Mixed Blood

Chapter 8

The home of the Great Dragon Ares and his dragonkin mate Keoni had been built right on a white sandy beach barely a hundred and fifty kilometers west of the city of Alexandria. Rhia had been there only twice before. The first time was to check on Keoni while he was still in a coma. The other after he'd awakened barely a week after Nolan's death.

The single-story building was made of smooth sandstone in a U-shape around a small courtyard garden open to the road leading to the rest of the dragonkin community. Around the back to the side facing the ocean was a covered terrace where the two spent the majority of their free time.

As she crossed into their territory, Rhia felt the layers of magic that protected the property from storms and unwelcome guests, making doors entirely unnecessary and therefore had not been included. It gave the whole house an open feeling and the dragonkin were welcome and encouraged to drop in on their leaders whenever they wanted.

Ares stood waiting for her halfway down the beach from the water, having felt her approach long before her arrival. His intimidating presence made her hesitate. She'd been doing her best to avoid him since their first meeting after the battle in Tahoe. When he had business with Nekros, she went to Paris. When Nekros went to see him, she made an excuse not to go as well. And when she'd come to see Keoni, she made sure he wasn't going to be there.

Rhia didn't have that luxury now and could only try not to show how nervous she was around him. It didn't work. Ares was a lot older, a lot stronger, and a lot more dragon than she was.

Without exchanging pleasantries, he turned and walked back to the steps to the terrace where Keoni sat leaning back amongst a pile of pillows and a thin sheet tucked around his legs to protect him from the temperature. From where she stood, he looked tired and worn out. "Maybe now's not a good time," she stuttered. "I'll... I'll come back later..."

"Rhia Kincaid," Even through the link, Keoni's voice sounded hoarse. "Get over here so I can get a look at you."

She couldn't help rolling her eyes, and walked forward and up the stairs. "You sound like an old bat who hasn't seen her grandkids in decades."

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you came around once and a while," he smiled.

Ares rested a heavy hand on Keoni's shoulder for a second before retreating back into the house to give them the privacy to talk alone. Rhia wasn't looking at him, her eyes focused on the bags of medications still being pumped into his veins. "They still have you on T.P.N.," she muttered more to herself than to him. "Diuretics, too. Have you started any P.O. nutrition?"

"Old habits die hard, I see. Still thinking like a doctor."

"I was a paramedic, not a doctor," she shrugged, and tilted the bag slightly and squinted at the Arabic script as if she could read it. "Big difference."

"Well, that is not my area of expertise so, tell me. What do those letters all mean?"

Her mouth twitched up. Slowly, her shoulders relaxed, and she backed up to sit down in the chair next to him. "Total parenteral nutrition," she explained, still avoiding his gaze. "Basically, how patients eat when they can't tolerate anything by mouth. Or, per os. I... sort of assumed that they would have started to introduce at least fluids by now."

"I did lose several feet of my intestines. All the magic in the world won't heal that right away."

"Yeah, well, that's why I got paid minimum wage to plug holes with duct tape, not hundreds of thousands to treat long-term patients. How are you feeling?"

"Rhia, look at me, please?"

There was a second of hesitation, before she raised her eyes to his. He saw the same, scared little girl he'd met back at the compound hospital. The haze of glamour over the beautiful green she'd inherited from Nekros would have given her the appearance of normal, human eyes to most creatures. But to someone who had lived as long as he, the magic made them look blurry and dull. There was also no hiding the heavy shadows of little to no sleep and heavy drinking from the last four and a half months.