ARMANI
"Where are you taking me to?" Emerson asked, raising a brow at me.
I snorted. "A little too late to ask that, no? You're already in my car. Usually, you ask questions first before getting into a stranger's car."
She shrugged. "I know I have nothing to be worried about."
"Nothing at all?"
"You're not going to hurt me, Armani."
The conviction in her voice had me looking away from the road for a brief moment to stare into her eyes that held the same conviction. A moment passed between us, but she was quick to look away from me.
"And I didn't say that because you care. Too many eyewitnesses. I figured if you're going to do the crime, you'd make sure it's a clean job."
"I'd never hurt you," I said after a brief second of silence. At least not on purpose. There was no telling what I could do even to my parents.
She snorted. "Too late, buddy. You already did."
Right. The argument back in my brother's room.
"I wanted to address that. I was out of line, and I should have never said those things to you."
"You shouldn't have," she agreed.
I chuckled. "Fuck, I'm trying to apologize here."
"And somehow you thought I'd make it easy for you? A simple 'sorry' won't fix anything."
"What do you need me to do?"
She shrugged. "Nothing. Since we won't be interacting with each other, I don't see the need."
"We're interacting just fine now."
"Because you manhandled me into your car. I'm guessing you did all this to apologize, and I've heard you. Now, I'm left wondering why you couldn't have said that at school."
"I didn't bring you out here to apologize. We're going to see Siren."
"Siren as in the seer?"
She was popular for her prophecies, and it was said that she directly communicated with the Fates.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?"
"Oh. The crop top issue. But, I thought you said you didn't want me as your rider. What changed? Why are you taking me to see her?"
"Nothing changed. My mother asked me to, so I'm doing it. Can you just drop it?"
She scoffed, crossing one knee over the other while she drummed her fingers on the armrest, drawing my attention to her sharp purple nails.
I could envision her digging those long nails into my shoulders, creating perfect crescent moons while I drove my cock into her until she was begging me to let her come. Only then would she get the sweet release she so desperately craved.
"Fuck."
She looked at me from the corner of her eyes, but she said nothing in response to my outburst. Soon, I was pulling up in front of Siren's penthouse.
"Why do we need to see Siren?" She asked as I led her to the elevator, punching in the code to take us to the top floor.
"I could give you my Mom's number. I'm sure she'll be ready to spill all the tea to you."
"Asshole."
She jabbed her elbow into my side, but I caught her elbow just in time, halting all movements from her.
"Behave," I growled knowing that would piss her off.
"Behave? I'm not a fucking child!" She growled back at me.
"You sure are acting like one right now. That's going to draw attention to us." The elevator dinged open, and we both got off, stepping into Siren's penthouse.
The last time I'd been here, the living room was empty. Now she had furniture in here, although it was minimalist. It lacked the homey vibes her old home did, but I chalked it up to her not having enough time to decorate. It hadn't been up to a month after all.
"Siren!" I called out, but I got nothing in reply. "Si-"
"Don't bother. She left this note." Emerson held up a paper in front of her face. "She went out to grab something. She says she'll be back in an hour."
"That's a long while."
"We can't be sure she just dropped the letter there."
True. For all we knew, this could've been an hour ago. "Take a seat. She should be here any minute."
So, we waited.
***
"I'm so sorry, Armani. I was held up late in the meeting by a few friends. I couldn't take your calls," Siren said, giving me a one-armed hug when I rose to my feet. "Poor girl. She fell asleep while waiting for me."
Emerson had fallen asleep shortly after we arrived, leading me to believe she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Her words from my brother's room danced into my head.
The nightmares. I get them, too, you know.
She'd been serious when she mentioned the nightmares which begged the question; how was she privy to the nightmares I had every night? How did she even know I had nightmares in the first place?
"Should I wake her?" I asked Siren.
"No. I can talk to her some other time. I have something important to tell you."
She had a grim look on her face, sparking fear on mine. Siren only ever had that expression on her face when she had bad news to deliver.
"I mean, I have both good and bad news. Which one do you want first?"
"Bad news." Might as well get it out of the way. "Hit me with it."
"I think it will be better if we have this discussion over tea, no? It calms the nerves."
A few minutes later, I was in Siren's kitchen, a cup of tea in front of me. I had no plans to drink it, but it gave me something to stare at when she broke the news.
"You're worsening by the day."
I looked up from the tea. "That's not bad news. I know that already."
"I know, but you're going to start having the physical changes now. Sadly, that means you're going to have more of those episodes."
My heart stopped. "That means I don't have much time left."
Blood dragons had physical changes to accompany the darkness taking over their entire mind. It differed for every dragon, but the staple amongst every dragon was a change in hair color.
Blood dragons had white hair that slowly turned black by the day until the last moment when the darkness finally consumed them.
These changes meant you'd gotten to a point of no return, dragon rider or no.
"Yes, but all hope isn't lost. Emerson is Enya's relative. She must have a trick up her sleeve to save you if you let her."
Why did they all think Emerson could tame me? I could never be tamed. How else was I supposed to convey that message to them?
"You believe that nonsense?"
Siren sighed. "I've watched you grow, Armani. I've watched you go through depression because of what you're turning into. I've watched you hate yourself for something you had no hand in." Tears slid down her face. "So, yes, I do believe that nonsense. I have faith in Emerson. She's going to save you. I won't stop hoping until the very last minute."
I didn't know what to say to that. I wasn't good with the emotional jargon. My parents knew that. The twins knew that. Cheryl knew that. Their parents knew that. But there was something about my aunt Siren that did me in anytime I talked to her.
She was somehow able to see the things I hid from everyone else, leaving me vulnerable every single time we spoke.
"What's the good news?" I asked through the lump in mg throat.
"I can slow down the process. It's a project I've been working on."
"What's this project?"
"Hold on a second." She padded out of the kitchen, and I heard as she rummaged through her room. She returned a minute later with a bottle of pills which she placed in front of me. "Your father and I have been working on this for a while now. We knew this day would eventually come, and we wanted to be prepared for this."
I curled my hand around the bottle. "What do I do with this?"
"You take it once a day. Starting tomorrow. Make sure you don't skip a day."
"Why?"
"I hope we don't ever have to find out. You should get going now. Apologize to Emerson for what you said."
"I've already apologized to her."
"A real apology, Armani. I don't mean just saying sorry. Show her you're sorry. Your parents are pissed at you."
"I know." I shoved the bottle into the pocket of my sweatshirt, pushing away from the counter. Siren followed me into the living room where Emerson still laid unconscious on the couch.
She looked so innocent with her thick brown hair forming a curtain around her face. I willed her to open her eyes so I could see those bright blue orbs of hers. On cue, she opened her eyes, her vision slightly disoriented from having just woken up.
She yawned. "Armani?"
I picked her up into my arms. "Go back to sleep. I'm taking you home."
"Okay." She snuggled into my chest, her eyes falling shut immediately.
"You care about her," Siren whispered beside me.
"I don't know what I feel about her."
I didn't add the fact that I was afraid she would end up as my mate. I had never been drawn to anyone as much as I was to her. That would be the icing on my already fucked up cake.
Siren fought back a smile. "Sure, you don't."
"Don't go spreading rumors," I grunted.
It would be a pain in the ass to convince the media that I felt otherwise.
"When have I ever spread rumors about you? Tell me what else you're thinking."
I sighed. "I'm afraid she's going to end up as my mate. There. Don't ask me to explain."
Siren looked at me with understanding. "Sure. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."