Abi’s lips turned up into a smile.
“When Daruss, Izzy, and the others rescued me, I couldn’t function. I couldn’t even take care of my basic needs. Everything was just…too much. But Izzy moved in with Daruss for a while, and together they did everything for me as if I were a toddler. Bathed me. Put on my clothes. Made sure I drank enough water and ate regularly.”
“Daruss and Izzy are like your parents.”
“They were at first. Daruss slips into that role on occasion. He does it with all of us.”
Abi nodded. “Peter’s like that with me.”
“Maybe we can go back and forth between families.”
Abi shrugged. “That would be a good compromise. But we’ll talk about it later, like you said. I’d like to hear the rest.”
Nash nodded. “Eventually, I got better. I started taking showers on my own. I ate when I was hungry. Drank when thirsty. And then I finally broke down. I didn’t cry. I beat the shit out of Daruss. Or as much as I could, with him being a fully grown dragon shifter and me being a teenager and not even close to shifting yet. Daruss just let me. He never even fought back, and Izzy was there afterward when the anger turned to tears. Then the rest of the guys started showing up. Skippy is the best listener. I told him everything—every little detail. And then I started talking about my feelings. About Axel. About not having family, and he said something I’ve never forgotten. He said, ‘We’ll all miss Axel. You’ll talk about him, and we’ll miss him. That’s what Dragon Skulls do.’ What he meant was that they would feel the pain with me. Daruss had certainly proven it.”
Abi held onto him tighter. “So they’re the ones you need to lean on when all this is over. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“And you. Always you, baby.” Nash kissed Abi. “It’s never not going to be you.”
Abi was all Nash saw. He’d be half a person without Abi. “I’d like to go home for a while, but if it’s not what you want, then…” Nash sighed. “Then, okay. As long as we’re together. That’s the most important thing.”
“Fucking hell. Now I’ll be the monster who didn’t let you go home. That’s just great.”
Nash smiled. “No.”
“Yes.” Abi sighed. Abi was making it way more dramatic than it had to be.
“It’s really not that big of a deal. It’s a visit.”
“To see your family, who might not like me.” Abi gestured to himself. “I’m kind of an asshole on my best day. If someone catches me on my worst day, I’ll inject them with venom. That’s what you’re dealing with here, Nash. You know that, right?”
So the kickback Abi was giving Nash had to do with his likability. Good to know.
Nash smiled. “I’m very aware of how great you are, baby.”
Abi rolled his eyes. “I know you like me. We have sex. A lot. And it’s fucking great. Believe me, I like you a lot too for that very reason.”
Nash chuckled. “You’ll fit right in.”
“I don’t fit in anywhere. I smell weird. I’m the only skinwalker in existence.”
“We’re bonded. Our smells are mixed now, right?”
Abi nodded and smiled. “It’s mixed up now.”
Nash crooked a finger, and Abi came to him. He pulled Abi onto his lap and buried his nose in Abi’s neck. “Mmm.”
Abi wrapped his arms around Nash. “I’ll think about it.”
“Thank you. And you should know Jonik has two forms.”
“I know.”
“And Samuel has some seriously weird magic.”
“And Seryn is a warlock and a vampire. Not to mention Abit. None of us knows what the fuck he is. He’s such a prickly bastard we’re not brave enough to ask.”
The only difference between the Dragon Skulls and the Sylvain Mafia was reputation. The Sylvains were notorious in a way that the Dragon Skulls would never be.
