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“They are rare here anyway,” Seth says, sitting and helping himself to a donut from the pile on a plate in front of Griffin.

  Griffin doesn’t seem to mind.

  “They might be as rare as humans,” Seth says. “So it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Nothing is as rare as humans,” Griffin says. “Another reason we need to be wary. Something just tried to snatch her yesterday, after all.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “What was that? Another dragon?”

  “I would think so,” Griffin says. “But I’m not sure who.”

  “I have an idea,” Seth says. “But I’m not saying yet.” He raises an eyebrow at Griffin. “Or thinking it.”

  Griffin sighs in disappointment. “I don’t have the slightest idea. Then again, you know the others better than me.”

  “Only vaguely,” Seth says. “But yes, you do hole up with the bears. You probably don’t even know the world well.”

  Griffin ruffles at that. “I know the places I extort for protection money.”

  “Right,” Seth says. “And what are you going to do without that?”

  “My goal is to get Anna back to her world. I don’t really care after that.”

  Seth’s expression darkens as he takes a bite of his donut. “How do you plan do that?”

  “There must be a mistake that sent her here,” Griffin says. “Even if she agreed. The oracle should never allow it.”

  I feel guilty that I can’t tell them more about why I’m here. For one, I don’t know. For two, I don’t want it to undo anything.

  I still need Lee to help my sister. I still need to do as he says.

  It’s a bit awkward as we all focus on eating breakfast, and I can see Griffin and Seth shooting each other awkward looks when they each think the other isn’t looking.

  Griffin’s looks are more suspicious; Seth’s are more speculative. Seth is wearing his classic black attire and coat, and Griffin is wearing a blue flannel shirt that brings out the dark-blue ring around his gray eyes.

  Plus black jeans and a white tee shirt under the flannel.

  He must have gone out to get clothes while I was in the tent with Seth.

  “So, um, how are we getting to Arcwood?” I ask. “That’s where we’re going, right?”

  “I think we should fly,” Griffin says. “Given that we’ll have a good landing zone.”

  “Are there are a lot of dragons here?”

  “Some,” Seth says. “The landing zones are because they don’t want us breaking things. We weren’t the first dragons here. But we were the first dragons of our kind.”

  “Oh,” I say, still trying to understand things. But at this point, I’ve just decided to kind of go with the flow until Lee gives me more to work with.

  I have to admit I don’t want Lee to even show up. Things are going so well between Seth and me and Griffin.

  “I’d love to fly,” I say. “It was amazing.”

  Griffin is flushing and stabbing the last of his eggs, and Seth is grinning.

  “I think we should probably head out. Silver probably has no idea we’re headed for him, and we’ll want the whole day to figure things out,” Seth says. He taps the table, and I notice his hand is shaking slightly. “I need to find some more serum soon.”

  I wonder if Griffin told Seth he wasn’t selling me, but when Seth pins me with his lush, green eyes, I feel like he knows.

  Probably just better not to mention it for now.

  We clean up, grab the rest of our things from the room, hastily throw them in my bag, and walk out to the edge of town and into the forest.

  Given how they treated Seth, I’m glad to leave this place behind.

  “Things to know when we get to Arcwood,” Seth says as we try to find the clearest place to take off. “One, don’t trust anyone but us. Especially Silver.”

  “Why?”

  Seth raises an eyebrow at me, and I notice he’s getting a little paler. “He’s fake as hell. Just don’t trust him.”

  Yeah, well, Lee told me not to trust Seth, so…

  Seth turns to Griffin, and they talk a bit about logistics, about where they want to land in the city, and what they want to do first, whether it’s going to see Silver for info or trying to find something for Seth.

  But as Griffin transforms into a shimmering red beast, glittering under a cloudy gray sky, I don’t care where we’re going or why.

  I just want to ride on a dragon again.

  19

  “You really do love flying, don’t you?” Seth mutters to me as the city of Arcwood comes into view and I gasp.

