of a shape-shifter in Florida, one who knew you. . and I realized that she did not have you and that you were alive. And that maybe, just maybe, you might be the one to kill the lesser of two monsters.”