“Don’t call me that. I’m no one’s alpha.”
“False, you are the alpha of the Sons of Beasts. Do you know what this position is doing to Torren while you’ve been away? He’s literally put on forty pounds of muscle, and he fights me every day that ends in Y.”
“Bet you love it.”
“Fuck yes I love it, but HavoK needs to be controlled, and being in here isn’t going to help. Torren didn’t even make it five minutes before he was locked up with a silverback. Our crew can’t afford to go backward. We gotta baby on the way now, and half of us are in shifter prison, and one of us looks like a corpse.” Imaginary Nox jammed a finger at Vyr. “That’s you. I’m talking about you. I’m serious when I say you look like shit. Riyah will never play with your balls if you don’t take care of yourself.”
Arguing about Riyah not belonging to him was pointless. Nox wasn’t really here.
“I have to go. It’s hug time.”
“Pass,” Vyr muttered.
“Fuckface, hurry up, you’re going to get me busted, and I’m not leaving until I embrace you. In a manly way.”
Vyr wanted to die the rest of the way. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and prepared to hug a ghost because he was in full-on crazy town now. But as Imaginary Nox pulled him in, he was solid and clapped Vyr on the back three times so hard it whooshed his breath out. What the fuck? Vyr froze, his hands held up at Nox’s sides. “Nox? You’re really here?”
Nox’s voice sounded too thick as he said, “I really missed you, man. I really did. It sucks without you around. There’s a huge hole in the crew, and we’re struggling to stay steady. Do you know why?”
Stunned, Vyr patted Nox’s back and shook his head. “Why?”
“Because you’re the glue, Vyr. You always were. And if I ever fuckin’ hear you say you’re nothing again, I’m going to punch you in the dick. I love you, man. Say it back.”
“Nox—”
“I spray-painted one hundred and sixty-nine dicks around the town of Foxburg, Vyr. I signed them all. I got arrested for you. I gave up BJs for a six-month sentence so I could be here for you. Tell me you love me.”
Defeated, Vyr muttered, “I love you too, dude.”
“Now, tell me Torren is a hairy chode, that he is the worst member of the crew, and that I’m your favorite.”
“Nox.”
“Worth a try.” Nox slapped him hard once more, then spun and jogged to the rope. “Hey, Vyr?”
“Yeah?”
Nox stood there, his face unreadable in the shadows, holding onto the rope with one hand. “Even if the dragon is gone, you’re still important to me. And to Torren, Candace, and Nevada, and a lot people. And I bet you’re really important to that girl, too. Riyah? You touch the people who really get to know you.”
Huh. Vyr frowned. “You’re different than I remember.”
“Yeah, Nevada’s training me to be normal.” Nox snorted. “Just kidding, she would hate me if I was normal. Oh, and Mr. Diddles is still alive. I bought him a girl swan so he could stop humping that stupid duck statue. You owe me thirty bucks. I had to special order her from a feed store. I’ve named her Mrs. Tittles.” Nox slapped his leg, and his single, bellowing laugh echoed as he repeated, “Mrs. Tittles. God, I’m awesome. See you soon, Fuckface.” And then Real Nox scaled the rope neatly and disappeared into the ceiling.
Shocked to his core, Vyr was left in the dark, once again. But something small had eased in his middle. Nox had shown up right in the middle of the worst moment of his life and told him he was still important.
And he wanted to tell Riyah about it. He wanted to unload this burden on the girl he couldn’t stop thinking about. He wanted to hear it again. That everything would be okay. But he wanted to hear it from her because he was selfish. He wanted those words from Hope, because that’s what he sometimes called her in his head. Hope was what she was.
“Riyah?”
“…I’m here.”
Chills blasted against his skin as he went to his knees and arched his head back, closed his eyes in relief. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.” Her voice was so frail in his head. So weak.
“I wish I could hold you right now. I wish I could take care of you.” God, he wished that more than anything.
“Me, too. Vyr?”
“Yeah, babe?” She deserved pet names for what she’d done for him. For trying to save him.
“I was here when you were talking to Nox. Is…” Her voice dipped to almost nothing in his head. “Is the dragon really dead?”
Vyr opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. And for the first time in his entire life, a drop of warm water welled up and slid down his cheek. “Yes.”
Her voice trembled but held honest notes as she murmured, “Everything is going to be okay.”
He could feel her heartache in his mind. It matched his, and in this moment, he knew he loved her. He knew as long as she was here, in his head, he wouldn’t be alone with this.
The crack in his heart filled with something warm, something red. Something that tingled. It was the only thing about him that didn’t hurt right now.
Nox had been wrong.
Vyr wasn’t the glue.
Riyah was.
Chapter Twelve
“Everything is going to be okay,” Riyah assured Vyr.
Everything is going to be…okay. Okay. Okay. Everything will be…okay.
Riyah! her mother screamed, pulling her from Vyr’s mind. “Do it! Baby, look at me.” She fell to her knees, chin lifted high, eyes brimming with tears, but she looked so understanding. So sure. “Do it now, little witch. Everything is going to be okay.”
Riyah jerked awake. She didn’t know where she was, but every piece of furniture in the room was floating near the ceiling. Except the bed she was supposed to be lying on was still far below her, resting on the floor. Her hair was floating around her like she was in water. In the open doorway were two women, both with a hand on their chests as they stared silently up at her with similar, uncertain gazes.
It was like this sometimes when memories of what she’d done scratched at her mind. The power she kept so secret, so hidden, came out in her sleep. “I’m sorry,” she murmured as she lowered herself and the furniture back to the floor.
She turned, landed on her tiptoes, and looked down at herself. She was wearing a black crop top that said Gem’s across the front and a pair of purple-sequined sparkle shorts. “Uh, what am I wearing?”