Sapphyra [Adult Superhero Progression]

“He still hasn’t come back out yet? That’s not like him.” Guy wondered as we sat beneath the stars atop the hideout.

Guy bagged a deer, so we had actual food tonight…not that I wasn’t grateful for the shrooms and moss that Silla and Corre fed us, but I’m a big girl.

Or at least I was.

I haven’t said anything to Guy or Wyatt, hell, anyone really, but since I woke up I’ve been losing weight. Or maybe I’m just now seeing the effects of being held in Sanctuary for a century on basic life support. Another explanation could be that my class wants to suppress my natural muscles from my species, but that wouldn’t make sense.

Then again, Wyatt made it. If I’ve learned anything from all this, it's that everything he makes comes with a cost—even those with good intentions.

“He probably doesn’t want to. It would be being held accountable for at least half the shit he’s done.”

I drew my knees up to my chest and encircled them with my arms, letting my tail drape around my shoulders like a blanket.

“Sapph…”he sighed. I could hear the hesitation in his voice—I knew what he wanted to talk about, but I wasn’t ready yet.

“Hey, tell me how today’s meeting went with the Capps. Are they on board with training in guerrilla warfare?”

He frowned, mimicking my seating. “They’re a peaceful race, so it’s pretty hard for them to wrap their heads around it. Corre and Silla are the least peaceful ones we’ve met, and even those two are marshmallows compared to the goons Rupert keeps sending.”

Guy rubbed his temples. I knew that look; it meant he had all the strength in the world in his hands but didn’t know how to use it to do any real good.

“Hey, take a breath. We’ll figure it out. We’ve done well so far, haven’t we?”

That gave him a tender smile, complete with an adorable dimple pop.

“I guess so. I’m just worried. Even if we get them all trained, what if the next wave isn’t the same goons from before?” A haunted look shone in his eyes as he stared up at the orange moon.

One day someone will tell me why the sky, the rain and the moon have turned orange. But for now, I just reach over and hold Guy’s hand. It felt natural, as if I’d done it a hundred times. Thanks to Sanctuary, maybe I had.

He glanced at our hands and back at me, searching my eyes for something.

“Sapph, I’m—”

“Don’t. Don’t say that, not right now. Please.” I squeezed his hand, voice breaking slightly.

“I can’t. I mean, I need you to know how I feel about you.” He let go, placing his hand over his heart. Shaking his head, he took my hand instead, letting me feel his rising heart rate.

“Guy…” my thumb stroked his pec, he shivered beneath my touch.

I tore myself away, holding my head in my hands.

“I can’t. I know how you feel, but saying those words out loud, right now? It won’t help anything, trust me.”

A deep sigh escaped him, and he nodded. But his eyes gleamed, the corners of his lips meeting them.

“Alright, I won’t say it, in fact I’ll put it on the back burner forever if necessary.”

“That’s not what I—” he put a finger to my lips.

“No, no. I’ll do that if you tell me you feel even halfway the same. Tell me I’m not crazy, that this didn’t just exist in my dreams.”

I wanted to tell him that he was right. It wasn’t just his dreams or mine. Some part of me was drawn to him, an undeniable hunger. Not just lust, nor just affection. It was like…Guy filled a missing part of me I didn’t know I had.

But he wasn’t Wyatt. And as fucked up as my husband is morally, we have too much history and unresolved things between us for me to give myself fully to someone else—and that’s what I wanted. To give Guy my everything.

I swallowed the raw emotions bubbling up my throat.

“You’re not crazy.”

That was all I could tell him. That was more than enough permission for him to grin and kiss me, deep and long. His heat poured into me as our tongues danced—not for dominance but for harmony.

“Stop…” With surprising strength–because holy hell could that man kiss—I pushed him away and regained my bearings.

“Mm, whatever you want, boss lady. Jeez, boss lady, Cleanup girl, I’m not sure what to call you.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled the fully cooked—slightly burnt—deer thigh off the fire. I needed a distraction, and even though Guy said he’d leave it alone, I couldn’t trust him, not when there was this undeniable ache whenever we were together.

I have to find Wyatt's body and get some closure, or I’m going to go insane.

“So, what were you saying earlier?” I asked ‌between bites of deer. Thank God I still had my heat immunity; no need to cool anything down when flames are your friend.

“What?” Guy was on his second batch of deer meat.

“Something about the goons not being the ones sent next time? Who else would he send?”

“Oh, that.” He bit through his deer's leg, bone and all. One thing about dragons: we don’t waste any part of the animal.

“Yes. That. Explain, please.”

“The council.” Guy sighed, turning to me. “He would send the rest of his council members to deal with us and, unlike me—well, before the nametag anyway—and the goons we’ve been getting, those guys are fucking deadly.”

“So why hasn’t he sent any of those to fight me already?”

“Because they’d only get one shot to do it.” His brows knit together, saying what I hoped he wouldn’t say.

“No. There's no way…they would, really? Just to get to me? Tell me you’re joking.”

He didn’t move.

“Fuck! That’s a serious thing! You’re telling me they’d transform into their dragon forms just to come after me? Do they not know there's a high possibility that that’s a one-way trip?! How stupid can you be if you’re a high dragon. High on fucking mushrooms, more likely!”

I was standing, pacing , punching the air as I ranted.

“I’m a superhero now, so maybe it’ll be a walk in the park?”

“You know things never go that easy for superheroes, right? The goons are the fodder, they lull you into a false sense of security and then BAM! The bad guy comes in with a billion-dollar suit and punches your face into the dirt until you cry!”

That one was personal. I may or may not have had that happen to me…twice.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, so we’ll prepare then. We had traps in mind to deal with this, yeah? What are dragons weak too, anyway? That's the one thing they don’t include in the archives.”

“Dragonsbane.”

Guy wrinkled his nose. “What?”

“Dragonsbane, it's a special plant. It doesn’t kill or weaken us but it can put us into a coma. The more in your dragon form you are, the less chance it’ll just knock you out.”

“Well, that's good! Where can we get it?” I loved how excited he was. Answering this only filled me with more dread.

“I don’t know.” My fingers rubbed the gem on my choker, “and there’s only one man who knows where to get it.”

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