The human girl clutched him as if he were her lifeline, her entire body trembling violently against his. Her face was buried against his chest, and Thamas could feel her heart pounding almost as hard as his own.
Then his brain finally caught up with what he had done. Thamas looked down, and his expression went completely blank. He had just risked his injured arm to catch a human.
A fucking human?!
Revulsion filled him. Of all the creatures that could have fallen from the damn building, it had to be one of them.
His good arm was still wrapped firmly around her waist, supporting most of her weight while her legs hung limply over his arm. Pain continued throbbing through his injured shoulder from the impact, making his ire burn even hotter.
He should drop her. She wasn’t his responsibility. If anything, he’d already done far more than he should have by catching her in the first place. Whatever happened after he put her down was none of his concern.
Thamas loosened his hold, but the human stirred. Her eyelids fluttered weakly before slowly peeling open. For a moment, her unfocused gaze wandered as if she had no idea where she was. Then her eyes found his.
Thamas stilled. He could see the fear in them. Her fingers weakly clutched the front of his shirt.
"Save me."
That was all she whispered before her eyes closed. Her head fell against his chest as she fainted completely in his arms.
Thamas stared down at her. What the fuck?
For several seconds, he didn’t move. Everything in him rejected the creature he was holding. He hated humans. He hated their weakness, their arrogance, and most especially the fact that their arrival at Bestiaris had caused him his pride.
He had no reason to care what happened to this one. He should put her down and walk away. Instead, his arm tightened around her. The realization irritated him enough that he almost changed his mind out of spite.
Before Thamas could decide what the hell was wrong with him, the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention, and several students spilled outside.
Most of the birds had already shifted back into their human forms, and judging by the excitement on their faces, they had clearly rushed downstairs expecting to find the human’s broken remains.
Their excitement didn’t last.
The first few students stopped so abruptly that those behind nearly crashed into them. Silence spread through the gathering.
Thamas Draco stood at the bottom of House Aetheris with the human in his arms.
It was a sight none of them knew how to process.
Just like that, the whispers began.
"Isn’t that Thamas? He’s back?"
"Why did he catch her? Doesn’t he hate humans?"
"Why the hell is he holding her like that?"
Thamas’s jaw tightened. He wasn’t holding her like anything. He had simply caught her because she’d been falling. That was all. Any creature with decent reflexes would have done the same thing.
Probably.
Students began moving aside, creating a path through the middle, and Thamas didn’t need to wonder for long who they were making way for as Quest stepped through.
Quest, the dragon wore the satisfaction of someone coming downstairs to inspect the results of his handiwork, but the expression disappeared the instant he saw Thamas.
He stopped short, his gaze moving over the bandaged arm first before dropping toward the unconscious girl in Thamas’s hold. Surprise flashed across his face, followed quickly by annoyance. He recovered just as fast, adopting a polite expression.
"Here you are, Thamas." He sounded almost genuinely pleased to see him. "I wasn’t expecting you back so soon."
Thamas said nothing to him. Then Quest’s attention returned to Charlotte.
"Although, I have to say, your timing was impeccable. Or perhaps not." Quest gave a disappointed sigh and gestured toward the unconscious human.
"You just ruined our little game."
There was something about Quest’s words that didn’t sit right with Thamas.
"What game?" he demanded, his voice low.
"Obviously," Quest said, motioning toward the human in his arms. "Her. She was supposed to go..." He made a crude splattering sound with his mouth, mimicking a body hitting the ground. "But I suppose that isn’t happening anymore."
"Although," he added, "if you don’t mind, you can hand her over to me. Just because this didn’t work out doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other ways to have fun."
Quest tilted his head toward two bird shifters, silently ordering them to take Charlotte from him.
They barely moved before Thamas spoke.
"She’s going nowhere with you."
Quest frowned. "Excuse me?"
Thamas didn’t bother repeating himself. Quest studied him for a moment before his expression suddenly cleared, arriving at the only explanation that made sense.
"Oh." He clapped his hands together. "You want to join in on the fun? Sure, I don’t mind. What are brothers for?"
Thamas’s expression didn’t change, and Quest’s expression slowly fell.
"You’re kidding, right?"
"Do I look like I’m kidding?" Thamas turned his attention toward the birds surrounding them.
"All of you, back off. Now."
The birds exchanged confused looks, but none dared move closer. What the hell was going on here?
"Since when did you start caring about humans?" Quest demanded.
"I don’t care about humans." Thamas adjusted the unconscious girl in his arm. "But this one? You’re not getting your hands on her."
Quest stared at him in disbelief.
"Do you even know what she did?" His voice rose. "She insulted one of our own." He pointed furiously at his face. "Then she hit me in the fucking face with a chair. How exactly do you expect me to let that go?"
Thamas nearly did a double take. She did what?
His gaze dropped to the unconscious human in his arm, one brow lifting despite himself. This little thing had hit Quest in the face with a chair?
Perhaps she wasn’t as fragile as she looked.
"What would you have me do, brother?" Quest continued. "Let a human humiliate me in front of the entire house and walk away without consequence?" His expression hardened. "Would you have me swallow that shame, or let me have my revenge?"
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