  It’s beautiful here. I’d been watching the clouds and not paying attention, but I realize that we’re on the edge of a large body of water.

  It could be a lake or an ocean, but it stretches as far as I can see from here, almost like it’s dividing us from somewhere else. Something no one wants us to see.

  Gray waves crash along rocky cliffs where more tall trees rise to the gray skies around us.

  And the city just past the forest and cliffs is beautiful. Shimmering like the buildings are made of crushed metal.

  There are outbuildings too, here and there. Little sheds accented by shiny metal. And there’s a large, circular area at the center of town where many small carts seem to be parked as people wander and talk in the middle.

  It still isn’t a huge crowd, but it’s more people than I ever pictured in a place like this.

  “So those are all wolves and bears or dragons?”

  Seth cocks his head. “They’re all something.” He taps the spike he’s leaning against. “Hey, Griff. Let’s land as close to the edge of town as possible. I don’t want to make an entrance.”

  Griffin cloaks, going invisible beneath us, and for a second, I scream, seeing the ground and thinking I’m going to fall.

  Seth claps a hand over my mouth, shaking his head at me urgently. “You can’t. You need to be careful. Did you even see a woman in that crowd? We need to keep you safe. That means as few people seeing you as possible.”

  When he’s sure I won’t scream, he slowly releases his hold on my mouth as Griffin lowers us to the ground just outside a line of trees on the edge of the town.

  I’m almost excited to get in and see everything. What would they even sell in a place like this?

  “We need a robe for her,” Griffin says after we’re both off of him and he’s back in human form, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  God, he’s handsome.

  Seth lets out a sigh. “I can go look for one real quick. Ask around about serum.”

  “I’ll do it,” Griffin says. “Don’t want people talking about the black dragon.”

  “They’re used to me here,” Seth says. “Half of them probably don’t know you.”

  Griffin looks a bit miffed about that but then shrugs, putting an arm around me. “Fine. I guess I’ll stay here with Anna.”

  There’s something possessive in his tone, and Seth stares at him with a hard expression for a moment and then turns on his heel to walk into town.

  A few minutes later, I hear gasps and a couple screams, then Seth’s voice mollifying people.

  “Come on,” Griffin says. “We’ll wait over here.” When he sees my worried face, he gives me a gentle chuck on the chin. “It’s going to be fine.”

  I’m pacing behind a tree by the time Seth returns, flushed in the face and carrying a black robe over his shoulder, which he hands to me.

  “Here. That should help us get you to Silver’s house without anyone noticing.”

  “And why are we going there?” I ask, pulling the robe over my head and draping it over me. It covers my hair and then goes down to my feet.

  It looks like what the bear innkeeper was wearing.

  “Because we need to ask him about mating,” Seth says. “To see if things still apply to us.”

  “Oh,” I say faintly. “But I’m not sure if I want to mate anyone.”

  Seth winks at me roguishly. “Then I guess we’ll j
ust have to make sure you will.”

  Griffin growls and puts a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “I never agreed to sharing her.”

  Seth glares at him. “She never agreed to mating you. And I’m a bit tired of your caveman act.”

  “It’s not a caveman act,” Griffin says. “Just because I decided not to sell her doesn’t mean I’m going to share with you.”

  “You may not have a choice. Did you think of that?” Seth asks, putting his hands on his slim hips. “We might have to mate her together. So get used to that or the idea of losing her, you big lug.”

  Griffin stares after Seth, who is walking into the town now, looking relaxed except for the slight shake in his step.

  He isn’t feeling well, and it’s beginning to make me nervous.

  “We need to get him serum,” I tell Griffin, tugging on his sleeve.

  “I don’t care,” Griffin says through gritted teeth. “I wish I’d never let him come with us.”

  “Hey,” I say. “That’s not fair. He’s the one who told me to go to you after you saw us in the tent.”

  Griffin stops and stares at me. “He did?”

  “Yes.”

