Page 43 of Talon

“I can’t dial down my neurotic-twin radar,” Dante said, not moving from his place in the doorway. He stepped closer, putting a hand on my arm. “Not when my twin is upset. Not when I can sense something is really bothering her.”

“You know that overprotective twin-brother act? It can go a little far sometimes.”

“Hey, you and me? We’re all we have here.” Dante’s voice was completely serious. “If I don’t watch out for you, who will? So, come on, Tweedledee.” He gently squeezed my arm, then dropped his hand. “What’s going on? Did that human hurt you?”

“What are you going to do if he did? Eat him?”

“I’d be tempted, but no.” My twin gave me an impatient look. “And you’re evading the question. What’s wrong, Ember? Something is bothering you, and I want to know what. Talk to me.”

I hesitated. I did want to talk to someone, someone who could empathize, another dragon who might understand these strange, new,humanfeelings coursing through me. Feelings that, according to what my trainer had said just this morning, had no place in the life of a dragon. Would Dante get what I was experiencing? I’d always told him everything before.

“I was, um, just thinking about something my trainer said today,” I confessed, which wasn’t a complete lie. “She told me that humans are the inferior species, that we shouldn’t get too attached to any of them, because they’re just fodder in the long run. And that they would destroy us if they knew what we really were.”

He nodded. “I know. My trainer said the same.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” I gestured vaguely down the hall, out the front door. “I mean, we’re living with two humans, all our friends are human and we talk to humans every single day. Sure, Liam and Sarah are working for Talon, but I wouldn’t consider themfodder.That just sounds so...heartless. You don’t think that way about Lexi and Calvin and the others, do you?”

“No.” Dante immediately shook his head, and I relaxed. “But we have to accept the fact that we’re not one of them, Ember. We’renothuman. We live in their world, exist among them, but we’ll always be separate. Our trainers are right. We can’t get too attached to humans, ever.”

I pouted. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Why not?”

“Ember.” Dante gave me a strange look. “Because we’redragons.Humans are... Well, they’re not inferior, but they are lower on the food chain. We’re stronger, smarter and we live a thousand times longer than they do. All of our human friends—Lexi, Calvin, Kristin, everyone—they’re going to grow old and die, and our lives will barely have started. We’re just not in the same league, sis. You have to have realized that.”

My spirits sank even lower. That clinched it. I was definitely not telling him anything about me and Garret. He probably wouldn’t hunt the human down and eat him, but if I mentioned that I’d kissed a boy, he would want to know why. And I wouldn’t be able to tell him. I wasn’t even sure myself.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I know.” Dante continued to watch me, worry and puzzlement shining from his eyes, but I had to be alone to think. “I’m gonna crash for a couple hours.” I sighed, reaching for my door. “If I’m not up in time for dinner, come kick my wall or something, okay?”

“Hang on,” Dante said, putting a hand on the door as I started to close it. “Kristin’s called four or five times,” he announced as I looked back. “She wants to know if you’re coming to her party tomorrow night.”

“That’s tomorrow?” Wow, the days rushed by fast. I hadn’t even realized it was the weekend already. A small thrill coursed through me. Weekends were the only times when I didn’t have to get up and meet my instructor. For the next two days, I was free.

Dante nodded, raising an eyebrow. “We’re still planning to go, I take it.”

“Of course.”

“And I suppose you’re going to lose track of the time while we’re at this party, and I’m going to have to come up with a believable excuse as to why we’re out past midnight.”

I beamed at him. “That’s why you’re the smart twin.”

“Uh-huh. And which are you?”

“The pretty one.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll take care of it. As usual.” He shook his head and gave me a wry grin. “Only for you, Tweedledee.”

After Dante left, I padded farther into my room and flopped on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Well, that had been less than satisfying. I couldn’t talk to Dante about my troubles, it seemed. He was my brother, but he was also a dragon. These feelings were as alien to him as they were to me. Strange as it sounded, I needed someone who really understood what I was going through. I needed a human.

I needed...a friend.

Rolling over, I dug out my phone, and scrolled to a familiar name on my contacts list.

“Hey, Lex,” I murmured when she picked up. “Are you busy?”

“Ohmygod, Ember!” came the voice on the other end. “No, of course not. Meet me at the Smoothie Hut in fifteen. You still have to tell me everything that happened with hottie Garret!”

“Yeah,” I muttered as my stomach twirled again with the memory. “I’ll be right there.”

Twenty minutes later, I sat at one of the outdoor picnic tables, two smoothies melting on the table, as Lexi slid into the seat across from me with an eager look.

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