“See?”
My inner Aquila fan fidgeted impatiently. “Are you...gonna share it with me?”
“Eventually,” Matteo said. “It’s still a work-in-progress.”
Despite my impatient draconic nature, I was happy to hear it. Knowing Matteo felt comfortable delving back into his craft was more than enough for me.
A familiar call rang out in the sky. We glanced up to see a strangely-dressed gryphon descending towards the beach. Gaius landed with a flourish, shifting to human form and burning our eyes with his neon yellow shirt. But that wasn’t his only odd clothing. He wore an oversized postman’s shirt on top of it, along with a chest bag.
“Good day, sirs!” he announced. To Matteo, he added, “I hope the dragons have been treating you well, my fellow feathered friend.”
“Why are you dressed like it’s Halloween?” I asked.
Gaius scoffed as he reached into his bag. “I would never wear something so casual for Halloween. The reason I’m here is because...” He cleared his throat and pulled out a sealed envelope. “You’ve got mail! Ah, I’ve always wanted to say that.”
I raised a brow. “Winnie sorts through our mail. Why do you have it?”
“Because unlike half of you dragons, I don’t hate fun,” Gaius said whimsically.
“I don’thatefun,” I grumbled.
“Who’s it for?” Matteo asked.
Striding over to Matteo, Gaius handed him the letter. “For you, in fact.”
A sliver of jealousy edged itself into my ribs. “Who’s sending you mail? It better not be some alpha,” I growled, leaning closer.
Matteo blinked, turning the envelope over to examine it. “I don’t know. There’s no return address.”
“Fan mail?” Gaius suggested. “You were quite popular with the audience.”
Matteo looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“The second season of the Games have aired already,” Gaius said.
“What?” I blurted. “It’s barely been a week!”
“Duke and Jade partnered with streaming services this time, so it was on demand ASAP,” Gaius explained. “It’s the most popular show of the year on every platform!”
Matteo’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”
“Does that make you nervous?” I asked. When it came to public appearances, he was slowly coming back out of his shell, so I hoped plunging him in the deep end like this didn’t unnerve him.
Matteo was quiet for a moment. “No. I’m okay with it.” He smiled at me. “Thanks, though.”
I rubbed his back for support. “So, what’s in the envelope?”
“I guess we’ll find out together,” Matteo mused.
He opened it meticulously instead of shredding it like a kid on Christmas morning. What he pulled out was a three page, handwritten letter. As soon as Matteo read the first couple lines, he went still.
“What is it?” I asked urgently. If it was some kind of hate mail, I braced myself to rip it out of his hands.
Matteo hesitated, then murmured, “It’s from Vani and Keaux.”
His ex-bandmates. I curled my lip. “If they’ve got anything nasty to say—”
Matteo shook his head. “No, it’s okay.”
