The dragon gnawed at me from the inside. It chewed on my innards and sent hunger rolling through me. It wasn’t just food that I wanted, though. I wanted Ness. I wanted her in my lap, where my arms could keep her safe and my lips could finally give me a taste of her.
“For fuck’s sake,” I growled.
“No need to get grumpy,” Ness muttered as she turned onto a side street and merged with traffic.
We left Lakesedge, and the number of cars around us tripled. I marveled at the magical barriers that kept humans from wandering too far into Lakesedge. In the rearview mirror, I saw rows and rows of warehouses instead of the homes that I knew were there.
Back home, no such magic protected us from humanity. My small hometown in the mountains was protected by the landscape. Dragons made up most of the community, but there were others with arcana who lived among us. We kept each other safe in the privacy of our own bubble.
Here, the two worlds butted up against one another, yet humanity had no idea what lurked near their lake. Memories of the fae court under the lake made me shiver. Ness stole another wary glance at me.
I cleared my face so that there was nothing to read there. She narrowed her eyes at me and turned back to the road ahead.
“I’m getting food from a drive thru, then we can head back to your place. We shouldn’t spend too much time together. Alvin has been looking for an excuse to kill me for years. You’ve finally given him one.” She flicked the blinker and turned into a drive-thru coffee shop.
“When I said food, I meant something more substantial.”
She gestured to the sub shop connected to the café. “You’re welcome to get out and order food while I get my coffee.”
“How are you not vibrating into a parallel universe? You drink way too much caffeine.” I kicked my door open and left without waiting for her to respond.
Ness rolled down her window and leaned out. “Get me an Italian meat combo while you’re in there!”
Though I gave her the middle finger over my shoulder, I knew I’d do as she asked. I wanted her to have the energy to run should Alvin come for her. If I left her living on nothing but coffee, I would feel awful if she died.
The thought of Ness, dead in a ditch, filled my throat with white hot lightning. It crackled across my tongue and between my teeth. Rage simmered in my stomach and made my blood boil. I systematically cracked my knuckles one by one, but that did little to bleed away the rage making my dragon go wild.
I could do as Ness asked and kill Alvin. Then she would be safe, and I would be able to move on. I wouldn’t have to worry about the little hound shifter anymore.
But I wasn’t going to bloody my hands again. I couldn’t do it. Once was enough. No matter how many times I told myself that I could do it again, I wasn’t sure if I had enough soul left to give up. Too much of me had been sheared away by guilt. Duty wasn’t enough of an excuse for me to do this anymore.
That was why I’d tracked Ness down. Well, that and the fact that I needed to tell her about what I wanted. She’d barely given me anything to work with. I wasn’t sure what kind of arcana she had at her disposal, so I didn’t know what to ask of her.
Today, we would settle this so that both of us could move on.
Ness pulled around the front of the coffee and sub shop combo. She peered out the window while sipping from a ridiculously loaded coffee. Her eyes flashed when she saw the bag of food in my hand.
I rolled my eyes. Damn dog.
Back at the rental apartment, I tossed the bag of food onto the coffee table and dropped into a chair. Ness lingered in the doorway. The way she looked back over her shoulder enraged me. I knew she was looking for danger.
No shifter should have to live their life like that. The fact that Alvin hated Ness this much made me want to break something, preferably his neck.
“Why does he hate you so much?”
Her shoulders slumped. She stepped inside and kicked the door closed behind her. Though she lifted the coffee to her lips, she didn’t drink. It hovered in front of her like a lifeline. I guessed it was the one comfort she could afford in a world that left her little softness.
I faced forward so I could turn away from the urge to fold her into my arms. Eventually, she threw herself onto the couch across from me. She yanked a sub from the bag and gave it a sniff. Scowling, she shoved it toward me and grabbed the other sub.
“Are you going to answer me?” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees and stared her down.
Ness ignored me. She unwrapped half of her sub and took the largest bite she could manage. I watched the shifter woman tear into the bread and meat as if filling her mouth would keep her from having to explain herself. Eventually, she would run out of food. That, or she would choke on her idiocy.
At least here, I knew she was safe. My beast calmed a bit. The dragon in me wanted to know if she would run out of food or choke first. If the second happened, I was here to help. I wasn’t too concerned.
“Well?” I asked.
She swallowed hard. Her gaze went distant.