I snort. “And I for one am not about to chuck her off a mountain and pray for the best here.” Both of my brothers grimace, in complete agreement. “So we need to come up with some other plan. If the whole Sanctuary and elders thing was just traditional bullshit the old generation went through, then there’s a different way to unlock our abilities.”
Filling them in on what she was saying about it feeling like she wasn’t alone in her head, their faces end up wearing matching shades of concern. I’m still confident that it isn’t abadthing, but it’s just one more unknown we should factor into our planning.
“That actually might be good,” Kahl muses, turning back to the stove to finish breakfast while he works through his thoughts aloud. “For her to come to terms with, I mean. She isn’t losing herself, giving up being human to turn into a dragon. Instead, she gained something. It isn’t replacing who she was, just adding more weapons to her arsenal to adapt. Isn’t that how dragons came about in the first place? Humans that evolved over the course of thousands of years? We aren’t that different. People just conveniently forget that fact to justify the war.”
“You’re right.” The three of us startle, whirling around to see Saige who managed to sneak up on us, which is impressive in its own right. She’s swimming in my clothes, far too thin, and her hair is still damp from her shower. “That’s a much better way of looking at things than I’ve been.”
She offers to help, but Kahl rolls his eyes and uses his spatula to gesture for her to go sit at the table. Kinsley follows to make sure he gets the seat beside her while I pull down plates and finish helping Kahl set things up.
“They wanted so badly for me to be able to carry a dragon baby, but they stuck one in the wrong spot,” she scoffs in a dry attempt at humor before promptly inhaling her breakfast the second it touches her plate.
I grind my teeth, wishing we could go back to that lab and draw their deaths out far more than we did. Worse, not only did a handful escape, but that certainly wasn’t the only group involved in experimentation. Who knows how many are out there, let alone the other well-known group campaigning to push through laws that would make even dragon females lose their rights and become breeders ‘for the good of our race’. The world is just going to shit and it’s so widespread and out of control, I can’t imagine how anyone could even go about making things right again. There are too many power hungry men and not nearly enough decent ones left.
Sick to my stomach with the direction my thoughts have taken, I pass her the rest of my food. The girl desperately needs to put some meat back onto her bones; I just wish she’d let us know what she likes so we could plan the shopping better to entice her into eating extra. But she only takes what she’s given, swearing she doesn’t have favorites because she’s just grateful to eat. It’s as heartbreaking as it is infuriating.
Though she sends an appreciative smile my way for it, an oppressive silence weighs on us, all four of us trapped in our own heads. I don’t expect her to ever fully recover from what she went through, and if adopting some dark humor helps her compartmentalize and cope, so be it.
It may hurt for us to hear, but it was way worse for her to live through. Why should we pretend it didn’t happen? She shouldn’t have to suffer in silence because it makes other people uncomfortable. Ignoring the situations that make your stomach churn because they’re hard to deal with is exactly why things like that are able to keep happening.
Saige sneezes, cursing as her wings snap out. They’re forced to the side because of her chair, knocking her off balance and Kins completely out of his seat, sending him sprawling onto the floor. Their forks clatter to the ground, sounding ungodly loud in the otherwise silent house. Kahl reaches her first since I’m across the table from them, helping her upright from where she’s half hanging off the chair, one armed braced on the floor.
Her shirt flipped up in the back, bunching above her wings and pulling the front up enough to bare most of her stomach. Faded, white scars are left on display, but I pointedly keep my eyes on her face in case they make her self-conscious, not wanting her to get the wrong idea since she’s made it clear she doesn’t want our pity.
Kahl’s palm comes away bloody when he removes it from her back, but he schools his features well enough to hide the rage his concern brings to the surface, far better at pretending than I could ever dream. “Does it hurt every time?”
She shrugs a single shoulder like it’s no big deal, though she doesn’t meet his eye. “It’s not as bad as it used to be. The first few times were hell and took forever to fully tear through, but there’s enough scar tissue built up now that a good chunk of the nerve endings have been killed off. Now it’s mostly a lot of pressure and like a quick paper cut. With razor wire.”
Kinsley claps his hands, all of us jolting at the sharp noise and turning to face him. “Okay, this is getting too depressing. Our flight is together again and that’s cause to celebrate! Do you have any clue how jealous the other bastards in town are going to be when they find out?”
“Kins,” Kahl starts, a warning edge bleeding into his tone.
Yet Kinsley waves him off, pressing on to explain. “I’m not an idiot, Kahl. I know we can’t just take her around town until she stables out a bit more, but we can at least be comfortable and happy in our own damn home.”
He wraps his arms around Saige, careful of her wings, and nuzzling the side of her face before kissing her cheek. “Our mate deserves to be happy and it’s our job to make sure that happens. So even if things aren’t the most ideal conditions right now, that doesn’t mean we have to put a pause on all of our lives. For all we know, even if she eventually shifts, she might still have these quirks in human form. So instead of wasting our lives waiting for everything to be perfect and easy, why not make the best of what we have?”
Gently, he trails his fingers across the outside of her wings, now folded against her back, and she shudders. “Because, Saige?” He looks down at her, meeting her gaze before tenderly pressing his lips to hers for a drawn out pause. “You just being here makes me happy. But being our mate?” He huffs out a heavy breath, resting his forehead against hers. “Really fucking happy. And things don’t have to be perfect for me to feel that way.”
She gets teary eyed and I panic, hauling him away from her. “You made her cry!”
He throws his hands up in surrender, but Saige hiccups a laugh and I freeze, glancing at her quickly. Tears stream down her face that she swipes at, fighting against her laughter. Even Kahl joins me glaring at Kins.
“Great, you broke her,” he scoffs dramatically, but his lip twitches with suppressed amusement.
Saige brushes her hands over her face with a genuine grin. I’m stuck watching with morbid fascination as her wings merge back into her body, coming to peer behind her as they leave bloody gashes in their wake. It makes absolutely no sense from a logical standpoint how any of this is possible. Where do they go? Because there certainly isn’t enough space in this frail girl to house them under her skin. For that matter, how are we even able to shift into dragons and back? Little disproportionate on the conservation of mass here. I make a mental note to talk theories with Soren, because they obviously have way better schools back in his home country. Here, they just focus on the basics and train us to fight.
Kahl grabs a wet rag, gently wiping the blood away before she straightens her shirt. “Want me to hit him for you?” he offers, finally caving into his smirk.
She pretends to think about it for a moment before shaking her head and sighing wistfully. “I’ve just missed this. Not just you guys, but having a place to call home.”
I watch emotions flit across her face far too quickly to get a read on, Saige running the emotional gauntlet in a matter of a minute. Finally, her eyes harden and I brace myself for whatever horrible news she’s about to give us, nervous as fuck.
She turns to Kinsley and he shifts uncomfortably under her scrutiny. “You’re right.” I no doubt have the same dumb look on my face as he does right now, surprised. “Lemons to lemonade and all that jazz. I might always be a little bitter, and look over my shoulder more often than not, but I don’t want to miss everything in front of me. They took enough.” She casually leans back into Kahl’s chest, her head tucked beneath his chin.
He wraps his arms around her, lacing his fingers in front of her stomach. “We skipped right to forming a flight and missed out on some of the best parts. I believe that means we owe you a few dates.”
