Chapter Twenty-Six
Avari
The dragons flew a couple of feet above me, sending my hair into a vicious whirlwind. Brushing the knots out later was going to hurt.
‘Tell me about that cave of yours. Where is it?’ I asked them seconds after they landed on the nearby hill and trotted toward me.
‘A couple of miles from here. We considered one to the east of the Isle, but it’s a bit far from your estate,’ Anya admitted.
‘It’s bigger, but the one nearby suits our needs just fine,’ Roark, the shadow dragon, chimed in happily. ‘And I wouldn’t dare keep a bonded pair apart.’
‘The girl has a tendency to get in dangerous situations; I’m not sure if I could stay away anyway. She could probably get into a life-threatening situation in that field of daffodils we flew over earlier,’ Anya huffed, and the fumes made me nauseous.
The fetor of rotten eggs mixed with decaying matter assaulted my nostrils as I immediately dry-heaved, tilting my face toward the sky for fresh air.
‘I don’t believe that, it was bare, no danger in sight,’ the shadow dragon argued, bewildered.
‘She would find a way.’
‘Erm, excuse me. Keep your stinky breath away, thank you very much. My Gods, what the f— What did you eat?’ I shouted, forcing myself not to vomit.
‘And I told you how annoyingly undignified she can be, right?’ Anya asked him, flashing her canines.
His coal-black eyes stared at me, and something akin to pity flashed inside them. ‘Yes, I believe you mentioned it once or twice. I see what you mean now.’
‘I can still smell that whale carcass. How can she even call that scent a stench? Bunch of weirdos, these wingless creatures,’ she mused, and he chuckled.
I, on the other hand, didn’t need that information and only just managed to avoid my shoes as the urge to vomit took over. When it finally passed, I raised my head to find both dragons wincing at the display of my weak stomach.
‘Are you okay now?’ Anya asked, stepping back to give me space. Or to avoid getting splashed by my sick.
‘Dandy. Though I’m not feeling up to that flight today, we might need to reschedule,’ I managed to say before another wave of nausea forced me to my knees.
‘Maybe you just need to eat,’ Roark proposed before I shot him a death stare.
Straightening out and wiping my teary eyes, I rebutted, ‘Yes, more food to vomit.’
‘Perhaps you’re pregnant?’ he asked, and Anya burst out in a fit of laughter that made her look demented.
Then she shot me a disapproving look. ‘This one is… sexually challenged.’
‘She can’t have intercourse?’ The shadow dragon’s face dropped.
‘If she couldn't, it wouldn’t be as devastating. Ava chooses not to, awaiting the special occasion when the eclipse meets a rainbow, and shooting stars align the path to her crotch.’
‘You’re joking, right?’ he asked.
‘Of course she is,’ I raged. ‘My morals and expectations limit me to intimacy with people I actually care about.’
‘Which means she is celibate by choice. Tragic,’ my bonded whined like it affected her personally.
‘Is she… a virgin?’ Roark whispered the word as if I wouldn’t hear it.
‘Not quite as sexually challenged, but not far off. You should meet her sister; that girl must have been a dragon in a past life, she jumps at every opportunity.’
‘Because she’s a whore,’ my response sounded a little snappish, which made them focus on the topic even more.
Finally, I’d had enough and bid them farewell before making my way back down the hill to the estate. The Gods never gifted me with much patience, and everyone around me kept testing it.
Just before I turned a corner, a wide clump of mushrooms caught my eye. They were the glowing kind that grew by the bushes. The closer I got, the more apparent it became that they spelled out the word “asshole”.
Crossing the threshold, I wondered what made my older sister so delusional. She had the perfect life; she was the idolised, pampered daughter of the feared Queen Harper. Life was good to her, yet such rancour dwelt inside her soul.
A ping resounded from my phone followed by another one.
The Elder's here.
He demands to see you and Willow.
Says he will wait for you.
Gods, it was just what I needed. I started typing a request to open his side of the portal before I remembered Willow wouldn’t be able to cross with me. Complications arose at every turn, hopefully somebody that could jump with us was home.
As I neared the dining room and heard the argument between Alec and Willow, I realised we got lucky. Or not, considering the fight could continue long after we got to Fogoya. Their heads snapped to me the moment I walked into the room.
‘We need to get to Fogoya,’ I announced. ‘An Elder wants to speak to us.’
‘What does an Elder want from me?’ Alec’s jaw clenched. ‘He can go fu–’
‘Not you. Us,’ I cut him off, raising my voice as they all started to get on my nerves.
Alec’s shoulders squared off immediately. ‘What for?’
‘I don’t know, maybe they know something about what happened in our court. Just take us.' My demand didn’t elicit the snarky response I expected, which told me he was thinking. And that was every bit as bad a sign as Willow’s silence.
Whatever she was plotting in that deranged head would cause problems.
His head snapped to my sister, and with eyes dark as night, he warned her, ‘Don’t mess with me. Try to escape, and I’ll haul your ass back anyway.’
‘I wouldn’t dare,’ she said in an overly sweet voice, batting her eyelashes.
It would be a long day.