As it was, we Dragons were a risk. We’d stay cloaked, but our size would draw attention. Only the fact that the town was full of Dragons made it possible, even if few were our size.
Marcus was lurking in the back of it all, but he apparently wasn’t coming with, for which I was grateful. That was one wild card we didn’t need. We bloody well had enough of them.
The focus of all this attention approached me. Her bosom bitches, Kiko and Vali, trailed along behind. I took a deep breath and looked down at the Dreambitch.
Imagine my surprise when she handed Fang up to me. “She’ll be safer with you,” she said.
Safer.With me.The simple sentence set off both my monster and my beast all at once. I glanced over to the Dragon that would be on her team.
“You need more protection than him,” I growled. Not the first time I’d expressed that opinion. And like the last five, she ignored it.
The Webspinner didn’t seem all that keen to come over to me, but when I scooped her off Riley’s hand and raised her to my neck, she kept her fangs to herself.
“If we need protection at all, I’ll Jump us out before anyone can blink,” she pointed out. Again.
The Satyr planted her hands on her hips and glowered at me. “Are you even going to stick around for this?”
Vali glared from beside her. Clearly, neither had a high opinion of me.
It was an excellent question. Now that I had Fang, I could stage an exit at any time. But even considering it was a declaration of inner war. I winced when my fingers sprouted talons.
“She needs you.” Marcus had moved up on us, and I hadn’t even heard him do so. Not a promising start to a mission.
I was the only one who had the images of this stronghold and its surrounding town in my brain, and our cursed link provided me with the means to deliver them. “I’ll be there until it is over.” I clenched my teeth. “After that, I’m outta here.”
I saw her flinch, and Marcus’s eyes went jet-black. Fucking freaky. Made the glowers from the Satyr and the Dragona look like something from a two-year-old.
“Youbither,” he snarled.
“Yeah. I did.”
“And you’ll be leaving?” His eyes flared white.
I could swear the night suddenly got a lot darker. I didn’t let it dissuade me. “Yep. I will.”
“It’s okay, Marcus,” the Dreambitch said, wrapping a hand around his bare arm, as if to hold him back.
He transferred his glare to her. “Frek. It isnotokay. How dare hemateyou, and then leave you—”
She glared right back at him. “Before you point fingers about being an asshole, take a long look in the mirror.” She let him go and stalked off, leaving him fuming hot. I could smell the rage radiating off him.
Her two friends shot me a last glare before hurrying after her.
For a moment, Marcus stood there, completely rigid, with black scales popping up along his arms. The bones shifting beneath his skin sent chills down my spine. It wasn’t until he turned and strode stiffly away into the night that I realized the green-eyed bitch had called me an asshole.
I glared over to where she, Kiko, and the Dragona were now standing with the Blocker. Dammit. Fuckingbitch.
Takes a bastard to know one,came the flippant reply.
Stay the fuck out of my head,I snarled.
She didn’t look over at me, but she held up her hand with only the middle finger extended. What the fuck did that mean?
Grumbling to myself, I turned away and created my customary spot for Fang to curl up against my neck, before covering her in scales. If things got crazy, I wanted her protected. It was surprising that Riley had given her back—Fang was the strongest hold she had on me.
Well, maybe not the strongest. But a good one, anyway.
We assembled at the gate, and I glanced back to where Riley stood with the skinny Dragon and the Dire woman. She’d be okay. My human tried to believe it, but both my monster and beast were still clamoring for me to abandon my team and go with her.
