Ezra tucks an errant lock of fiery hair behind her ear before giving my mate a soft smile. “Of course someone will try to hurt you, to use you for their own gain. Hell, I’m the top of the damn food chain! And still, there are people out there that look at me as nothing more than a prized animal they want to take down; to prove they’re stronger, use me to pop out babies, or harvest my innards. They’re never going to stop coming, Saige, because the world isn’t safe no matter who you are; dragon or human.”
I scrub a defeated hand down my face, everything feeling insurmountable. But that feeling dissipates with her next words, because fuck, Ezra’s the queen of fire.
“So you fight, Saige. Tooth and nail if you have to, but this is where you belong, and you damn well know it. Stand your ground and kill anyone that gets in your way or threatens your family. I don’t care if they’re our neighbors; they turn on you, stick a knife in their eye. We don’t need people like that in Hadeon, so good riddance, I say.”
Kahl tries to interject with reason, “We don’t want her or any of us to get thrown in jail, Ez. It would cause more harm than good.”
Our little sister looks at him like he’s the world’s biggest idiot. “I turn into adragon.I can break you out of jail easily enough or go on a rampage and set the city on fire. Between Soren, Cai, Yri, and I, we couldeatthe police. Gain their power. Assume their identities and become them. I’ll pin a shiny little sheriff star to my hide and march around town stepping on the people I don’t like if I’m bored.” She turns to Kaiden for support, echoing the words he drilled into her growing up. “It’s not cheating because the rules were made up in the first place.”
She brings a flame to her palm and cackles maniacally, like some evil overlord. Saige fills a glass of water from the sink before dousing the ember and soaking the tiles at their feet. It puffs out in a sizzling cloud of smoke as Ezra hisses like a goblin with a ring fetish, shaking her hand out in annoyance.
“Easy there, killer, don’t get cocky.” Saige’s face morphs with a genuine smile that makes my stomach flip. “You get shot with one of their darts and they can still suppress your abilities, remember? Might not pierce dragonhide, but flesh? You’re not immortal.”
Ezra narrows her eyes at her and I rise to my feet, preparing to intervene if I have to while also applauding the brass balls my mate’s found.
I love my little sister, but she’s a damn psycho.
She dips her head in acknowledgement, grabbing her bags of pilfered groceries with a grimace. “You’re just a brother with boobs,” she complains. “I thought sisters were supposed to be different; shame. But I still owe them for the last stunt they pulled, and I won’t pull punches just because you’re going through genetic puberty. Besides,” she tosses over her shoulder on her way out, nearly at the door now. “It’s almost Halloween. It’ll be a good time to get out all of that pent up rage you’re trying so hard to repress.” She blows her a kiss and saunters away, challenge issued.
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Chapter 12
Kahl
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“They just keep sniffingaround,” Kinsley complains, closing the curtain.
Saige is curled up on the couch, her head resting on Kaiden’s thigh as he runs his fingers through her bright blue hair languidly. Her voice is groggy as she fights to wake up, the chilly weather zapping her energy. “Shoot ‘em in the leg,” she mumbles, half asleep. “Then they’ll stop sticking their noses where they don’t belong.”
My lip twitches in amusement, seeing and hearing this waif of a girl ready to commit cold-blooded murder without batting an eye. No one would expect someone her size to be able to land a decent punch, much less actually kill someone, which she has absolutely no problem exploiting.
“Donovan ran his mouth to anyone that would listen about what a bunch of closet degenerates we are, so not surprising.” Kaiden sighs in annoyance.
Saige blinks one eye open, aiming a challenging look at Kinsley’s back. “Well if a certain someone hadn’t stopped me, this wouldn’t be an issue.”
Kinsley turns to look at her with an unrepentant shrug. “Dead kid would just have people looking into us for what part we played in his murder. Not quite sure how I ended up the bad guy here.”
She sighs, clutching the blanket around her shoulders. “Sorry. I know you’re right, I just don’t like it.”
“You know,” I begin cautiously, waiting to see how she’ll react. “Everyone thinks you’re a female dragon anyway, so it actually makes you undermorescrutiny the longer we hide you away. People love a good mystery, after all.” Her eyes widen with alarm so I hasten, “Start easy. Let’s just walk to Ezra’s house. It’s close enough that if there’s a problem, we can shack up there or here if there’s a glitch. But Saige, they know about you now. Word will continue to spread whether or not they see you, so we may as well get ahead of it before rumors get out of hand.”
At her initial silence, Kinsley asks, “You were running around in the wilderness for the last year. You can’t tell me you’re afraid of the outside world.”
Huffing, she tosses the blanket off and begins to sit up, though stays plastered close to Kaiden’s side, leaning in when he wraps an arm around her shoulder. “No, but I was activelyavoidingpeople. Not trying to make small talk and parade myself in front of a flock of strangers. What the hell would I even say? I can’t tell them where I’m from, why I’m here. Even if I managed to strike up a conversation with your neighbor, everything out of my mouth would be a lie. It just seems pointless and stressful.”
Her speech starts to gain momentum and before I know it she’s on her feet, pacing the room. “I don’t want to know them. I have you three; I’m not exactly lonely. I’m happy, so why can’t that be enough?” She stops dead in her tracks, looking at me with earnest, pleading eyes. “I just want to stay here with you.”
Fuck if that doesn’t make my instincts flare to life, wanting to do just that. Keeping Saige here all to ourselves, assuring her that she’s safe andmineis a longing that acts as a physical pain. I just want her to be happy, to wipe that look of haunted terror from her eyes that guts me a little more every time I see it rear its ugly head.
As much as we’re in a different position than her genetically, I have a growing theory that whatever bond we created with her to create our flight broke the normal standards and is changing something inside of us too. Wearedragons, not possessed by them like she seems to be. But whatever they did to bring one to life inside of her is calling to everything I’ve always known was there yet couldn’t access, making my skin feel too tight and just...wrong. Like I’m in the way of our dragons reaching each other and they would happily destroy all of us in the process if they got a chance to break free.
I love it as much as I fear the potential development and what it could mean. Not only for us, but for the future. Dragons are just the product of centuries of evolution, so who’s to say we stop changing here? Maybe we’re in the process of a pivotal shift, the world forcing another adaptation on us in response to the lack of procreation so we don’t wind up extinct.
But I love her enough to want her to have an actual life instead of just being grateful for a gilded cage. And part of that means removing the obstacles standing in her way; even if she’s one of them.
“I know it’s a hell of a lot to ask, but take a chance on us, okay? Beyond that, have faith in yourself. You kept yourself alive for all of this time, Saige, and in far worse conditions. You can do this, and we will be right by your side until you start believing it. Things will never be perfect, but that shouldn’t stop you from living. It’s okay to want more out of life than just surviving it.”
