AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We would put gems on every finger, my pet. Every toe. Your ears, your neck, your clothes, everything everywhere,” I promised soothingly in her ear. “If you come with us, if you let us keep you—you will finally be yourself.” I pressed my lips to her shoulder and found that she didn’t jerk away from me this time.
She was busy thinking, apparently. And I could tell that she was unsettled about something.
“There’s something wrong with me, though…” she finally said after several minutes of thought. She looked at me and decided, “So there’s something wrong with you.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Caspian. “It doesn’t make any sense—that we all feel the same way? How would that even be possible? I can assure you, after years of therapy, that my condition is not in the books.”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with us,” Caspian sounded almost offended by that. “If we don’t act human, it might be because we aren’t human.” He said this like it wasn’t liable to lead to an existential breakdown for a twenty-two-year-old girl.
She suddenly looked like she had swallowed broken glass. It took a long moment for that look to clear and for her to try to paste a semblance of confidence on her face. “And what do you think we are?”
“I don’t know what you are,” Caspian replied, then tapped all of his fingers against his knees and muttered, “We’re going to try to figure that out. And quickly.”
She looked annoyed with this response. “Okay!” she said, now openly frustrated and throwing up her hands, as if she couldn’t believe this turn in the conversation. “Then what are you? Aliens?”
I laughed, but Caspian sneered and rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” he told her firmly.
I didn’t expect him to tell her. I didn’t expect to inform her until perhaps we’d already gotten her pregnant. We’d never told anyone we had not been assured was either also not human or we were going to adopt as our familiar, like we had done with Miles and maybe about ten others in our past.
So, imagine my surprise when he smiled at her, showing his toothy grin. “We’re dragons, little mouse.”
I facepalmed, and it was easy because she just sat there. She didn’t scream, wriggle, or try to dive out of the car out into the traffic. She just pursed her lips as if disappointed. “Oh. Okay. Dragons,” she echoed to Caspian, nodding like he was a crazy person screaming on the street.
He seemed to have wanted her to be either scared or impressed, and now he didn’t seem to know how to react at all. He eyed me and then he straightened, ironing the lapels of his suit jacket with his hands. “Yes, dragons.”
“Okay,” she chirped, still nodding, still obviously disbelieving. I imagined she was thinking that if we’re forcing her into a car and spanking her and kidnapping her, then we’re probably crazy anyway. “You’ve got very nice scales,” she added as if perfectly happy to lean into Caspian’s delusions.
“This is my human façade,” Caspian assured with no small measure of pouty disappointment.
“Oh, sure, sure,” she nodded understandingly, and then she looked at me. “So, you’re a dragon as well?” she asked. “And is that your human dick under my ass or your dragon dick?”
I blushed for a moment since I’d really been hoping that Zazie hadn’t noticed how hard I was. I had been enjoying myself much more without the confirmation. But there was a situation at hand, and I looked up and towards the ceiling, trying to figure out how I was going to put this. “Let’s talk about it when we get to Caspian’s ungodly estate.” After all, how was I going to tell her? This sort of thing couldn’t be told, it had to be shown. Or in Miles’ case, walked in on.
“There’s nothing wrong with my estate,” Caspian growled at me.
“Having an estate is a little much,” I replied simply, shaking my head. “Let alone owning more than one.”
“Oh, should I be living in a one-bedroom apartment like you, you morally superior ass?” Caspian prompted with spite.
“Please don’t,” Miles again piped from the front seat as if Caspian would ever mute his lavish lifestyle.
“You know, you don’t have to buy in every city,” I reminded.
He threw up his arms at me. “Oh, here we go again!”
“Are you guys… related?” Zazie asked suddenly. She was seated between us now and looking back and forth with a sort of side-glance. “Or… married?”
“No.” Our answer came out simultaneously and firmly.
Honestly, we had been in the middle of trying to maim each other when a portal opened up near us and sucked us into earth’s realm. We’d stopped fighting that day, but it had always felt incomplete. Neither of us had ever assumed an alpha role over the other. We were cursed to forever butt heads.
“Are you sure? Because yeah, you look different, but standing side-by-side, you have similar mannerisms and exactly the same eyes. In fact, it’d be weird if you’re not related,” she said skeptically. She never had much of a filter; would talk and think at the same time. It had driven my assistant insane four years ago, but I’d completely forgotten that was a habit of hers.
“We are nothing to each other,” Caspian assured peevishly.
She was unconvinced and straightened herself in her seat. “Except you both think you’re dragons and think it’s great fun to spank girls in limousines. Seriously, if you’re going to cut me into tiny slices when we get to whatever horror-scape you’re bringing me into, please don’t let my brother or Ryan find out I was brutally murdered, because my brother will get triggered by it, for sure.”
“We don’t plan to murder you,” I groaned, putting my hand wearily over my eyes.
“Sure, sure,” she waved dismissively.
