Page 63 of Monsters of Air

Since meeting them, never had I felt so alone and seeing Philit walk away from me, disappearing from my sight only opened a hollow chasm inside of me.

I needed him, he was a part of me now, no matter how much he hated me.

I had no other choice, I followed after him.

After them all.

Chapter Twenty-One

Bickering very quickly became the norm. They were all furious. At me. At the situation. At Philit. I only had to glance at Zilon to see all the hurt and fury radiating off him.

He had clearly had the same thought I did, that I would choose him as my dragon once we got to the academy.

Now that was dashed, and every time Zilon glanced at me, it felt like I was being stabbed.

First Landers. Now Zilon. I couldn’t just fall back on Philit. He wasn’t any better. He was furious, you could practically see it move off him in waves. Yet, every time he stared at me, my whole body warmed and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. I could still feel him in me, my legs trapped by the spines of his body as he made me come again and again. I wouldn’t soon forget how it felt to be penetrated by him.

I wanted to ride him again.

That would not happen again judging by the anger and resentment that was flooding through me. It was a weird sensation, having this much anger flood through me, especially when it wasn’t my own. I rubbed at my chest, trying to push it away, but it was glued there. Just like he was. There was no escaping this. Not anymore.

“Maybe we all need to take a timeout,” I suggested after Landers snapped about how close Philit got to him when we stopped to try to get more of our bearings. We were as lost as we were when we exited the mountain.

“No one gives a fuck about what you think,” Landers snapped, rounding on me.

I rolled my eyes. Yes, we all needed a time out.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Philit warned, stepping between me and Landers like he suddenly gave a damn. Cue another eye roll.

“Oh. Why not?” Landers rounded on Philit, chest puffed out and scales gleaming. “Are you getting all protective over her? She rode you once so now she has you by the balls? That was quick.”

Philit growled, his hands in fists by his sides. I felt what he was going to do a second before he did, but Zilon was still quicker.

Philit threw the punch, and Zilon was right there, hand out as he grabbed it.

Philit whirled on Zilon, looking like he was ready to punch him out, too.

“Enough!” I yelled, throwing myself between them all and holding my hands out like I alone could stop their pity parties. “Get a grip on yourselves. We have bigger issues to deal with other than butt hurt feelings. Landers, stop acting like a prick, you’re better than this.”

Landers rolled his eyes and stomped away. I turned to Zilon, ready to thank him for helping, but before I could even open my mouth he stomped after Landers, looking just as butt hurt as the red dragon.

Philit frowned hard, giving me a look that could have been endearing if you were endeared to the smell of horse shit. He grunted and took off after the other two, rejecting me and leaving me behind again.

I was really starting to hope that Fyre was close. If they kept this up I had a bad feeling that they would just leave. After all, there wasn’t really any reason for the three of them to stay with me anymore. I wasn’t even sure why they were, but I wasn’t stupid enough to bring it up.

“We’ll stop early again tonight so you can rest,” Philit said as I caught up to him, still refusing to make eye contact with me.

“You hate me,” I said. It wasn’t even a question. “And you wish you could leave.”

Okay, maybe I was stupid enough to bring it up.

“What I feel is far from hate, but I can’t just shrug off what happened.” He finally looked at me, his blue eyes reminding me of the stars at night. At least they weren’t black anymore. “There’s a process for dragons and riders, and we should have followed that procedure. Instead, we’re lost in the mountains, you rode me, and I potentially lost my chance with my true mate.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that…” I mumbled, he just plowed on.

“Even so, every time I look at you, I can’t hate you.” The words should have been romantic, but they spat from him like bile. Still, I knew he was telling the truth, if only because I could feel that honesty burn through my chest, rolling around in confusion as he tried to work through them.

“And me? What about my chances of finding my dragon?” I asked, trying not to laugh at the selfishness from him.

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