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“It is rather perplexing.”

A growling snarl appeared to be Jenny’s reply.

"Listen, bestie,” Zee continued, wings stroking the air. “Not gonna lie, I get it’s giving cozy cave-girl vibes in there, but you can’t keep ghostin’ those feels. Like, no shade, but mental health check? We need to talk through this in real life. Your vibe’s been off, what with all the actual slayin’, and we’re low-key worried, boo. Dead serious, stayin’ in your comfort zone twenty-four seven ain’t the serve you think it is. My broskis are here for you, but you gotta take that first step and touch grass with us. Can’t heal if you’re low-key stuck in your own head, you feel me?"

The growls didn’t come this time. So maybe it was progress?

“Was Gen Z really named after Zee?” I whispered.

“It is highly unlikely, but we’ll let him take the credit.”

“Nah bro, for real, you just don’t get it.” Jenny’s voice came back crisp and clear now. “Like, literally nobody understands the vibe of being a main character in their villain era. It’s giving social outcast for real, and y’all can’t relate. Being shunned hits different when you’re actually living it. Like deadass, I’m not just in my flop era for fun.”

“Can you translate?” I asked Victor.

“I believe she is trying to express how she’s an outcast, and feels as though nobody understands her.”

“She feels alone.” I flicked out my hands, freeing my claws. I knew exactly how she felt. “Jenny?” I called. “I’m coming down. Don’t attack.”

“Adam?” Victor queried. His hand rested on my shoulder, partially holding me back.

“It’s alright.” Gently easing him off, I smiled, hopefully reassuring him. “We’re not that different, and I know exactly what she’s feeling. I can get through to her. Trust me.”

“Very well, but if you need my assistance, say our safe word.”

I grinned. “Indigo. Got it.” And with that, I dropped over the edge and thrust my claws into dirt, roots, and vegetation to scramble down the ravine’s steep sides. “I’m coming in.” I dropped into the mouth of the den, landing in a crouch.

“Say the word and I’m there,” Zee called from his hovering position outside.

Jenny stood a few meters inside with the slumped-over Galbraith behind her. With a leg missing, he wasn’t having the best day, but he was still breathing. We could still save him.

“Hey, it’s alright . . .”

Jenny had seen my claws, and looked at me harder than when we’d spoken before. “You think you understand me? You think you know what it’s like to be low-key shunned because of what you are? To have this rage inside? This need to be loved but to always be ignored or pushed away?”

“I do know.” I raised my hands, projecting calm, and ventured a step closer. “I meant what I said; we’re kinda the same.”

She sniffed, her expression troubled, and rubbed at her arms. “You kill people too?”

“Uh . . . sort of. Sometimes? But I guess what I really meant is that I understand the rage. Sometimes it’s all there is, all you can see and taste and feel, and you can’t contain it anymore. You’re tired and angry. You’ve been alone for a really long time, and it hurts. Believe me, I really do know how that feels.”

“For real.” She sniffed. “I saw what they did to Zander—how they kicked him out—but I thought if I burned his cabin, they’d have no choice. They’d have to take him back. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but he came at me with a shotgun, bro!” Her skin rippled, beginning to come undone.

“It’s alright.”

Calmer, she fought the urge to shift. “But the pack still won’t take him back. They won’t accept him. So they’ll never except me, and if they can’t accept me the way I am, then they can all be dead! Everyone made me their villain, so here I am! Low-key gonna murder them all!”

“Uhm, well, that’s one way of looking at it. I was like that too, I guess. And you know what, the more I uh . . . unalived people, the more it hurt, and the more I had to end more people to try and fix the pain . . . until nobody was left. That loneliness was my own fault. I did it to myself, Jenny, and I know it hurts. But if you see how you’ve hurt yourself too, then you can maybe try and start to heal? It’s not all your fault.”

She sniffed again, close to tears. “You’re a dragon? For real?”

“Yeah.”

“The last?”

“I thought so . . . I maybe missed one, but that’s not important right now.”

“How do you live every day knowing you’re alone and different and everyone hates you?” The rage was back, her tears fizzling away. “Why don’t you just eat them all?”