“Please enlighten me on how youaccidentallyburn down half a house?” Okay, half the house is a bit dramatic, but I’m also not loving her tone right now.
“Dessa,” Atticus starts, “seriously, drop it. Trust me when I say she didn’t do it on purpose.” Odeyssa meets Atticus’s gaze, a silent conversation passing between them, so many words unspoken. Her shoulders slump, and it seems the matter has been dropped.
I wait a few moments, not wanting to upset anybody—Odeyssa—before redirecting the conversation back to me being confused as hell. “Why did you two run off like that?”
“My dad has guards watching my every move lately. It’s been rather suffocating. I finally lost them, and we had a very small window to get out of there,” Odeyssa explains. Atticus stays silent, which seems to be even odder than them ditching me.
When I first met Atticus, he was this same way. Silent, brooding, mysterious if you will. But I thought that was because he didn’t know me. Granted, he doesn’t really know me now, but things seemed fine. He was talkative, even making jokes. What changed?
“Oh! What did you get?” she asks, eyeballing the bag in my hand. These mood swings are giving me whiplash.
“It’s a dagger and sheath from one of the stalls in town,” I tell her, but she’s already up and grabbing it. Pulling the dagger out first, she retrieves the sheath, carefully inspecting every detail with deliberate focus.
“These must have cost you a pretty penny.”
“They didn’t cost much, just my pride.”
Odeyssa laughs, handing the items back to me, and I make quick work to strap the holder around my thigh, resonating with the weight it holds when I slide the dagger into place.
I reach out to Voraxis through our bond, letting him know I’ve returned to the cottage so we can figure out our next move. My stomach growls with hunger, and both of their heads whip in my direction. “Sorry.”
“Shit, I was supposed to make food.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been hungrier.” My comment just results in the unwanted pity looks from both of them. “I’ll just grab an apple, no biggie.” It’s crisp and perfect, the most delicious apple I have truly ever tasted. I’ll have to make sure to stock up before we depart.
People show up shortly after, dropping off what I’m assuming are the supplies he got earlier, and they immediately get to work. I offer to help, but they dismiss me, so Odeyssa and I head out to meet Voraxis in the open field.
“I really can’t stay here much longer,” I confess. I can feel them closing in, like a sixth sense. They’re getting closer, and it’s only a matter of time before they find me here.
“We can always go back to Nefarium,” she suggests. If they track me here and don’t find me, the likelihood of them checking there is too high. I can’t risk it. The cool wind pushes into our already frost-bitten faces as Voraxis descends. The snow keeps coming down heavier as the day goes on, and I have no clue if he can even fly in this weather. Part of me is beginning to think I should’ve left when I had the chance.
“Whoa,” Odeyssa breathes next to me, staring up at my little burnt marshmallow in amazement. “I’ve been around a lot of dragons, but none quite like this.”
“He’s not as scary as he looks.”
Why would you give her that false sense of security?he asks.
“I highly doubt that,” she comments.
She’s smarter than she looks.
“Why are they kept behind that barrier? It seems so cruel.” It wasn’t lost on me when Voraxis showed up here that he isn’t confined to the meadow I thought to be their home. For some reason, Nefarium is the only town they’re not permitted to enter.
“Truthfully, I don’t know. My dad has been acting all out of sorts the last few months. Higher security, more wards being placed, less…outings.” Her confession has my heart plummeting to my stomach. The last few months? “I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s always been a bit uptight but never this bad.” I can see a question rattling in her head, like a ping-pong ball trying to escape.
“What is it?” I ask.
Her eyes bounce between me and Voraxis. “Can I pet him? I know dragons don’t necessarily like being touched, but there’s something so captivating about him.” I stare at her a moment, processing the question, because whatever I thought she was going to ask, it wasn’t that.
“I mean…you could ask him.” Amusement is laced in my tone, especially with the death glare I can feel Voraxis searing into the side of my face.
You have to be kidding.
Just be a nice little dragon and let her give you some pets.Not waiting for him to reply, I saunter over to him, and if looks could kill… I rub up and down the length of his nose and gesture for Odeyssa to follow suit.
“He’s gorgeous,” Odeyssa comments, hesitantly bringing her hand out. Voraxis’s eyes narrow into slits, and I feel like a fucking mother.
“Stop being a baby.” Slowly his body begins relaxing beneath my touch, and with a pleading side-eye from Odeyssa, I give hera nod, indicating it’s okay.
