“Claims it wasn’t him.” I spoke through gritted teeth.
Vali moved until her legs were off the bed. “Havoc may be an ass regardless, but he also might not have been lying. Ace always referred to three entities within him. The Deranger monster, the Dragon beast, and his human. Sometimes when he woke up, his human wasn’t home.”
I stared at her. Havoc had been serious when he’d said it wasn’t him?
“So look at it this way,” she said. “His monster and his beast want you. It’s his human that is holding back.”
I rubbed my face. This shifter thing was complicated as hell. “So, it was his monster and his beast that screwed me?” It would mesh with conflict I’d seen in his eyes. Had I been wrong to push? My heart twisted.
“That’s a lucky thing,” Kiko exclaimed. “Better that, than the other way around. If the monster didn’t like you—”
It did make me feel better, but only marginally. Did Havoc’s human not want me at all? But he’d wanted to keep going even after the human in him had woken up. I was sure of it.
And that made him a grade-one asshole for not admitting to it. But that was okay. Because I didn’t want him either, after his reaction.
He could fly off into the great unknown, for all I cared.
“What did the other asshole want?” Kiko asked.
So I told them.
“That sounds way too dangerous,” the Satyr protested once I’d told her. Her eyes flashed dark fire.
“I want those kids away from Isobel as badly as Marcus does.” I would have tried to help, even without Marcus.
Kiko was keeping one eye on Fang, who prowled around on my bed, humming to herself and poking her fuzzy legs into the cracks around the edges. Perhaps looking for web-building opportunities? It was a curiously reassuring activity. “I did a little Jump test with Jacques before I went to find Marcus, but it wasn’t a good one. I’m really not sure how much the surroundings matter.”
The Satyr stared at me with wide eyes before stating, “He has atonof nerve asking you to do this.”
Her level of piss-off was helping to ease the hurt, just a little. It stung that Marcus would put the kids above my safety, even though I knew why he did so.I know what she’s capable of,he’d said.
That bitch had torn him apart. I couldn’t imagine her doing that tochildren.
“He has to know how risky this is for you.” Kiko sounded surprisingly outraged, for her. Likely because we were currently without any male company to provide distraction.
He’d seen its effects on me. I’d Jumped to this room during my first training session, and been damned shaky afterward. Then there was the disastrous swimming incident. And finally, the Jump to him, where I’d basically dissolved into a Dragon.
One would think it was pretty clear that Jumping wasn’t for the faint of heart, but who knew. “Maybe he thinks it’s like creating a sword—you get better with practice.”
She arched a brow. “And you’ve created how many swords, exactly?”
I grimaced. “Okay. Point taken.” My mind was already occupied with logistics. “If I find them, I don’t even know how many I can bring home at once…”
Her mouth opened, and then closed again, before she rose. “Well, you need to eat if you are planning to be a superhero. I will once again pillage the vending machines.”
Vali shot me a look, then said, “I’ll come, too. Two of us can carry more provisions. And this might be a long undertaking.”
Kiko held the door open for the Dragona, but hesitated before adding, “I will remind you that superheroes rarely get to have any fun. They are usually too busy saving the world.” With that surprising declaration, she followed the Dragona out.
I think the proper noun to use was superheroine. Although considering my Dire adventure, who knew.
I scooped Fang up. She vibrated happily as I stroked her, then I rose and went to the window. From here, I noticed how the meadow looked a bit trampled close to the gate, but all the injured were long gone. Still, with classes suspended for the day, the front meadow was a busy place. The sky had cleared, and the sun encouraged sunbathers on the beach. There was enough muscley naked flesh revealed to give Kiko palpitations.
I noticed that those braving the water were staying in the shallows. Cowards.
Fang crawled along my arm and nestled in her usual spot beneath my hair. I should be exhausted, but instead, I felt as though I had little jolts of electricity running through me, followed by flushes of pure heat. My skin prickled with sweat, and my head spun. Was I getting sick?
Sick.
