Page 33 of Dragon in Denial
“Alive? Yes. But not in his right head.”
“What do you mean?”
He nodded again. “Go. He needs you.”
He needs me?Antoinette almost snorted. Ketu didn’t need her. He didn’t need anyone. He’d proved that when he’d run to the other end of the country to escape from his past.
“Thank you,” Antoinette said, and then she hurried toward the ominous-looking street. Not that she was afraid of the dark or the shadows.
She was afraid of what she’d see when she found Ketu.
Her dragon prowled in her head, restless, eager to ensure Ketu was okay.
You sure got hooked quick, she said to the beast.
Duh.
Antoinette shook her head.
The overgrown bush to her left shuddered, and a body emerged from its depths. Antoinette stared as a man staggered toward the sidewalk, holding out his arms. He was covered with foliage, and his face and arms had multiple bleeding scratches. His left eye was swollen and bruised.
“Ketu?”
He swung around like a drunken man and blinked rapidly before his dilated, bloodshot eyes widened. “Antoinette.” He said her name like a prayer. Like he’d been desperately searching for her.
Like he needed her.
What he needed was a kick in the ass.
“Why?” she asked. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe these were signs of a concussion. Maybe—
He lurched forward and she automatically took a step back. What was he doing?
“Stop moving,” he commanded, his eyes on her, although they didn’t appear to be actually looking at her. “The water shifts too much when you move.”
The water?
A memory bubbled up from her subconscious. Eulalie when she’d been tripping on dragon’s blood. In the beginning, before she’d gotten addicted and had become a shell of the girl she used to be.
“Oh gods,” Antoinette whispered, her eyes going wide as she stared at the man she never, ever would have expected to try that evil drug. This definitely wasn’t a concussion. “What have you done?”
He moved forward and flapped his arm; it was apparent he couldn’t see. When his hand landed on her shirt, he tore through the fabric, leaving her sleeve a shredded mess. She grabbed his appendage and lifted it to eye level. “You’re partially shifted,” she said, staring at the claws protruding from the end of his arm. “How long have you been like this?”
“Tried to shift. Thought it would make this go away.” He swiped at the air like he was swatting at a cloud of gnats. “But my dragon wouldn’t respond.”
“Your dragon wouldn’t…” The dragon and the man—or woman—were the same being. Well, in truth, it was like having two minds in one body, but the dragon always responded to the call to shift.Always.
Except, apparently, when the body was high on dragon’s blood.
Ketu swung his arm and managed to get it around her neck without stabbing her with his talons. He pulled her close and croaked, “Help me. Don’t let me go.”
“Okay, okay.” She gave him a reassuring pat on the back. “You need to let go of the shift.”
He whipped his head from side to side, a toddler about to have a tantrum. “I’m drowning. Or you are. Everybody is. I can breathe, but we’re under water.”
She pursed her lips and clenched her teeth. “No, we aren’t. That’s the drug. It messes with your senses, makes you see the world through a kaleidoscope.”
“Yes,” Ketu said, nodding like an eager puppy. “Exactly. This is fucked up, Antoinette. I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t do this without you.”
