Page 104 of Love Bites Extra Hard

We spentthe next few days splitting our time between the prison and Talon’s office. I still wasn’t all-in the way he was, but I was getting there.

Every day, he convinced me a little more that he really was the same person I’d thought he was.

We heard from Stella that she was staying with the wolves for a while, trying to get to know Evan. She sent pictures every day, and it made me happy to see her smiling in all of them.

I missed her, but I understood.

She needed space from the castle.

From Sylvester.

When Clementine finally got back to me, four days had gone by. We were in Talon’s office, and he was growling at someone on the phone while I filled out simple, boring paperwork for him. He’d be stuck there all day if I didn’t help.

He'd brought an extra desk, computer, and chair in. They didn’t fit perfectly, but when I suggested getting my own office, he turned it down immediately.

Clem’s voice was bright and cheery when I answered her call. “Hey, Avery! How’s it going?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Pretty good. How are you?”

“Absolutelystuffed. The guys in the fae realm threw this massive festival thing, full of yummy realmside foods. It was amazing! What’s up?

“I need a favor.”

“Deal.”

I snorted. “You haven’t even heard what it is.”

“I don’t need to. You know I’m in.”

“You’re going to want to hear this one, Clem. Kai probably will too.”

“Mmkay. Give me a minute, he’s in the shower.” Her voice was muffled when she called out, “Hey, Seven! Avery needs me for something! Are we in?”

He called back, “What is it?”

“I don’t know, she’s being secretive.”

“Hold on, I’m getting out.”

“Just a second,” Clem said, and I realized she was talking to me.

I bit my lip to hide a grin when I heard what sounded like the phone hitting the mattress. She squealed, and he laughed. A minute later, Clem’s voice was clear again.

“Okay, we’re ready,” she said.

“The dragons have a serial killer in their prison.” I caught Talon’s eyes on me. His gaze moved over my body slowly, though he didn’t stop growling at whoever he was on the phone with. Probably the head of one of the departments that always drove him crazy.

“They what?” Clem double-checked.

“Wehave a serial killer. Inourprison,” I amended.

“What the fuck?” Kai muttered on the other line. The question was clearly for Clementine, not me.

“Dragons can sort of… half-shift. Their human bodies get covered in scales, which makes them unkillable. They’ve been trying to kill this guy for about a decade now. He raped and murdered seventeen female dragons.”

“Shit,” Clem breathed.

“They’ve tried everything,” I added. “He can’t drown. He can’t burn. He can’t be stabbed. They starve him, fight with him, poison him—none of it works. The families of the victims, and everyone else, needs closure. They need him gone. But they can’t figure out how to take him down. Talon needed a siren because he thought our magic might actually be able to affect the guy. And it does. But I can’t weave power to actually force him to shift back. Which seems like what has to happen if we’re going to take him out.”

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