Silver(8)

“Homeless,” Citrine said quietly.

Adrien nodded. “I was just watching from the window, drinking my scotch, thinking she would go back to her car, but…”

“But there was no car,” Citrine said.

“Yeah,” Adrien said, touching his head and realizing there was a bandage wrapped around it. “What’s this?”

“We know with your increased healing ability, you’ll be fine. But to a human, it would look a bit weird if your bleeding head wound just disappeared.”

“Oh, yes,” Adrien said. “Once again, I have to inconvenience myself for a human.”

“Yes, why did you do that?” Sever said. “You are supposed to hate them.”

“Says who?” Adrien snapped.

“Says you,” Citrine retorted.

Adrien sat back on the couch, resting against the cushions and willing away the ache in his head. “Well… even I have a conscience. A sense of right and wrong. In our time, none of us allowed harm to come to the village wenches.”

“Right,” Sever said. “But as you continuously point out, this isn’t our time.”

Adrien slammed his fist down on the couch in frustration. “Dammit, Sever, what do you want me to say? That I shouldn’t have saved the wench? That I’m truly a villain who could stand by while something like that happened?”

“You could have asked us for help,” Sever said. “We were just doors away.”

“Right,” Citrine said, resting his chin on his knuckles. “It’s almost like he was… panicked.”

“Was not,” Adrien said. “I just didn’t have time to spare to wake you two lazy asses and get you out of bed. Besides, I can handle a handful of humans.”

Sever cocked his head. “Not apparently. Wait until I tell Dante.”

Adrien let out a snarl. “You wouldn’t dare. Besides, we both know it’s because of the ring. If I had my powers—”

“Right, but you won’t have them until you find a mate here and learn to get along with humans.”

Sever grinned. “Maybe he found one already. Last night.”

Adrien’s glare deepened as he caught Sever’s meaning. “You can’t be serious.” He shook his head gingerly, but despite his quick rebuttal, part of him wasn’t so sure.

What had made him watch her leave so carefully? What had made him risk his own life, even restrained? He hadn’t even considered not intervening.

“Where is she?” he asked, trying to look nonchalant about it to avoid more teasing.

“As we said, in the next room,” Citrine said. “We didn’t know the whole story, and we couldn’t just let her go without your say so.”

“Why?” Adrien asked.

“She’s a human that the silver dragon fought to save. That’s just far too interesting to let out of our hands,” Sever said. “Citrine and I both agreed.”

“So what, you kidnapped her?”

“She needed shelter,” Citrine said. “We gave her an excuse to accept our help.”

That was true. It was what Adrien should have done, if he hadn’t immediately jumped to suspicions of thieving and spying upon seeing her.

He should have noticed her clothes, realized she was homeless and needed help, and offered a bed.

It was something that wouldn’t have occurred to him before, but now was clear as daylight.

“What are you thinking?” Sever said. “You know we’ve been trying not to read thoughts as a habit.”

“I know,” Adrien said. “I appreciate it.” He thought for a moment. His mind was whirling. The idea that she was just next door was oddly reassuring.

But why should he care what happened to a human? Wasn’t she just a burden? Not his problem? He’d already saved her, doing more than he ever intended to do for a woman in this world.

He bit his lower lip and worried it back and forth slowly. “So… what happens next? Do we talk to her?”

“What do you want to happen next?” Citrine asked, looking at Adrien with twinkling eyes that he didn’t like one bit.

“We can send her off, I suppose,” Adrien said. “After all, we don’t need to hear her side of the story. I can assure you she is innocent of anything but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And seeking shelter, I suppose.” That last part stuck in his throat like a badly wedged bone.

“Should we?” Citrine asked Sever. “Just tell her to go?”

Something about that irritated Adrien. He didn’t like it at all. If she left, if she were to go back out in the world, she would probably just run into trouble again, needing him to save her.