We drove for hours, traveling further and further south. It took us a while, partly because of the fact that I had to pee every thirty minutes, thanks to my squished bladder. But if it bothered Lachlan that we were going slowly, he didn’t let on.
When we arrived at our destination, we were directed to a portion of the campground that had been reserved for the Bryant clan. I got out of the car, and I was struck by how humid and warm the air was down here, even in September. It wasn’t even a sunny day. The clouds hung low in the sky, graying out everything, as if in threat of imminent rain. But there was no rain. Just muggy gray warmth.
I stretched.
“Put your arms down,” said Lachlan in a low voice.
I did. “What?” I whispered.
“Makes your belly too prominent,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth.
Instinctively, my hand went to it.
“Don’t touch it,” said Lachlan.
I put my hand down. Geez. I was drawing so much attention to myself. But then I looked around, and there was no one watching us, at least not that I could see. Still, I had to get in the habit of behaving as if someone could be watching me at any moment. What was it that Lachlan had said? That I needed to become someone else.
I took a deep breath, trying to breathe in Presley Nelson. I was a vampire. I was dating a dragon slayer named Hawk. I was not myself. I was nothing like Penny Caspian.
The campground bordered the woods. There were three rows of spots for trailers, RVs, and campers. Then there was more woods. Some of the spots had been filled already with people from the Bryant clan, but I didn’t notice Jackal’s big silver thing anywhere.
Lachlan got busy hooking us up to the water and septic.
When he was done, we unhooked the truck from the camper and went out looking for some food before the 7:30 meet-up. We’d get some groceries and things the next day, Lachlan said. He wasn’t sure how long we’d be staying in this place, but it seemed like a place the group might stay for a good long while.
By the time 7:30 rolled around, I was starting to get antsy. Even though more and more of the Bryant clan had arrived, none of them had as much as spoken to us. I asked Lachlan if we should speak to them, and he said that Hawk wasn’t the friendly type.
So, we sat outside our camper in lawn chairs that Lachlan had brought along, and we waited.
At 7:20 or so, people started leaving their RVs and trailers. In groups of two or three, they headed towards the woods.
Lachlan and I followed them.
We went through a little path in the woods until we came to a large clearing. There was a big fire pit in the center, and three circular rows of benches around it. Some men were up at the fire pit, starting a fire.
By this time, it was starting to get dark. The sky was still swathed in clouds. I peered up at the darkening horizon. Not a star in sight. And it was getting less warm, but it was still muggy. That made the air seem to cling to me in a state of clammy gloom.
“Hawk!” said a voice.
We turned. A man with dark curly hair and a dark curly beard approached us. “You’re back, I see.”
“Ossian,” said Lachlan. “Good to see you.”
They shook hands with vigor.
Lachlan turned to me. “I want you to meet my girl Presley.”
“You’re the girl who’s going to lure me some dragons?” Ossian offered me his hand.
I shook it. “While I can, anyway. I’d sure as hell like to have them stop coming after me.”
“Ossian here is the boss man,” said Lachlan.
Ossian snorted. “Boss man. Listen at you.”
“You prefer supreme leader of all Bryants?” said Lachlan, grinning.
Ossian choked out a laugh. He pounded Lachlan on the back. “I have missed you, boy. I ain’t gonna lie about that.”
“Good to be back,” said Lachlan with a wide smile.
Jackal appeared next to Ossian. “Hawk, you made it.”
“Did all right,” said Lachlan.
Ossian turned to Jackal. “Good thing you brought this one in. He’s what we been missing around here.”
“I told you it would be a win-win,” said Jackal.
Ossian nodded. “So you did.” His smile faded. He eyed Lachlan shrewdly. “Listen up, boy, you should understand that there were some voices of dissent about you. Some of the people think there’s something fishy about you.”
“Me?” Lachlan pointed at himself.
“We all thought you were dead, you know,” said Ossian. “And yet, here you are. If you screw me, boy, I will make you pay. That clear?”
Lachlan raised both of his hands in surrender. “I ain’t gonna screw you, Ossian. I would never do that.”
“I’m taking you at your word,” said Ossian, and then he left, wandering over to the fire.
“Don’t listen to him,” said Jackal when Ossian was out of earshot. “I know you’re good people.”
“Thanks, man,” said Lachlan, grinning at Jackal.
“Hey hey,” said Jackal. “I got some of the DRC, if you know what I mean.” He turned to include me. “You guys interested in partaking in a little of that?”
“Not the lady here,” said Lachlan. “She’s paranoid when it comes to that kind of stuff. But I’d be much obliged for a taste.”
What the hell was DRC? I was panicking a little bit here, but I refused to let it show.
Jackal reached into his pocket and brought out a little bag of brownish-red powder. He handed it over to Lachlan. “The coke in there is primo, man.”
Coke? Cocaine? It sure as hell didn’t look like cocaine. Cocaine was white.
Wasn’t it?
Truthfully, I didn’t know much about drugs.
Lachlan opened the bag. And then he took a tiny little spoon out of his own pocket, as if he’d been prepared for something like this.
He was going to do it? Take this weird-looking drug? Why hadn’t he warned me about drugs?
