THE IMMORTAL: Dance with the Dragon

27: Awkward

"Get those bony bat-fingers off of me!"

Kit's voice came rumbling through the caves and right into the dining room where Samara, Leela, and Rufus were eating breakfast the next morning.

"You need to rest," came a woman's voice after.

"I've been restin' forever!"

Samara, Leela, and Rufus exchanged glances before all three jumped out of their chairs and headed in the direction of Kit's voice. Danteous and Roslyn followed. Samara half-ran into the corridor. She and Kit almost collided as she rounded the corner.

"Samara!" Kit yelled in delighted surprise.

"Kit!" Samara scooped her up into a hug.

Kit squeezed Samara so tightly she almost cut off her air but Samara was too happy to care. She had been worried Kit would never wake up. They held each other tightly. Samara then noticed the woman that had been following Kit, trying to get her back into bed. It was the half-dragon, the only one that hadn't introduced herself. When she saw Samara, she stopped abruptly and eyed her with malice.

Did she hate them because they were human? Did she know Samara was attempting to stop Cyril? Roslyn had assured them many times that all the dragons here were neutral and didn't care that Samara and the others were humans, but maybe Roslyn had been wrong about this one?

Then the woman glanced at Danteous and Samara finally understood by the pain in her eyes: she was in love with him. Just as quickly as she had glanced at Danteous, the woman went to Roslyn.

"I tried to stop her."

"It's all right, Celeste. I don't think any of us could have stopped her from being where she clearly needs to be," Roslyn said, smiling at the four of them as Rufus and then Leela grabbed Kit into a bear-hug. Kit giggled as Leela lifted her off the ground.

"I'll be back later," Celeste said curtly.

"Thank you," Roslyn said gently, touching Celeste's arm. The silver-haired woman nodded and then went on her way.

Samara had questions about Celeste, of course, but there were other more important things to worry about. They convinced Kit to get back into bed on the condition that they would bring her an entire plate of pancakes. The little girl didn't seem as drained as the others had been when they first woke up. Samara was a little jealous at the energy she had.

Once Kit was settled and happily eating her pancakes drenched in what looked like a gallon of syrup, Samara decided it was time to ask about Celeste, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear it.

"So ... is it just me or does that Celeste chick hate my guts?" Samara chuckled softly, trying to make light of things so she didn't seem like a jealous girlfriend.

"Don't worry about her," Danteous said, then turning to Roslyn added, "why is she even here?"

"Because she's a good healer, Danteous," Roslyn said gently. "I think the two of you can put aside your issues for the health of your loved ones. After all, she got the poor end of the deal if I remember correctly."

Danteous frowned.

Samara thought then that perhaps she should have asked Danteous about Celeste in private instead of in front of everyone. It was awkward now. No one knew what to say.

Too late now.

"Come with me, I'll explain." Danteous said to Samara with a sigh.

"Uh ... okay."

"What was that about?" Rufus said as Danteous led Samara out of the room.

He took her out of earshot of everyone else. They went around the corner and into the empty corridor. "Before I tell you anything, you have to understand that a few years ago I was a different person."