Chapter 5 - Call Me

Levi

I was sitting in my den in the basement, attempting to talk with Sol, but in all honesty my heart just wasn't into it.

"Where the hell did you disappear to the other night? ....... Dad? You still there?"

I barely heard Sol's voice come from the phone because, to be honest, I flat out wasn't paying attention. "Huh? Oh. I decided to leave before everyone got into the heavy liquor. You know how I can't stand to be around a bunch of drunks. That scene is just not for me."

"What's up with you today? Usually I can carry a decent conversation with you, but you really seem out of it. Is everything ok?"

"I'm sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind right now. Everything is fine, it's just, I'm over thinking things I guess." I hated lying. I hated making my children worry and stress over things. But now wasn't the time to disclose what exactly was going on with me.

"Let me guess, a combination of mom and the business?"

I liked that. That I could work with and play along with. "Yeah, you could say something along those lines."

Sol sighed and paused briefly before continuing on. "Dad, you really need to stop stressing about so much. You're one of the dragon deities for crying out loud. You should be more stressed about those issues than human life issues! This is why you've brought me on as part owner of the business, you know, to help you out and take on some of the work load."

If only Sol knew what was really going on, but I could never tell him the truth no matter how much I wanted to. Imagine how it'd look knowing his father was a hypocrite. I spent years preaching about purity and staying true to the dragon's ways, only to find out my own mate was a water fairy. Not just any water fairy, but a princess at that. A princess that I couldn't reject. That was my original intention of going to Fiona when she was alone, but I couldn't even go through with it.

Those moments alone with her raised even more questions. I was face to face with Fiona, the beautiful fairy that was named for the white caps of waves, and yet she felt nothing. I held her in my arms, pressed my lips against hers, and still she felt nothing at all.

Suddenly it hit me who exactly it was that I needed to talk to. Someone who might be able to help fill in the gaps so that I could understand things better.

"Hey Sol, I got to go. We'll talk later, OK?"

"Yeah, sure. Try to relax a little though, will you? Before you give yourself a heart attack or something?"

"Look, I'm not old and feeble, I'll be fine. We'll plan a family day out together or something. Will that get the dragons off of my back?"

The sound of his laughter brought a smile to my face. "I'll hold you to that."

"I don't doubt that. Bye Sol."

"Bye dad."

As soon as I ended the call with Sol, I walked upstairs to the living room so that I could look out the window and called Fafnir, the dragon deity whose arrogance far outweighed my own. About a half dozen rings later, he finally answered, "Well, if it isn't the drowned rat! I haven't heard from you in forever! What'd you screw up, now?"

"Shut it, you flaming turd. You know damn well that if any of us is the screw up it's that damned air head, Quetzalcoatl." If anyone heard how we talked to each other, they'd probably expect to see flames go flying at any minute.

Fafnir snorted in amusement. "I won't disagree with you on that one. But seriously, Levi, what's up? Is everything ok over there?"

"Yeah, it's just peachy. But I have a serious question to ask you, and I don't want you running your mouth. Do you think you can manage that?"

"My lips are seared shut, my friend."

I let out a sigh and started pacing in front of the window before I proceeded with our conversation, being a little cautious with how I worded things. "You had a non-dragon mate that you rejected, didn't you?"

Fafnir let out an aroused sounding moan, and hearing it coming through the phone was a little more than disturbing to say the least. "Oh boy did I ever. Scarlett. She was the fire fairy princess of our hemisphere. Drop dead gorgeous, curves like you wouldn't believe, long wavy blood red hair, sparkling orange eyes, the heart of a saint with the level of crazy that could keep a man happy in bed until his dying breath."

"What ever happened between the two of you?"

"I counter your question with one of my own. Why do you want to know? What's up?" Fafnir's voice contained curiosity, as well as his typical haughty tone.

"It's just something that's not heard of. Dragons are pure, we stick to our kind. So I find it interesting that a dragon deity was given a non-dragon for a mate. We never really talked about it, the three of us basically turned a blind eye to your dealings."

"Dude, she isn't just a fire fairy. She is a boitatá, a fire serpent. Her counterpart was meant for my own. She is pure perfection for me, as a deity's mate needs to be."

The mental image of Fiona as her water serpent flashed into my mind. Fafnir was right. Everything about Fiona was meant to be my other half in life, but still, none of it made any sense.

"What ever happened between you and Scarlett? How'd you end up with Joseline?"

