Why couldn't we have stopped at the mall I pointed out instead? I turn and look at my surroundings. Other than the railing-protected walkway and a few telescopes that let me look out over the city, there's nothing up here. There's not even a bathroom.
It is a fine nest, Mhal tells me proudly. Very defensible.
"It has no bathroom. It has no shelter. We have no food, no water." I'm trying not to yell at him, but this place only works for him, and he doesn't remember me when he's in dragon form. "Mhal, I can't get down. The elevator doesn't work after all this time and even if it did, I wouldn't trust it. I'm stuck up here unless you shift and take me back down again."
And you do not trust me to do so? His thoughts are accusing.
"You don't even remember my name when you're in dragon form," I point out. "We should go back to Fort Dallas."
His thoughts flare with anger, his jaw clenching. The Salorian's hive? No. Never. You are not safe there.
"He doesn't want me dead—"
He takes over my mind because it suits him. He enslaved me. Why would I ever go back? Why would you?
I'm silent. He has a point. Fort Dallas is just a place. It's not even one I'm particularly fond of. Cities are different in the After. They're not full of friendly faces or neighbors helping each other out. Everyone's out for themselves. But…I do have friends there. And it's familiar to me, which makes it comfortable.
And Azar made it sound like he needed us for something. I'm not his friend, and I don't care about his panty program other than that it feeds my friends, but I can't help but wonder what his big plan is and how it involves women mating dragons.
That is simple. Mhal's tone is short, his expression imperious. He stalks toward me like I'm his prey. He wants an army in this world as he did in the last one. If he cannot control as many dragons here as he did back in our world, he will control them through you by forcing you to do his bidding.
I swallow hard, crossing my arms. He's…not wrong. "I have friends there, though."
Would they risk their lives for you? Because you are risking yours by returning. He touches my cheek, his fingers gentle even as his eyes flare with black. You risk yours and I will not do that. You belong to me, and I belong to you.
I stare up at him, fascinated at the loving support in his gaze. He won't risk me. He won't let me risk me. The thought is a humbling one. I know without me, he's doomed to be back under Azar's control—or attacking cities like the other wild dragons do. He needs me, too. I need to put him above the needs of my friends, like Bethany and Manda.
Manda has Daniels to look after her. Bethany…well. I can try to look after Bethany as much as I can, but I can only do so much when she chooses to stay with her useless husband that beats her and steals her money.
That is right, Mhal encourages. Stay with me instead. I will never beat you and I will only give you orgasms.
I giggle despite myself. How am I supposed to argue with that?
You cannot, which is why I use it to convince you. He gives me another one of his rare smiles, flashing that chipped fang. It fades just as quickly as it arrived, and his expression grows serious as he gazes at me. Stay with me. Please. I am lost without you.
His fervent thoughts make me feel shy. "We just met," I murmur, pushing my wind-blown hair back behind my ears again. It's so windy that the air rips at my bare skin and drowns out my voice, but I know he hears me, because he hears my thoughts. "It's just a lot to process all at once, Mhal."
I know. I can feel your thoughts. He brushes his knuckles along my jaw, gazing at me. You are torn. You wish to be loyal to your friends but you have no loyalty to the Salorian. That I am glad of, at least. But I cannot go back there. If I do, he will seek to enslave me.
I nod slowly, thinking of his gray-eyed, blank stare. Of the intense pressure I felt in his head when Azar tried to take over again. I can't imagine what a nightmare it is to know someone's had control of your body and you can't do anything about it. I won't let that happen to him again, no matter how I feel about my friends. I reach up and take his hand in mine. "Then we don't go back, Mhal. It's that simple."