“This is the entrance to the den.”
I drag the zipper down and step inside, feeling the strange scent and weird air. I reach up and explore until I catch the scent of the dragon. His scent has been bothering me. I can’t place itexactly, something not human, not of this world but pleasant, intoxicatingly pleasant. Distinctly his, though.
I shove him out of the way, brushing my entire body along his. He’s hard everywhere. I don’t know why that makes my body tingle and the damn heat in my body warm.
He stays on my heels as I dart around the clearing, inhaling the scents and confusing smells.
“Mei, come sit and eat.”
I ignore him until Leaf picks me up and drags me towards the heat of the fire. He puts something soft and large into my hands.
“Eat.”
I sniff. It’s got smells I don’t know. Meaty and strange. I bite into it and fall in love. Is this human food? I have been missing out.
“This is a cheeseburger,” Hartley says nonchalantly.
“Cheeseburger,” I murmur. “This is good.”
“If you have money, you can go into a shop and buy food.”
I think about that for a long moment. “How do I get money for food?”
Lirin curses under his breath.
“I’m going to teach you that, too,” Diablos says. “And you are going to teach me.”
“Me?” I ask after I swallow.
“Yes, I want to know how to be invisible and how to hunt and evade creatures like us. You are very, very good.”
I hear Reed scoff, but we ignore him.
“And they are going to teach us how to fight with weapons, how to ambush and attack,” Diablos says cheerfully. He scratches himself and hums.
“Why would we do that?” Reed asks. I stiffen because he’s moving closer.
“Because it’s in your best interests that we all stay alive, and you are a team player.”
“The sirens aren’t team players. They are a shiver,” I say easily before I recollect myself.
“That’s right. We have each other and no one else. That’s how it will always be. You are our enemy, Strega.”
I roll my eyes. “Your song is getting old, Ronit.”
I ignore everything else but my burger, but I can feel the animosity pouring into the air around us.
Chapter 9
Leaf
This planet rises with the sun, singing, noisy, and bright. Colours I have never seen before, but my mate is curled up in a tight ball in the fork of a tree, and I can’t convince her to come down.
I’m going to destroy this whole forest if I can’t get to her soon.
“Mei?” I purr. “Come down.”
She ignores me.
