E p i l o g u e

Beth felt someone brush her hair for her. She winced at the touch. She felt gross. Groaning, she opened her eyes. A familiar face stared down at her, with caramel-hued skin and blue eyes, and a smile. She smiled back at her half-brother. “Where am I?”

“Daybreak-run hospital. You lost quite a bit of blood there, sis.”

She sat up, rubbing her head. Bethany stifled a yawn, glancing around at her room. Painted a warm shade of yellow, on the nightstand next to her sat some get well cards—she smirked when she saw they were from Roger, Alicia, Gawain, Zhi Niao, Emile, and Louis-Etienne. The vase of daisies which made the room smell nice were from Nic, and the homework stacked neatly at the base of the bed was from Kotori. Beth reached for it cautiously. She felt the IV in her hand move. It itched. She smiled thankfully at Mac when he passed her the homework.

“So why did they let you into a Daybreak hospital?” she asked, opening her homework to see what she had to do.

Mackenzie copied the smirk she had worn a second ago. “You’ve been asleep for two days. A lot can happen in two days, like say, a group of bad guys changing sides.”

She lifted her head, surprised. “You’re all Daybreakers now?”

He shrugged. “Except for Zhi Niao. She wanted to concentrate on schoolwork. Louis’ having a hard time adjusting without her. It’s the first time they’ve really been separated since they met, and he’s used to being wild. Now he has strict rules to adhere to and no one to help him through it.”

“There’s you. You’re a natural leader, Mac.”

Her brother blushed. “Not that kind of helping, Beth. Turns out that Zhi and Louis were Soulmates. They just never bothered to tell anyone about it. I expect I’ll be seeing a lot more of you, what with you being a Daybreaker too and everything,” he added nervously. “I just wanted to… you know… see how you were doing and apologize and stuff. I know that I’ve made some mistakes in the past, and… if you’re not ready to rip the flesh from my bones, I’d really like to try to make up for those mistakes. I mean… I know that we’re bound by blood, but it’s blood that we’ve always been trying to deny and…”

Beth leaned over and took one of his hands into hers. She smiled. “You know, it’s strange but, being kidnapped and ritually sacrificed by my half-brother is really the least strangest thing that’s happened to me in the past two weeks.”

“I brought you a peace offering,” he smiled. Reaching down, he pulled out a brightly wrapped package for her. She opened it to find a brand new diary for her and she burst out laughing. “I kind of broke your lock on the old one, so this one only you can open. I had Gawain spell it for me so only your touch can do it.”

“How is Gawain?”

The vampire laughed loudly. “You’d scarcely recognize him, Beth. He went from being a loner, to all of a sudden being swamped by every single female witch in Daybreak his own age. He has a bunch of strong, intelligent, beautiful girls fighting over him. He’s in every fifteen year old’s dream.” Both of them laughed about it, and then came the silence.

“What… what about Cain?” She could feel the connection to him, but she didn’t know if he had joined Daybreak. For all she knew, he had run away and was hiding on some beach in Tiajuana… “Did he join Daybreak, too? I mean… they… they didn’t order them put back to sleep or anything, did they?”

“Well, no, and Cain has joined Daybreak, but it’s a rather… tense situation. I think Daybreak is uneasy because they know that if he ever attacked them, they wouldn’t have a way of controlling him… except that they have you on their side. And you, on your side, now have a vampire big brother, a smaller dragon who has chosen to call you sister, a rather fierce-looking red head, two bird-shifters, a witch, a werewolf, and a very large black woman I wouldn’t want to meet down a dark alley.” He grinned at her and patted her shoulder. “So I don’t think they’ll be taking advantage of you anytime soon with friends like that around to protect you.”

“Where is he now? I kind of expected that he’d be here when I woke up…”

“Ah. You have to remember you’re not the apple of his eye anymore, princess. Now he has to watch out for his little brother too. Our dragon has gone and gotten himself a job so that he can pay his rent and food for his brother. He’s somehow concluded that working is the twentieth century version of hunting. I have the address for you… he says that when you feel comfortable, you can go and talk to him.”