  Griffin’s gray eyes bore into Seth’s back. “Why would he do that?”

  “I think he likes you,” I say. “As a friend, I mean.”

  “No,” Griffin says. “You misunderstand. I told you no one is good here. And we are all definitely not friends.”

  “No?”

  “No,” Griffin says sharply. “You don’t even know what we did to get here, and you don’t know what we’ve done since.”

  “I know,” I say, letting go of his robe as we walk into the sunlit square. People in odd robes and old human clothing are passing on all sides of us, and I stay close to Griffin.

  Everyone is so tall.

  “Come on,” he says, pulling me forward. “The sooner we get to Silver, the sooner we get out of this godforsaken place.”

  “Why? I thought this was a big city.”

  “It is,” Griffin says.

  I glance at a cart we are passing to see what they are selling, and my eyes go wide when I realize there are cuffs, branding irons, and all instruments of torture.

  “This is a slaving market,” Griffin says. “Among other things. In this world, if someone can own you, they will. Everyone is trying to take advantage of someone, almost at any moment.”

  “So Silver is?”

  “Yes,” Griffin says. “It just won’t be immediately apparent.”

  As we walk through the square, avoiding more sketchy-looking vendors, I feel people staring at me more and more as we walk.

  I hear people sniff the air, hear murmuring. My heart starts to go faster, and I struggle to keep up as Griffin increases his pace.

  We are almost at the other side of town by the time we start to hear people talking about us.

  “Human,” someone says to another cloaked person, and then both of them turn.

  And then more of the townspeople are watching us, and some are gathering to get in our path.

  “Human,” a blond man says, stepping up in front of Griffin with three lackeys in robes behind. “What do you want for her?”

  Griffin snarls. “I want you to get out of my way before I hit you.”

  “Try it, weakling,” the blond says. He’s handsome and tall, and as he rolls up his sleeves, I think maybe he’s not too bad. Just a big talker. He smirks down at me, and I get a chill in the pit of my stomach.

  “You don’t want to do this,” Griffin says as a larger crowd gathers around.

  I look ahead and see Seth looking back at us, see him curse and try to decide if he should head back our way.

  “I do want to do this,” the blond man says. “I’m an alpha werecat. But don’t worry. I’ll take care of your human.” His eyes glow red and feral. “I’ll make sure to let out all of her beautiful blood before she dies.”

  His hands flex at his sides and claws come out, glimmering in the sun.

  “Shit,” Griffin says, rolling one of his cuffs up. “I don’t need this.”

  Then he lunges forward, catching the guy across the mouth and sending him flying into the group of guys at his back.

  They all go down, and then another group steps forward to attack Griffin.

  Most of these are dressed in robes.

  The one in front has gray hair. “We also want the human.”

  Griffin turns to them just as I feel hands around my waist.

  “Griffin!” I cry out just before a hand covers my mouth. I’m pulled back into another group as Griff turns to look at me, and the men behind him turn into bears.

  Bears that are staring at me hungrily, even as I’m being dragged away by someone else.

  More groups are circling, and the area around us is becoming crowded and chaotic. I’ve never been more afraid in my life than I am as I watch Griffin try to throw bears off as he desperately tries to make it my way.

  The man holding me turns me to face him, and he grabs my face roughly in his hand.

  “I want to just taste you,” he says, trying to pull me in against him.

  But just as he’s about to grope me, the whole ground shakes so hard we all almost lose our balance, and I look up to see a huge mountain of red rising above us.

  Griffin.

  I shove the man holding me hard enough that he stumbles back, partly in shock about the dragon, and run toward shining red scales.

  I’m almost hit by something huge and red and leathery before I realize it’s just Griffin’s wing coming around me, wrapping me in tight and shielding me from the world.

  “Get on,” he says in a low voice, using his front paw to help push me up.

  I’m trying not to cry. I’m so relieved he saved me. I quickly scramble up and grab onto his spikes, so very aware of how vulnerable I really am in this world.

