Page 28 of Magpies & Mayhem
“—and I intend to make sure you’re safe if that happens. Not to mention, it would be more comfortable for you to sleep and eat this way. You can scavenge for smaller portions of food instead of living on granola bars.”
“I’m not going to eat roadkill just because I’m a bird, Jordan.” I knew he meant nuts and berries, but I was nervous about shifting around Huck and anxiety made me grouchy. My pants went on top of the shirt, and then I stepped out of my underwear. “Just so we’re clear—” I turned to him to find he hadnoshame about where his naughty eyes were pointed. “—if my feathers get ruined, I willend you.”
His eyes finally flicked to mine, but he looked frustratingly patient. And amused.
I pulled the fire of change up my limbs and into my middle, triggering an explosion of magic and energy as my form snapped and shifted faster than any eye could follow. My wings shot out, pumping once to keep me aloft before Huck swiveled his neck to turn and look at me.
“To me.” Jordan’s whisper was urgent, like he hadn’t expected Huck to notice so quickly. I dove for his open arms. He covered my whole body, clutching me to his chest as Huck bounded over and snuffled at me through the gaps in his arms.I swear I’m going to kill them both if he flames me!
“Back up, Huck.” He sounded calmer and certainly more confident than I felt. His arm lifted off of my back, and I heard Huck shuffle backwards unsteadily. Jordan had pushed him backward. “Give her some space.” He picked me up and turned my body so that my head was visible to Huck. The dragon immediately started sniffing at me again, getting his nose as deep in my feathers as he could. I pecked his nose—hard—and he jerked his head back.
“Easy on the feathers, bud,” I squawked. Talking took more effort and my voice wasn’t perfect in this form, but I was grateful my ancestors had ended up with an animal that could speak. Huck seemed to recognize my voice, even as tinny as it sounded, and his stare grew more intense.
And then Jordan did theweirdestthing. Hestrokedme. Just picked his hand up and petted me like I was an actual animal. He kept talking to Huck as he did it, so I’m not even sure if it was an intentional action or just an impulsive thing, like petting a cat, but I basically went limp in his lap. I am nothing if not a sucker for petting in either form. He seemed totally at ease with me being this close to him, and come to think of it, he hadn’t flinched at all when I’d flown into his lap. Maybe he was less reactive to animal forms?
“There, see? He’s calming down.” His tone was soothing, but his hand froze on my back like he’d just realized what he was doing.
“It’s all fun and games until I move, and his prey drive kicks in.” I bonked his hand with my head, trying to get him to start petting again. He didn’t.
“Maybe I should restrain him, and you can fly around. We’ll just see what he does.”
That sounded a lot less fun than being petted.
Jordan reached out to pull Huck toward him and wrapped his arm around his torso and wings. I hopped down and put some distance in between us, bouncing across the dirt floor to the front of the cave. Bird legs were so much better for bouncing than human legs. I cocked my head at Jordan and squinted one eye at him. “You better not let him slip.”
“I’ve got him.” He tightened his hold around his wings.
ARGH!I jumped into the air and fluttered over to the opening of the cave, watching intently for Huck’s reaction. His legs flailed in the air as he tried to scramble free, but he appeared more excited than predatory. I landed and hopped a little closer, trying to stay out of his flame-range, and he trilled happily.
“Head outside,” Jordan said. “I’ll let him go now, and that way you can fly away if you need to.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I bolted for the opening and spread my wings to head for the open sky. This was glorious. The dry desert air pushed me higher as the heat from the warmed sand rose into the cooling night sky. I circled back and watched the cave entrance as Huck tumbled out onto the desert sand in his excitement. Jordan was close behind him, ready to pounce if need be. His protective mother-henning made me want to laugh, even though I appreciated his readiness. I swooped closer and closer, still careful to keep out of fire range, as Huck beat his wings furiously in the air.
“I think he just wants to join you,” Jordan called over all the flapping.
Maybe so, but I still didn’t trust him not to torch me yet.
I stayed low enough to be close, but still out of reach, and Huck followed me around in the sand in a happy trot while working his wings.Maybe this could work, I thought, as I headed back for Jordan. Normally I would have aimed for his shoulder—or the top of his head if I was feeling mischievous—but since I was trying to be respectful of his space issues, I came in for a slow landing on his forearm.
“What should we do?” he asked, sounding almost pleased as he watched Huck frolic around in the sand.
“Get drunk and terrorize the neighborhood.”
He made a disapproving sound. “I can’t get drunk.”
“Then stay sober and terrorize the neighborhood,” I amended.
“Hmm… Well, there’re no neighborhoods here, so we’ll take a little walk-about. Come on, Huck!” he called, but Huck was stuck in a bush, so he couldn’t come. Several minutes of Jordan cursing and trying not to get scratched later, we were on our way into the wilderness. We made our way around the cliff face to a rocky area that was a little more sheltered from the elements. I flew from one bush to another, waiting for Huck to catch up, while Jordan trailed behind, bringing up the rear. It looked like he was picking things up occasionally and tearing old branches off the scrubby bushes as he passed them. Huck, for once, wasn’t trying to carry half the landscape in his mouth. He was more focused on trying to follow me, flapping his little wings the whole way. There weren’t any large trees out here for him to climb, but maybe I could teach him to scale rocks and glide down.
We circled among boulders and brush under the moons for over an hour, with Huck plodding along, trying to catch me and Jordan watching from a spot against a boulder. He was fiddling with whatever he was holding the whole time, but he still managed to keep a sharp eye on Huck, just in case he torched me. It didn’t happen though, and it seemed my anxiety was unfounded. After a while, I hopped closer to him and showed him how to scale a decent sized boulder, one that he could catch a little air from on the way down. I jumped off several times and held my wings out stiffly so he could see how it was done, but he just watched with big eyes from the top of the rock. He seemed like he desperately wanted to jump but was hesitant to try. So I stood like a dutiful mama bird on the ground below and called to him, mimicking the little cry he used when he was searching for me—or trying to break through the bathroom door.
After several false starts, hefinally leapt!And promptly plummeted straight into the sand below… “You have to flap your wings, bud.” He popped back up and shook himself like a dog, no worse for the wear. Several more practice jumps convinced me he wasn’t ready to fly yet. I had a pretty good handle on the timelines for when baby birds developed flight muscles and feathers, but I had no idea about dragons. “Keep working those wing muscles and it’ll happen. Someday.” Worst pep talk ever.
I’d just started making my way back toward Jordan when I heard a sound that sent a spike of fear up my spine. I shifted back into my ‘human’ form immediately, and Huck shot out a flame so hard he knocked himself over. “Sorry!” We were practically made for each other, with how easily we both startled. I continued the trek back toward Jordan on foot.
“Why are you naked again?” His tone was amused, and he bit down on his bottom lip as I drew closer.
“Owls.”
