“What the hell is your deal, anyway?” It was Bellmont’s turn to be pissed at me. She crossed her arms and stared up at me, a tiny ball of impotent fury.
I shrugged. “You’re the ones fucking on my grounds. Outside. In the open. Where anyone can see you. Why shouldn’t I enjoy the show?”
She shrank in on herself. Okay, maybe that was a little too far. Nah. Fuck her if she can’t take a joke. I looked her over. Those gold eyes, that haunted look. I could see why the others were getting their boners in a twist over her. Hell, I wanted a piece too, but that wasn’t happening. Better to piss her off and keep her at bay than let her in and… whatever. I don’t get to keep nice things for myself, let’s just say.
“Cass looked pretty pissed,” I offered, trying to change the subject. “Did Chase show him up, or was it because of the rampant sex?”
Now she looked like she was going to cry. Fuck. Turn it off, dickhead.
“Why are you so goddamned awful to me?” From tears to tearing my head off in two seconds. Nice. She closed the distance between us before I could blink. Her finger jabbed into my chest hard. “I haven’t done anything to you. What is your problem with me?”
I sniffed at her in annoyance. She smelled of fire dragon musk. Chase, that bastard. He could just take what he wanted and to hell with anyone else. “I was living a perfectly happy useless existence before the Elders made me start working for a living, and you were a pain in my ass to find. You’ve been a thorn in my side for three years.” I gazed down at her with my best cold stare. “Yay. We found you. But instead of getting my lazy on, I’m stuck staying up all night watching the back end of some raggedy-ass bar so the Chosen of Apep doesn’t bother a bunch of useless humans.” I practically spat the last part.
“Useless…” She snarled. It shouldn’t have been a good look, but I felt a twinge in my pants. “You know who’s useless? Whoever let me get lost in the damned foster system in the first place. Those ‘useless humans?’ Kept me alive. Kept me safe. Kept me thinking that maybe, just maybe, I’m worth a goddamn.” That finger burrowed hard into my sternum. A shimmer formed around her hand. The tip of her fingernail got a lot sharper. I swallowed hard. This might not end well for me. “You’re goddamned right you people are going to take care of my FAMILY. You stand here in your gorgeous mansion whining because you’re not getting to sit on your ass being pampered when I spent my life being shuttled between houses, between schools, wondering if these people were going to feed me or shove me out of the house to fend for myself.”
Something wrapped around my wrist and squeezed. Then the other wrist. Panic began to creep in.
“You’re the fucking useless one, asshole. Be glad they’re giving you a use.”
Okay, that hit low. I felt rage bubbling up. “Listen, bitch…” I went to raise my hand to gesture but couldn’t. I looked down and saw a band of blackness twisting up my arm, twining around my forearm and reaching for my bicep. The rage was replaced by the sudden urge to piss my pants. “Umm…”
She followed my gaze. Her hands flew to her mouth, and in her moment of horror, the bands vanished in a fine mist. We both stood there, frozen, breathing hard, staring at each other. Her face was white. A few strands of her night-black hair fell over her eye, like ink on a blank page.
“I…have to go.” With surprising speed, she bolted toward the house, leaving me stunned in her wake.
I looked down at my wrists. There were traces of red, like the mark of a whip. She could have crushed my bones to powder if she’d wanted. If she’d known she could. Maybe Chase and Cass hadn’t gotten to that part of the lesson yet. I rubbed my wrists and counted myself lucky.
Note to self: don’t piss off shadow dragons.
Well, fuck her anyway. Maybe I should just leave her people to their own devices. Shut down the surveillance rig and get myself a good night’s sleep instead. My time was more valuable than the lives of a bunch of stupid working-class humans.
I watched her pause at the door, her hand on the doorknob. She seemed to be steeling herself for something. I chuckled. Maybe she was going to apologize to Cassidy. Like anyone cared about his bruised feelings. He’d spent so much time delving into her past and watching her at the bar that he’d fallen hard. Watching the others scoring with her first? Had to be killing the guy. Maybe I should give it a go with her. See if we can get some nerd rage out of him. I looked back down at my wrists. Yeah, fat fucking chance of that happening. I felt a pang. I’d probably just blown any chance of anything like that ever happening.
Did I really want that chance, though? I watched her walk through the door, shoulders squared, ready to face off with something or someone. Maybe she was just facing off with herself. The girl had inner demons to spare. I snorted. Something we had in common. Whatever assumptions she made about my idyllic upbringing were her business, but they were as far from the truth as you could get. Not that she needed to know that.
I turned and walked deeper into the trees. This was my favorite part of the grounds, a tiny forest in the middle of the city. You could get lost back here, hide out and do whatever you wanted. When I was a kid, it was where I’d hide from my older brother when he was in full-on dick mode. When I was a little older, it was where I’d go to smoke pot and listen to music when my brother was lording over me about his latest accomplishments, or when my parents were getting on my case about being a productive member of draconic society.
I reached up and grabbed a branch, hauling myself up onto it with ease. I hadn’t heard from my brother since The Search started. Last I knew, he was checking colleges in California. It was a welcome respite. My parents still plagued me with updates about his accomplishments, about how well he was coordinating the effort, about how much the Elder Council loved him. Rubbing my face in it as much as they could.
I smirked and laid back on the branch, resting my back against the trunk. Who’s laughing now? Who finally did something that Dario the Golden Child couldn’t? Who brought the Shadow Queen back into the fold? That’s right. Useless little Aric. Fuck you all.
My wrist buzzed. I glanced down at my smartwatch. My stomach turned. Think of them and they will come.
We’re on our way back. Be home in an hour. Need to talk. Mother was never one to mince words.
“I’ll be here,” I dictated back, then slapped the face of the watch to turn off the display. I leaned my head against the rough bark of the tree, then drove my head back into the trunk a couple times, growling to myself. Idly, I wondered what the Council had to say about me being the one who found the Shadow Queen. They must have shit themselves. I wondered how much of that shit was coming my way.