Chapter 20
Saige
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Kinsley flops intothe seat on my free side, stealing my hand rather than wrap his arm around my shoulders like he usually would. None of them have done a single thing beyond tease me about being jealous, and with Faye curled up against my other side, he doesn’t want to risk accidentally touching her and setting my dragon off. The brain beast has been relatively quiet, but after the scare in the bookstore, none of us want to risk making her explode.
As if the weather weren’t bad enough today for the two of us, my temperature begins dropping. Faye shivers, tugging the blanket draped over us closer without pulling away from me, though she has to know it’s my fault.
Will you stop trying to kill her? She’s not after the guys. If anything, she’s trying to seduceus.
“She feels...wrong.”
Frowning, I give up all pretense of paying attention to the debate still going on around me. This is the first actual conversation I’ve had with my alter since she tried to turn me into a bloody water balloon, and when talking to someone that rarely speaks, you’d be stupid not to listen.
What are you talking about?
“I can’t...feel her,”she growls in frustration, mirroring Faye’s statement of how she was able to infiltrate the human’s hideout.“It’s like she’s empty. No better than a human, but still feels familiar. I don’t like it.”
Closing my eyes, I take stock of the room. The triplets are a constant presence, but even beyond that, I can still tell they’re more. Dangerous. Yet Faye? She doesn’t intimidate me, or even register as human, though she inspires protective instincts. I just want to tug her behind me, stand between her and the world.
The lines are getting blurred left and right. Predator, prey, and something in between. Monsters are donning new faces, finding unexpected ways to fly under the radar and attack when you aren’t expecting it. At this rate, things might actually start leveling out, knocking the dragons from the top of the food chain.
I just hope they aren’t replaced with something far worse. At least some dragons can be reasoned with, simply want to live a normal life. But if their numbers keep dropping, they might not be able to even save themselves from whatever change is coming.
A knock on the door has all of us tensing and Faye starts to sit up, pulling the blanket off so she isn’t trapped by it in case she needs to run. Kinsley grips my hand reassuringly before releasing it, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees in an easy going position. Still, I don’t miss the way his leg shifts, making sure he can quickly go for his gun if it proves necessary.
For constantly assuring me Hadeon is decent and safe, they sure are trigger happy, paranoid men. All those smiles and pranks, yet they don’t trust anyone either; no one but each other.
Kaiden hangs back while Kahl answers the door, getting into a hushed argument. He drifts closer to his brother to intervene and I thread my fingers through Faye’s without really thinking about it. Whether her story is a crock of shit or not, she’s still in a similar position, if not actually worse.
She appears far more vulnerable than I do, but doesn’t know how to use that deceptive armor to her advantage. Honestly, she carries the air of someone that’s never had to take care of herself before. I’m not about to toss her out on her ass just because she’s a stranger without a damn good reason, well aware of how little mercy is actually left in this world. Likely I’d bolt for the safe room simply for her sake, but I don’t feel the same impulse for myself as before, though I should.
Whether it’s from my dragon taking root into my system, burning away what I once was so she can take over, or just getting tired of running, I don’t want to hide. This is my home, my flight. I’ll go down swinging if I have to, but I’m not about to leave them to fight my battles for me while I cower in the shadows.
“Just let me deliver them so I can leave,” a familiar voice sighs in exasperation.
Faye’s grip tightens in response to my sudden stillness, trying to get a read on my face. “We should go upstairs,” she suggests breathlessly, since we obviously haven’t told her about the panic room.
“No.”
Stopping the finger that’s tapping against her knuckles, I take a page out of Kaiden’s book, adding the rest of them to an imaginary rhythm, coaxing myself out of my head. The next time that Ben speaks, I’m breathing steadier, getting better at pulling myself back before I can spiral too far.
“You’re safe with us,” I assure her on a whisper, not taking my eyes off of the doorway, shifting my body to act as a barrier between her and the doctor.
“Let me cut to the chase here, Kahl,” Ben declares, louder this time. “This is a welfare check. People are pissed, as you well know. Hadeon works because we respect each other, but you three hold more sway in their eyes than most. They listen to you. You lose that respect and things are going to start going to hell real quick. You can only push so far before men start shoving back.”
Kahl’s reply is muffled, attempting to protect us from whatever fallout he can. Ben isn’t having it though, beginning to argue with Kaiden too, eventually having enough and cutting them both off.
“I’m on your side, idiots! Let me deliver the stupid gifts to humor the pissy bastards, assure everyone you aren’t keeping them chained in your basement, and we can go from there.” There’s a dip in the conversation as Kaiden voices his protest, but he’s ultimately overruled.
“Look, I don’t like it either. I have plenty of shit to do without worrying about you jackasses, yet here I am on my day off. So can we get this over with already so I can take a damn nap? The last Gauntlet flooded the surgery center and I don’t think I’ve slept in a wee-“ His jaw snaps shut as he rounds the corner into the living room.
Faye clutches my arm, a strangled sound slipping from her throat as she tries to urge me into getting to my feet. Slowly bending down without once taking his eyes off of us, Ben places the tote bags laden with gifts onto the floor before rising back to his full height.
“What the hell did you do?” he murmurs incredulously, dragging out the words before turning a vicious glare on the guys.
