My hand stills, breath hitching in my chest. A thousand questions start spinning in my mind, battling to be the first one out of my mouth. Ultimately, I shove all the ones aside that I desperately want to ask in favor of the one that I have to.
“So why are you here?”
She pulls back and I can feel her reluctance to do so as if it were a tangible thing. Guiltily, her wide, amber eyes plead for understanding. “I need your help. Some of the women that live there have developed-” she pauses, searching for the right word with a grimace “-side effects from the situations they escaped from, but most aren’t too terrible.”
Swallowing, she grips my arm desperately, rushing the rest of her words out. “There’s a boy though, worse off than the others. It’s always been difficult for him, but these last few months have gotten to the point he can’t hide it from the others there anymore. And if the rumors we’ve picked up on over the last year are to be believed, he’s like you. When we intercepted a picture, a woman recognized your face, knew you used to be human. But they clearly did better by you, gave you a shot of blending in.
I clench my fist, biting back the rant that spurs to life in my throat at the disgusting statement.‘Did better by you, gave you a shot.’Like those monsters did me some sort of goddamn favor.
“I traced the rumors back to this area where they suddenly just stopped and figured you must be living somewhere around here.” Her hands start trembling. “They’re going to kill him, Saige. Whether they claim the bullshit of it being a mercy killing to put him out of his misery, or admit they’re terrified of him shifting and what that means for them. But he’s...changing. Hefeelslike a dragon now and no amount of hiding or covering up can keep that from the rest of the humans. They’re scared, and refuse to let one kid put everyone else at risk.”
My stomach sinks and I fight the urge to be sick for countless reasons. “So I was right? There’s some sort of underground communication. You guys can intercept messages, get into people’s phones? What do I have to do with anything?”
Faye releases my arm abruptly as my temperature drastically drops, a roaring in my ears stemming from my dragon freaking out.
“Everything,” she breathes. “Your blood is the key. If they figured out how to turn you mostly into a dragon, then we can do the same for him, hide him in plain sight. He can’t keep going on in this half state. If we can turn him, make him like you, then he stands a better shot than either of us surviving this world. We just need to get him out of there before it’s too late.”
Chapter 19
Saige
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“Idon’t deserve this,” Faye states quietly, eyes losing focus as she gets lost in her head. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“We all deserve a little basic decency. We’re stuck relying on other people to survive, so might as well enjoy the blessings when they come. Trust me, it grates at me that I can’t even buy a damn apple on my own anymore, but all of that anger is pointless and mentally draining. Maybe things will change down the road, but for now, let’s just focus on the things we’re able to control.”
Her eyes widen, pleading with me once more. “We need to get going, not waste any more time than we already have.”
Clutching the door handle to the bathroom as I start to close it behind me, I try to appear more confident than I actually am. “Try and look at this from my perspective, Faye. You come here asking for my blood and trying to get me to follow you to gods’ only know where, while insisting my mates can’t come. You were able to sneak out of there on your own, but you couldn’t bring the kid with you because they don’t want to let him go, even though they don’t want him there. I’d be stupid to just blindly trust you at your word despite how much I want to. Let me talk to them and see if we can come up with some sort of plan, okay?”
She swallows, teary-eyed. “I told you; they don’t want him to be able to lead anyone back to them if they just turn him loose. They don’t think it’s worth the risk of everyone’s safety.”
Giving her a pointed look, she sighs, shaking her head. “Just don’t string me along for days, alright? They were putting it to a vote after a week and it’s already been three days. If you’re not willing to help, then fine. Just admit it so I can try and figure something out myself and get back before it’s too late.”
I nod, giving her an apologetic smile as my heart breaks, torn between logic and the desperate desire to help, to believe her. But if life has taught me anything, it’s that the world is a horrifically cruel place that won’t hesitate to exploit someone for their own gain.
