Page 58 of Heavy is the Crown
Shadow
(“Movement” – Hozier)
Ava stumbles down off the stage to the cheers of the crowd, her face plastered with a giant smile as the flames, my flames, snuff out on her. Her eyes are glazed over from whatever she took before I hunted her down. She throws her arms around me before smashing her mouth into mine, and her taste is intoxicating now that it’s mixed with the smoky taste of my flames. When she pulls off, I can see her pupils are blown wide and sweat is beading down her face.
“Drago wants us,” she whispers before wrapping her legs around my torso, as though we are alone in our own world, and locking her lips on mine again. I manage to pull away for a moment, long enough to see Garrett open the side door for us to go through the back hallways up to Drago. Ava continues to kissmy neck, causing my cock to strain against my tight jeans as I maneuver the dark hallway.
Drago’s scent hits me as soon as I enter his balcony. The scent used to physically hurt; now it feels like coming home. Ava giggles before she bites down on my neck, not hard enough to draw blood, but it still draws the attention of Drago.
“What the fuck did she take?” he asks as he takes in our tiny mate climbing me like a tree. Her body is warm against mine, her tongue tracing over the bite mark she just put on me.
“I don’t know. By the time I found her tonight, she was already high.” Moving to the couch, I peel Ava off me before placing her on the cushioned seat. Her eyes take a moment to focus before they lock onto Drago. A brief moment of realization flashes across her face when she suddenly understands how fucked she really is, given what she’s done, but as quickly as it’s there, it’s gone again, replaced by a sultry smile.
“Hello, boys,” she purrs, her hands now wandering over her body.
Slowly stepping into her space, Drago looks her over, his eyes calculating and assessing. “Hello,rakkaani.Care to tell us what’s going on?”
She has been acting strange for a while. It got worse after our conversation in the bathroom the other morning. When she thinks we’re not paying attention, she lets her mask drop, and you can see the worry on her face. Our dragons can smell the fear rolling off her in those moments, fear that we can’t place to a specific danger. Her getting high only amplifies the suspicious behavior.
Flopping onto her back dramatically, she lets out a long sigh before a fit of giggles invades her small body. “I’m just getting to live. I mean, I’ve spent so long not living, I don’t want to move on without actually living. You know?”
I frown, catching Drago’s eyes. He looks just as confused as I feel. “Ava, what are you talking about?” I ask as I lean down, eye level with her.
Another dramatic sigh whooshes from her before she sits back up, eyes blinking a slow pattern. “I just wanted to know what it was like to befree. Truly free. It’s why you do it, isn’t it, Shadow?”
I blink once, twice, and then realize what it is she’s on. “Eufori,” I say. Drago nods as though he figured. “She must have popped it and not smoked it; otherwise, I would have smelled it on her.” Drago only sells what you can smoke, but some people have put it in pill form and sell it illegally behind his back. It isn’t safe in that form, often mixed with whatever back-alley drug they could find to keep the price of production down. While slower to get you high, it lasts much longer. Ava has never shown an interest in the drug; in all the years we’ve known each other, I have never seen her do anything more than drink occasionally.
Drago snaps his fingers, and Kai walks in. “Tren said he saw her take it from us? She took a pill—find out who put that in our stash and bring them to the basement.” Kai only nods.
Standing back up next to Drago, I try to ignore the small craving that weasels its way into me as I watch her high.That could be us. We could enjoy this together. Imagine how it would feel to fuck together while high.I try to breathe through the voice, breathe through the way my muscles tense and my airway starts to feel constricted. The cool hand of my mate squeezing the back of my neck wipes away the thoughts. The squeeze brings me back into this moment, brings my focus back to the one in front of me, who needs me.
“We should get her home,” I say, watching as she taps out the beat of the song with her eyes closed. This close, I can see the glittering freckles she’s painted on her face, the matching glitter in her hair. She looks almost angelic, until you take in thedark bodysuit that clings to her. Her pale skin glows—even when stuck in the prison, she glowed. Tonight, she looks ethereal.
Drago leans forward and scoops her up. She nuzzles into his neck, nibbling and licking up and down as he moves toward the lifts to bring us up to the penthouse.
“Are you two going to fuck me? I could use some dragon cocks in me,” she slurs.
I snort. “The only thing you're getting tonight is a hot shower and water.”
The pout on her face would be adorable if she weren’t high out of her mind.
“Promise me,” she whispers.
“Promise what,rakkaani?” I ask, catching Drago’s eyes.
“Promise me you’ll forgive me.”
Drago
As we step into the lift, Ava shifts in my arms and sends a devastating pout toward Shadow. I’m shaking with anger at this point, angry that she put Shadow in a position to be triggered, angry that someone gave her Eufori, but mostly angry that something drove her to get high and she won’t share with us. But when she asks for forgiveness, the anger in me falters and I worry that the forgiveness she is asking for isn’t just for tonight.
The doors ping, sliding open to reveal the penthouse. My feet move on autopilot toward the bathroom, but Shadow stops me and takes Ava from my arms, jerking his head toward the living room.
“Go. I’ll get her in bed. She’s not going to give us answers tonight,” he says.
Ava is clearly going through something, and it’s not fair to try to interrogate her now. So, I nod and watch the two disappear into the bathroom. The sound of the shower coming on followed by Ava’s tiny yelp at getting dumped in has me smiling. Standing at the window, I look out over the city. My dragon huffs out anannoyed breath; it wants to stretch its wings. It’s been a long time since it was allowed out to play.
“She’s down.” Shadow’s voice pulls me from the window. Turning around to face him, I find him standing in a pair of gray sweats with no shirt, his dark hair still wet from the shower. “She’s going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.” He crosses his arms over his chest, those muscles rippling under his tattoos. The deep V cuts into his abs and dips down below those sweats, tempting me, oh, so much.