“I will…” she said tentatively, wondering why she had to feel comfortable to go and see her Soulmate. Then she thought about him and she shifted nervously, remembering their kiss. He might want to do that again, and she didn’t know how to deal with that. She wanted to kiss him too, but it was only a few days ago she wanted nothing to do with boys. What would she say? What would she do? ‘Hi. Thanks for saving me… again.’

Urgh.

“You really have changed since I met you, you know that?” There was a hint of pride to Mac's query. Beth glanced at him in surprise. She found him nodding slowly. “When I first met you, you sat there quietly and prayed for someone to rescue you. Now you’re taking on dragons.”

She shrugged, feeling herself blush. “I haven’t really changed,” she argued, knowing it was a lie. The Bethany that had existed two weeks ago would not have lashed out at a dragon or let Michael die, or been running around naked. But as she thought about it, she wondered if that was true. Two weeks ago, her biggest enemy was Michael, not an enormous red dragon. She hadn’t really changed, she had just been thrusted into a greater world, where the dangers were that much bigger and scarier than she was.

But she hadn’t been thrust into it alone.

“Mackenzie… I don’t really know anything about you. Do you think, if Daybreak doesn’t need you right now, that you could stay and talk to me?”

He inched his seat closer to her, leaning against the headboard of her bed. His smile was open and friendly, and it made Bethany feel strangely comforted to see it. Slowly, she let her head relax and leaned on his arm, their dark hair mingling as their heads bent closer. “And what would you have me tell you, princess?”

“I don’t know. Just tell me about yourself.”

So he did, and not for the first time.

In no time at all, Beth found herself back at school. She struggled to get back on top of her homework and her grades. Daybreak was leaving her alone, apparently giving her time to recuperate psychologically and emotionally from everything that had happened. Cain wasn’t in school. She occasionally found herself staring at his empty desk longingly. Cain had made school interesting. She missed helping him with mathematics. She missed seeing him at lunch. Lunch felt odd. Beth chewed her processed ham sandwiches dispassionately, more than once staring at her hand, wondering if she had actually managed to change her nails into retractable claws or if it had just been in her head.

There was no Michael to bother her. His friends gave her and Kotori a wide berth. In turn, the people who were friends with them also gave them a wide berth. But all the other kids in the school weren't. She found herself surrounded by the younger students, the smaller students, the quiet kids, and the anyone else she'd ever seen Michael or his friends pick on. For the first time in her life, Bethany found herself popular. Kids she had never seen before were coming up and sitting with her and Kotori, staring up at them with wide, awed eyes.

“They say that if people pick on you, they only do it once,” one of them told her. “We’re tired of being picked on. There’s safety in numbers, after all.”

Then, one day, Bethany was putting away her books in her locker when she heard a familiar voice. She shut the door and turned to see Cain standing down the aisle, laughing with some other boys his own age. Beth’s face broke into a smile. She was so happy just to see him that she never thought to wonder why their connection hadn’t alerted him that he was close. She cried out in utter joy and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. The boys that he had been talking to stared at her awkwardly. She looked up and realized that she wasn’t hugging Cain. Oh, the boys called him that, and it was Cain’s body, but it wasn’t Kaneonuskatew wearing that familiar mask.

“Hello, Beth.” She pulled herself away from him, feeling uncomfortable. The boy smiled brightly, taking her by the arm. “Meet Joshua and Sven. They want me to join the soccer team. Guys, this is my friend Beth. Mind if I talk to her for a second?”

The nodded and he practically pulled her away, towards the gym leading to the hallway where they could talk in some privacy. Beth ripped her arm from his grasp and pointed a finger at him, jabbing it in his torso until he was flat against the wall. “What did you do with Cain!? Why are you in his body!?”

He gently slapped her hand away, rather insolently. For a moment she was taken aback that this person—who appeared the same age as her—was treating her like an impudent child. He touched her wrinkled nose lightly, cutting off the growl rising in her throat.

“Down, kitten. You want to get us caught and thrown into detention for disturbing a gym class? I’m the dragon you woke up—the green one,” he added, seeing her face flicker with fear. “I’m your Soulmate’s younger brother. He says I have to go to school, and since he’s working to pay for food on our table and stuff, he said I could use this form.” His eyes glittered and he eyed her. “He also said that because this Cain had made it clear that he liked you, I was supposed to flirt with you and make it clear that you were taken at every possible turn.”

