Dustin downshifted and slammed on the brakes. They skidded until they came to a stop sideways right in the middle of the road. "A coven? Your people are vampires?" He was yelling.
Emma giggled and relaxed the seat back a few clicks, then put her feet on the dashboard.
"No," he said, shoving her ankles until her tennis shoes hit the floorboard.
"I feel like we're at a place where I can be comfortable in your car, Babe." Emma grinned and put her feet back up there.
Dustin narrowed his eyes to dangerous little slits. "Just so you know, I researched that little gesture you did earlier, and you said you hated me. I'm really hurt."
"Dustin, don't pretend anything I do hurts you."
"I am." He eased his foot onto the gas and straightened them out again. "I've done everything in my power to-"
"Annoy the shit out of me and everyone else around you?"
"Well, yeah, but I also shared my Chinese food with you once."
"And I saved your life, so I'm pretty sure we're even. Four Devils Coven, born and raised."
"But you're human."
"And so are my adopted brother and sister. My parents had trouble having babies. My biological parents didn't want me. It was meant to be."
"Why didn't they want you?"
"I was born in Russia. My parents were poor, and they really wanted a healthy child, but I was born with messed up inner ears."
"You were deaf from birth?"
This was getting too personal so she brought it back around. "Beast."
"Oh, yeah, he killed his entire pride."
"What?" she yelped.
"Yeah, he was the king of the lions. A legend. Nobody fucked with him, and he kept a pride for the longest any male in the history of lions was able to. Usually prides switch out alphas every few years just because the males fight all the fucking time, but Beast held a big pride for ten years. Took control of it when he turned eighteen and kept it until a couple years ago."
"Eighteen?" Emma's mind was now completely blown. "Why did he kill his people?"
"Nobody knows. There's a billion rumors, but none of them make any sense to me. Not with what I've seen of him."
"What do you mean?"
"He protects women still. He went after Logan immediately when he'd clawed up Winter's arm. The instinct to protect is still there. And he was fucking king, Perky Nips. Why would a king murder his entire kingdom and banish himself to a life of nothing?"
"I don't know," she murmured, baffled. "Why are you driving so slow?" The speed limit was fifty, and he was going twenty-five.
"Because you're human. You're basically a water balloon. One fender bender, and you're donezo."
"Okay, that's not true at all. At least go the speed limit."
"Do you have a death wish? You saved me, now I'm saving you. You're welcome, Shortcake."
"No."
"Shit, I really thought that one would stick." Dustin turned into the parking lot of a local grocery store and announced, "We're here," as he pulled up beside a red minivan.
A pretty brunette was leaned up against the van looking pissed, her eyes tracking Dustin as he got out. Inside the woman's car, a giant dog barked and scratched at the window.
Dustin tried to hug the woman, but she ducked away and ground out, "You didn't tell me he wasn't potty-trained."
"Oh, yeah. Well … he was an outside dog when I stole him from Kane, so … "
"You stole him from the dragon?" the woman screeched.
"Sarah, this is Emma, my new girlfriend. Emma, this is Sarah, my old girlfriend."
Emma explained, "I'm not his girlfriend."
Sarah nodded in understanding. "I gave him a pity blowjob one time."
"That was a pity blowjob?" Dustin asked in an offended tone. "That was terrible if you were doing it out of pity. I barely came, and you bit my di-"
"Do you want the dog or not?" Sarah asked testily, jamming her finger at the mutt barking behind the window.
"Yeah, give him to me."
"A hundred more bucks for traveling here to meet you."
"I already gave you two grand to take care of him."
Sarah shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Fine," Dustin muttered, digging through his wallet. He slapped a hundred-dollar bill onto Sarah's outstretched hand.
With a dead-eyed look, Sarah pointed her key fob at the car and hit a button. The side door slowly opened automatically. When it was able, a mangy-looking, long-legged mutt scrambled out. He charged Dustin, his tail whipping back and forth with such excited fury, it blurred. He had an under-bite, patches of fur missing, and he smelled like a wet hamster, but Dustin knelt down and greeted him like he was his best friend. "Gray Dog, Gray Dog!" he said in one of those barking voices frat brothers used during drinking games.
"Okay," Emma said, trying to wrap her head around what was happening. "So you said he was a puppy, but this dog is super old and borderline hideous."
Dustin glared at Emma and covered Gray Dog's ears. "Rude."
"And did you seriously steal him from Dark Kane? The Dark Kane. The End of Days, the Apocalypse, the biggest and most terrifying shifter on the face of planet Earth, you stole his dog?"
"Well I was supposed to kill him. Stealing felt like a better option at the time," Dustin answered. "Come on, Gray Dog."
"Aw man, he pissed in the back seat!" Sarah yelled, leaning into her minivan.
"Good, now he is nice and empty for the ride back home," Dustin said as he lifted Gray Dog into the back seat of his car. "See you later, Sarah."
"No you won't because the dragon is going to eat youuu," she sang over her shoulder.
Sarah made a good point.
"What the hell are you doing?" Emma whisper-screamed as she sank into the passenger's side. "Dustin, you are going to get yourself killed."
"False, I'm going to get myself inducted into the crew."
"Why is this so important to you?"
"Shut your door. Let's go." Dustin's voice had gone deadly serious in a flash.
Emma refused, but Dustin reached over her lap and yanked on the door handle. She blasted her foot against it and locked her leg. "Tell me, Dustin. Why do you want to be in the Blackwing Crew? Real answer."
"Because it's not a pack!" His eyes flashed blue and green, and then he huffed an angry breath and stared out the front window. "And because I have to."
She got it now. It all made sense, even though Dustin wasn't explaining it well. He was on the run from his pack. His brother must've been a part of that pack and attacked him last night. Dustin was searching for sanctuary in shifters, like she was searching for sanctuary in sunlight.
"Do you really think Gray Dog will get you in?" she asked, shutting the door gently.
Dustin shrugged, his longer hair twitching with the motion. "Don't know, but I'm pretty fuckin' desperate to find out."
This was a side of Dustin she'd never seen before. He wasn't joking or smiling. He looked worried, sitting there with a faraway look in his eyes, biting the edge of his thumbnail, leg shaking in quick succession.
When Emma rested her hand on his tense thigh, he flinched under her touch. Looking down with a shocked expression, Dustin did something that stunned her to stillness. He pressed his hand on top of hers, then grasped it. His eyes sparked with intensity as he lifted her knuckles to his lips. He let a soft peck linger there, then rested both their intertwined hands on his leg again and leaned his head back against the seat rest. "Why do you think they let Winter and Logan in the crew?" he asked quietly.
Emma was having a really hard time formulating an answer because Dustin's casual hand-hold was warm and strong. So steady. It felt good to touch warm skin, not the cold vampire skin she'd grown up embracing. "Because they saved Kane and Rowan from the A-Team. And because Winter's last alpha vouched for her."
"And Logan?"
"I think he made it in because they wouldn't have gotten Winter without him."
"The dragons will be trying to breed soon," Dustin said low.
"Maybe. It will be a huge risk to see if Rowan can carry a pure dragon child, though. Adoption or surrogacy would be safer."
"Either way, they'll need a crew they can trust, not a collection of rogues. They'll want a crew with interest in raising cubs and little dragons. With instincts geared toward protecting the young."
"You think they'll only allow couples in?"
Dustin swallowed hard and looked a little green around the edges, but she didn't understand why. "Forget I said anything," he muttered, settling her hand into her own lap.