She looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “There is, though. We have one.”
I put my fork down and lean forward. “There’s a woman dragon demigod in your weyr?”
She nods. “Not every dragon demigod chose to leave with us.”
“Oh! I see.” Well, shit!
“Two people chose to stay behind. One of them is a woman.”
I take a sip of my hot chocolate, trying to play it cool. “You left two behind?”
She nods. “They chose to stay.” Her eyes cloud. “We had a very similar situation. Only is wasn’t just the single women who partied with the gods.”
“Are you serious?” I lean back in my seat.
“When you’re in a weyr that forces people to mate against their will – very often it is the women who are the ones being forced – you will sometimes see a rebellion. There has only been one big uprising against the weyr. It happened that night and for the days that the gods were here. My mom was mated to my father when she left with the gods. It’s not something we talked about…ever. My father has always been a jerk to Maddox.”
“That’s not great,” I say.
“Exactly! Maddox was an innocent kid. None of what happened was his fault.” She shakes her head. “I remember the snide remarks. The jokes at Maddox’s expense. He could never do anything right. Could never be good enough. My dad is a jerk. My mom was not given a choice when it came to mating him. He treats her like she’s his slave. I guess it’s how we’re raised, but it’s no excuse. I don’t blame her for giving him the middle finger. I do feel bad for the demigod children who were born. Not every female became pregnant…only about a third of them. I was too young to remember that time but apparently there was hell to pay when the women returned.” Raven stifles a yawn with her hand, her eyes widen. “Sorry,” she mumbles.
As much as I want to know more about this, I can see how tired she is. “I think we should get going.” I put a big chunk of pie in my mouth. Then another. For the first time in the history of my visits to this diner, I don’t finish my pie. I push the plate away and take a big drink of my lukewarm hot chocolate. “We can talk some more tomorrow,” I say as I put the mug down.
She smiles. “Sounds good.”
I put some cash on the table and wave at the server as we leave. She giggles, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and waves back. I don’t remember the top buttons of her uniform being open when we arrived. Her cleavage is out there. I look away. I’m not interested.
Raven gives me a side look as we step outside. “Don’t you guys get sick of all the attention?”
“Attention?”
She stops walking and gives me a look. “Yes. It happens with the others all the time. We can’t go anywhere without women tripping all over themselves. Human women seem to have a thing for non-humans. All the annoying giggles and remarks must get old. West has had panties thrown at him once or twice.” She laughs. “Maddox once had a woman write her number on his chest with a marker.” She laughs harder. “Zale has disappeared into bathrooms with strange women more than once. They suggested it to him.” She sticks her tongue out and makes a gagging face. “Women seem to lose their ever-loving minds.”
“Yeah, I guess we get a lot of attention. I mostly just ignore it.” I unlock the car and open her door before stepping back to give her plenty of space. I walk around and jump into the car. “You must get attention as well. You’re gorgeous.” I try not to sound too sappy. I more than likely fail.
I see her cheeks turn red. “West growls at anyone who shows even passing interest.” She smiles. “I get the odd look, but it’s not like all of you. All the giggles and longing stares. The drooling.”
“I hardly notice,” I say as I buckle up. “It’s not like I can act on any of the attention.” I shrug.
“It must be annoying to get visions when… You know…it must be annoying as anything.”
I check my blind spot, indicate and then pull out onto the road. “I hate it. It’s not worth it most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” I hear a playful edge to her voice.
I glance her way, and she’s smiling. I choke out a laugh. “What can I say? I have needs. I rarely act on them, but fuck…I can’t sit between the four walls of my house every single day. I need to come up for air from time to time. Did you ever get a vision when you…were with West?”
“No…never. It was weird. My immediate family, as well. It never happened.”
“Never?” I indicate and turn. The roads are quiet since it’s the middle of the night. “That’s interesting. Your family makes sense…I can’t read my family either. But West…” I raise my brows. “I guess I’ve never read any of my close friends, but I put that down to them being non-humans. I’ve only ever read a non-human once or twice in my life.”
“Humans are the worst. They’re like an open book.” She sounds exasperated. “I have to try to stay far away from humans.” She shakes her head, leaning back in the seat. Raven yawns.
“I know what you mean.” We make the rest of the trip in silence. Raven is half-asleep when we get there.
She yawns again as we pull into the garage. “I’m so ready for bed,” she says as she slides out of the car.
“Me too.” I open the door that leads to my house. I let her go first.
“Thanks.” She stops dead as we hit the hallway.
“Where the fuck have you been?” West comes at us. He’s trying to keep his voice down, but it doesn’t work. His fists are clenched. His eyes are narrowed on me. In short, he’s pissed.
“What are you doing here?” Raven asks him. “You’re supposed to be at Jarrod’s house.”
“Don’t turn this around,” he growls. “I thought I would check on you, and you weren’t here.” He folds his arms. His eyes are blazing.
“Check on me…why?” She sounds annoyed. I don’t blame her.
“Because I care about you, Raven. Because I fucking love you. I get here, and you aren’t here.” He tones down his voice a few levels. “There are dangerous creatures out there.” His eyes haze over.
Raven sighs. “I’m fine. Did you read the note?” I notice that she steps further between us, using herself as a barrier.
“Yes!” he growls.
“So you know where we were then,” she deadpans. “Thanks for checking up on me, but it wasn’t necessary.” She’s trying to be nice.
“You must have a death wish, pretty boy!” His eyes flash to me before he returns to Raven’s stare. “Flying…fucking flying. Are you out of your damned mind, Raven?”
I take a calming breath. “Please don’t speak to Raven like that.” I try to keep my cool. I don’t want this to turn into a fight. I have a better understanding of why West is so…angry. Also, he cares about Raven, so he might be going about things in the wrong way, but I think he means well. Again, this isn’t my battle. Not really.
West steps in, almost putting his chest against Raven’s front so that he can get to me. His eyes are on mine, and they’re blazing. He points his finger at me. That fucking finger. I wish he wouldn’t do that. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, asshole! You leave in the middle of the night with my girlfriend and—”