Chapter 17
I forcedmyself to pick up my donut again. My hand still trembled a little.
It was my turn to change the subject. “Do you know why I feel so weak?”
“Weak?” The wrinkles on his forehead deepened. “No.”
Great.
“No one survives heat without sealing the bond, remember? We’re in new territory here. You two are legends at this point. Don’t be surprised if a few members of the thunder show up to question you. We both know August won’t answer any of their questions.”
If he wouldn’t, I wouldn’t either.
“I’ll need something to tell Vi and Randa when they get home and find me struggling to get off the couch,” I said.
“What do you mean, struggling to get off the couch?”
“I told you, I feel weak. My legs are super shaky. They have been since I woke up. I thought I was going to crash on the stairs earlier.”
“Give me a second.” He grabbed his phone and tapped on the screen a few times, then lifted it to his ear. It wasn’t on speaker, but my hearing had improved just a little bit with August’s magic too, so I could hear it ringing clearly.
“What?” An irritated male voice answered.
I was pretty sure it was Jasper’s.
“We’ve got a problem.”
“More of a problem than having our oldest brother in prison?”
Eli glanced over at me.
I tried to act like I wasn’t overhearing anything, simply taking yet another bite of my donut.
“Yeah,” he finally said.
Jasper growled. “What is it?”
“Elodie feels weak.”
There was a moment’s pause.
“Weak?” Jasper asked. “What do you mean, weak?”
“She says her legs have been shaking ever since she woke up. She’s having a hard time walking.”
“Is August’s magic wearing off? I figured he would’ve bitten her before he left.”
Eli glanced at me again. “He did. Twice.”
“Then she shouldn’t be weak.”
“Nope.”
“It’s got to have something to do with heat ending.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Figured I’d better get a second opinion, given we’re dealing with August’s mate.”
“Yeah,” Jasper grumbled. “Try to get to the bottom of it. If you can’t get it figured out, I’ll head into the prison to see if August knows anything. If I start asking questions, he’ll realize something is up, so I’d rather avoid that.”
“Agreed.”
“Call me in a few hours.”
“Will do.”
They ended the call like that, leaving Eli to stare at me like I was a puzzle to solve.
I took another bite.
I was going to finish the whole box at the current rate. I’d probably still be hungry when I did, too.
“When are your friends getting back?” he asked me.
“I don’t know.” I hadn’t been talking to them like I used to. Heat had consumed me for weeks.
Randa would be finishing up one of her last finals.
Vi would be…
Sleeping. Right.
I looked at the time.
It was nearly noon.
She’d be up soon. She slept with blackout curtains, an eye mask, and ear plugs, so I knew she hadn’t heard us. Her shifts at the restaurant rarely ended before 3 AM, so she’d been forced to perfect the art of sleeping through the first chunk of the day.
“We’ve only got a little time to figure it out, then,”
“To figure what out?” Viola’s voice was tired, but irritated. “What happened?” All she had on was a tank top and a pair of sleep shorts, so her nipples were on full display. As I expected, she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
She stepped into the living room, and her eyes widened when she saw my face.
They narrowed as she pointed them at Eli.
“The bond broke,” I told her. “It didn’t become permanent. Outside of the initial emotions, I feel like shit, and Eli is trying to figure out why.”
Her gaze left him, and landed on me.
A heartbeat later, she was sitting beside me, hugging me fiercely.
Another round of tears surfaced, and I blinked them back as she held me tight. Neither of us said a word, but we also didn’t move to let go.
“You smell amazing, Vi” Eli offered. “Just figured I’d throw that out there.”
Heat obviously hadn’t started between them, or he’d be acting very differently around her. He must’ve just been… flirting, I guess.
“Screw off,” Vi tossed back, finally easing her hold on me. “What are you feeling?”
That question was directed to me.
“Really weak. Shaky. A little light-headed.”
“Have you been sleeping enough?” she asked. I’d mentioned that lust played a role in the mate bond at some point, so I was sure she knew I was physically with August.
I frowned. “Probably not.”
