The Vigilante & The Dragon - Book 1 of the Guardians Saga [COMPLETED]

A Place to Stay Ch. 4.2

After they left, Alex said to Cale, "I don't think your brother Rile bought into this Calling bit."

"It took four days for the cleansing fires to consume all the bodies of our clan. He's never been the same."

"While not the greatest topic of conversation, what do you think, Cale?"

He was silent so long that she was afraid she had offended him, but when he spoke, his voice wasn't angry.

"They're both right. There's a purpose to the Calling, there must be. But why couldn't it have included saving our family? Why did they die? We would have fulfilled our duties if we had been Called. They didn't have to be taken from us."

"Your family is killed if the Portal Guardian thinks you'll say no? What a tough boss!" Alex's eyes widened and she drummed her fingers on the table nervously, adding to the sound of Cale's claws.

Cale shook his head emphatically. "You're correct. I've been thinking about this all wrong. The Portal Guardian would never do that." He smiled a small, sad smile at her. "I'm glad Rile wasn't here when you corrected my bad theology. I'd never know the end of his teasing. You have a choice when you're Called. The first time the light signals, you can enter it or turn away. Once you're a Guardian, though, you're committed."

"I prefer ignorance of the past. No family to grieve, no loves lost, no dreams shattered," Alex said.

"That's sad," Cale said. "No past joys or triumphs to remember, no memories of family to ground you, give you identity, no remembrance of your parents' love."

"Not worth it. I won't live long anyway." Alex snapped open the paper and lifted it in front of her face to forestall any further conversation.

Back away, cute and kind Dragon Boy, you've been hurt and I don't want you hurt anymore because of me.

*****

Dr. Dewey knocked quietly and Alex looked up from the paper.

Nice of him, considering he owns the place.

Cale opened the door. "Hello, Dr. Dewey."

"Rile and Gabe aren't here," Alex said abruptly as he walked in. 

That wasn't very nice of me. But I'm not a nice person. If I ever was, it was beaten out of me from the start of my memories. Now I'm insane, possibly a bit promiscuous with non-humans, but only sleeping alongside them. I'll blast the hide right off those alien dragons if they touch me wrong.

"That's all right. I welcome a chance to speak with you." Dr. Dewey's manner was gracious and put most people at ease, people who weren't Alex. He pulled up a chair to the table and sat down. "Gabe tells me that you are not returning to your apartment."

All sorts of muscles tightened in Alex. "What else did he say?"

"That someone attacked you there and that you wish to avoid this person. Quite reasonable, in my opinion."

Those tight muscles relaxed.

"Any luck finding a new place?" Dr. Dewey indicated the newspaper in her hands. When she shrugged, he said, "I have a proposition."

Muscles re-tightened. "What?"

Propositions are a metaphorical four letter word in my world and that I'm about to be screwed. Literally and figuratively.

"There is the upper floor of this carriage house. It's not up to code, but as I'm not charging anything, we can sidle around that."

"Really?" Curiosity overcame Alex's tension.

"There's a bathroom and a kitchenette up there. It has a similar floor plan to this apartment. All you must do is clean it out."

Alex thought about it a whole two seconds. "I'm grateful, but why do you do this? You offer free rent to strangers all the time?" She glanced over at Cale, who smiled so gently that she almost returned it.

Almost.

"I was walking home from teaching a night class at Tulane. Several men stopped me. I handed them my wallet, but it wasn't enough. I was hurt, but before they could do worse, the boys showed up."

Alex decided not to challenge Dr. Dewey calling six-foot, humanoid dragons 'boys'.

"They helped me home and I discovered they had none. I offered the first floor of the carriage house. They're quite an asset and my neighborhood has never been safer," Dr. Dewey said.

"That's it? They rescue you from a mugging, and the rest is history?" Alex asked.

Dr. Dewey smiled, half amused. "That isn't enough to justify giving them the first floor of my carriage house? They're only here half of the time. The other half of the time, they're camping in the backwoods of southern Louisiana."

"No." Alex didn't candy-coat her disbelief.

"They see themselves as Called, duty bound to right whatever wrongs they find. I see three boys who lost their father, their family, and their world. Then they rescued me. Can you blame me for helping them?" Dr. Dewey still smiled his kind smile.

"I guess not, seen in that light," Alex admitted.

"There are lights other than the one you see."

"Good, because it's a crappy, dingy light." Alex regarded Dr. Dewey, chewing the inside of her cheek. "What about me? I didn't save you from anything."

"You helped the boys who helped me. I understand you're interested in righting wrongs as well. Another set of eyes watching my area would be helpful to my wife and myself, not to mention my neighbors."

"Dr. Josef Hermann is behind the attacks on both you and ourselves." Cale's voice held a quiet firmness.

Dr. Dewey didn't look convinced and he shook his head. This dislodged his wire frame glasses, and he pushed them back in place. "While I am the chair of the ethics committee that turned down several of his projects, and I may have dissented over his tenure, I doubt he put a hit on me. The world of academics is not that rough."

"I know what I saw. You must be more careful," Cale chastised lightly.

"That brings us back to you, Alex. Are you interested in trading rent for patrolling my neighborhood?"

Alex sat, digesting the proposal. She looked over at Cale, who nodded encouragement.

Someone is out to hurt this nice doctor as well as the brothers? Maybe I can help them after all.

"May I feed stray cats? I'll trap, neuter, and release them," she said. "It's called TNR."

"Why do you do that?" Dr. Dewey asked.

"It's important to me."

"Why?" Dr. Dewey smiled lightly to remove any sting from the question.

Alex closed her eyes. "I like helping strays on the street. I was one once. It's better to establish a neutered colony than killing them. May I please?"

"Of course," Dr. Dewey said.

Alex opened her eyes. "I'm glad to move in. Thank you for the apartment as well as the chance to help the feral cats and beat on muggers. Nice people like you need people like me to stop the scum from taking over."

"She said yes!" Rile's voice echoed from outside.

Dr. Dewey looked dismayed, but Alex laughed. She opened the door and called out, "You're helping me move."

***
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