"I'm sure you're very familiar with the ways that led to how I ended up with Joseline. It was the exact same way that you ended up with Samara. We just never had children. When you meet your actual mate before reproducing in an arranged union, it changes your thoughts on the matter. As far as Scarlett goes, contrary to beliefs and assumptions, I never rejected her. I've run into her multiple times at different events. She knows who I am but she doesn't have the foggiest clue what she is to me. I think it's because I'm a deity. There's something that blocks the mutual pull, so it gives me the choice to let her in or keep her in the dark. I have not fully opened my heart and mind to accept her, and she never accepted a non-mate life partner of her own. After her sister became queen and her niece took over as princess, she decided to live a life of solitude. I still do fly-bys to check on her, you know, make sure she's ok and all." The tone of his voice at the end made me well aware that he so called checked in on her for his own visual satisfaction, rather than anything else. Whatever helps him sleep at night, I guess.

"Do you regret your decision?"

"Every. Single. Day. But it's the way of our kind. You know what would happen if a dragon deity accepted a non-dragon mate?" Is voice was sarcastic, but I didn't catch on before answering him.

"Yeah. Complete chaos, mayhem, revoke our godly privileges, blah, blah." I rolled my eyes as the words left my mouth, slightly surprised at how now talking about our repercussions irritated me.

"But would it? Would it really?"

"What?" I furrowed my brows at what Fafnir was insinuating.

"Would it really result in that?"

"Well, they kill or banish dragons that want to accept their non-dragon mates."

"Because we let them," Fafnir stated matter-of-factly, making sure I understood what he was saying.

And I did. His words hit home. We let them. Every single time we don't stand up for what is right, we are allowing those wrong-doings to take place. We are deities, and yet we allow the council to do as they wish instead of standing up to them. For what reason? Because we're afraid of no longer being the dragons' deities? Do the consequences of standing up to them really outweigh letting things continue? How have the roles become so reversed over the centuries? I understand that deities need to be kept in check as well, to make sure we do right by those we are sworn to help flourish and keep in line, but how did it become this?

"I guess we don't know what would happen, being that none of us have ever accepted a mate that wasn't a dragon." I allowed too much of a hesitation in our conversation, and Fafnir knew he had me.

"Yet, none of us have accepted a non-dragon mate yet. It's only a matter of time before one of us gets sick of being controlled, of seeing things being done that shouldn't be done, and we stand up for what we feel and think is right. What we know is right."

"Why haven't you? You had the perfect opportunity."

Fafnir let out an airy chuckle, as if he knew I'd spin this back around onto him. "Joseline. I can't just go and fight this on my own without knowing that she's safe, first. If I left her and took on the council to be with Scarlett they'd turn around and blame her. She'd be dead for sure. She's strong, and her family is strong, but they're not strong enough to fight the council's lynch men. I want her to find her mate. Not only do I want her to know what true love is, but I need to know that there's someone else there to protect her, and together they'll be stronger. I refuse to let anything happen to her. We need one of us to take a stand to get this in motion because no one else stands a chance, but we need to make sure that those we care about aren't caught in the crossfire."

I could tell by the tone of his voice exactly what he was hinting at. He knew I wasn't calling just for a random conversation about his non-dragon mate. I was never one for idle chit-chat, unlike the garrulous, loquacious, and voluble dirt dragon, Tiamat. Being that Samara was in hiding with her mate, she was safe. Plus, everyone already believed she had left because of how impossible I was, so they all felt bad for her. Other than my kind as a whole, I only really had Sol and Celeste that I had to watch out for.

I grumbled into the phone I was clutching as my mind was racing. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. Thanks for the talk FaFronPoopin. I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing."

"No problem, wet fart. And please, feel free to call back if you need to talk again."

"Will do."

We ended our call and I finally stopped my pacing to look out the large window and let the view relax me. I was honestly completely clueless about how to go about any of this. I knew I wasn't ready to take on the council, not right now. A large part of me was positively terrified. I have gone a very long time respecting the members of the council, adhering to their rules as well as enforcing and preaching them. This is who I was. It is what I was.

I completely understood what Fafnir was saying. Not only did I understand, but I also agreed. Before I could even contemplate doing anything drastic, I needed to find out if it would be worth it, if she would be worth it. There was no point in even considering turning the lives of many completely upside down unless I knew it would, in fact, be better for the dragon kind in the long run. The only way I could do that would be to first find out who Fiona really was. I needed to know if she had the strength to stand by my side and if she could love me for me without the mate pull. Only then would I know that this would be worth giving up everything for, and I then could think of a good plan on how to properly go about it.