Chapter 18
Mei
“We don’t need to do this,” I protest and pull back against Leaf.
“Your clothes burned,” Leaf says with exasperation. “You need new ones.”
“No, I can just wear rags. I’m fine. Leaf, there are people, they will see. Let’s go back home, to our cave.”
Leaf laughs, but he’s got my wrist in a tight hold, and he’s not letting go. The city is filled with the sounds of cars, people, and machinery. There are so many smells that I can’t sort them. It’s like the town, only a hundred times worse.
I can’t see, hear, or feel anything. It’s just noise.
My panic builds and builds until I’m ready to scream, but then there’s a touch at my shoulder.
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Canto whispers in my ear.
The words bring a stillness inside me, a warmth that shouldn’t be there. I inhale his scent, and everything is suddenly okay. The world comes into focus, slowing down. I can hear people, horns. I smell cars and food.
“Don’t lose me here,” I plead.
“We won’t.”
I stop fighting Leaf, and he drags me into a shop. All around us, people fall silent, and I edge closer to the massive dragon, baring my teeth, ready to fight whoever and whatever comes at me.
“She needs clothes!” Leaf says loudly.
“No, sweetheart, she needs a miracle,” a voice says in a slow drawl. “Luckily for you, you came to the right place.”
“But all of you need to go,” another female says sternly.
“No!” I snap and grab at Leaf.
“Oh, you’re keeping your emotional support giant? Fine, but one. The rest can go elsewhere while we make magic. I don’t need a gaggle of people watching while we work.”
She’s got a tart voice, but there’s kindness about her, and she smells like treacle. I’m scared. She sounds so thrilled. There is a deep enthusiasm in her voice that is making me twitchy.
Leaf draws me closer to her.
“Is that your natural hair? It’s beautiful, once the salt’s washed out, and we put a mask on it, it will be fine. I just need to take this off.”
She reaches for my mask.
I try to back away from her, but she keeps coming.
“No, it’s…no.” I say helplessly.
“Oh, um. Okay. May I?” she asks.
She takes my hand and draws it up to her face. I feel the knotted tissue and immediately know it was fire that did this to her.
“Own your scars. They are part of your story, part of what makes you you. There is only me here, and I won’t judge you. I can make your emotional support human look away if you are worried.”
My fingers fall away from her, and I wait, thinking it over. The idea of having nothing over my eyes terrifies me almost as much as having Deux close.
I reach up and rip it away because I don’t let fear rule me.
There’s a pregnant pause.
“You are beautiful. You will always be beautiful.”
Leaf’s words shock me. I’d almost forgotten he was here.
“I’m not-”
“You are, Mei. You are beautiful with shimmering runes, a stunning laugh; you are strong and skilled, and you glow in the light. Mei, you are beautiful to me, all of you. You don’t need to see, you are already perfect.”
Leaf’s earnest words hurt and heal something in me.
“I’m Mama Jane, and this is my boutique. I fix hair, nails, basically help you remember that you are a queen.”
“And clothes?” Leaf prompts. “Her clothes got wet, then burned in a fire.”
“We’ll get to clothes, but I’ve got a good idea of what I think you might like.”
I sit back as she gets to work. My skin crawls, and I shiver as she washes my hair. Her touch is gentle but firm, but I can’t remember ever having anyone do this before. We didn’t exactly have running water when I was growing up.
For three hours, she scrubs and buffs and puts creams on my hair and face, my nails are painted, and then she gets me to try on several sets of clothes.
It is exhausting, but I feel like I’ve been scrubbed and polished clean.
“These are all for you,” she says when we’re done.
She abruptly reaches out and pulls me into a hug.
I stand there awkwardly. I’ve got the stone mask Brio made me back across my eyes, but in a soft whisper, Mama Jane has described its colour and then washed it and dried it before returning it to me.
She said that it looks like the ocean, and it twinkles with blue, teal, and black light. She said it looks expensive and very, very beautiful.
She shoves the bag into my hand and then turns away.
“Make them bring you back again. We’ll have the rest of your clothes delivered to Becky’s address in the next few days.”
