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Does it bother you? She’s staring at me boldly.
I think about her question. If I were only Axel and not also Azar, would it bother me always to be left out? Probably. Is it fair that, in this form, without the firepower or wings, I’m always treated as lesser?
I’ve never considered any of those things before, and I doubt Asteria has either. In fact, the blessed tend not to think about the right and wrong of things—there’s just the way things are. All these moral quandaries aren’t something we contemplated. Liz and her radical ideas are changing us all.
I never worry about things that can’t be changed. I want Liz safe, and Azar keeps her safe.
Would you be upset if her bond were stretched further? Asteria is intent—clearly thinking about something in particular.
“What do you mean?” Liz asks.
When I was trying to take your mother’s bond, I could sense yours, Asteria says. I’d like to bond you as well.
She looks entirely serious, and I know it’s irrational, but even more than I wanted to destroy Gideon, I want to end her. I want to shift forms and roast her for the other blessed to eat.
She can’t have Liz.
Elizabeth Chadwick is mine.
12
Axel
The snarl that comes from deep inside me is feral and very, very impolite. It wouldn’t be outside of her rights for Asteria to challenge me over my behavior.
Liz, who has no idea how our interactions work really, intuitively pats my side, her hand gently stroking my scales. “It was hard for Axel to adjust to sharing with Azar, and that bond has barely settled. I’m not sure we should really talk about spreading me even thinner quite yet.”
Her calm dismissal helps, but if I stay here, I’m going to start a fight I’m not sure I can win with Asteria. I have blessed to direct. Excuse me. I incline my head easily, and then I catch Liz’s eye before ducking around the corner.
Where Gideon’s waiting for me. “Can I ride with you? I feel like you can at least understand how I feel, being left by her all the time.”
He has no idea. I’m sorry—I have too many earth blessed to direct. I’ll have Azar assign someone.
“Never mind. I’ll just ride with Azar’s girlfriend.” Gideon shakes his head. “At least you really seem to care about her. The big red one has a girlfriend and still won’t let Liz go.” He tsks. “That guy’s disgusting.”
A human bonded and a mate serve different purposes. A mate is for propagation. Liz is. . .
“What?” Gideon steps closer, both his eyebrows shooting upward. “What purpose does she serve for you and Azar, exactly? You can’t mate with her—even if you could, she can’t give birth to baby dragons, clearly. So what do you really want with her? What does the big red devil want?”
I think about his question, although I really don’t have any time to spare. What do I want with Liz? I want to keep her safe. I want to hear her opinion. I want to please her. None of those are imperatives for the blessed. She might be the key to helping us locate the heart, or her birthmark may be a coincidence. It actually in no way resembles the shape of a real human heart. It may be nothing more than a random human skin mark that mimics the human symbol for a heart as her mother insists.
But if that’s true, why do I think of her all day?
If our bond is unimportant, why can’t I even imagine letting her go?
What has she changed in me? She feels as crucial to my future as my own self, and I can’t even contemplate sharing her with anyone—not a human she’s fond of like Gideon or another blessed that I’m fond of like Asteria. Without suitable answers to the questions he’s asking, I settle for sharing the one truth I do know.
Liz is my world now.
“Mine too, scaly. Only, you’re ruining everything about it, and you’re turning Liz into someone I don’t even know.” He spits on the ground and stomps away.
Her mother called her a monster. Her erstwhile mate says he no longer knows her. Liz is under attack from all sides, but if I kill the people making her feel small, it’ll upset her further. For a blessed who has been taught to destroy anything that threatens me and my future, it’s a frustrating quandary.
I travel far enough away that I sense no other blessed, and then I shift and return to take her away from Houston. It’s not a solution, but it’s the only path forward I can see.
As I land, I hear the conversations around Liz. Her sisters are arguing, but the source of their contention is strange.
“—since only one of us could bond Rufus, I’ll let you have him,” Coral says.
