Page 27 of Heavy is the Crown
A growl slips from me. “Everything I can.”
She shakes her head and mutters something that sounds an awful lot like, “Stupid dragons,” before she too leaves the VIP lounge through the portal of her creation. Once her body disappears through, it swiftly shuts, leaving me alone with my thoughts and fears.
FOURTEEN
Kallen was an experiment of what we could do with a power being. That experiment clearly failed. But the next one didn't. We can now harness another's power and channel it as our own.
– Mori Family Grimoire
Drago
Walking into my club, I follow the pulse in my chest toward the back rooms. Shadow's scent hits me full force in the darkened hallway. Security stands next to one of the closed doors, and my heart cracks a little knowing exactly what I’m about to find. The grimace on my man’s face confirms it. Pushing open the door, I see Shadow, barely conscious, his hand wrapped around a blonde’s head as she tries desperately to get him hard. As I step into the room, I allow the darkness to cloak me for a moment, just to watch. My chest heaves at the pain emanating from my mate. It almost matches my own.
I know the second Shadow is aware of me because his eyes flare open and lock on mine, despite the cover of darkness.Stepping out of the alcove of shadows, I snap my fingers, and security enters behind me. The girl is yanked off his half-hard dick with a shout. I don’t bother addressing her as she is dragged from the room. Instead, I keep my eyes on Shadow, on his own looking unfocused as they take me in.
“Did you have a reason for stopping that?” he slurs.
Crossing my arms, I look him up and down. “Yeah. I didn’t want her self-esteem being ruined over the fact that there was no way she was ever going to get you hard.” I lean in a little. “Because we all know the only way that dick is getting hard is by one of us.”
Shadow lets out a sad grunt as he fumbles to push his dick back in his pants, the movement difficult given how fucked up he is. Another wave of misery washes over me, but whether it’s his or mine is unclear.
Security comes back in just as he gives up the fight and slumps over, passing out with his cock still out of his tight jeans. “The girl was seen out. She wasn’t happy.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shrug. “I couldn't care less.” I push my white hair back just for strands of it to fall back in my eyes. The urge to punish him for being reckless pushes through me until I have to clench and unclench my fist to manage it. When he’s asleep, Shadow exposes his vulnerability, the deep unhappiness seeping out of him in uncontrolled waves that will drown me if I let them. “Have Kai close down tonight. I’ll be gone the rest of the evening.”
My man grunts a response and moves out of the room.
My people are loyal to a fault. Most of them have been with me since the beginning, and the rest were brought in by Ciaran; a couple of the girls that work the floor were even rescued from Alexi. It’s a safe place, and their loyalty buys my protection in a city that offers little. Particularly in recent years. With the shifter packs at war, the witches being hunted down and slaughtered,and Alexi having run the vampire community into the ground, Gothic Grove is a dangerous place. It’s the type of place where law does not exist, and sin is the only currency recognized.
Bending down, I hoist Shadow up onto my shoulders—and find noticeable weight loss now that I’m holding him. Ava has been worried about his lack of food, but I didn’t realize how much of an issue it’s really become. “When you sober up, I’m going to shovel a steak into your fucking mouth,” I growl. It’s as though he thinks if he allows himself to waste away, we won’t miss him. His passive suicidality shows up in new ways daily.
Walking out of the room, I head toward the elevator that will bring me up to the penthouse where I live. I own the whole building, but when I saw the view from the top floor, I created a penthouse and claimed it as my own.
The elevator dings, and I stumble into the foyer, sending up thanks to the gods that Ava is being occupied by Ciaran now. It's not like I can hide how bad he is from her; she sees it daily. However, seeing a girl sucking his cock will add far more stress to her, and hurt her in a way that I’m not sure she’d come back from right now.
I push through into my bedroom; the windows are open to the Gothic Grove skyline. The cool air is trying to give way to summer heat, humidity slowly seeping in. The sunshine will avoid the city in its entirety, summer hardly able to breach. It's as if it can’t cut through the never-ending dark haze that spread across Gothic Grove after the original families were murdered. As though, in their death, they laid a curse over the city.
Lightning crackles off in the distance, illuminating my bedroom. I picked this as my bedroom when I moved in because of the view, but it is small. I pull back the cool gray sheets and lower Shadow onto the bed. He groans quietly as I shift him around so I can pull his shirt over his head and shimmy his pants off. Despite the weight loss, Shadow's body is still beautiful. Theneed to claim him cuts into me. My dragon huffs his annoyance, but consent is important to me, which I remind the beast. Shadow being passed out is not how I want to lay our claiming mark onto him. So, instead, I let my eyes rake over his naked body and try to memorize every tattoo and scar before I turn and leave the room.
Shadow
My mother's voice enters my dark room. “Shadow? My love?” Her concern bleeds into me as I shake in the corner of my closet, cold sweat beading across my sixteen-year-old body. “Where are you?” she asks. I must make a noise because in a moment, the closet is flooded with light and her scent invades the space. Looking up through blurry eyes, I can see the concern on her face.
She reaches for me, but I press myself further back from her. “I’m sick,” I try to say, but my voice is weak. “Don’t touch me.” It cracks on the command, but she doesn’t stop, and her cool skin touches my face.
“When did you start feeling sick, my sweet one?” Her voice maintains that calm tone.
“This-s-s mornin-n-ning,” I stutter as more shivers wrack my body. When I woke up, it felt like a mild flu, but by midday, I was positive I was dying. Certain that this was the end, despite knowing killing a dragon shifter is damn near impossible. My mouth tastes like ash and no matter how much water I have tried to drink, I keep throwing it up, and no matter what I do, that ash taste stays.
My mother bends down, her slim face coming further into view. Her black hair is swept up into a bun atop her head. She is so thin these days, too thin. Her frame looks easy to break, and I worry endlessly about her. My father is a piece of shit, and someday, I will stand up to him for putting his hands on her, for making her so sick.
Gathering my lanky body into her arms, she hugs me tight. “Your dragon is coming,” she whispers. “It won’t be long now until you meet him.”
My body shakes. I can’t help but feel like she isn’t happy. As if sensing my worry, she looks down at me, taking my face between her hands. “Whatever happens, you mustn't let your father know how strong you are. How powerful you are. He cannot know it. Promise me you’ll keep it from him?”
“I promise, Mom.”
The dream hurts my head and my heart. I want to escape it, but I can’t avoid her in my sleep. I try to open my eyes, drawn to the scents of Ava and Drago washing over me, but they are far too heavy. I give up the fight and let sleep take me back.
