Page 37 of Memories Like Fangs
“Oh, did that strike a nerve?” Her wine-red eyes gleamed with something cruel yet victorious. She tilted her head, mock sympathy painted across her pretty face. “Now,that’sinteresting. Mommy and Daddy didn’t break you. Dear Auntie Max and Uncle Everett didn’t make a dent. But, Quinn?” She gave a low whistle. “Now,thatgot a reaction out of you. Fascinating priorities you’ve got there, sweetheart.”
My heart pounded against my ribs so hard and fast that it was like it wanted to rip itself free from my chest. I fucking hated how right she was. I loved my parents. I loved my aunt and uncle. But, most of them were gone. They had been dead for longer than I had known them now. That reality hurt as much as realizing that I was more protective of my memories with Quinn than those with them. I could make new memories with Quinn because she was still alive. Doing that gave me something to look forward to. I couldn’t do that with my parents or Aunt Max. The time I had with them was real and forever cemented in my brain. With Quinn, we still had so much more to do. Nothing with her was set in stone, and things could change. The realities that Lilah created for hercouldcome true, and that was terrifying. But it meant what I createdcouldcome true, too, and that was exciting and something to be thrilled about. She was my bright thing left in the dark, something for me to cling to beyond this space. Now, Lilah had tried to taint her, too.
“Well, we finally found something that works,” Lilah said, almost giddy. “So, now, we get to stick with it.”
“Fuck.You.”
“Only in your dreams, love,” Lilah leaned in, her voice dripping with poisonous honey. “Of course, that would be while I’m cosplaying as your mate, now wouldn’t it?”
Then, she took my chin in her hand, her grip hard enough to bruise. My body ached to pull away, but I was too tightly bound to even flinch. I looked into her eyes, feeling the hate simmering behind my own. I wished I could make her hurt like I did to the hunters in my real memory. I wanted her to suffer. I wanted her to bleed. I wanted to tear her apart using my fangs and talons. I wanted to show her what real terror looked like. I wanted to show her what a real nightmare was.
She brushed her thumb across my lower lip, and I hissed at the contact. Really, I did that to hide my desire to vomit. I fucking hated her. Nothing I did to her would account for a fraction of what she had done to me, but, fuck, everything I was imagining made me feel just a little bit better.
“Hey, ladybug,” she whispered. “This could all be over?—”
“You clearly didn’t hear me the first time,” I growled, cutting her off and dragging up every ounce of venom I could. “Fuck.You.”
Lilah grinned. “Ah, so it goes on.”
She stood up with a slow satisfaction and turned her back on me, her laughter once again filling the damp air around us.
I didn’t shrink from it. I let it feed my rage. I allowed it to burn me clean.
As soon as I could, I was going to destroy her.
Throwing Axes
QUINN
When I last entered the elevator headed to the Archive’s Vault, I was bracing for war.
I was trying my hardest to treat it like any other assignment. Zaria, my ex-girlfriend from hell, had gone rogue. Connecting her with a powerful witch, someone had given her a mission to take Byrd out with a payment that would have set her great-grandchildren up for life upon completion. As much as I wanted to slit her throat deep enough to make sure she could never speak again, we had to take her alive. What I wanted to do to her would give her a quick release of death, but the Hunter’s Council had other ways of dealing out justice that would make her suffer for the rest of her life. At best, they would take her powers and memories away and send her to live in a human city where she would start all over from scratch. At worst? Let’s just say the Hunter’s Council was as creative as a dark romance author with trauma and feminine rage. Our mission was simple. With Cole and Cody behind me, it was going to be easy.
I should have known better.
In the minutes leading up to every mission, I always felt a weight in my chest. It was hot, wound tight, and ready toburst at any time. It made my stomach twist. Yet, as soon as I gripped Amy and Tina, it was like a switch flipped. I turned everything off, and that feeling vanished as I got to work, letting the years of training that my muscles had memorized take over.
When I literally ran into Byrd that day though, that feeling worsened and I realized nothing about this would be simple or easy.
The closer we got to the Vault, the more she looked like she was barely hanging on. I could feel the anxiety radiating off of her like steam. Even before the bond snapped into place between us, I had always been able to feel her emotions, to know when things were getting too much for her. At that moment, something deep within my chest overpowered the feeling I always had before missions. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to take her far away from here, away from this fight, away from the pain. She didn’t belong here in the middle of all of this. Not because she was too delicate or not strong enough for it—Fuck that. My girl knew what she could or couldn’t handle, and I trusted her instinct. No, it was because I didn’t want her to get hurt. As Byrd shifted against her will, that urge to protect was maddening, overtaking my thoughts about the mission and why we were here in the first place.
Then, Zaria opened her big fucking mouth.
Honestly, Quinn, love, I don’t know how you date outside of hunter circles, especially a fucking lizard.
The world tilted. My heart stopped. But, not for the reason Zaria probably hoped. I didn’t freeze because I was afraid.
I froze because it all clicked into place.
Byrd was a dragon-shifter.
And somehow, impossibly somehow, it made sense.
It made such perfect sense that I had wanted to laugh at the fucking irony and how fitting it all was.
Of course, she was a fucking dragon-shifter.
Of course, the girl who I had literally fallen for when I first saw her was a dragon-shifter. Of course, the girl who hoarded books so much that she worked at a library was a dragon. Of course, the girl who spoke like poetry brought to life and burned like a star was the creature you found in fairytales. Of course, the girl who could never get warm enough with scales like stained glass was one of the most sought-after beings among my kind for the magic they could bring into the lives of others. Of course, she was a being of flight and fury and greatness wrapped up in soft pink locs, wide expressive chocolate eyes, and a laugh that echoed in my bones.