He laughed when she appeared ready to punch him. “Well, no, he didn’t, but he did say that I was to use this body and go to school and learn all I could about this world. I’m also supposed to keep an eye out for you, so you can get used to the idea of me being around. I’m supposed to keep you safe and if I see anyone picking on you, I’m supposed to tell him so that he can… let’s see… I think his exact words were ‘rip their insolent tongues from their sullying mouths’.” Much to her surprise he smirked and put his hands in the front pocket of his jeans. “My brother is a bit melodramatic.”

“You seem to have caught on to English faster. Your brother still doesn’t use colloquialisms like you do.”

“Of course he doesn’t. He’s stiff and fussy and that’s why we love him. You’re going to have to come over for supper soon. You have to explain to him that if I want to go out on a date with a girl, it doesn’t mean I’m going to marry her. He won’t let me date. Which is so totally, like, not fair because he has you and I need a girl, too…”

The dragon scuffed at the ground. Beth found herself struggling to keep from laughing at him. He was just so blissfully normal! She had met so many people in the past week worried about the end of the world, and racism, and war, that it was actually refreshing to be around someone whose largest concern was getting a date. “You’re not at all like I thought you would be.”

“And you’re not exactly the type of girl that I thought my brother would end up with.” He shrugged blithely at her curious expression. “I just always thought that my brother would either end up with this very nice little homemaker type or a wild, warrior woman. He didn’t get either. He got you instead. You hardly seem like a warrior, but you're not this docile thing that will let him walk all over you. It's just...”

The dragon paused. He was at a loss of words. He decided to switch topics. “He misses you, you know.”

“He… he does?”

“Yeah. Can’t you feel it? I’ve seen him sneak out, a few times. I think he circles your house at night, just to make sure that you’re okay, but I think he usually does it after you’d’ve gone to bed, that way you won’t get all huffy that he’s trying to protect you. I think it’s nice of him to do it, so don’t tell him I told you. I mean, it’s not like he’s going and sitting outside your window and watching you change or anything… I just thought that you might like to know that he misses you.”

Beth straightened, pushing her hair over shoulder and grabbing her knapsack. “I guess I can’t put it off for any longer. I have to go and see Cain.” She thought of something else and glanced over her shoulder. “What do I call you, anyway?”

“Here at school I’m Cain.”

“That’s going to get a bit confusing,” she said, pursing her lips. “What should I call you outside of school?”

He shrugged. “I’ll tell you when I thought of a good nickname to go by.”

After school that very day, Bethany went to go and see Kaneonuskatew. The address she had gotten turned out to be a butcher shop. For half an hour Beth sat across the street, trying to sort out exactly where she stood and where Cain stood. She sat at an independently owned café, sipping a hot chocolate.

When it was done, she knew that if she continued to hesitate, she’d never do it. Worse, after spending that half an hour watching the connection she had with him, not touching it, just watching for any sign of reaction that he knew she was close, there was nothing. He was giving Bethany her privacy and she liked that. She respected that. She didn’t want someone who would fret over every little paper cut and insult she got. She wanted someone who would come to her when she really needed it, and he had.

Picking up her backpack, Beth marched across the street to the small butcher shop. Pushing in the door, there was a nice jingling sound. Behind a large counter, Cain looked up. His long black hair had been pulled tightly back, and he was wearing a white apron that he had somehow managed to keep amazingly clean seeing as he was currently standing over a piece of meat, cutting with a rounded tool Beth didn’t recognize. He looked totally normal. He wore jeans and a grey shirt, and yet somehow Beth kept picturing him wearing nothing but oiled skins. Her eyes landed on the necklace her wore—a claw of some kind on a leather thong that hung around his neck--before her gaze returned to his face. She watched as he slowly smiled.

“Hello, Bethany.”

She knew that he could no longer speak with a heavy accent, as if the words he made were foreign in his mouth. He had rid himself of much of it since he had first joined school. But he still pronounced her name awkwardly. It was no longer drawn out because it was strange on his mouth, but because he enjoyed drawing out each syllable. She smiled back at him. “I thought that warriors like yourself weren’t supposed to show emotions, in case people learn about your weak spots.”