“How are you not sure?”
“The bond made things weird. It’s hard to explain.” I brushed a few strands of hair off my face.
She sighed. “So you’re not sleeping enough. That could be part of the problem. Have you been eating enough? I have to think the big bastard knew how to feed you, at least. The man obviously eats a lot.”
“He cooked a lot, I just didn’t have much of an appetite for the last week or two. Couldn’t choke the food down.”
“And that’s another bond thing?” Her expression was critical.
She knew I wasn’t telling the full story.
I nodded anyway.
“So you haven’t eaten enough, and you haven’t slept enough. Anything else to consider?”
The sex marathons probably came into play too, but I wasn’t about to spill those beans.
“Nope.” I managed to keep a straight face, somehow.
She still didn’t look like she believed me. “You most-likely just need a few days of food and sleep. If you’re not feeling better after that, you should probably see whatever the dragons use as doctors.”
I nodded.
I did feel hungry and exhausted.
Maybe a few days of food and sleep would do me good.
“You’re brilliant,” Eli told Vi.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll make breakfast. You can leave.”
“Actually, August asked me to stay with her until he’s back in town,” the dragon said cheerfully. “You’re stuck with me.”
She made a face, then abandoned me with the shifter as she stepped into the kitchen.
I held the pillow to my chest again and let myself lay down on the couch. My eyes closed, and I drifted off, barely stirring when I felt someone take the box of donuts off the cushion beside me.
Probably Eli.
He’d want to eat the rest of them.
When Vi wokeme up to eat, there was a worried crease between her eyebrows.
At her command, I tiredly filled my mouth with food before I started dozing once more.
I barely woke up when two arms slipped beneath my shoulders and led me out of the room.
“What did he do to her?” Vi whispered, her voice tight and angry.
“A potential mate bond overwhelms both halves of the couple with lust,” Eli murmured back. “I don’t think you need more details than that.”
“She wasn’t hurt?”
“Not unless she asked to be.”
Vi gave an exasperated sigh. “Are you always this infuriating?”
He chuckled. “On my good days.”
“I don’t want to see your bad, then.”
“You and me both.”
The door closed behind them, and I drifted off to sleep again.
Though my body was on my mattress, my dreams took me into the sky on the back of a beautiful, silver-scaled dragon.
Days passed.
I ate, drank, and slept. When I was conscious, it was only for a few minutes. Between Vi, Randa, and Eli, there was always someone ushering me back to bed if I got up for more than the time it took to use the bathroom.
My emotions leveled out a bit as I slept, so I didn’t so much as try to stay awake.
I finally gotup for good early one morning. Padding out of my room quietly, I found Eli snoring on the couch. Randa and Vi were both in their own rooms, also asleep.
A drowsy glance at the clock told me it was only four AM.
I brushed a few greasy waves from my eyes, then slipped out through the front door.
There was a balcony a few feet to the left, where I could stand and look out at the sky.
I took in a few deep breaths of air.
It smelled wrong.
Not like the forest—not like the cabin.
Not like the place I’d come to think of as home.
I lifted August’s shirt to my nose and inhaled deeply.
My stomach clenched.
His scent was gone from the fabric.
I missed it.
With all that sleep and food leveling me out, I could finally think rationally again.
Eli was right. It wasn’t out of character for August to leave without a goodbye if he’d decided he was coming back. And he wouldn’t have left me without the cabin, and money to protect me.
And he definitely wouldn’t have bitten me if he wasn’t coming back for me.
But he’d bitten me.
And I mattered to him.
So he would come back for me when he could.
The front door opened again, a little louder, and Eli came staggering out. He let out a relieved breath when he saw me looking out over the balcony. “Thought I’d lost you again,” he mumbled. “August would kill me.”
He wouldn’t, but he definitely would’ve been pissed.
“I’m fine,” I said, turning my head back to the sky.
August would’ve called me out for the lie.
He would’ve told me we were supposed to be a team.
But he wasn’t there.
My throat swelled, but no tears fell.
