Page 115 of Memories Like Fangs
“Brygette Fallon Pierce, but everyone usually calls me?—”
“Byrd…Byrdie?” The woman blinked as her voice broke. Her eyes glistened with tears. “Forrest’s baby girl? Is that really you?”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to clear the fog of memory. Then, something within me cracked open, and it all came rushing back to me. This was my cousin who used to sneak into my room where I stayed during the holidays with the bottom hem of her shirt folded up and full of stolen cookies that Auntie Titi had made. She would lift my covers, dump the cookies, and we would gossip about the boys at her supernatural school. How did I forget how she didn’t even blink when I admitted I kinda, sorta wanted to talk about girls, too, if that was okay? Instead, she grinned with a gap in her missing front teeth and said, “Okay, sodo you think any girl is cute at your school?” like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I remembered our hours on the couch, tangled in video game controllers, yelling at each other overMario KartorSonicorKingdom Hearts,and high-fiving after winning boss battles.
I could still feel the sting of cold air on our faces as we raced across the ice at the rink near her Mama’s house, the same one where I discovered I was a prodigy. We always competed to see who could skate the fastest every year. Of course, the bitch always won.
When she manifested before me, I wasn’t jealous, not even a little. I just always wanted to catch up, to join her, to fly together like we had always talked about.
No matter what, though, no matter how long we were apart, even in those awkward tween years before texting and posting were a thing, we always picked up like no time had passed at all. It was like some invisible string kept us connected through space forevermore.
She was more than a cousin. She was my first best friend, my sister in everything but blood, the first person I came out to without even knowing it, the first person who showed me love didn’t have to be earned at all, and could be as effortless as laughing at one of her jokes.
And here she stood now, after all these years, with her eyes welling with tears and calling my nickname in the way that only she ever had.
“Oh, my gods…Ayrie?!” I gasped, aching with joy and nostalgia. I rushed to her on my wings fast enough to blow her curls back when I came to a stop.
“We all thought you were dead!” Ayrie cried, her accent distinctly Midwestern, which was a contrast to Pops’ more Southern and Cajun voice. “It’s been so long, and we hadn’t heard a word from you! I can’t believe you are here and alive! Ialso can’t believe you whooped my ass the way you did! How did you?—?”
A throat cleared near us. I turned to see that the Sire Dragon and the others around had already shifted back. In her human form, the Sire Dragon was just as breathtaking, a vision of sovereign grace and power. She stood tall and statuesque at well over seven feet with muscles and curves that made her look like she could be a model as much as she could be a bodybuilder. Her deep umber skin gleamed like a polished onyx, and it was so gorgeous that I wanted to beg for her skincare routine if she even had one. Her features were sharp and commanding with her high cheekbones, full lips, chiseled bone structure, and dark eyes. Her thick jet-black coils were braided in knotless braids that went past her waist with slivers of metal that reminded me of her scales. Despite looking every bit like a queen carved from thunder, lightning, and dusk, she wore an open white deep-cut blouse and tight flared-legged jeans that showed off every curve of her full figure while making her look relatively normal. When she moved, you could tell the world moved with her. Still, there was a spark of affection in her eyes that made her seem close to… endearing?
“I’m so sorry to interrupt your reunion,” she said, her voice still sending pulses of power down my skin. Her very presence demanded reverence before she even said a word. “But, if there’s a threat to my enchantment, I need to know about that.Now.”
“Of course, Sire Gale,” Ayrie said, bowing slightly before her. “Forgive me. That should take priority over all else.”
“If I may?” Talli stepped forward. “I believe I can help in that department.”
“As can I,” Uncle Everett said, leaning against Teddy as he continued to recover. “How about we let the girls have a moment and play catch-up?”
The Sire Dragon glanced at Everett, her eyes lighting up. “Ah, I do remember you, griffin-shifter, from long ago. You would come with Forrest and his family to visit, correct?”
Ayrie nodded eagerly. “Yes! He would! He was a guardian for Byrdie! Forrest trusted him as one of Byrd’s godparents.”
“Ah, yes. I do see the guardian bond there,” The Sire Dragon nodded in approval before a smile brightened her stunning face. “It’s lovely to see you all again. I’m sure you understand my earlier precautions. Hunters entering our enchantment is not usually a welcome, kind affair. My name is Sire Gale Levan, the leader of this enchantment. How about we make more introductions in my office?”
“Maisie and Teddy? Will you both join us as well? I will need your help as we prepare for what’s to come,” Talli requested.
Maisie dropped the shield around the SUV. “You don’t have to ask me twice to do some cool magic shit!”
As Everett and the witches prepared to follow Sire Gale, one of the dragon-shifters, the golden one that had attacked Everett, said to the Sire, “What of the hunters? Are we just going to allow them free rein of the enchantment? How do we know they aren’t all working together and trying to set a trap against us?”
I growled at him. The glass shards shook on the ground that I had used earlier, ready for another round. Before I could summon them forward toward him, Quinn spoke up, “You could just try asking us instead, my guy.”
When all heads turned to where she leaned against the overturned SUV, she continued. “No hunter in their right mind would knowingly enter an enchantment full of dragons. Not without a legion behind them and just as many weapons. I only have my daggers with me. Cody has a crossbow in the back, Cole two guns in holsters, and Natassa a few darts and vials of poison, but we all carry those everywhere. They are not nearly enough to take on a dragon, let alone several. If you would like to searchwhat remains of the SUV, be my guest. For your peace of mind, I highly recommend it, actually. You can confiscate our weapons, too, if you need to. But, regardless, wearen’tworking with that hunter. We sure as fuck aren’t working with that blood bitch.”
The huge dragon-shifter snorted. “Like I would fall for that! You hunters love a trap! How am I supposed to trust you?”
This fucking prick is getting on my last fucking nerve.
I growled at him. “You wanna know how you can trust her and her cousins? Because those hunters and blood witch-fae that we’re warning you about hurt me and my fated mate.”
His eyes narrowed. “Hurt you? What did she call you a name you didn’t like?”
“Try again, dick,” I lifted my sleeve to show the scars still visible on my wrist.
All of the dragons casually watching the interaction play out gasped. Ayrie covered her mouth in shock. The tears overflowed from her eyes. “Holy fucking shit, Byrdie! Only a few things can hurt a dragon, let alone leave a scar like that! What happened?”
