Page 52 of Tempting the Tiger
‘I’m fine.’ I try not to be too sharp with my hand movements, but between Raj and Milo both worrying about me, and the lingering paranoia the attack in Poland has left me with, I’m on edge.
‘It must have been bad for you to need rescuing.’His hands hang, like he wants to sign more but isn’t sure if he can ask.
Since I’m not allowed to share the real story, I keep my answer brief. ‘I promise Doc P gave me the all-clear.’
He doesn’t look convinced, and after a moment’s hesitation he squares his shoulders. ‘I wish you’d have come home last night, or let me stay here with you. I’m happy that you and Dhiren are together now, but I’m still your brother. Don’t shut me out when something goes wrong, especially if you get hurt.’
‘That’s not what I was doing,’ I sign stiffly.
Milo is the most loyal person in my life; the last thing I want is for him to think he’s not important to me. At the same time, I want him to recognise my returning strength and skill, not witness every setback.
He folds his arms and looks away. I shove my hands in my pockets as we watch Zara reduce height and line up for landing.
She lands a long, tense minute later, a huge bag clutched in her talons that she drops on the ground before she shifts to biped form. She beams at us, looking far too pleased with herself.
‘I brought you something,’ she signs, her hand movements teasing.
As sweet as that is, I can’t believe she took the risk.
‘Did you fly the entire way here by yourself?’ My hand movements are rapid. ‘Do you want to get yourself barred from the exam? That’s what’ll happen if you get caught.’
Her smile falters as she takes in our matching stern expressions. ‘I wanted to bring you a present. No one saw me. I was careful, and I checked your location before I left to make sure I came to the right place.’
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking a second to remind myself that at least she’s arrived safely, which is the most important thing. Thank fuck we’ve got our phones set up to always share our live location with each other.
‘Message us next time, okay? We’ll come and get you,’ I sign with calmer hand movements.
‘We don’t want you taking unnecessary risks,’ Milo signs firmly.
I appreciate him backing me up, although I’m annoyed with myself for snapping at her. ‘What’s in there?’ I ask, nodding at the bag.
She perks up again. ‘It’s for your boyfriend.’
‘He’s not my boyfriend. Yet.’ Maybe if I ever get to take him on an actual date, I can work on changing that.
She opens the bag and pulls out a harness not too dissimilar to the one I wear at work for carrying cargo, but this one’s designed to secure a passenger on a dragon’s back. ‘It’s the one Milo bought Dad two Christmases ago to take Mum up in. He’s stillrefusing to wear it, so they definitely won’t miss it. It’s adjustable and everything.’
My dragon finally settles down, and he prods me to accept it immediately. Taking our treasure flying would be incredible—once we’re sure the skies are safe again.
‘Thanks. That’s really thoughtful.’ I manage a genuine smile, which she returns.
I remind my dragon that we also have to get Raj to actually agree. Hopefully once the investigation is over I’ll have better luck convincing him how amazing it would be.
She glances at the massive radio telescope. ‘So, what are you doing here? Flying without me?’
‘We didn’t think you could sneak away this weekend,’ Milo signs, his hand movements casual, giving nothing away.
I appreciate that he’s still keeping his promise to not tell her about my need for flight training, but as she explains that Mum got called out to a hatching and Dad went to a rugby match, there’s a knot in my stomach at the knowledge that my sister could have lost me this weekend—permanently this time—without even really knowing me. I want to change that.
‘We’re here as part of my rehabilitation,’ I sign, my hands tense.
She frowns. ‘Your what?’
I fingerspell ‘rehabilitation’ in case she doesn’t know the word. I don’t want to give my teenage sister too many details, but she’s old enough now that it doesn’t seem fair to keep her in the dark any longer. ‘Wargate suppressed my dragon side. I couldn’t fly, couldn’t shift, couldn’t even feel him.’
Her mouth falls open and she covers it with a quivering hand, her eyes wide.
My hands move rapidly because I don’t want her to dwell on that too much. ‘Milo’s helping me rebuild the muscle I lost, and train to get my flying skillsback.’
