Lord of Destiny (The Dragon Demigods #6) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,43
chest with a marker.” She laughs harder. “Zale has disappeared into bathrooms with strange women more than once. They suggested it to him.” She sticks her tongue out and makes a gagging face. “Women seem to lose their ever-loving minds.”
“Yeah, I guess we get a lot of attention. I mostly just ignore it.” I unlock the car and open her door before stepping back to give her plenty of space. I walk around and jump into the car. “You must get attention as well. You’re gorgeous.” I try not to sound too sappy. I more than likely fail.
I see her cheeks turn red. “West growls at anyone who shows even passing interest.” She smiles. “I get the odd look, but it’s not like all of you. All the giggles and longing stares. The drooling.”
“I hardly notice,” I say as I buckle up. “It’s not like I can act on any of the attention.” I shrug.
“It must be annoying to get visions when… You know…it must be annoying as anything.”
I check my blind spot, indicate and then pull out onto the road. “I hate it. It’s not worth it most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” I hear a playful edge to her voice.
I glance her way, and she’s smiling. I choke out a laugh. “What can I say? I have needs. I rarely act on them, but fuck…I can’t sit between the four walls of my house every single day. I need to come up for air from time to time. Did you ever get a vision when you…were with West?”
“No…never. It was weird. My immediate family, as well. It never happened.”
“Never?” I indicate and turn. The roads are quiet since it’s the middle of the night. “That’s interesting. Your family makes sense…I can’t read my family either. But West…” I raise my brows. “I guess I’ve never read any of my close friends, but I put that down to them being non-humans. I’ve only ever read a non-human once or twice in my life.”
“Humans are the worst. They’re like an open book.” She sounds exasperated. “I have to try to stay far away from humans.” She shakes her head, leaning back in the seat. Raven yawns.
“I know what you mean.” We make the rest of the trip in silence. Raven is half-asleep when we get there.
She yawns again as we pull into the garage. “I’m so ready for bed,” she says as she slides out of the car.
“Me too.” I open the door that leads to my house. I let her go first.
“Thanks.” She stops dead as we hit the hallway.
“Where the fuck have you been?” West comes at us. He’s trying to keep his voice down, but it doesn’t work. His fists are clenched. His eyes are narrowed on me. In short, he’s pissed.
“What are you doing here?” Raven asks him. “You’re supposed to be at Jarrod’s house.”
“Don’t turn this around,” he growls. “I thought I would check on you, and you weren’t here.” He folds his arms. His eyes are blazing.
“Check on me…why?” She sounds annoyed. I don’t blame her.
“Because I care about you, Raven. Because I fucking love you. I get here, and you aren’t here.” He tones down his voice a few levels. “There are dangerous creatures out there.” His eyes haze over.
Raven sighs. “I’m fine. Did you read the note?” I notice that she steps further between us, using herself as a barrier.
“Yes!” he growls.
“So you know where we were then,” she deadpans. “Thanks for checking up on me, but it wasn’t necessary.” She’s trying to be nice.
“You must have a death wish, pretty boy!” His eyes flash to me before he returns to Raven’s stare. “Flying…fucking flying. Are you out of your damned mind, Raven?”
I take a calming breath. “Please don’t speak to Raven like that.” I try to keep my cool. I don’t want this to turn into a fight. I have a better understanding of why West is so…angry. Also, he cares about Raven, so he might be going about things in the wrong way, but I think he means well. Again, this isn’t my battle. Not really.
West steps in, almost putting his chest against Raven’s front so that he can get to me. His eyes are on mine, and they’re blazing. He points his finger at me. That fucking finger. I wish he wouldn’t do that. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, asshole! You leave in the middle of the night with my girlfriend and—”