Page 10 of Memories Like Fangs
“Your mother was a fire-breathing dragon?” My question was more of a statement, as I knew the answer already.
“A lava-breather, so kind of—” Byrd’s round eyes widened as realization dawned suddenly. “Quinn, how do you?—?”
“Let me explain?—”
“Very rarely has saying that ever ended well in a relationship, but go ahead,” Byrd huffed, folding her arms and giving me a raised eyebrow. Her snark had me fighting a smile as anxiety boiled in my stomach.
I told her everything I knew as quickly as I could. As I did, I watched her expression change with flickers of emotions coming through our bond. There was disbelief at the Hunter’s Council assigning us to kill her mother, anger from my father’s rage, surprise at Uncle Harry, and empathy for me. That last one, along with a thorough line of affection and love, overwhelmed all else by the end of the story.
When I finished, she looked up at me through her thick, full eyelashes, the tears there glistening in the low light. She looked so precious that I tightened my grip on her. She said ever so softly, “I’m so happy you didn’t go that day.”
“You and me both.”
“What made you not go on that mission?”
“Hunters are supposed to live and die by our code. We hunt those who hunt those who can’t protect themselves. We kill those who kill for the thrill of it. So, seeing your mom in that case file…” I shook my head, still seeing Byrd’s mom smiling at me from her photo. I would never shake that.My father took that light away from this world, away from my girl.Que monstruo de mierda.“Nothing about the whole case felt right to me. Fighting dragon-shifters is hard and dangerous as all fucking hell, so the reasons need to be there if we are doing that. But then, to see that your mom was just defending herself against Nomad Hunters, who literally had no reason to try and take her down other than that she was a dragon?And, she was pregnant? No, nothing about it made sense. I think that’s why my mom was okay when I told her I didn’t want to do it, and why. She didn’t give me any pushback against it when I told her. I think it was because my reasons were sound.”
“I knew you were a smart one.” Byrd’s lips twitched up. I knew it was the closest thing to a smile that I would get, and I was okay with that. She nodded before returning her eyes to her mother’s head and wings hanging on the wall. “I can’t believe any of this. My mom, your father, and your Uncle Harry? Your Uncle Harry was… I’m the one who killed him. I never knew that the crystal shards would… I had no idea that… I didn’t know they would do that to him?—”
“Hey, Sweetness, hey,” I took her face in between my hands again, encouraging her to look at me to feel the weight of my words. “Youdidn’t do anything to him. He did this to himself. His own fucking stupidity would have taken him out anyway. He shouldn’t have gone after you at all since you were so young, but he made the mistake of going after you without any information to know what he was getting into. It isn’t your fault he fucked around and found out. Honestly, pretty badass that you took outHunters like you did at thirteen. Here, I thought I was the badass for having killed as many supernaturals as I did at fourteen.”
“No, I’m every bit the monster Cooper was talking about, that he thinks I am?—”
“No, you aren’t, Byrdie. It was self-defense. You were trying to stay alive against seven or so hunters, and you did what it took to survive. I would have done the same. You are no more a monster than I am.”
Byrd placed her hands over my own and sighed. “This whole thing is such a mess.”
“It is.” I knew it wasn’t the time to ask, but I selfishly couldn’t resist just for my own sanity and security. Her hands were interlaced with my own, which had to mean something. I felt our bond and knew it was steady. I relied on it to carry me forward, but I still needed to hear her words to be absolutely sure. “What about us, though? Are we okay?”
“Of course, we are.”
“Wait.” I scrunched my eyebrows. “You aren’t mad at me? Like at all?”
“Why would I be mad at you, pumpkin? I don’t blame you for what happened, no more than I am a stone-cold killer of your uncle.” Byrd cringed, but her face actually broke out into a small smile. It was the first smile I had seen on her since I got upstairs, but it might as well have been my first breath of air after being underwater for too long. “Oof, is that too soon?”
I chuckled, both at her joke and in relief.
“Okay,” Byrd sighed again. I could see her beautiful brain at work in real-time, and I loved watching it. One of my many kinks was strong, intelligent women being just that. “So, what about the rest of your family? How much do they all know?”
“No one would know about—” I motioned to the entire office. “—all of this.”
“So, the issue is truly your father.”
“Oh, I’m way ahead of you, sweets. He’s going to pay for this.”
“You know, you’re hot when you are plotting patricide.” She shook her head with another one of her small smiles on her face. “I’m so sorry. If I don’t laugh or make jokes, I will cry even more.”
I gave her one of my signature smirks that I know she adored. “Hey, I take no issue with that. I would make a dad joke here, but it seems untimely since I want to kill mine.”
Byrd gave a breathy laugh that I counted as a win. Then, she pushed her locs out of her face and sighed long and heavy. It was one of those sighs that I felt deep in my bones. When she spoke again, it came out fast as if it was all at once. “What are we going to do now? I mean, I feel like I should feel better about all of this since my mom had been dead for so long, you know? I should be elated about finding her body after all this time. I mean, Ishould… but, I just feel like absolute shit. It doesn’t make any sense. How did your father even get her to shift back? She was in her half-shifted state when she died, so how did he get her to stay this way now? How did he get all of these dragons to do that? Why?”
“Hey, hey, hey,mi tesoro. I need you to breathe.Respire hondo, yeah? I know this is a lot, but you have to take a breath and take things one step at a time, okay? Don’t look at the whole.”
Byrd nodded. She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. I caressed her face, making patterns with my thumb over her high cheekbones. After several beats, she did seem to feel steadier and better. When she opened her eyes again, they weren’t glossy anymore. They were brilliant and sure with decision and tenacity.
“We have to get my mom down and out of here. She deserves a proper burial.”
“Okay.”
