Kinsley smothers a laugh, zooming in with his phone to record through the window as she starts tearing the drawings off of the walls. They go up in smoke and a puff of ash as she clamps her fist around each of them, Cai reminding her not to burn the house down in her fury. Soren and Yri show up a minute later, faces contorted with worry in light of their mate’s tirade.
“Now’s when we should run,” Kahl whispers, starting to clamber down.
My movements aren’t graceful, shaking out my hands to try and get blood flowing to my limbs and wake them up, but I manage to not fall on my ass or need help. Starting off at a slow jog, the more I move, the better I feel. We finish running home, but by the time we’re a few houses away, I feel the telltale burning in my shoulder muscles.
“Shit.”
Quickly veering right, I get off of the street and between houses as the guys follow me, but it’s futile. It’s the middle of the afternoon and there are people out doing yard work or grilling, walking around like they don’t have jobs to get to. And for some damn reason, most of these properties don’t have fences surrounding them, which just leaves me that much more exposed. My hand smacks the siding of the house and I double over, gritting my teeth and mentally pleading for her to go back to sleep.
“You alright, little lady?” an older man asks, coming around the back of his house.
Incapable of forming words I just nod, not that it’s believable. Kaiden starts kneading the screaming muscles, murmuring low, soothing praises that just makes the stranger eye him suspiciously. While Kahl tries to intercept the man, Kinsley crouches in front of me, cupping my cheek.
“Think it would help if we distracted her? Throw the thirsty girl a bone, if you will?” he offers and I exhale, chuckling.
“Sure, cave for her and not for me,” I tease, though the effect is ruined by a grunt of pain, closing my eyes. Though it does spur an idea; not pulling any punches and exploiting people’s weaknesses to win.
You can’t stretch your wings right now. Kaiden’s at our back; he could get hurt. Scales are sharp enough to cut through my skin, so what does that mean for his hands? He wouldn’t be able to work. And worse, he wouldn’t be able to touch us.
Think of Kinsley, how excited he was about this afternoon. We can’t ruin that by making him have to abandon his family and home to run. All that joy and light, snuffed out and exchanged for a miserable life on the run because of us.
You really want to see the disappointment on Kahl’s face when we let him down? He believes in us, thinks we can do this. He was so proud when we agreed to come out here today. He’ll blame himself if it ends in disaster, but we’ll know it’s our fault.
A minute passes as my ears ring with pressure, hissing in slow breaths as I draw comfort from the steady tapping of my finger on my knee. I can make out the muffled sounds of the guys talking around me, but can’t discern the words. Another breath, and the burning in my shoulders starts to fade, all of that pressure reverting to my head until I have a splitting headache.
“They stole from us.”My eyes fly open at the hostile voice hissing in my head, locking eyes with Kinsley who’s still trying to bribe my dragon into behaving.“I want them back.”
Feeling like an absolute nutjob, I answer her, the entire thing making me feel sick.The stones? Those weren’t ours. Soren’s, I think. We’re not asking our mates to steal from the rock giant. They could get killed and I know you don’t want that.
“Then I want our own,”she huffs like a petulant child.
Nodding slowly, gazed locked on Kinsley’s worried face, I try to veil my words for the sake of the stranger and appease everyone. “Sorry about that. You know how us girls get after being away from our hoard too long. Shiny things soothe the savage beast and all that jazz.”
Kinsley’s eyes widen a bit, but rolls with it. “Then I guess we best be getting you home.”
Sound good? We’ll go home, you can stretch your wings, and we’ll see if the guys know a good place to find some pretty rocks.
“For now. But I grow weary of being caged, human. You’re standing between me and my mates and I won’t tolerate it much longer.”
