Lord of Rain (The Dragon Demigods #5) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,101

I’m being restrained.

I feel my claws and scales erupting. I feel my muscles start to lengthen and rope. I—

“Stop it, Bolt!” It’s a voice I recognize.

“It’s us, you asshole,” Trident says.

Trident.

Night.

I slump back in the bed, my hand reaching for my throat.

“You’re nearly healed,” Night says. “Gave us quite a scare. You almost died, you asshole. Why did you wait so long to shift? Oh yes, you didn’t tell your girlfriend who you really are and tried to cover up the fact by not shifting. You could have died.”

Tri is rubbing his jaw. “I’m pretty sure you did die.” He smiles but winces, his hand still on his jaw. “I have this theory that… You gave me quite a punch.” He narrows his eyes on me.

I’m trying to piece together what Night and Trident are talking about. Next instant, my memory comes flooding back. “Ashley,” I sit up…again, “where is she?” I growl, my hand going back to my throat, which is throbbing. I don’t give a shit. I need to find her.

I try to stand, but Night puts a hand on my chest. “She’s fine. A bruise here or there but she’s—”

“Where is she?” I practically snarl. I’m looking around, still trying to get up, but Night is stronger. I’m at Night’s house. “Where is—?” His face gets this look I don’t like. “Where is she?” I demand, despite my throat protesting.

“Gone,” he says.

“Gone where?”

“She was freaked out at first, and then…she got upset. We had to fill her in on a couple of things,” Night says.

“Yeah, she wasn’t happy.” Trident shakes his head. “You fucked up. You should have told her.”

Night elbows Tri. “Quiet!”

“What things? You said you had to fill her in… Tell me what you told her.” I know exactly what things. Fuck, she saw me in my dragon form. I tried hard not to shift. I tried to fight those fuckers off as a human, but it didn’t work, seeing as they weren’t human. When I saw that prick with his hand around her throat, my dragon surged to the surface. All bets were off.

“It sounds like a couple of cyclopes jumped you,” Night says.

I nod. “Two of them. They were after Ashley. They thought she was the harpy.” I can’t believe I didn’t think of this potentially happening. We posed for those fucking pictures. A four-page spread in one of the most popular magazines. The publication also has a strong online following. I run a hand over my face. “I fucked up big time,” I say to myself. “Did she go home? Are you sure she’s fine?” I start getting up. “I need to fix this.”

“Lie your ass down.” Night’s eyes are filled with concern. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere. She’s fine. Give it a few more hours.”

“I need to talk to her. Why did she leave?” I know why, but I ask the question anyway.

“Um…she saw her boyfriend turn into a dragon. She thought you were a human. I didn’t tell her about the demigod part of the equation. I thought I’d leave that up to you,” Tri says.

“If it’s any consolation, she sat on that chair,” Night points to the one right next to the bed, “until she was sure you were going to be okay. She cried a lot.”

“It was ugly crying,” Tri chimes in. “She didn’t believe that you were going to make it, at first. It took a while for your coloring to come back.”

“Your chest barely moved, and your heart-rate was thready. You were as white as a ghost.” Night looks solemn. “I wasn’t sure you would make it either.”

“But then the awful wheezing started. At least you were getting air in.” Tri sticks his hands in his jean pockets.

“It wasn’t too long after that you improved immensely, and…” Night stops talking.

“Ashley left,” I fill in. I feel desolate. I should have told her.

“She started asking some hard questions.” For once, Tri is serious. “She realized that you’d been lying to her.”

“I wasn’t totally honest, but I wasn’t exactly lying either,” I retaliate. “Not really.”

“If you say so, bro.” Tri puts a hand up.

“We all saw that article about the two of you being an item. You didn’t answer your phone. You ignored it flat. I tried to call you last night…for the third time yesterday and you—”

I groan and run a hand through my hair. “I wasn’t ready to face up to reality. I didn’t want shit from you guys, and I was…” I swallow