Page 67 of Ghost
My finger froze. “What is the usual?”
Had they had sleepovers with Maria before? If so, I wasn’t sure who I was more jealous of: Maria, or the boys.
And work?
I had tried to bring up the fact that it felt like we were gettingbasically nowherefor two days now, and Damen had brushed me off. Now it was as though he’d been thinking about it this whole time.
Was he being serious, or was he grouchy about something?
Miles brushed past my seat, muttering under his breath. “I hate my life.”
I glanced at him as he slumped beside me, barely noticing Titus settling in on my other. “What’s wrong?” Could it be this was about Maria? “Should I not talk to her?”
I would be sad, but if my friendship with her made them that uncomfortable…
“No,” Damen was rubbing his temples. “It’s not a big deal, baby girl. Don’t worry about it. Maria doesn’t make friends easily. But as far as friends go, there’s no one more loyal and caring than her.”
“Is she your friend?” I wondered. How did Maria come to know the boys?
“She’s my cousin. Our fathers are brothers.” Titus leaned back, throwing his arm over my shoulders.
“Your cousin?” I repeated, reflecting on the scene where we first met. Maria was a lioness. If they were related… “Does that mean you’re a lion?”
Titus tensed, blinking slowly as he glanced down at me. “No. If I hadn’t been born the xing, I would have been. My mother was a gazelle, my father a lion. Shifter forms are passed on paternally. The xing is a position that is determined from conception. In shifters, the xing doesn’t inherit the form of either parent.”
“So…” I wondered, noting that Titus was avoiding my question. “If you aren’t a lion, then what are you?”
The rest of the room had frozen in tense silence, and I couldn’t imagine why. Titus, after a moment of hesitation, let out a slow breath. “There’s only one of my type. I’m a dragon.”
Huh.
Well, the girl in the bathroom had even said so—I probably should have listened. I had to become more open-minded, to not be so quick to brush off certain paranormal things. And it made sense. My instinctual fear of him. His overbearing, possessive mannerisms. I was pretty sure dragons liked to collect things. Cute things counted, I was sure.
Perhaps he had a secret horde of wealth somewhere. But since he was a dragon, he wouldn’t tell me anyway. Smaug had been testy when Bilbo stumbled upon his treasure.
“That’s cool.” I smiled at him, petting his arm. How cute, he’d been so nervous. Perhaps I’d ask him to change later. It might be fun to compare the physiology of a dragon to other more well-known reptiles.
Sure, I’d never be able to publish my findings. But knowledge was knowledge.
Titus appeared to be dumbfounded into silence. Meanwhile, the others were exchanging unreadable looks. Finally, Julian and Miles nodded at Damen, who turned toward me in confusion. “You’re rather accepting of this. Aren’t you scared?”
I blinked at him, not understanding, before I put my finger to my lip. “Should I be? What is more frightening is not knowing what is going to happen; leaving things open to your imagination. Besides, you already said that Titus wasn’t going to murder me and bury my body in the woods.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “No one ever said that.”
I hadn’t been frightened a second ago, but now I was beginning to be. “Oh.”
I had let my guard down. I was so stupid. I had survived my childhood by trusting my initial instinct, and yet I had fallen into this trap of seduction. And now it was too late, Titus was going to eat me.
“You asshole.” Julian frowned at Miles, shaking his head in disapproval. “Why would you say it like that?”
“I was only clarifying that no one actually saidthosewords. I’m not even sure where she’d get such an idea.” Miles shrugged, watching my face. Suddenly, realization washed over him. “Wait, was that another… You seriously thought that—”
I had frozen in terror, my short, pathetic life flashing before my eyes. Screaming echoed in my head, and fear thick. My chest pulsed in time with my heartbeat, and I was lost in memory. Titus could strike at any moment, even now he was a still statue beside me.
But he was waiting…
“Baby girl.” Damen sat on the coffee table, grabbing my hands. “Not Titus, not me… No one in this room would ever hurt you. I hoped that you’d understand that by now. The fact that… Look at me,” he commanded, as my vision had been fixated on our conjoined fingers.