Lachlan heaped up a spoonful of the stuff, put it next to his nostril, and snorted it up.
Jackal laughed.
Lachlan’s eyes bulged. “Shit.”
“Good, huh?” said Jackal.
“Like you said, primo,” said Lachlan.
Jackal turned to me. “You sure you don’t want some, princess? You’d like it.”
I just shook my head. “That’s okay.”
Jackal laughed. “You got yourself an innocent little flower there, Hawk.”
“Hey,” I said. “I’m not innocent. I just don’t put garbage in my body, okay?”
Jackal laughed again. “I stand corrected.” He gestured to the bag Lachlan was holding. “Well, have some more.”
“Thank you kindly,” said Lachlan, and put another spoonful of the stuff up his nose. He was starting to bounce on the balls of his feet. His eyes were wide.
Jackal leaned close. “Uh, I got some other stuff too, if you’re interested. But not with me. We’d need to go back to the RV.” He gestured with his head. “Really good dice.”
Dice was dragon flesh that had been powdered. It was a popular street drug, even I knew about that. Sometimes it was put into pills. It made the person who take it feel invincible and it gave them magic. I didn’t even know that vampires ever took it. I thought they just drank dragon blood.
I clenched my hands into fists. Lachlan was not going to go off and consume dragon flesh, was he? He couldn’t do that.
Lachlan looked over at the bonfire. “Isn’t it time for the meeting? It’s past 7:30.”
“Eh, Ossian won’t get going until 8:00 at least. We got time. Come on.”
Lachlan looked at me, and then at Jackal. “Yeah, all right.”
A knot tied itself in my stomach.
Lachlan gave me a hard look. “Why don’t you stay here, precious?” He was fidgeting and bouncing because of the drugs he’d already taken.
Precious? I was precious? Seriously? I licked my lips. “I don’t mind coming along.”
Now he was abandoning me? To go off and take drugs with his friend? He was all wired from whatever that DRC stuff had been anyway. He was hardly himself.
I forced myself to smile, but I didn’t let it reach my eyes. “Oh, all right, then. You have fun.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. His voice at my ear—soft. “Stay cool.” Then he swatted me on the ass.
I jumped.
He laughed. “Be back, precious.”
I did not appreciate having my butt smacked in public. It was the kind of thing that Alastair would do. A kind of demeaning thing that made me look subservient to him, and it made me crazy mad.
Damn it.
I stalked over to the outermost row of benches around the fire and sat down by myself.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
But I didn’t know if I could even get out of it now. Wheels were in motion. Things were happening. I had to “stay cool.” Augh, right now, I just wanted to punch him.
I forced myself to stare forward into the fire, which was getting bigger and bigger as various bearded men fed it big logs of wood. The fire crackled in the night air, sparks rising. It made me think of my own fire, the fire that was growing in my core, that I couldn’t dare let out, no matter how angry and frustrated I was. I couldn’t let these people know what I was.
“Excuse me,” said a voice, a woman’s voice with a Texan accent.
I looked up.
A girl stood over me. Not a little girl. She was probably in her mid-twenties, but she dressed like a teenager. Her shirt scooped low, showing off half her breasts and hints of her lacy purple bra. Her hair was in tousled big curls on top of her head, and her makeup was artfully applied.
“Hi there?” I said, the question in my voice because I wasn’t sure why she was talking to me.
“You’re Hawk’s new girl,” she said.
“I am,” I said. Why was there a hint of accusation in her words?
“My name’s Iona,” she said.
My pulse started to race. I stood up. “Oh, you’re Iona.” Jesus, when he said she was young… I really, really wanted to punch Lachlan.
“He told you about me?” she said.
I nodded, folding my arms over my chest. “Sure did.” For some reason, I really didn’t like this girl. I should probably feel sorry for her. From what Lachlan had said, he hadn’t been very nice to her, and she hadn’t really deserved that. But something primal inside me had reared up, and I despised her.
“What did he say?” she said, folding her arms over her chest too.
Now we were facing each other down.
“Said that things didn’t work out between the two of you,” I said.
“Did he tell you how he told me that he loved me? That he never loved anyone else the way he loved me? He used to say, ‘I’m yours, Iona.’ He ever say things like that to you?”
I swallowed hard, my nostrils flaring.
“He told me we were going to be together forever. And now he’s back. He and I got another chance. There’s only one thing in the way.” She narrowed her eyes. “You.”
“I’m the only reason he’s here at all, little girl. He’s doing this for me.” It wasn’t the most mature of responses, but I was hanging on by a thread at this point. I felt as if I barely knew who Lachlan even was, and now this girl was going to start trouble with me? I didn’t think so.
She shook her head. “No. We had something. If he would just admit that he cares about me—”
“He doesn’t,” I said.
“Don’t say that,” she said, and she shoved me.
Seriously. She put her hands on my shoulders and shoved me.
My jaw dropped. “You did not just do that.”
She raised her eyebrows. “What are you going to do about it?”
I felt my anger gathering inside me, like a fiery storm. I wanted to throw back my head and breathe fire. But I couldn’t do that. I had to keep my cover. So I just gestured with one hand, using magic to shove her back. I pushed her a few inches, not even enough to make her fall down.