He resumed cutting the meat into thin slices. She watched him work, peering around the counter. He had fine hand-eye coordination. The metal tool was so sharp that it was slicing the meat into thin, nearly translucent strips and yet his fingertips were mere millimeters away from that sharp edge. He slapped the piece over on the wood block and then cut a small strip from the venire of meat, scooping it up on the half-moon-shaped tool and passing it her way.

“Try it. I smoked it myself, so it’s perfectly safe to eat like this.”

She reached out and took the strip he was offering her. The meat was slick and she struggled to keep it between her fingers. When she stuck it in her mouth, the smoky taste almost overpowered the taste of the meat. Beth chewed thoughtfully, finding the tough meat easy to chew when it was cut so thinly. She swallowed, blushing when she realized Cain was raptly watching her expression change from curious to delighted. The taste of the meat made her stomach feel satiated in a way all the Dijon-ham sandwiches in the world never could.

“You like it, then?”

“I do,” she said eagerly. “What is it?”

“It’s a deer.” A large man came out of the back room, lugging a large cooler. He set it down and when he turned, Beth’s eyes widened in surprise. Duncan, the large black man she had only ever seen wearing clean-cut suites and leading Daybreak, had traded in his clothes for a smeared white apron, a pair of acid-wash jeans, and a white t-shirt. He didn’t embarrass Beth by acknowledging her surprise. “Cain went out and hunted it, skinned it, and prepared the meat himself. It’s the best damn deer we’ve ever sold.”

The man in question shrugged, still cutting the smoked meat. “Shapeshifters need to eat raw meat. This is fit for human as well as animal consumption. It’s only selling so well because it tastes good and appeals to a wider variety of buyers.”

“I don’t know how we ever got along without Cain, Beth. My brother is proud that I convinced him to hire Cain. All I hear when I see him is what an asset he is, and how much their sales have increased.”

“Then… then you don’t own the shop?” she asked curiously.

Duncan laughed. “Hell, no! My brother owns it. I just help out now and then when Daybreak is slow. Anyway, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about. Cain, I’ll be in the back. Call me if we get a customer.”

The dragon nodded. Beth eyed him curiously. “You don’t work with customers?”

He smiled flirtatiously at her. “Actually, Mr. Duncan believes that the reason why we’ve had an increase in the number of customers is because I’m the one standing behind the counter all day. He thinks that I attract more female customers.” Cain chuckled dryly when he noticed that there was a growing crease between her eyebrows at the very idea of women coming in to check him out. He set down the meat and washed his hands. “We have a saying for cute girls who stare like that.”

“Yeah, so do we. I’m sorry about coming and bothering you at work, Cain.”

“Nonsense. How else would you get in contact with me? You don’t exactly like using the Soulmate connection unless it’s absolutely necessary. You’re not the type of girl who would abuse a connection like that needlessly… So, what do you want to talk about?”

She blinked, pushing her long hair over her shoulder as she stared at him. He was leaning over the counter, putting his eyes on the same level as hers. Beth leaned her head to the side. Looking at him was making this much easier than she had worried it would be.

“Where do we stand, Cain? I’m so used to the idea of us being enemies that now that we’re not and we’re on the same side…”

“And working together,” he added. When he saw her expression, he muttered a curse. “Nicolas hadn’t told you that, then? Daybreak has assigned me to work with you. They don’t want me working with Mac in case we egg each other on, and they’re hoping that working with you, you might perhaps be able to keep me under control.” A dry chuckle escaped him when he saw that Beth rolled her eyes at that idea. “They know about our connection, and with my telepathy, it means that I can communicate to you and relay your messages to others that way you don’t have to worry about microphones anymore. I believe that Nicolas laughingly referred to me as his communications officer.”

“How do you feel about working with me?”

“I think we’ll work along well together, I just don’t know if I like going from being a terrifying dragon to a communications officer.” He was delighted with the corners of Beth’s mouth turned up in a grin at his comment. Cain had found that he enjoyed making her laugh. “I am also concerned, Bethany. I never thought of you as my enemy, try as I might. We are Soulmates. Working together or me being here instead of at school cannot change that fact.”

