Vael stooped to snap up her discarded dress and dainty sandals. Clutching the messy bundle to his chest with one hand, he pointed a finger at the sky and announced, “Don’t push me,t?ht!If you think I’m letting you go, you still haven’t learned one fucking thing about dragons!”
The only response she offered was a single, sizzling strike to the tip of his claw.
* * *
A quick flight, a new dress, and a couple hours later, Hele met her sister for her lunch break as she’d promised the night before. Only Alex ate anything, though. Hele spent the entire hour at the restaurant in the lavish shopping center on the bottom floor of the Roost giving her sister a furious play by play of her disastrous conversation with Vael.
Alex was utterly engrossed. She made apfftsound when Hele got to the part where he said he wanted her, and then rolled her candy red eyes when she explained how he told her she wasn’t ready. Her sister’s reactions were big and loud, which was typical for every conversation with Alex. By the time they strode through the glass doors of the Public Relations department, where she was a junior assistant,shewas the one ranting.
“Honestly, thatman,”she growled, leading the way to her desk, which sat just outside the head of the department’s office. “Does he think that just because he pined after you for two years he has the right to tellyouwhen you’re ready? Typical pushy Wing bullshit. Those dragons always think they know better than everyone else.Elite unitthis.Look at my fancy tatsthat. Completely insufferable.Ugh.”
Hele watched her sister’s wings flex as she grabbed the back of her swivel chair and pulled it out from beneath her desk. Instead of a shirt, she wore an artfully arranged sash across her breasts, tied in a knot against her spine just below the base of her wings. Her wavy purple hair was cropped short into a cute pixie cut and her skin, a deep plum like their father’s, shone with what the dragons calledliquid gold —a glittery oil that kept their tough skin buttery soft. The glitter, Hele had learned, was purely for aesthetic purposes.
Overall, her sister was the complete opposite of Hele: vivacious, colorful, lushly figured, and problematically self-confident.
“Hepinedafter me? What does this mean?”
Alex dropped into her seat and waved her clawed hand, decorated with several dainty gold rings, over the projected keyboard. The clear, razor thin screens strategically placed around her desk came awake with a pleasant chime.
“It means that he’s had feelings for you forever and everyone knows it.” Her lips pursed. “Well, except for you. But you had no reference, so…”
“But Ididknow!” Hele wanted to throw her arms up in frustration, but she knew that wasn’t always a good idea when she was surrounded by delicate technology. Computers did not respond well to sudden movement, nor bursts of electricity. Very aware of the fact that she was one more smoking machine away from getting permanently banned from the PR department, Hele crossed her arms, muttering, “I knew it because he gave me blankets.”
“Okay, fair. That was about as subtle as an m-lev. Your feelings, on the other hand, I never would have guessed. I thought you were totally oblivious. You’ve got a damn good poker face, Hele.” Alex used her ID chip to log into the computer system. While she waited for everything to load, she leaned back in her chair and gave Hele an expectant look. “So… what’re you gonna do?”
Aware that they were not alone, Hele lowered her voice when she answered, “I said that I would find a different mate.”
Alex’s expression didn’t so much as flicker for several seconds before she slowly raised her eyebrows so high they almost touched her hairline. “Uh-huh? And how’d he take that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t stay.”
“Ha!”Alex slapped her thigh. A huge grin showed off her blindingly white teeth and popped the single dimple in her right cheek. “You dematerialized on his ass? Good. For. You. Always get the last word. That’s the Aždaja way, baby. So good.”
Was it, though? Hele didn’t feel good about any of it. Fighting with Vael felt… wrong. But so did his high-handed assumption thatheknew what was best for her.
That hurt almost as much as thinking he didn’t want her.
Still, now that she knew hedid…Hele wondered if she could truly follow through with her challenge. Truth be told, she had never felt any attraction toward another being aside from Vael — and she’d tried, just to be thorough. She felt nothing for the women, men, or the non-binary folk who crossed her path. It was only ever Vael she thought of, and it was only his touch she wanted.
But her pride had been torched, and that was not something to be borne.
“He doesn’t think I’m ready for a mate,” she said, anger and humiliation returning in a steady swell. “I thinkheis not ready. And if he isn’t ready, that means he’s not sure about me. I do not want someone who is unsure.” Hele tugged on a lock of her errant hair, scowling. “One of the witches I met today said she would help me get into a program in the Collective. Maybe I should do it.”
“Oh, sure.” Alex waved a dismissive hand. “Every dragon has to go for a roam when they’re young. If you want to go off and live in the Collective for a while, I don’t see why you shouldn’t. I’ve been thinking of roaming for a while, too.” Her voice took on a softer note when she added, “Though I don’t think you should do it just because of what’s going on with Vael. You’d regret leaving things in a bad way. If you go, you should do it because youwantto.”
Alex cast her a sly look. “However, if you are thinking that it might be fun to find a mate, then I might be able to help you with that.”
“I do not want to mate with any of yourlovers.”That was what their mother called Alex’s many besotted — and briefly entertained — paramours. Hele didn’t get the full context of the joke, but she liked how it made their father roar with laughter wheneverEmasaid it.
“People can’t help themselves when faced with a dominant woman,”he claimed, usually while giving his Chosen a sly look.
Hele was not dominant like Alex was. Perhaps that was why she struggled with Vael? Would he respect her choices more if she was the dominant one? She frowned even harder at the thought.I do not think I am dominant or submissive. I am just me. I do not think I can change that now.
Alex playfully swatted Hele’s hip with her long, sinuous tail and rolled her eyes. “Please, I would never hook you up with one of my conquests. I don’t keep their numbers, anyway. All I need to know is whether you want a dragon or not. Also gender, I guess, if you have a preference.”
Hele considered this for several beats before she slowly answered, “Ah… male? But I do not think I want a dragon.”
If she could not haveherdragon, then she did not want one at all. And though she was dubious that anyone Alex might find would spark the same warmth in her that Vael did, she was also determined to try — if only so theybothknew she was not the kind of woman who waited for someone to make up their mind.
