Three heaved breaths, and he stumbled to his feet and made his way over to the single observation room with two-way glass because he should see what he suspected.
He stared at the ground as he approached. There was a single light on the other side of the room, a blue one, and it cast the room in dim shadows that looked like moonlight. Always in the dark. The creature of darkness. Everyone was wrong about him. He loved sunlight. He loved flying above the clouds in daylight best. The dragon felt free there, felt good, felt whole.
“Riyah?”
Silence.
He came to a stop in front of the mirror glass, and with a steadying breath, he looked up at his haggard face. His stomach dropped to the floor. He would never forget this moment—it was the one where the crack in his stone heart was complete.
Both dragon eyes were frozen in his face now. The Red Dragon was dead. Riyah had tried to save him by taking that medicine, and look what happened anyway.
Vyr inhaled and released an agonized scream as long and loud as he could. Such an ugly, completely human scream. And when it tapered in his throat, he closed his fist and slammed it against the mirror, right at his reflection. The glass shattered outward like a spider web, distorting his hideous face. Good. He would never look in another mirror again. He couldn’t, because there was death in his eyes now.
Vyr turned and leaned against the stone wall, cold and damp against his back as he slid down. He slammed his head against it and wondered what it would feel like to cry. He’d never done that before, but if there was ever a time to express that emotion, it was now as he mourned the death of the most important part of himself.
Now, he was nothing at all.
The sound of metal on metal was grating, and Vyr looked up at where the sound was coming from. The rats were really fucking determined in these walls. He reached out but couldn’t feel any guards in the observation room. They usually left him alone when he was recovering. What danger was he now? Sure, he still had his powers from his mom, but they didn’t know that. All they knew was the dragon was weakest right after a forced Change.
Something huge fell out of the ceiling, sliding too fast down a rope, and Vyr stared in shock as a familiar face muttered, “Mother fuck-cakes,” as he landed hard on his feet on the concrete floor.
Oh, good. The Sickening was giving Vyr visions now. Not just voices in his head or a flash of something that wasn’t there. He was having a full-on psychopath moment right now.
Blond hair, blue eyes, twenty pounds of muscle bigger than the last time Vyr had seen him and, “Where the fuck is your beard?” he asked Imaginary Nox.
“Asshole guards made me shave it to make sure I wasn’t sneaking in a shank or, I don’t know, drugs or something. I look like a twelve year old. I need to grow that shit out quick because Nevada is all about the beard against her poontang. You look like a three-week-old shit.”
Imaginary Nox, clad in orange prison garb, approached slowly. Vyr averted his gaze. Even though this wasn’t real, he wasn’t ready to share what had just happened to him. It was nice to pretend he wasn’t alone, though. “How did you get down here?”
“First thing’s first. I’ve been reading a book about how to be a better friend and chapter two said hugs are important.”
“Pass.”
“Bring it in.”
“Nox, I don’t want to hug you right now.”
“Right now? Okay, so then later we’ll hug, after we bond.”
Imaginary Nox sat beside him and looked at a stopwatch in his hand. “I have five minutes before I have to get back. Torren is up there fighting like five silverbacks to give me time. Did you know, getting in here without being arrested is impossible? I researched this place for months and couldn’t find a single way in, but once you’re in? This place is not a well-oiled machine. We have like four people on the inside, two are guards, and your therapist? She’s a fuckin’ MVP. A goddamn witch. Natural born, too. Your mom found her and started all of this.”
“All of what?”
“Project Rescue the Red Dragon.”
“Too late.” Vyr’s voice echoed hollowly around the room with those two words. He wanted to retch.
“What do you mean?” Imaginary Nox asked softly.
With a sigh, Vyr blinked slowly and rolled his head against the rock, gave Imaginary Nox a clear view of his eyes.
Imaginary Nox’s eyes went round, and his lips parted like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Red crept up his neck and his face turned to that of fury. “I’m calling this.”
“Calling what?”
“This is a goddamn-nough. I fuckin’ told them we needed to be doing extraction, not trying to keep you steady while they fuckin’ torture you.” Imaginary Nox’s voice bounced off the walls with the force of his angry words. He flashed a pissed-off glance to the stopwatch in his fist again. “Tell me it’s not over. Tell me your eyes don’t mean what I think they mean.”
“The therapist,” Vyr murmured tiredly. “I need to know if she’s okay. She took a dose of meds to protect me. I can’t feel her anymore. Riyah.”
“Okay, the way you just said her name…” Imaginary Nox arched his eyebrows. “Is she yours?”
“Nothing is mine, Nox. That wasn’t the life I was born to. I just need to know she’s safe.”
“Done. I’ll find out. Nevada and Candace are on the outside—”
“Why aren’t they locked up with us?” Vyr rested his elbows on his bent knees and stared at the blue light across the room. The questions he asked didn’t matter because he was making this all up, but damn, it felt good to pretend he was here with one of his crew. He missed Nox.
“Well, because Candace has a little baby Kong in her. I read a book on fetuses. It’s like the size of a grain of rice right now. I drew a picture of a tiny gorilla in my dream journal and Nevada thought it was cute as fuck and now I want to put like seventy-three babies in her because she gets all mushy when she talks about them. Plus an army of Noxs would be awesome. Kong and Candace started trying for a little baby for the crew a few months ago. They want a girl, but I’m praying for a boy just to watch them have to raise a mini-Torren. I’m gonna train him to shoot his dad with a crossbow and vandalize shit. Gonna make that little monkey love me more. Anyway, the plan was for us to come in here so you could be close to us, but Torren put his foot down on Candace coming in here pregnant. And my girl…well…she’s not the best criminal. She did hang out in the drunk tank in Foxburg for a night though, and I was really fuckin’ proud of her.” His voice went thoughtful. “If we had more time, I would try to sneak her in for a conjugal visit. I love the challenge of this place. I know the timing of all the guards, all their habits. I know your exact schedule. Fuckin’ A-Team. I keep trying to explain I’m the MVP of this crew, and y’all don’t believe me. After this, everyone has to stop treating me like the village idiot. I’m way smarter than all of you. Except Nevada. She’s a super-hot nerd. Gotta jet, Alpha.”