He raised his hand. Shadows wreathed around it, and in their depths, black tentacles writhed. “I can’t stay,” he said bitterly. “The kraken was bound to my family for one thing. If whoever attacked the shadow dragons has freed the Soul-Eater, then I need to recapture him. If he’s still imprisoned—then I still need to go. Before what’s inside me destroys everything else.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me.” Before he could respond, she added, “The kraken wouldn’t hurt me. I know it wouldn’t. I—talked to it, remember? It doesn’t want to hurt me. It’s lonely, it—”
“Wants to take you down into the depths with it?” His mouth twisted. “That would be a cure to its loneliness, wouldn’t it? Damning you to share its fate.Myfate.”
And you’re not going to fight it? Not for the life up here you love so much?
Not for me?
Her throat hurt. She swallowed, tried to wet her dry mouth, but nothing worked. The words weren’t just stuck, they wererazor-edged, like the teeth she was trying to force them past. They would hurt too much to say.
Let alone how painful it would be to hear his answer. He’d already made his decision.
“It wouldn’t hurt me,” she managed, ashamed of how weak she sounded. How weak shewas.
“And what about the others?” His voice was sharp, with a bitter edge. “Would you be so quick to find ways to keep it around once it starts venting its murderous nature on everyone around you? Your friends. Your colleagues. Maggie—”
“Itwouldn’t.” And if Moss was turning into it— “Youwouldn’t.”
“I don’t want to. I want anything other than that. And that’s why I have to leave.” His jaw worked. “Selfish, isn’t it? I’d rather go now and leave knowing you want me to stay, than stick around until you curse the day you ever met me.”
His mouth twitched as though he was trying to smile, but the grief in his eyes was more convincing.
“There has to be another way.” She reached for him, and he made a jerky movement as though he was about to reach back.
Then shadows curled around his arm, and he snatched it back.
“It was all a trick,” he growled. “Pretending to lie low. Making me think I had time.” His eyes met hers, pleading. “I never wanted to hurt you, Carol. This wasn’t how I meant—”
She braced herself. Deep in her heart, something shivered, uncertain, sensing hurt bearing down on it like pieces of shipwreck falling to the ocean floor. Carol frowned. What was that feeling?
Then an alert blared in her mind. A psychic warning siren. Throughout the house, other shifters swore and scrambled out of their beds, their heartpulses firing with adrenaline.
Moss drew back. “What’s—”
*Maggie’s disappeared.*Lance’s voice was clipped and professional. He was the one who’d raised the alarm, Carol realized. A telepathic siren, part shout, part leopard’s snarl. It faded, leaving ringing echoes in her mind. *Everyone, out. We’ve got a dragon to find.*
30
Maggie
Maggie was so bored she was going to die.
Everyone had stayed cooped up insideall day.And not even the interesting part of inside! Every time she tried to go and find out what was hiding under the house, someone grabbed her and said she’d better not. As though NOT was ever BETTER.
At least there were lots of people around. And she had her hoard-box back now. Maybe she could trick some of them into getting into it? Except it wasn’t big enough, and no matter how many times she dragged it in front of them, they just picked it up and said, “Oh, be careful with that, Maggie, you don’t want someone to trip on it!” When that was EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED.
The eely ladies were fun. They had told Maggie how beautiful she was, and how impressive her hoard was. She might have wanted to add them to her hoard, but they smelled a bit like the man who kept hanging around Pointy Teeth Lady and she… still wasn’t sure about him. And then the eel ladies went and swam in the big horrible wet, sodefinitelynot. Even though they brought fishes back to eat. And let Maggie eat them.
The big lion-man wasnofun. He wouldn’t let her sneak past him downstairsat all. His mate, the one who smelled like a bird, played with Maggie for a bit—good!—but then she realized that all the playing was to keep her away from the interesting downstairs. BAD.
Lance kept looking at his “phone” and groaning, or talking to people on the little screen and sounding grumpy and then putting it down and groaning more.
Keeley… Keeley had cuddled her lots. That was fine. She wanted to cuddle Keeley, too, but she also kind of wanted to be mad at her for being so far away forso long.The same way she was mad at the big dragon! Where was he?
Oh.
Far away.
