Page 16 of Magpies & Mayhem
“Why don’t you ask Jordan for help?” Elara asked, and I tensed. She narrowed her eyes at my reaction.
“Why would I call Jordan?”
“Because he’s fireproof and you’re not,” she said, like it was obvious. Maybe it was, but I still wasn’t having an unstable vampire in my house. Even if he was ridiculously and unfairly hot.
“Hm, I’ll pass.”
“Why? I thought you liked him now. Did something happen?” She was instantly suspicious.
I hunched in my chair. I wasn’tafraidof him per se, but I wasn’tnot afraidof him either. “Jordan’s kind of psycho,” I grumbled. “Granted, I’malsokind of psycho. But putting two psychos together just seems like a bad idea, you know?”
Levi huffed from behind me. “Jordan’s not a psycho. He’s just like a prickly pet cat who only comes out of hiding when there’s no company around. And only wants to be touched on his terms. And has a very specific diet,” he said lightly.
So, what he was saying was that Jordan had personalboundaries. And I was admittedly terrible at respecting boundaries. We were obviously not fit to be in each other’s presence. Besides, I was more of a dog person anyway. Or maybe a dragon person. I cast a glance at Huck, who was sulking in the corner. He probably didn’t feel like I was a dragon person either.
No, I definitely wasn’t calling in a vampire who said he’d killed a girl just for touching his neck.
Chapter 10
Severalhoursafterdawn,there was a knock at the door. A peek through the peephole showed a black helmet and leather clothes, and my heart jumped in my chest. I jerked the door open with a glare, trying to keep my arm wrapped around the dragon. Jordan didn’t say anything, just stood staring at me and Huck while the dragon squirmed in my arm.
“Is someone at the door?” Josh yelled sleepily from his bedroom.
Jordan immediately stiffened and stepped to the side like a skittish horse, like he was going to head back the way he came.
“Just a package,” I yelled back to my brother and turned to shove Huck back through the door before pulling it shut behind me. He was wearing his muzzle, so he should be fine for a few seconds. Josh could deal with him. “What do you want?” I asked Jordan, turning to face him and crossing my arms in front of me.
He looked back at the door for a long moment before reaching up to pull his helmet off. His eyes were flat and guarded, his posture tense as he considered me. He seemed even more withdrawn than usual, or maybe now it was just more noticeable. His hair was a mess that left him looking a little wild, and his pale skin was still a shock when I was expecting the healthy, tanned color he’d always had before. He ran a hand through his mussed hair, trying to straighten it and push it out of his face.
“The wildlife refuge reported a break in tonight,” he said stiffly, “and the news just made it to my unit. The two juvenile dragons that hatched from the clutch you found were reported missing, as well as the other four unhatched eggs.”
I blinked at him.Well, that sucks. “So, you’re… wanting me to help find them?” I couldn’t piece together why he was here.
He squinted at me. “No… My unit is assigned to the case. I just wanted to check that you were safe and find out if anyone knows you have a hatchling. Whoever broke in might come after you too.”
I bristled at the implication that I needed protecting or that I’d been naïve enough to flaunt an extremely valuable exotic animal in a town full of thieves. “No one knows but Elara and Levi, and your own team. I’m not sure why you’d care if we’re safe since you already threatened to kill me,” I said with narrowed eyes. I couldn’t help but needle him.Why am I like this?Just tell him you’re fine and send him on his way, idiot.
Jordan huffed and looked down his nose at me. “Is that what you think?” His voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear it.
I didn’t respond. Of course that was what I thought; that was what he’d said. Wasn’t it?
He narrowed his gaze further. “Did I scare you?”
I was practically vibrating with the desire to punt his arrogant, imperious, gorgeous rump down the hallway.Dick.Was he getting some kind of kick out of this? “I think anyone who wasn’t mildly scared of your unhinged ass would fall into the ‘too stupid to live’ category.”
He was quiet for a beat before taking a deep breath and releasing it. “I see,” he said with a nod, glaring at me and obviously struggling with himself. I eyed him, considering his reaction. Had he somehow not realized that his actions had been intimidating? I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. “You should be afraid of me,” he said quietly, almost gently, “but I regret that my actions caused it.”
“You regret that your actions—?Yes,Jordan, killing a girl just for touching yourneck,and implying you’d do the same to me, will generally make someone afraid of you,” I said flippantly. Not to mention hisphysicalreaction.
The muscles in his jaw flexed as his irises took on that otherworldly orange tinge that always made chills slide up my spine. “That’s not what Isaid, Sidney. And you attacked me.Twice. I can’t help my defensiveness.”
I mean, yeah, that was a fair point. I did attack him twice. But I wasn’t trying tokill him. He was practically looming over me now, but I stood my ground, straightening my shoulders and refusing to cower. I tried to calculate how much force I’d need to kick him through the wall on the other side of the hallway.
“And if I’m unhinged, she made me this way,” he said through gritted teeth. “I killed her inself-defense—which the courts agreed with—because she turned me into this.” He gestured with an angry, slashing motion at his bared teeth. “And I’d do it again, because shehurtme. She caused meimmeasurablepain. It was torture. And shetookfrom me. She took everything I’d ever worked toward. She took my family from me. She took my friends. She took my future. I can never have children because of her. I will never enjoy a simple meal again. I will never exist within mortal society again because of what she did to me, and I regretnothing. And yes, because of all that, I have different reactions now. I cannot control my defensive reactions. Shehurt me, and I can’t help reacting to every intrusion of my space like it’s a similar threat.” He paused and took several heaving, angry breaths. “I can’t help it. I wasn’t threatening you, Sidney. I was trying to warn you about what I’ve become.”
It was the most he’d ever spoken to me at once, and I felt like the air had been sucked from the room. The longer I stood there processing what he’d said, the more I was filled with a wild, overwhelming mixture of grief, anger, despair, and… heartache. I worked quickly to stamp out that last one—because it wasn’t about me—but it was hard. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to scream in rage or wrap him up in the tightest hug that ever existed, but obviously he wouldn’t want that if he didn’t like people near him.
I didn’t respond—I couldn’t.I just stood there staring at him like a jackass. It was like I was trapped inside my body, and I couldn’t make my mouth saywordsbecause my brain didn’t even know which way was up. All I could make sense of was the hollow feeling in my chest as I watched him struggle to regain his shuttered expression.
