Page 61 of Love Bites Extra Hard

The fun I’d have with my sisters, swimming together again.

The loneliness I’d have when they were all with their mates and I was on my own again.

Shit.

That wasn’t a happy thought.

I let out a harsh breath and grabbed the remote off the nightstand.

A movie or a TV show would be a distraction, at least.

Around lunch time,Stella stopped by with two more plates of food. She was in a hurry, so I didn’t get the chance to ask her about the scales.

I woke Talon up, and we watched the movie I was halfway through together while we ate. When he was done, he tugged my hair loose from its bun and fell back asleep with my hairband around his wrist.

I stared at him for a few more minutes while the movie played.

There was no point in wondering. Not when I could just ask him.

But I couldn’t stop my mind from playing through every possible scenario anyway.

eleven

AVERY

It wasa little past our usual dinnertime when Stella knocked on the door again. Talon still didn’t stir.

I left the movie playing to help him stay asleep as I pulled a hoodie on and slipped into the living room to answer. It seemed safe to assume she had more food for us.

She was out of breath, her arms were empty, and her eyes were bright when I pulled the door open.

“I need you,” she said.

“For…”

“Sylvester.” She peeked past me, to see if Talon was awake. He wasn’t.

She gestured for me to step into the hallway with her, and I did.

“He’s frazzled,” she whispered. “He has been all day. Not feeling your magic for the first time in so long has him feeling off. He just started pacing, and twitching. I think if you hit him with a heavy dose of it again, we might be able to get him to shift, so I can take him down.”

My eyebrows shot upward. “Really?”

She nodded quickly, and her gaze flicked to the door, then back to me. “Talon’s not going to be happy, but he’ll live.”

I nodded, biting my lip. “Let’s do it.”

If we could take him down, I could go back to the Manor. Get out of there, in case I really was Talon’s fated mate. He’d said he was going to take me back, so he couldn’t argue with it. Could he?

I didn’t think about putting pants or a bra on before we left.

We hurried down the hall. My mind went back to my conversation with my sisters while we went. As soon as there was a pause in Stella’s rapid-fire explanation of everything Sylvester had been doing, I interrupted.

“Why do dragons lose their scales?” I asked.

We weren’t far from the prison.

Stella could talk for an impressive amount of time.

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