“What’s going on, you guys?” I asked.
Saffron winced. “Have you not heard?”
“No?”
Now I was starting to freak out. Why wouldn’t they tell me what was going on?
“Did somebody get hurt? Is the island on fire?” I demanded.
“Thystle...” Saffron bit his lip. “TalonStorm broke up.”
And with those three words, my life was ruined. Forever.
Two
Thystle
Current Day
Life was pain. Agony. Torture, even.
But my baby nephew was pretty darn cute.
Ever since my brother, Crimson, found his fated mate, Taylor, on the Dragonfate Games, my life had slightly improved. I never did meet my fated mate—as if it could’ve been anyone other than Aquila—but having an adorable, chubby little infant around was a definite plus.
But today was the ten-year anniversary of TalonStorm’s breakup, and despite all the time that’d passed, I was still as crushed now as I was back then.
I sighed as I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The long bangs that usually covered one side of my face flopped limply back onto my pillow.
Ever since that day, I was stuck in a rut—and not the sexy kind. I felt stifled and restless, like there was no point to anything because TalonStorm didn’t exist anymore. I knew that was a pointless, stupid way to feel, but it didn’t stop the emotions from happening.
We dragons used “lizard brain” as an insult, but at times like this, I wished Ididhave more of a lizard brain. Maybe then I wouldn’t get sucked into my feelings all the time. How simple life would be if all I cared about were my next meal and finding a heat source...
My eyes strayed around my room. After that day, I lost my mind. It wasn’t pretty. I cried. I screamed. I threw things. After my fit was over, I shut down. I was too heartbroken to find out what the hell happened. Why TalonStorm broke up. Aurum and Saffron offered to tell me rumors, but I didn’t want to know the details. I just didn’t care.
In my acute distress, I took down all my TalonStorm posters and eventually replaced them with other bands. I just couldn’t handle seeing the posters and knowing they were gone.
But there was one poster I didn’t touch—the one of Aquila above my bed.
I gazed up at him. The color had faded, and the corners of the paper had wrinkled over time, but the image of my favorite singer still affected me deeply. Whenever I felt bad, I’d look at him... and somehow, even though he was a 2D image printed on a piece of paper, he made it seem like everything would be okay.
After everything I went through to approach Cobalt that day, it was all for nothing. I never went to that concert, so I never left the island. There was no point. After TalonStorm broke up, nothing pulled me away. Aquila was still out there, but without concerts or signings or meet-and-greets, how would I ever find him?
I sighed harder, as if exhaling would expel these crappy feelings.
A knock came at the door. As usual, I wasn’t in the mood for visitors. That was why I kept the damn door closed. But when Taylor’s voice came from the other side, my irritation vanished. Where Taylor went, my nephew, Ruby, always followed. Even my legendary whinging couldn’t stand up to the brute force of a cute baby.
“Hey, Thystle? Are you busy?” Taylor asked.
I sat up, my hair messily falling back into place. “No. Come in.”
Taylor and Crimson slipped inside with Ruby in tow. I cracked a smile at the sight of my nephew. He plodded into my room in his human form, curiously gazing around with wide eyes. I was sure my bedroom, with all its colorful posters, was enthralling for a kid his age. Better than some other stuffy hoards, like Crimson’s suits or Jade’s books.
“Sorry for barging in like this,” Taylor said as he followed Ruby around, making sure he didn’t knock anything over or shove any band memorabilia in his mouth. “Ruby wanted to see you.”
“For what, I can’t imagine,” Crimson said. He crossed his arms as if protecting his precious suit from the emo-band cooties in my room.
I snorted. “Nice to see you, too, bro.”
