The Arena novel Chapter 20

We make a plan to attack the arena where Palila is being held. Jena doesn’t like being left behind, but I need someone to watch Kenna for us, and, in truth, she would only be in the way.

Ishir and I sit down the next night and talk through our plan. “We need Avani.”

“Why? I’m able to shift again, and I’m at full strength.”

“This is a new arena. I saw the bars on the Commander’s box. They are prepared for an uprising. While having one dragon is great, having two will ensure our victory.”

“Your confidence in me is astounding,” I say sarcastically.

“I know you are strong, Tana. I know you are fierce. But we don’t know what they may have planned. Two fierce apex predators are better than one,” he says.

“So, what are you, then? Chopped liver? Last I looked, tigers were considered apex predators as well.”

“There’s apex, and then there’s dragons.”

“Fine. But I have no idea where to find him.”

“I do, but if we don’t want to raise suspicions, we’ll have to leave after you’re done with work on Friday.”

“That’s tomorrow.”

“Is it already?”

I nod, giving him a ‘yes, and you should know that’ look.

“I really think I should come,” Jena says quietly.

“Sweetie, if you go, I have to stay. Someone has to watch Kenna. We will get your sister and bring her home, I promise.”

“And let’s be honest, kid. You are no apex predator. A predator? Yes. Apex? No,” Ish tells her with absolutely no finesse.

I sigh. “Jena, the only people that I trust with Kenna are in this room. If something happens to me this weekend, I need to know that Kenna will be taken care of. I trust you to look after her and care for her if I don’t come back.”

Her eyes go wide, “You think you’re not coming back?”

“It’s always a possibility, kid. I promised you your sister, but I can’t promise that I’ll get all three of us out. I’ll do the best I can, and that’s why we need Avani.”

“I already said it was fine,” I huff. “Okay, so tomorrow, we’ll leave from here after I get back from work. I’ll feed Kenna, and then we can go.”

The next night I pack a bag and feed my daughter before kissing her forehead. She has my red hair, a sign that she will probably have the dragon gene. But she has her father’s cobalt blue eyes. Her eyes are more intelligent than any one-month-old human’s eyes should be. Another sign that she probably has the dragon gene. I may not know how to care for a child that was birthed from my body rather than an egg, but I know I love my child.

I kiss her again, before giving her to Jena. “Take care of my daughter,” I say to her.

Ishir comes up and wraps his arm around her, kissing her on her head. “I’ll bring your sister back to you,” he says.

I strip and put my clothes in a bag, handing them to Ish. Then, I walk out onto my patio and jump, shifting mid-air before carefully flying to the edge of the patio.

“You know I hate this part, right?” he asks.

I chuff at him.

“Tigers are meant to be on the ground, not in the air.”

He slings the bag over his shoulder before stepping up onto my wing and running to the center of my back. Once he settles, I lift us up above the clouds. It’s a crescent moon tonight, but I don’t need the light to see.

Ishir gives me directions to a forest hundreds of miles outside the city limits. As I fly, the air becomes cleaner and cooler, the scents of the forest, my preferred home, fills my nose. A rumble of pleasure at being back in the forest vibrates in my chest.

“Tana, that’s an uncomfortable feeling for someone sitting on your back,” Ish says to me.

I chuckle at that.

“Okay, that’s even worse,” he says, bouncing on my back.

When he finds the spot where he wants me to go, I land as gently as I can. As soon as he’s off my back, I shift. He hands me my bag, and I put my clothes on.

“Okay, where is Avani?” I ask.

“I’m right here, Tana,” a deep, baritone voice says behind me.

I whip around, and there he is, Avani. He’s the last male of our kind. If I wasn’t mated to an Alpha werewolf, I would be drawn to him. I’m sure my cousins, the other female dragons, are. It’s in our genetics. The only way we can create more dragons is if we breed with another dragon. While my daughter is showing signs of the dragon gene, she was not hatched from an egg. She will never be a full-blooded dragon.

“Hello, Avani. It’s been a while.”

He looks at me with heated eyes for a moment too long. Ishir clears his throat, and Avani turns to look at him.

“Ishir,” he nods at him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”