"I told you this was too early!" A man whispered rather loudly.
"How was I supposed to know they'd still be asleep at 10:30," a woman argued.
I squeezed Drake but I kept my eyes closed. I quickly summoned a knife in my hand but made sure that they wouldn't notice the weapon. I waited for their shifting to give away their position then I shot up and threw the knife in one fluid motion.
A yell rang out and Drake shot up beside me. We both jumped out of bed, still disorientated from sleep. "Kyna! Snap out of it!" The woman yelled.
I blinked a few times and realized that the woman was Cara. She was kneeling next to her soulmate, Randal, who was clutching his bleeding shoulder. "What is with you and knives?" Randal groaned.
"Who are these people?" Drake asked me still in fight mode.
I relaxed my stance and ran my hand through my tangled red hair. I sighed and answered, "This is Cara James, the other Amari, and her soulmate, Randal."
Drake then relaxed as well and gave them a nod. Randal looked over at my beloved and snickered. He pointed at Drake and said, "You stabbed me over this!"
"Oh, calm down," Cara told him rolling her hazel eyes, "You heal fast, and if it's really bad, I'll summon a healing patch."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one with the stab wound!" Randal complained.
"I didn't stab you," I defended myself as I narrowed my eyes at him.
Cara rolled her hazel eyes then turned to Drake, "Don't take him too seriously. I'm Cara"
"Drake," he informed as he held his hand out for her to shake.
They shook hands and Cara remarked to me, "He's cute! Good job."
I blushed and hissed, "Shut up."
"Yeah!" Randal yelled, "You're my girl! Stay away from Mr. King of Dragons!"
Cara smiled, her whole face lighting up. She went over to the healing Randal and pecked his lips. "I don't need a dragon when I have my very own werewolf," she reassured him.
"Werewolf?" Drake inquired with wide eyes.
"A man that can turn into a wolf," I explained quickly.
Drake's mouth gaped open a bit before he forced it closed and nodded. Randal let out a groan and stood up. His wound was now closed and the area was simply bruised. He stumbled towards Drake and put his hand out. "Randal Hart, I'm Cara's mate," he introduced himself.
Drake hesitantly placed his hand in the werewolf's and he replied, "Drake Anders, Kyna's beloved."
They shook hands and quickly stopped all contact. They then stepped back and examined each other, curious about the other. "So... you're a dragon?" Randal questioned.
Drake nodded and said, "Yeah."
"What's that like?" Randal wondered.
"Randal!" Cara reprimanded, "Don't ask stupid questions."
"It's alright. It's pretty normal," Drake told Randal.
I sighed and said, "He's not going to know what being different is like. Just like you've been a werewolf all your life, he's been a dragon all his life. It is his normal."
Suddenly the door opened and Cato called out, "Kyna! Have you seen my brother?"
We all turned to face the prince and watched as he walked in looking at some papers. When I didn't answer he looked up from his stack and froze. His eyes landed on Cara and he threw his papers up in the air. He yelped and pointed at her. He turned to Drake and rambled, "That's her! That's the scary girl that made the ground eat me!"
Randal let out a laugh then he asked Cara, "You made the ground eat him?"
She rolled her hazel eyes and replied, "Of course not! It was just a portal."
"Portal?" Cato questioned as the hand that was still pointing at Cara started to shake.
I let out a groan and informed him, "Cato, meet Cara. She's an Amari... like me."
Cara gave him a small smile and a wave as she leaned against Randal. Cato let his hand drop and he narrowed his eyes as he glared at my friend. "That still doesn't explain the portal," Cato complained.
"It's one of my powers," Cara explained.
"I don't like it," Cato shot back.
"Cato! No one cares," Drake told him.
Cato put his hands on his hips and argued, "People care what I think!"
"No, they don't," we all responded at once.
"Mean," the prince grumbled.
Drake groaned and asked, "Why are you here? I told you to stop barging into Kyna's room."
"I was looking for you," Cato replied much calmer, "Jonah just asked for permission to live off grounds. It needs your signature of approval or denial."
"Good for them," I said cheerfully.
Cato turned to me confused and questioned, "Isn't Taylor your only friend at the palace?"
"Yep," I responded.
"Why are you happy then?" He asked shocked.
