Wucaii

Chapter Ten

Aelana's eyes flew open and she bolted upright. Taking in her surroundings, she realized she was on the floor in Kalen's living room. She relaxed slightly and placed her hand on her forehead.

"You all right?" Kalen asked from the kitchen.

She glanced at him. He stood over the sink with a coffee cup in his hand, his uniform on.

"Fine. Just having a weird dream."

It was almost the truth. She had been dreaming, but what caused her to wake up was a voice calling to her through the earth. It drowned out all others and shouted her name, pulling her out of sleep.

"You are awfully jumpy. Seems I'm always worried about you."

"What day is it?" she asked, directing the conversation away from herself.

"Monday," Kalen answered after taking a drink of his coffee.

"You're working today?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. We're short-staffed, and I guess there have been some problems stemming from the impending end of the world. They called all available officers back to duty." He lifted his mug. "You want some coffee?"

She placed her hand on the couch next to her and shook her head.

He dumped the rest of the liquid down the drain, placed his cup in the sink, then walked around and sat next to her on the floor. He placed his hand on hers and scooted as close to her as he could get.

"I really want to stay with you. I had two more days off, but duty calls. Will you be here when I get home?"

Her hand stroked his cheek. "It's fine. Your job is more important. I doubt I'll still be here. I have some things to do today."

"Do you want to go to town with me now?"

"No. I'll be fine."

Confusion covered his face. "How are you going to get there?"

She chuckled. "Walk."

"It's quite a ways to downtown."

"I'll be fine. I have most of the day."

"Will you meet me at the bar later?"

She smiled. "I can do that."

He sighed. "Good." He leaned forward and kissed her gently. "I'll see you tonight. Say sevenish."

He stood, still holding her hand, and hesitated for a moment. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. He gave her fingers a quick squeeze before heading out the door.

Aelana watched him leave, then raised her arms above her head and stretched. Her spine popped, her muscles pulled. It had been three days since she'd been able to fly, and she itched to get into the air. After their dip in the river, Kalen and Aelana had hiked in the woods until their stomachs told them it was time to eat. They had come back to Kalen's house, where he prepared chicken on the grill, and then they plopped in front of the TV. Again, they didn't spend a lot of time watching, but indulged in each other's lips and arms. Several times it got dangerously close to going further, and Aelana reluctantly pulled back. Kalen was incredibly understanding and kind, but he was getting frustrated with the situation. Eventually, he fell asleep, and Aelana moved to the floor. She slept better being closer to the ground, though she didn't sleep fabulously.

It disappointed her that Kalen had to work, but she really did have some things to do. The rest of the dragons would be there in two days, and the prophecy sightings hadn't been started. Her first mission was to go to Bayn and appear to him in true form. He'd need assurance that the end was really near, and she needed to let him know his plan for the survivors would work.