Xavior

It had been a year, maybe more, since I’d been home. I kept in touch with Faith and Trevor, along with my parents, and then there was Denis. We weren’t exactly fond of each other, but he was my brother. That meant something. Or I hoped it did.

I’d timed leaving for Spain at the same time Gregor went to visit his parents. Flying to Europe before modern transportation was never easy. I’d only made the trip twice myself. Even a dragon floating in open water taking a break could be a target for things in the ocean, though fishing was better back then with fewer boats.

When the private plane touched down at Valencia airport, the bump of the mag-levs locking into place for the taxi to the terminal woke me up.

I had called ahead and had a vehicle waiting for me when I arrived. The family property was located outside of Valencia, about an hour west of the city into the mountains. I could have shifted and flown to the manor, but generally, we didn’t like to attract that kind of attention. Flying around the nature preserves and forested areas was one thing. Flying over populations when you were the size of a small gulf stream that you’d just flown over in, that’s a different story.

The manor had a lot of space for the family. Over the years, we’d needed it. Faith and Trevor’s brood shuffled back and forth between here and their home in Northern London. Having the space helped when younger dragons scales bristled. We were still territorial by nature, even if that particular trait had faded quite a lot.

Corley Cortez Brantley greeted me as I walked up to the house’s main door. “Hello, mum.” She was tall. Taller than Greg even. She had golden eyes that sometimes gleamed red in the right light. It matched her golden-red hair and her golden-red skin. She wore a simple yellow summer dress with leather sandals year-round. She never was cold, no matter the weather. It was one trait phoenixes and dragons shared.

“Darling, I’m so happy for you to visit. I’m only sorry it’s for such a short time.” Her arms went around my neck as she pulled me in for a hug. I gave her one in return, though I was anxious to find my brother. The package I had with me wouldn’t wait much longer, though my own body temperature managed to keep it from coagulating.

“Denis still in his lab?”

She sighed and let go of me. “Yes, of course. He’s been waiting for you since you said you had something for him to look at. He’s quite curious about it. We don’t understand why you two are being so secretive.” That “we” was her and my father. I didn’t want them to worry. Denis thought it would be best to wait to tell them until we were all face-to-face.

“I was told something in confidence, and I’ll explain, I promise, after I see Denis. I have something for him that can’t wait much longer, or it won’t be of much use.”

“Alright then, I’ll let you go.” She released me with a pat on the back as I hurried down the hall to the main stairway. “Lunch is at the usual time," she called out. "Tell Denis. I expect both of you to be there.”

“Yes, ma’am. We will be.” I called back as I went down the stairway to the lower level, which Denis had sectioned off almost two centuries ago as his own private space. The door from the outside looked the same as the rest of the four-hundred-year-old manor. When I knocked, it opened of its own accord and revealed a state-of-the-art passage to another door, which only opened after the outer door sealed behind me.

“Brother?” I called out when I stepped into the lab. It was stark white, neat as a pin, and hummed with machines doing any number of things scientific, magical, or both.

“Xavior.” Denis’ brisk voice called out as he came from another room carrying a rack of test tubes. “I have the solutions ready. Did you bring the sample?”

“Of course.” I removed the small case with the tube of blood I’d swiped from our blood drive earlier in the month. When I had proposed this idea to Denis, he asked for a sample. I’d set up a stasis spell that kept the blood fresh until it was moved again, waiting for the right weekend to bring the blood to Denis.

“This is a momentous occasion, you know,” Denis was practically giddy, for Denis anyway. He’d always been rather staunch and focused - even for a dragon. We were polar opposites in our obsessions but nearly looked the same, except for the facial hair. Denis sported a full beard most of the time.

“Yes, yes, having a live sample of someone from the Saint George lineage. I know. I clearly remember you studying family members resting in the crypt who’d been taken down by those knights. Not all of them unjustly, I might add.”

“We’ve had more of a long-lived family than most, at least for our heritage. Besides Faith’s partner, Trevor. There’s only two other families that have existed as long as the cursed knights.” Denis took out the vial from the case and quickly got to work taking samples, putting drops into test tubes, and creating slides.

“Sometimes those cursed knights were useful. Great Uncle Theodore practically decimated a whole village in the ninth century. It wasn’t exactly his fault since he had some kind of dementia, but from the way the family talks about it, no one could talk him down either.”

Denis looked through a scope at one of the slides he created. “Useful? Do you think that’s all your knight is?” Denis glanced up at me, and I grit my teeth.

“No, Denis. I think he deserves to choose his life and help people as he intended. He’s not even close to his family any longer, or well, that part of his family.” I paced around Denis’ lab as he busied himself with various pieces of equipment.

“It’s going to take time for me to isolate what gives him his abilities and whether I can even control it or reverse it. Have you thought about what you’ll tell him if we’re successful?”

“I’ll tell him you’re bloody brilliant and that he doesn’t have to worry about us taking assignments that might prove dangerous.”

“He’s avoided assignments?” The tone in Denis’ voice indicated that he found that curious.

“Anything involving a person that might be armed. So far, we’ve been lucky that other units could respond, but after we go through tactical training together, we won’t be able to avoid it.” It weighed on my mind quite a lot. Even though our mother was a phoenix, that didn’t mean we inherited the rebirth trait from her. The last thing I wanted was Greg’s worst fear to happen.

“Besides, I’d rather not see him suffer based on a decision I made to work with him and ignore his own warnings.” I hadn’t regretted it. I still didn’t. We made a good team. His instincts were great, and he excelled at his job. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

“You like him,” Denis said with a flat tone.

“Of course, I like him. He’s a decent guy, a good detective, and a good work partner,” I said. The familiarity of my words was not lost on me. They were nearly the same ones I’d told Vanessa.

“Of course,” Denis said in a mock tone.

I glared at his back. I didn’t understand why everyone automatically assumed I had ulterior motives where Greg was concerned. Was I attracted to him? Yes. Did I think his boyfriend was complete and utter trash? Yes. Was there anything I could do about any of it? Not really. Because Greg was committed to his boyfriend, and we worked together. The second one alone should be enough to deter me to some extent. Whatever Denis came up with, if he could come up with something, was a safety precaution. There was no point in me being a casualty of a long-lived curse if I could help it.

“Mum wanted us both at lunch. I can go up and fend her off for a little while. I wouldn’t linger if you don’t want to have her complain about it,” I said.

“I’ll be there,” Denis said. “What she said was more for your benefit than mine. I’m not the tardy one.”

Of course, he wasn’t. I shook my head and left his lab.