Page 6 of Unhaunt Me

“The whole masked ball thing?” he arched a brow. “You look like it would be your sort of vibe.”

“You think I need a mask?”

Casimir sighed. I didn’t make a habit of missing the point. I just couldn’t stop staring at his lips long enough to hear what he was saying. Every atom of my body stood on edge as I awaited his answer.

“Are you going to the party tonight?” he asked, speaking slowly as if I had trouble speaking my native tongue.

“Oh, that. Probably,” I shrugged. “Are you?”

He shrugged back at me. What a fine fucking pair we made. Couldn’t even decide if we were going to a party or not.

“Before this? Probably. Yeah. I mean, everyone’s going more or less. Who doesn’t want to celebrate a good harvest?” I rambled on, trying to find something – anything – to make him talk so I could shut up.

“Now you want to hide?” he asked.

“With you,” I said and stepped closer to him.

He tensed. For a second, I thought he might back away but he didn’t.

“He’d never back down from a challenge,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts.“Our mate would never be a coward.”

Greater dragons had fled from their true-mates. History, lore, and personal antidotes were full of stories of dragons running from fate. Casimir shrugged as if the pink star on his chest itched. I raised my hand and traced its outline with a single finger. He held his breath as I touched him and I fought back the urge to roar. Did he have to be so damn unshakable?

“Do you keep everyone out or is that just a me thing?” I asked, pulling my hand away.

Casimir met my gaze but didn’t answer right away. I pushed closer to him, hoping to pick up something over the flight link. He was closed and sealed watertight.

“I’ll see you at the ball,” Casimir said before turning to leave.

I almost pounced on him. No, correction. My dragon almost tackled him. I dug my heels in to keep my inner beast from breaking free and taking over. What did this Moony mate of mine have to hide? We knew the bodies weren’t buried here and I didn’t have a friend on Earthside to help dig them up. Then again, some bodies needed to stay buried but that seemed like information best shared with your true-mate.

Chapter Three

Casimir

I almost flew straight back to the Medwin 2 and my cousin. Except, he’d never let me live it down that I walked away from the Star Room after catching a whiff of Tritus. Instead of landing anywhere, I flew in spiraling loops over the forests and towns. I flew in circles until my throat burnt from thirst and my wings needed a break. I flew until it was time to make up my mind on whether or not I was going to the ball.

The fucking ball.

I was going to a fucking ball.

Back on Earthside I avoided it all like the fucking plague. The hem and the haw of it. The pomp and the ‘let them eat pastries of it.’ Now, I was going to a fucking ball where at least one man wanted to crack into my thoughts. Hell, Castor barely got to do that and he was there. He was right there and right then and right --- Anyway, he was there.

Echoes of breaking bone circled my thoughts and I cringed. I didn’t have fingers in dragon form. I had claws and talons and they could grip and break but my human hands felt the phantom of the bones breaking between my fingers. I stopped all the damn hovering and flew again. Moving was one of the few things that helped.

Eventually, my dragon receded back into his inner sanctum and pushed me back out into the driver’s seat. At least he waited until I was in the topside nest back at Iz’s place. I opened the trapdoor and flowed down Nycto’s ridiculous slide. They were off in their resting room which meant it was Waj that greeted me. The dotter eyed me suspiciously as I stomped off to get ready for the ball.

Inside the cavern, he tugged on my pants leg until I turned to him. He held up one of those palm-sized bottles of water. Squatting down, I gave his head the sort of little scritch he liked and took the water. I smelled dehydrated but had forgotten about my burning throat.

“This is gonna be a shit show, Waj” I muttered before drinking the water. “A real shit show.”

He cocked his head to the side and plopped down on his hindquarters as if waiting for me to explain exactly what shit had hit what fan. When I didn’t say anything else he scurried off and returned a second later with a purple Starscale apple.

“Thanks, buddy,” I took it from him. “You know what I’d kill for?”

He scrunched up his nose as if wondering why I’d kill for food when the cave was full of it.

“A pizza. Not one of these here but a real Earthside pizza so full of salt, sugar, and all the stuff they said was bad for us. I’m a bloody fucking dragon. I can handle some bad stuff. Or tacos. Real fucking tacos. Or I don’t know, enough chips and salsa to burn down a city block.”

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