Eli stepped up beside me, leaning against the railing too.
“He’s supposed to be in prison for six months?”
“That was the deal.”
“The deal? Was there another option?” My head jerked toward him.
Eli was quiet for a moment.
A long moment.
“He had to choose between six months in prison, or leaving Mate Mountain permanently.”
Ohhh.
My throat swelled more. “That’s really cruel.”
“I agree.” Eli ran a hand through his hair. “If they’d let me or Jas do the time, we’d agree in a heartbeat. He only made that deal with the Villins because we weren’t there. We were supposed to be there.”
“Where were you?”
“We didn’t want to leave home.” There was regret in his voice. “We didn’t think Brynn was in any real danger. And we were worried about exposing ourselves to more human women. We were always worried about that. He always took the risk for us, being the one to take her to dance classes, school shit, and everything else.”
“It’s ironic that he got stuck with me when he did, after so many years of risking it,” I said quietly.
“That was fate, El. Not irony.”
“Fate really screwed his life up, then.”
“Nah. Jas and I did that.”
A moment of silence passed.
A long, drawn-out one.
“I want to see him,” I finally said. “In prison. I need to know if he’s really coming back to me. I can’t spend the next six months hoping if he’s not.”
“That’s not possible.” Eli didn’t consider it. “The thunder would never agree to let you in, and it’s too dangerous. Even if it wasn’t, August would scale me like a damn fish if I took you there.”
“I need to talk to him, Eli.”
“I’ll see if I can get the thunder to agree to a phone call.” His voice told me he didn’t think it was going to happen.
I didn’t know much about them, but I didn’t think he’d succeed either.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” I said, still staring out at the sky. “Six months isn’t long for you guys, but it’ll feel like forever to me. I’m supposed to be excited about graduating, and my new job. I’m supposed to be figuring my life out.”
“He wants all of that for you.”
“But I don’t want it without him.” My voice was frustrated, but it rang with honesty. “Not anymore. We were supposed to be a team.”
“Is that what got you through heat?”
“He got us through heat.” I closed my eyes, letting out a long breath. “I would’ve given in halfway through. The pain was excruciating. He’s the only reason we didn’t seal the bond.”
“He knew you wouldn’t survive prison,” Eli said.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“It wasn’t a question, El. He knew you couldn’t survive there. Not even with him to protect you. He’ll be a target just because he’s a dragon, but a dragon’s mate inside a supernatural prison? There would be carnage. The person to end your life would be seen as a hero. You’d have to be placed in the isolation cells, and no one survives the isolation cells with their sanity intact.”
“Do you think he would’ve sealed the bond otherwise?”
“He’s the only one who can answer that, but I’d say there’s a damn good chance.”
We both fell quiet, staring out at the sky together.
“Do you miss flying?” he asked me, after a few more minutes.
“More than I know how to explain.” My whisper was soft, but sure.
“I’m sorry,” Eli said.
“Me too.”
We both stood out there until the sun had risen over the horizon—then, we slipped back inside the apartment that didn’t feel like home anymore.
Graduation was that evening.
Randa had picked up my cap and gown, so when she pulled me out of the apartment, I went to the university with her.
No one said a thing about the giant blond guy tailing me, so I assumed someone had filled the school in on my dragon situation.
I stood in line when I was told to, walked when I was supposed to, and listened half-heartedly to the ridiculous speeches about reaching for the stars and achieving things we’d never dared dream.
I accepted my diploma when I was supposed to, shook hands with people who smelled wrong, and hugged other students I vaguely recognized. My family hadn’t come, because I hadn’t updated them about our bond breaking.
That was going to be a difficult conversation. Something to worry about later, though.
When the ceremony finally ended, I was exhausted, and ready to go home.
Instead, I let Vi and Randa drag me out to a nightclub.
The twins laughed about ridiculous things that had been said during the ceremony while Viola drove, with Eli following us in August’s car.
It was the first real moment of normalcy I’d had since heat started, but it didn’t feel normal.
It felt hollow.
And I had no idea what to do about that.