Page 38 of On the Road

“Ugh, you’re that mad?”

Stopping on a patch of asphalt—probably the road or someone’s front drive—I turned and glared at Zee, stopping him in his tracks. “I’m not a fragile ornament that’s going to break at the first sign of some bad guys.” The growls were out and difficult to rein in.

Zee pulled his wings in, and his shoulders slouched, making him smaller. “But, I⁠—”

“You need protecting, Zee. Not me. You and Victor. I protect you, do you understand? I’m the dragon. This is my fault. I keep you safe. There are things out there worse than this loup-garou, Zee. They will chew you up and spit you out like a bug. When I say to stay back, you stay back!”

He swallowed and flipped his tail up, then wrung his hands around its lashing end. “I’m sorry⁠—”

“No, sorry is no good. You can’t say sorry when you’re dead.” I turned on my heel and plowed ahead again. My heart beat in my throat from fear, but I wasn’t afraid for me. Zee wasn’t immortal—he could die just like humans died—he just happened to be a little tougher to kill. And Victor claimed to be immortal, but he just lived a really long time. We’d killed two vampire queens, mostly by accident, proving even the highest of vampires could be killed.

I was a dragon. The only other thing we could encounter that was strong enough to kill me was another dragon. They had to understand that for what was coming.

“I won’t ever stop protecting you, Adam,” Zee called, falling behind.

His stubbornness was going to get him killed.

Zander’s temporary house emerged from the mist, and I marched inside to find him sitting nonchalantly on the couch, sipping his tea.

“Did you get him?” Zander asked.

“No, I lost him.”

Zee followed a few minutes later, sulking in silence. I told Zander we’d wait out the mist and leave when we were sure he was safe. A few hours later, the mist had faded, and Whiteacre Falls was back to normal, basking under weak sunlight.

Zee told Zander he’d organize a stay at our hotel, and with a few quick goodbyes, we climbed into the van, heading back toward the motel and bar where hopefully Victor would have some good news regarding Cameron’s body.

We drove all the way in silence.

CHAPTER 11

Victor folded his arms and scowled. “Who is going to explain what happened?”

Zee’s tail lashed while he mumbled something incomprehensible, although Victor’s keen hearing probably picked it up. I’d had the entire journey back from Whiteacre Falls to think, and now my blood had cooled I’d begun to regret speaking to Zee like I had. I’d been out of line. He’d tried to help. I hadn’t meant to yell at him . . .

“Nobody?” Victor asked, eyebrow raised.

I sighed and shoved my hands into my pockets. “We were attacked, we think by the loup-garou, and warned off.”

“What else?” Victor’s piercing gaze narrowed in on me. This wasn’t about what had happened, it was about the icy chasm between Zee and me, and Victor had wasted no time in pulling us up on it.

“I told Zee to stay inside and guard Zander,” I mumbled. “But he didn’t⁠—”

“There ain’t no fuckin’ way imma leave⁠—”

“Doesn’t need to protect me⁠—”

“Uuh, excuse me.” Zee cocked a hip, and snapped his fingers together with a sharp click. “You can tell me not to protect you until all the dragons come home to fuck, but I ain’t ever gonna stop, Adam. You might as well ask me to stop being me, or ask me to cut off a wing, or even ask me to stop eating mac and cheese. It ain’t ever gonna happen because I fuckin’ love you and I will always fuckin’ love you, and lovin’ you means I will do anything to keep you—and yes, Victor fucking Reynard—safe. There, I said it. And now you made me admit to loving him. He’s way too old for me, and let’s remember, he’s also a fuckin’ vampire, which is like . . . the worst of the worst, and did I mention he’s real fuckin’ old?”

Victor rubbed his forehead. “I wish I hadn’t asked. Zodiac, thank you . . . I think. Adam . . . while we are trying our best not to question the reasons for our being here, or your motives for not simply telling us what we are running from, as you can see, it’s causing quite the strain on our fledgling relationship.”

Why did he have to be so calm and reasonable? They were both ganging up on me. I was trying to do the right thing here. “I’m trying to protect you guys!”

Victor looked me dead in the eyes. “As we have only tried to protect you.”

They both stared. Zee with some regret in his soft, purpled-lashed eyes, and Victor’s glare with its no-holds-barred ability to pin me down and make me squirm.

“Ugh.” He was right.