“I know, but… I just don’t know what you wanted. I mean, you’re older than I am, and you’re prepared for so much more, and you’re always so much more together than I am, and I don’t know what you want. Do you want to see me again? Do you want a relationship? Do…” He silenced her, pressing a fingertip to her soft lips. Beth’s lips tingled at the contact, sparks dancing along her skin at his very touch. The touch softened, and he let his hand brush her cheek, running his thumb over a long scratch that crossed one of her cheekbones. Beth found it suddenly so very painful to breathe.

“I want you, Bethany.”

She felt her lips shake as she tried to speak. Why did looking at him always make her head feel light and fuzzy? “I can’t change my shape, you know.”

He smiled, leaning across the table. Slowly, his lips brushed hers. Beth leaned up on her toes to press herself into the kiss, unable to wait for it any longer. She had wanted to kiss him, to be wrapped up like this for so long that she was almost sorry when she found her body leaving her far behind. For the first time, she found herself being pulled into someone else’s mind.

His mind was a barren peak, but it was inviting and warm. All of his thoughts were neat and orderly and carefully tucked away, even from her. It wasn’t like her mind at all. He stood when he felt her presence. She had expected him to see himself as a dragon, but she was wrong. In his mind, he was still himself, just as he had been when they first met. Beth glanced down at herself and saw that she was herself, just as they had first met. And then, as she watched, she felt herself change, and grow, and heighten and shrink. She shifted between human, half-cat, and cougar with each flickering emotion.

Cain smiled at her patiently. She shivered in delight at the old wisdom in those eyes. “You don’t have to be able to change, Bethany. Seeing you in our minds, I will never forget that you have the instincts. You don’t need the body. I like your human body, and I am looking forward to watching it grow.” When she blushed and looked away, he gently touched her chin, making her look up at him. “Shifting will not make me love you more, Bethany.”

He broke the kiss. She licked her lips. He tasted smokey and she wondered if he’d snuck a taste of his meat. “Why did you show me that?” she muttered.

“Because had I not done it like that, you would have wondered if I was said it because I knew it was what you wanted to hear. Had I been lying, you would have known it. Besides, I wanted to kiss you again. I told you before, Bethany. I wanted to kiss you. I have something for you.”

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a claw on a leather thong, just as he was wearing. This one was different. It was stained a little red on one side. Beth reached out and took it. It felt a little familiar. It wasn’t a claw, she saw. It was too blunt. It was… her jaw dropped. “F… Fala’s horn?”

Cain nodded. “I went back and got it for you. Now we both have one, because we took her down together. It will warn other dragons to beware of us. Besides, horns are the seat of a dragon’s power. Even if Fala is dead, there remains some power in the horn. Perhaps it will bring you good luck.” They heard the door-bell chime and he looked up to wave a greeting at a customer before he glanced down at her. She watched his hand tighten to keep from reaching out and touching her in farewell. “I need to get back to work.”

“I know.” Beth winked at him and slipped the horn over her head. It felt strange, hanging down between her breasts. It was cold, but as it pressed against her skin, it began to feel warmer. Though it would be a little uncomfortable to wear all the time, she didn’t think she’d ever take it off. She wished he’d kiss her goodbye, but she knew he wouldn’t. What would the customer think? Beth looked like she was in middle-school and he was a grown man.

She was quick to leave the shop. She turned back at the door. “Hey, Cain?” He glanced up. The woman was perusing the cold-cuts section. “Do you still want to learn algebra? Great! I’ll see you later tonight! Bye, Cain!” Beth waved cheerfully and fled the shop.

Her Soulmate was a dragon. She was teaching him algebra. He was a three-horned dragon who worked in a local butcher shop. Beth thought it was odd—she thought it was odd that she didn’t think it was odd. She grinned, holding the horn through the fabric of her shirt. The sky was cloudy. As she walked home, the dark clouds overhead opened up. Snow began to fall. She paused to enjoy the flakes as they landed on her red cheeks, melting there. Winter was coming. The Apocalypse was coming. Beth knew she should have been worried, but she wasn’t.

So long as she had her friends and Cain, she knew that she’d get through it.

The Apocalypse couldn’t be any harder to survive than the past two weeks.

Fin