“Pell?”
“What were you doing with the moths?”
“I was… well. Do you remember the dream? Where we were during our romp?”
“What dream?”
Clearly, he does not. “That’s the only way I know how to explain it. We were running in a meadow. There were flowers and trees with gold leaves and white trunks.” His face. I don’t know what to make of his face. “Pell? Are you OK?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The dream? While we were having sex? I was running in the woods with you. But we were kids. And we were spying on a temple. No. On the sanctuary! And there were gods there, Pell. Juno and Saturn. And some alchemist called—”
“Ostanes.”
“Yeah. Her. Well.” I shake my head. “I only saw them through the eyes of the moths. They came out of my palm and flew into the forest and I could see through them.”
“No, Pie. You weren’t there. I was with Tarq that day. There was no Pie. It was me and it was Tarq.”
“Well, in the dream it was me. I saw it. I let my moths loose to spy. I wasn’t this other guy called Tarq.”
“Trust me, Pie. You were not there. I was there. Tarq was there. Tomas was there… somewhere. You?” He points at me. “Not there.”
I want to fight about this for some reason. I’m not even sure it’s worth fighting over, but I have a sudden urge to volley back a counterpoint. And that’s dumb. So I force myself to act rational. “OK. I mean, what am I gonna say? I saw it.”
“It must just be the hallways messing with us. Showing you things from my past.”
I want to object to that too, but it feels wrong to do so. Like I just want to keep the argument going. Because I don’t know for sure. It was, maybe, after all, just a stinking dream. I blow out a long breath. “Sure. Yeah. That’s probably it.”
We pause the fight. Stare at each other intently for a few moments. Breathing hard and both of us unsettled.
“Helloooo!” a voice calls out through the woods.
“What the hell is that?” I ask.
But Pell is smiling. Big. “Helloooo!” he calls back. “Over here.”
And then I forget about everything we’ve been talking about because who comes strutting down the smooth dirt path before us but Tomas?
And he’s not just a hot guy anymore.
He’s a hot dragon chimera.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - PELL
Tomas struts down the path like this is all no big deal, his grin as wide as ever, his eyes bright with mischief.
“Holy shit!” Pie trots over to him. “Where did you come from?” Then she looks him up and down. “Nice look. I love it!”
She would. Because she loves Tomas. Literally everyone else in the world who meets Tomas hates him. But not Pie. And he’s just flaunting himself showing up as a dragon chimera. I huff.
His legs are covered in silver-gray ammolite scales that flicker an iridescent red-orange when he moves. His hair is slicked back, but it curls up in front of his ears, giving him a charming, devilish look that even I can’t pull off. His chest is his normal skin color, but it glows much the way my horns do. I mean, everything about him says ‘I’m not human’ and yet Pie is… enthralled. She is looking at Tomas like she wants to lick him from head to toe.
“You’re not going to tell him to go put on pants?” I don’t mean to sneer those words, but I do. And I already know what she’s gonna say, so I should just shut up about it.
“His package isn’t hanging out like a lecherous satyr’s.”
“That’s because he’s a fucking blood dragon.”
“And all dragons can read a room. We have limits.” Tomas winks at Pie and she goes all melty and stupid over it, giggling and laughing. “Our packages are always tucked neatly away while not in use.”
I turn my back to them and roll my eyes.
“How did you even find us?” Pie asks him. “I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for you if I was the one left behind. And where were you for the past few days? I’ve missed you, Tomas.”
I turn to face them again, but my eyes are still rolling back into my head with annoyance. “You barely know him. How can you miss him?”
Pie makes a face at me. It’s not communicating nice things. “When there’s only you, me, and him in the entire place, it’s not hard, Pell. If you went missing for days, I’d be happy when you came back too. There’s no need to be jealous.”
I glance at Tomas, waiting to see what he has to say about this. But he’s smart. He knows when to shut up. Pie is loving everything about him right now. He gets to show up looking like a cool dragon and not even have to explain it. Because Pie thinks this is a dream world or whatever. She’s clueless.