“I will,” I say and mean it before I remember I don’t know if I will be here. Leaf thumps his feet on the ground, startling me. I turn towards him, listening as he mutters, but when he turns towards me, he inhales sharply and staggers back, knocking over something that smashes on the ground.
Mama Jane laughs. “That’s the reaction we want. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
“She’s gorgeous,” Leaf says in awe.
He comes over to me and reverently runs his hands up my arms.
“Shall we go find the Sirens? Though I am tempted to run away with you.”
I nod and tug at the hem of the short dress. It feels weird, like there’s not enough material, but it’s stretchy and clings to my body; despite that, I can move freely in it.
Leaf guides me through the city streets. When we’d come in, people had bumped into me and growled at me. This time, people move out of my way, apologise, and make strange sounds, but the air is thick with their interest.
I ignore everyone, focusing entirely on the dragon.
But I smell Canto, and I lift my head, listening hard. There are girls chatting and squealing. I stand there waiting for them to come over, but they don’t.
“What’s going on?” I ask after a long moment.
“They are stuck in a crowd of human females. One of them is stroking Reed’s chest; he looks like he wants to stab her in the throat.”
I laugh, I can’t help it. Reed is grumpy, but I can imagine him stabbing some poor human easily.
The laughter fades as their scents get stronger, packing punches that make me groan. Leaf had been containing his, though I’m not sure how.
“Mei,” Ronit says carefully. “You look different.”
“I have clothes now,” I say lightly.
“That’s not clothes. That’s a scrap of material,” Reed snarls. “I’m going to kill everyone who looks at you.”
The idea that he could be jealous had not even occurred to me, but it hits me hard now. Am I theirs?
And strangely, it makes me so pleased.
“Don’t smile at me like that, Mei. It’s not funny.”
I let out a laugh that causes another, even more violent stillness in the group.
“You look incredible, Mei, ignore him,” Brio says, and I feel his fingers ghost down my back.
They are gathered around me, but this feels weird, like we’re in danger. Like we’re on display.
“What’s going on? What’s this?” I murmur.
There’s a heavy silence.
“Please help us escape,” Lirin whispers.
Disappointment steals the shine out of the world. I find myself wishing that I could go back to my hole in the ground in Nightmare.
The girls are coming closer. I pop my hip and tap my index finger against my lip.
“Who are you?” one dares to ask.
I snarl and let it thunder out of me. There are a few cries, people panicking, but not enough, not yet. I sketch a rune and sparks fill the air. I can feel them hitting my skin. They draw back with gasps.
“Piss off,” I hiss at them, I turn away from them all and grab Ronit’s arm and drag him with me.
“Come now.”
He follows silently, though I can feel his annoyance.
“You are not in charge, Mei,” he says when he drags us to a stop.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were asking me to protect you from a pack of humans. My bad, I misunderstood.”
He growls, but I growl back louder.
“Enough! We are drawing attention to ourselves, and we need to get a few more things and get out of here. I hate it,” Lirin says urgently.
“What do we need?” I ask, irritated and disappointed that they have all but forgotten me.
“Just some things,” Canto murmurs.
I stomp along beside Leaf, letting him guide me, but remaining completely silent, refusing to answer any of the comments or questions thrown my way.
Did I want them to fall into a heap, declaring their undying love?
Okay, yes, a little bit. Am I hurt that they didn’t?
Yes. I just want to go back to the cave now. I’m tired of this day.
“Do you want to go play?” Leaf whispers in my ear.
What?
“Close enough.”
Leaf opens a portal, and we fall through. Before I can even gasp, we’re landing on concrete.
“Where are we?”
“I’m not sure, but someplace away from them. There are trees and a huge grassy area. There’s no one but you and me.”
“I am all for that,” I mutter.
He lets out a rumbling purr, pleased with my agreement.
“Is this a lake?” I sniff, smelling the stagnant water. I can’t understand how people like these shit-filled lakes, they stink.
“It…I think so.”
Leaf sounds confused.
“Are we alone?”
He makes an affirmative sound.
“Do you want to race around for a bit? I can just sit here on the grass and keep watch,” I laugh at my own joke.
