#DragonSlayer Debriefing: Mia

In the freaking year weeks leading up to Dragon Slayer, I didn't tease much about Mia, because most of her scenes reveal the fact that she's...

Sick. And that she has a tough choice to make, and while that isn't a spoiler I felt would ruin anyone's enjoyment of the book, it becomes really clear early on that she'll be turned. 

Mia has been Val's lady love in my mind for years. Since my high school days when this series was just an amorphous dream. I started several versions of this book in college, only ever a few thousand words at a time, and Val dream-walking to visit her was the thing that opened the whole series. My favorite Russians forced me to rework the timeline a little (a lot), but damn does it feel good to see a thirteen-year daydream come to life on the page. 

So, so good.

The thing about Val's dream-walking, which is discussed some in the series so far, and which we'll discuss much more as we go, is that he doesn't visit anyone randomly. 

“Hmm,” the man hummed, back still to her, “you can throw that if you like, but it won’t do any good.”

She snatched it up in both hands, heart leaping wildly, and chucked it at him.

He didn’t move, but the lamp didn’t strike him. It seemed to pass through him, his back and shoulders swirling like smoke a moment, then resettling. The lamp crashed against the bookshelf; a handful of well-loved hardbacks toppled to the floor, pages crumpling. The frame of the shelf had cracked.

Silence, save the rough scrape of Mia’s breath in and out of her lungs. Holy shit, she thought. What the…

The man turned, unhurried. A sharp little smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “I did warn you.”

Over the years, he's realized that on those occasions when he found himself somewhere unfamiliar, with a stranger, that person ended up being important. To him, yes, but, often important in a larger sense, as well. He doesn't understand why - and that's part of his journey going forward, figuring that out - but he knows it's not random. Constantine, his family. When he found himself in Philippe's parlor, he knew the little boy he'd just visited was important. And so when he winds up in Mia's living room, he knows it's for a reason. What begins as shock and worry - she's the daughter of his captor - turns to true affection. To lust and longing. And though he offers her the choice - he makes her decide to be turned - after all he's endured, after losing people he loves, there's no way he wasn't going to turn her. He couldn't save Constantine, and that's why he turned Arslan, and why he turns Mia. Restraint is for people who haven't ever touched their dead friend's decapitated head. 

From Mia's perspective, Val was easy to love. He's beautiful, charming, intelligent, personable. He loves horses. Best imaginary friend ever. She accepts his offer of immortality not just because she's dying, but because she loves him, and wants to help him. 

His expression had grown serious. Grave. One hand slid up to her neck, holding her there. “Mia.” Voice heavy. “I want you to know that I’m doing this for you. That I want you to be healthy. If you don’t want anything from me beyond that, I’ll understand.”

Never been able to choose, Vlad had said. And he was choosing now. And he was going to do this monumental thing for her, save her life – even if she didn’t want him in return.

She leaned in and knocked their foreheads together, lightly. “Val. Sweetie. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t want to be with you.”

He pulled back, eyes wide. “Oh no. You can’t – it can’t just be for me. You have to–”

“I meant.” She laid her hands on his face, and he quieted. “That I trust you.”

He studied her a long moment, gaze shifting over every part of her face, his own expression held in careful check. A muscle flexed in his jaw; she saw it, felt it leap against her palm. “Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes.”

He smiled, slow and sharp, fangs too long, but it didn’t quite touch his eyes – which glimmered bright with tears for one fast beat before he blinked them away.

“Kiss me,” she urged, and he did.

But what I'm looking forward to, as the series continues, is them getting to know one another in real, ugly, visceral ways. Because right now? They might be in love, and they might know quite a lot about one another's hearts, but they haven't begun to unpack Val's baggage. Sensitive horsewoman that she is, she knows there's trauma there, and old wounds; that he'll be skittish about certain things. But she hasn't been with him during a nightmare; hasn't seen him bordering on suicidal. And she hasn't seen the side of him that's Vlad's brother; the side that kills - as he did in Red Rooster, when he and Rooster tried to escape - without a thought for morality. 

The question then becomes: will practical, level-headed, extremely capable Mia become the voice of reason? Or will Val bring out her more monstrous side?

Okay, please don't let any of that freak you out. It sounds a bit dire. All of that is to say that I love writing females leads with a bit of monster in their proportions; no one is an innocent lamb. Val and Mia love each other to the moon and back, but it's gonna get messy. 

Val caught her gaze, the dark of the car more like twilight to her new eyes, and lifted his brows in silent question.

“I’ve never watched anyone…get killed before,” she admitted.

His expression smoothed, warm with sympathy. He slipped his arm across her shoulders. “I see. It’s an unpleasant thing, but sometimes necessary, I’m afraid.”

She tried to smile. “Please don’t tell me that I’ll get used to it.”

His smile went strained. “Alright. I won’t tell you.”

He pulled her in close, so they were pressed together, hip-to-hip, thigh-to-thigh, her head resting on his shoulder. “Take all the time you need, love,” he murmured against her hair. “I know this is an incredible amount of change to take in.”