"She didn't want to live in the castle. Not everyone is made for this kind of life," I told him.
"Whatever," he grumbled, "Just sign it off so I can leave and never see Cara again."
Cara let out a laugh and teased, "Love you too."
Randal let out a small growl at her words and pulled her closer to her. Drake and I ignored this small outburst and he signed the paperwork as Cato picked it up off the ground and handed it to him. Once it was all in order, Cato made a quick exit.
We waited a few seconds to make sure he was really gone. Then I asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
"I told you'd I'd be back in a few days... so here I am. Now, do you want to stay and we'll all have a nice lunch together? Or do you want to leave and go to a dimension of your choice?" Cara replied.
Drake looked at me with fear and I felt like I was swallowing a bullet. I want to go home. I want to see my parents again. I want to walk into our penthouse and see the city lights as I laid on the couch. But, I can't leave Drake and Drake can't leave this dimension. The last few days of being unable to care of myself when he was gone were proof of that. Plus, I didn't want to leave him. As much as it painted me to say it, I loved him. "I'm staying," I announced.
Cara smiled brightly and said, "Let's have lunch then. Randal and I have a meeting at 3, so I suggest we start lunch right now."
"What do you guys want to eat?" I asked with a smile.
"We can have anything you desire," Drake added.
"I desire for you to put a shirt on," Randal told Drake. I smiled and looked at my soul mate. I hadn't even noticed that he was only in a pair of sweatpants. I myself was still in a silk nightdress.
Drake stayed straight face and replied, "I'll have someone escort you to our dining room. Tell the staff what you'd like and they'll prepare it while we get ready."
"Sounds great," Randal said loudly. He then leaned down and whispered to Cara, "Imma eat this fool dry."
"You can certainly try," Drake responded.
Randal froze and his eyes went wide. "So you have super hearing," he mumbled to himself.
"I'm pretty sure everyone could hear that hon," Cara admitted as she quickly patted his chest.
Randal looked at me and I nodded in confirmation. He let out a dramatic prolonged breath and looked away. "Well, that's awkward," He proclaimed, "Well come on Cara. Let's go tell the kitchen we want food."
"Nice transition," Cara told him.
They then joined hands, intertwining their fingers, and left the room. Drake followed behind them and told the guard outside my door to lead them to the dining room. Once they were on their way, Drake turned around and walked back to me. "Did you know they were coming?" He asked.
"Yeah," I admitted, "I just forgot with all the drama that happened."
"I said I was sorry about that!" He reminded me.
"And I forgive you. I'm just telling you why I forgot," I said as I walked into my closet.
"Let's face it. You only forgave me because I agreed with you when it came to the humans," he argued as he walked into his room.
"I forgave you before you told me that!" I yelled as I pulled a blue sundress over my head, "It just helped your cause."
I heard his footsteps coming towards me and I exited the closet in a new outfit. Drake met me halfway and he too was now in a suit. How did he change into that so fast? "You had the best argument," he declared as he held his arm out for me.
I took his arm and we made our way to the dining room. I leaned my head against his shoulder and allowed myself to take in his heat. He put his hand over mine and we walked in silence. As we approached the dining room I stood up straight and he dropped his hand. Our arms were still interlaced but it showed nothing but our royal duty.
We entered the room and I smiled as I heard Cara and Randal arguing. No matter which dimension they were in... no matter what version of themselves they were... they were always bickering. It was reassuring that some things truly are universal.
Drake gave me a look of horror due to their loudly arguing. The couple hadn't noticed our presence yet and their squabble was in full force. It was over something mundane, like usual. "Are they really arguing this loudly over salt?" He asked me quietly.
"Yep," I told him," This is normal for them."
Randal heard us after I spoke and he snapped his head up. Cara soon followed suit. "We ordered steak, bacon, and shrimp," Randal told us like everything was perfectly normal.
"I thought you were going to eat me dry?" Drake teased as we sat down.
"Cara thought that would be rude," the werewolf grumbled disappointingly.
"Randal! We are guests. Let's just enjoy the nice lunch before we have to go back to our own dimension," Cara told him. We then sat back and enjoyed lunch. It was the first time that I was at a table where everyone truly knew me. Knew what I was and what I could, or potentially, could do. It was nice.