Page 14 of The Monster's Mate

“I thought I heard Malice mention the meeting last night was your idea.” I wrap my arms around Athos’s lower back, giving him a squeeze. “That was extremely thoughtful. It means a lot to me that you cared enough to try to help.”

“Does this mean you’ll consider allowing me to place my jar in your?—”

I snort, stepping back. “Whatever you’re cooking is burning, and I need to check on Veryn.”

“Shite,” he hisses, turning to blue smoke and siphoning into the kitchen. “For the record, Veryn seemed excited to see me when he woke up.”

I laugh, shake my head, and walk to the door.

Wait, did he say Bane and Eldritch were helping Veryn shift?

Bane is on the ground, while Veryn is on the freaking roof of Bane’s house.

I’m going to kill him—Bane, not my kid.

Once I figure out why he’s shirtless.

I’ve never seen Bane in basketball shorts.

Come to think of it, Veryn is shirtless too, which I guess makes sense if he needs access to his wings.

“I already know how to fly,” Veryn calls out as he teeters on the edge.

“No.” Bane chuckles. “You know how to float. I’ve never seen you more than a foot off the ground. You shove off and coast for a few yards. Sorry to tell you this, but that’s not flying.”

My jaw falls as ice slides through my veins. My kid has to be thirty or forty feet off the ground. I don’t know exactly how high for sure, but Bane’s house has a full attic on top of his third story.

“Are you going to try it? Or is Eldritch going to give you another shove?” Bane asks, rubbing his hands together.

Eldritch’s wing stretches out, and Veryn shrugs and jumps with no further warning.

I stumble down the steps, very nearly face-planting in the process, and rush toward Bane’s house.

My heart stalls as Veryn plummets toward the ground. Eldritch stretches his head over the edge of the roof, watching Veryn fall.

There’s no way I’ll be able to reach him in time.

Bane’s wings erupt from his back in full glory, but the rest of him stays human. His knees bend, and he shoves off the ground, catching Veryn before he even gets close to the first-story roof.

Bane’s bluish-gray wings extend, and they coast toward the ground while Veryn frowns.

“Man, that should have worked,” Veryn says as Bane lands on the grass.

“The thing about partially shifting is that you need your dragon to lend you his strength. If you ask for his physical features, but refuse to share your consciousness…” Bane sets Veryn on his feet. “This is hard to explain. A physicaltransformation is one thing, but you’re not strong enough to support the dragon’s body.”

“Yeah, but he is me, right?” Veryn asks, swiping his black hair out of his eyes. “I shift while I’m asleep sometimes…”

“That’s normal.” Bane squats down. “Who knows, maybe the dragon is in control of your dreams when that happens.” He laughs. “When you’re awake, and you want to shift partially, you have to work together. It’s complicated, but once you build that relationship, it’ll be instinctual.”

“I’ll already know how?” Veryn asks.

“Exactly.” Bane nods, smiling authentically.

It’s so rare to see him with anything except a scowl on his face. He used to smile at me like that, but I think I ruined that when I freaked out about him being a dragon.

It’s hard to understand, because up until recently, Veryn was shifting regularly. He’d transform to full dragon form while he was sleeping and shift back to human once he woke up. Even when he was a toddler, he had no problem accessing his wings and tail.

“Your mom is awake,” Bane says, standing. He pulls his wings close to his back, and watching them fold in on themselves to disappear is intense. I’m genuinely surprised it’s not painful, but if it is, he hides it well. “And I have a feeling Athos has breakfast ready.”

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