  I stare down at the crowd, hungry and threatening.

  The man who was holding me is walking up to Griffin, backed by his friends.

  His eyes burn like emeralds as he glares up at us.

  “I’m not afraid of you, dragon,” he says. “I and the wolf crew of Crawden will take your human and—”

  A huge blast of fire covers him and his friends, and I turn away, unable to ignore the incredible heat or the terrified screaming.

  When I’m brave enough to peek up again, the man who held me and all the men with him, or wolves I guess, are ash, and Griffin’s breathing angrily, glaring at anyone who would try to come close.

  Everyone looks hesitant now, having seen the problem with taking on a dragon, and some of the crowd steps back.

  But others are looking bolder, and the minute Griffin turns to face some of them, others look ready to attack his back.

  One man who has already shifted into a wolf is getting ready to assault him, and I try to get Griffin’s attention as he blows fire down on another group.

  But as the wolf is lunging toward us, fangs shining, eyes leering, claws outstretched toward my face, he pauses in midair and just hangs there, frozen.

  Slowly, I look around to see the other attackers frozen as well, lifting into the air like weird, suspended ornaments.

  It goes quiet all around us except for one set of slow, steady footsteps.

  I turn to see a figure in silver at the edge of the crowd, walking toward us, a hood over his head.

  He’s tall, and his hands are in his pockets. He might be the only calm person here.

  When Griffin turns to see him, he sags slightly.

  “Never thought I’d be glad to see you, Rainier,” he says.

  I gape as he lowers the hood and I see the man from the library. The one working with Lee. I had almost forgotten his name, but I could never forget his kiss.

  A little thrill goes through me, and I can’t tell if it’s good or bad.

  “Wouldn’t want you to burn the whole square down,” Rainier says coolly, ignoring the hovering shifters all around. “Not when you have such a pretty
guest who could get singed.”

  “I wouldn’t let that happen,” Griffin says quickly.

  Rainier folds his arms, his face impassive. “Well, look at who’s a big bad protector now. I’m impressed, Griffin.”

  “Cut the bullshit,” Griffin says. “Seth and I need to come to your house. We need info.”

  Rainier looks intrigued now. “Information about what?”

  “I’m not talking about it here,” Griffin says. Slowly, he picks me up and sets me down, and then he quickly changes back into human form.

  I give him a hug, holding on tight for a moment. “Thank you.”

  He pats me on the back, but his tone is gruff. “It’s fine.”

  I’m still a little shocked he incinerated those people, but given the way they were trying to kill or hurt us, I can’t say it was bad.

  This whole world is oddly gray in many ways, and this is just one of them. With no rules, you have to fight if you want to survive.

  I’m realizing now just how much I could never make it here on my own and how lucky I was to find Seth and Griffin.

  Speaking of Seth, he’s standing on the edge of the square, fists clenched, and as we walk toward him, he turns away without meeting our eyes.

  He looks furious.

  “He’ll get over it,” Griffin says. “He’s just upset that he couldn’t fight.”

  “Why couldn’t he?”

  “Too weak from the poison,” Griffin says. “It could hurt him to shift right now. To expend any extra energy.”

  “It sucks,” I say. “To be limited that way.”

  “We’re all limited,” Griffin says. “I’d give anything to have the kind of power he has. Well, except for the downsides.”

  “Are you coming?” Rainier asks, turning to us impatiently.

  “Yes,” Griffin calls back before pulling me close to his side. He bends down to my ear, whispering only for my sake. “I told you don’t trust him, no matter what.”

  We follow Rainier out of the square and down a side street, and then he turns and waves a hand. I look back to see everyone who was suspended fall back down out of the air.

  So he had been lifting those things? How?

  “Telekinesis,” Griffin says seriously. “One of the silver dragon’s gifts.”

  I gulp, staring at the square for a moment as the shifters regroup, brushing themselves off and looking around for us, but Griffin quickly pulls me down the cobbled road and out of sight.