There’s Something About Dragons (How I Met My Monster)

Chapter 19

Zed

“ D id Cari like the jacket?” Gabe asks when I walk in the door of my hotel room, glancing up from his laptop. Then he catches sight of my expression and spins around in the desk chair to face me fully. “Uh… I guess I don’t need to ask how it went. Shit. What happened?”

I flop down on the other bed. “I don’t even know. It was a total disaster. Cari kicked me out of the event, and she was probably right to do it. That demon friend of hers knows how to get under my skin. I acted like an idiot. Almost got myself into a fight.”

“A fight with a demon? Are you crazy?”

I cover my face my hand. “Yeah. Crazy for her.”

“Bro. I’ve been telling you, your obsession with this chick is not healthy. You’re making really bad decisions because of her. You could get yourself killed going up against the wrong demon dude.”

I know . Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut and show Cari a good time? Damn, I really screwed up. “She doesn’t even want to talk to me now.”

“Probably for the best,” Gabe says sympathetically. “She’s been causing issues for you for as long as I’ve known you. She put you in the hospital. She got you in trouble with the law. Now she’s getting you tangled up with some demon who’s even more obsessed with her than you are.”

Every impulse in me is to go to her house and wait for her. Make sure she and Radar get home okay. Talk to her. Tell her that we’re mates, meant to be together forever. But she specifically said she doesn’t want to see me or hear from me, so I know she’ll be even more upset if I do it.

“What should I do? She told me to stay away from her.”

“You stay the fuck away, that’s what.”

“I could hide in the bushes so she doesn’t see me.” The look Gabe gives me is so disgusted that I’m embarrassed I even had the thought. “Never mind.”

He spins in his chair, frowning thoughtfully. “You need a distraction. A very sexy distraction who smells good and is eager to please.”

I groan. “No strippers.”

He scoffs. “Obviously. You don’t need to pay for it. We already made the app. Get on MateDate where all the monsterfuckers are. That’s why we created it, so monsters can hook up with thirsty humans with the least amount of effort.”

Mate , my feral form growls, completely pissed at the suggestion of any female besides the one he wants. “That sounds like an even worse idea than your recommendation to wear a fur coat to an animal-rights charity event.”

“It was vintage,” he says defensively. “I’m telling you, it’ll take two minutes to get one of those chicks in your lap. Trust me, they’ll make you forget your own name. Cari is not the only bitch in the sea.”

“Shut the fuck up about Cari,” I snarl, flinging a pillow at him.

“I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about what you obviously need. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“What I need is to update my spreadsheet.” I grab my laptop from the safe and sit on the bed while I update it with every scrap I can gather from my memory about the event: what she said, what she wore, what she ate. The parts of her speech that I remember. The people who said they admired her, the song we danced to.

It soothes something deep inside me to record all the details that I can, hoarding them like treasure as the sacred words of the alokoi bond echo in my head:

I see her. I feel her flame. She is known to me.

Cari is mine. No matter what it takes, no matter how many apologies I have to make, no matter how much time she needs, we are meant to be together. I can wait.

“Wish you spent that much time working,” Gabe snarks from the desk. I growl at him, and he laughs. “Hey, I was thinking. Since we’re already both down here anyway, maybe we should go to TechMeet next week. I talked to the datacenter that hosts our servers, and they have a couple passes for us if we want them.”

I lift my brows, surprised that Gabe wants to go to a busy conference. That’s usually my thing, not his. I don’t mind the excuse to stay in town, though. I’m not sure my feral form would let me leave San Drogo even if I wanted to. “Sure. Sounds good. You’ve got to get your own room if one opens up, though.”

He rolls his eyes. “But you’re so fun to room with. I love hanging out with people who cry into their spreadsheets all night.” I aim another pillow at him. He pitches it back, scrambling for the one on his folding cot, and the room briefly descends into an all-out pillow war until someone calls from the front desk to ask us to be quiet.

Snickering like twelve-year-olds, we order late-night hot wings for me and pizza for him and stay up until dawn brainstorming a new app. Then Gabe persuades me to skip sleeping and instead go on a morning solo hike in a nearby valley where shifting is allowed, so I get to stretch my wings a little, too.

This is what I needed. Friendship, a little fun, and yes… some distraction. A chance to clear my head. Really see what’s important.

When I get back from my hike, Gabe has ordered a full spread for us, and we have a productive working lunch. It’s a good day, despite the fact that Cari still hasn’t contacted me.

She will eventually.

I hope.