She stumbled. Her eyebrows drew together. “You have magic.”
Damn it, was it bad that I’d used magic? I thought Lachlan had said these guys drank dragon blood. Except… wait. He’d said that they only did it on special occasions or something. I squared my shoulders. “Of course I have magic. My boyfriend’s a dragon slayer. He keeps us well-stocked with blood.”
“He’s a what?” She shook her head. “Hawk would never do that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”
“Know who?” said a voice at my shoulder.
I whirled.
Lachlan was back.
“Hawk!” said Iona, reaching out for him.
Lachlan grasped her by the wrists, stopping her from making contact with his body. “Iona,” he said in a low voice, “what are you doing?”
She struggled. “Let go of me.”
“She shoved me,” I said, feeling satisfied, even though I was essentially tattling.
Iona glared at me, still struggling. “She used magic on me.”
Lachlan raised his eyebrows at me.
I didn’t say anything.
Lachlan sighed. He let go of Iona’s wrists. “Look, Iona, whatever there was between us was over and done with a long time ago. We were only together for a few weeks. When Jackal said you might cause trouble, I told him there was no way you could still be hung up on it. Was I wrong?”
She stared at him, lips parted, as if she had no idea how to respond to that. Then she backed up, trying a smile. “Of course I’m not hung up on it. Of course not. Who could be hung up on a guy with a dick as small as yours?” She turned on her heel and flounced off.
I choked.
Lachlan rolled his eyes.
I turned to him, drawing in a breath to let loose.
But before we could say anything, a voice from the fire pit rang out. “If every one could have a seat, we’ll get started here.”
We sat down, and the meeting started. Ossian talked about how great the Bryant clan was doing, how many contacts they had, how much money they were making, how many dragons they were moving, how many cities they worked with, and all kinds of things like that. He really made it sound like the Bryant clan was practically on the verge of ruling the world.
* * *
“Why would she say that?” I demanded. I was in the camper, pacing the length of the small kitchen and living room, trying to keep my voice down, because everyone in the camp shouldn’t hear us.
“I don’t know,” said Lachlan, who was sitting on the couch, tapping his fingers against his thigh. His leg was twitching too, as if to some internal rhythm inside his body. “As you know, I don’t have a small dick.”
I stopped moving. “Don’t make jokes. This is not funny.”
He swallowed. “Right? I mean you would tell me if—”
“Oh my God. Seriously?” I thrust my hands into my hair and resumed pacing. “You said you didn’t sleep with her.”
“And I didn’t.”
“And yet she knows how big your dick is?”
He sat forward, rubbing his forehead. “You’re not saying that it’s actually small, because I just don’t feel like it is. I mean, I’ve never measured it, but—”
“Your penis is a perfectly fine size,” I said. “Stop evading the question.”
He sat back, sinking into the couch. “What’s perfectly fine mean?”
I was going to strangle him. I really was.
He tapped his toes against the floor.
“Stop doing that,” I said.
“I can’t,” he said. “I’m a little wired. I did a lot of coke.”
“And took dragon blood pills?”
“No, I palmed those.” He dug several caplets out of his pocket and flung them down on the end table. “It’s basica
lly impossible to fake snorting something, though, so that had to be done.”
“Why did she say that?”
“I don’t know.” He got off the couch and came over to me. He took me by the shoulders. “Seriously. I have no idea why she would say that. Like I told you, we did not have sex.”
“So, she never saw you naked?”
“No.”
“Or with clothes removed either? Like half-naked.”
“Maybe without my shirt. I don’t remember.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I wiggled out of his grasp and took two steps backward. This made me collide with the kitchen stove. “So, she’s just making that up.”
“Yes.” He shrugged. “It’s an insult. She said it to rile me up.”
“But it wouldn’t rile you up if you knew that she had no idea how big your dick was because she’s never seen it.”
He sighed. “I guess not. But she’s not exactly the most intelligent person I’ve ever met.”
I shook my head. “You’re lying to me. Why are you lying?”
“I am not lying.” He gritted his teeth. “You can’t do this. You can’t be this way.”
“I’m posing as your girlfriend. I don’t think it’s out of character.”
He turned away, rubbing his forehead. “Fuck, Penny, can we not do this right now? My heart is pounding, and I feel—”
“Yeah, and what’s up with that? You did not tell me you were going to be doing drugs.”
His shoulders slumped. He went back to the living room and collapsed on the couch again. “Look, when I think back on that part of my life, some of it’s kind of a blur. I know that I never slept with Iona. I am positive of that. But what else happened exactly, I don’t know. Maybe there might have been over-the-clothes stuff. Maybe we were making out and she touched me—”
“Oh thank you for that visual.” I felt like I was going to vomit.
“You’re the one who’s making this a thing,” he said. “You’re pushing.”
I buried my face in my hands.
We were quiet.
It felt like the silence stretched on and on, and that we were getting buried in it.
Then Lachlan started tapping his foot again.
I dragged my fingers down over my face. “It’s like I don’t know who you are.”
He let out a low laugh. “This isn’t me.”
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