Before I can repeat my question, Leaf bursts into his dragon form and races around. I can see a teal blur in my mind as he winds through obstacles that I can’t see. But within minutes, he’s sitting beside me, and there’s something unsure and so happy about him that it hurts.
“I want to stay with you forever,” he murmurs.
“I’m going to break you, Leaf. Perhaps even get you killed.”
“I am the Leviathan. I don’t die. I kill everything.” He pauses. “Except you.”
“Except me. Why except me?”
“You were mine. I was racing to feast, and the current slammed your essence into me. All my life had been about hate and destroying anything and everything, but then there was you, and all I wanted to do was protect you.”
“But I left.”
“Time is irrelevant. You are mine. I am yours.”
My mind boggles at his calm acceptance of the situation.
“Just like that?”
“Of course, just like that. We are mates. We are forever.”
“You don’t want me; I am-”
“Perfect.”
I curse under my breath because there is just no getting through to him.
I lay down, pretending I can’t hear him. “How long before they find us?”
“Who cares?” Leaf says and lies down beside me.
He reaches out, and then, taking his courage, he strokes his fingers over my collarbone. I moan and turn towards him, giving him more access. He leans down and sniffs my skin.
My body prickles, and I arch up, causing his lips to press against the spot. He opens his mouth, and his hot breath bathes my skin.
“You taste good.”
He sounds surprised by it, but his voice is deeper and darker than ever. His fingers slide over my hip, squeezing as he presses me towards him.
I drag him closer to me, gasping as he rolls onto me. I spread my legs, and his hips settle against mine. There’s something large in his pants, and it’s rubbing against the spot that aches.
I let out a whine of pure need. I get wet between my legs, but instead of being alarmed, it feels good. So good. I squirm until he presses his weight into me, pinning me to the grass.
“Leaf, have you done anything like this before?” I gasp out.
He growls a no, or at least I think it’s a no, but when he grinds against me, I see fireworks in my mind.
I cling to him, my hips rising to meet his. He pulls up my dress, smoothing his hands across my belly. Touching everywhere while his mouth moves over my chest, shoulders, tasting, devouring.
I cling to him as my dark world spins out of control.
He growls and shifts, moving constantly, and then he’s almost lying on me, and when he thrusts, a hard and blunt shaft of flesh presses against me, but it’s stopped by the material barriers separating us.
He reaches down and frees himself, then rips the material that the lady forced on me from between my legs, throwing away the scraps.
Slick spreads and gathers, and I can’t do anything to stop him.
His hand slides up my arm, pinning it above my head, squeezing my wrist.
He thrusts inside me, burying himself in one agonizing move. I let out a surprised shriek, but the burn dances between pain and pleasure. I spread my legs wider.
“What is this?” Leaf hisses, confused. His voice is so thick with pleasure that he barely sounds human.
I’m not going to tell him. I can’t even make my brain work long enough to say anything.
“You feel so good,” he snarls in such savagery that I don’t think anyone could possibly understand him.
“Don’t stop,” I cry, clutching at him. “Don’t you dare stop.”
He moves harder, faster, hammering into me.
I cling to him, trying to absorb all these new sensations.
Rocking back to meet his hips, arching and pressing myself against him.
His mouth presses to mine. I can feel his gaze boring into me, and I wish I could see him.
What colour are his eyes? Does he look at me like I’m prey or like I’m that soft, squishy pear that I devoured on that island.
I just wish I could see him, instead I kiss him harder, tasting, feeling, memorising him.
I clench around him, so close to the edge.
And then he knots me.
I arch my back, screaming.
He tries to pull out, but my body has clamped onto his. I’m stuck. I arch like a bow, clawing at him, dragging him to bliss with me.
“Mine,” he snarls and bites my shoulder.
I turn and bite his finger.
The bond rises up between us, thick and filled with this shared wonder. He loves me. Leaf is not my enemy, but he’s with my enemy, and I just tied myself to him for all eternity.
His frantic breathing is in my ear, but he’s mine. For right now, this dragon belongs to me. I stroke my hands possessively over his back.
“Mine,” he whispers over and over.
I can’t even argue with him, so I don’t say a word.