Kyton stared at me. "You're kidding."

I stared right back at him. "I wouldn't kid about something like that. If I said I'll get you dragon's blood, I'll do it."

Piper laughed nervously. "Yeah, I don't think that's what he meant." She poked me in the shoulder. "A dragon almost just killed you, and you're going to go out and try to take its blood? It's suicide."

I crossed my arms. There wasn't any point in arguing. She was right. Going up against the dragon would probably be suicide. But it might not be. And that little chance of success would be worth the risk if I could save just one person. One normal, non-monstrous person.

"Oh." Piper sighed frustratedly. "You know that, don't you. Eva said you were afraid of your instincts, that's why you ran away tonight. You don't want to survive another run-in with the dragon."

I changed the subject. "So, how did you get Starling to keep quiet about what happened? Grandpa should be charging in here already."

"I hexed Starling's memory. Don't change the subject."

Kyton grabbed my arm. "Forget about the dragon. You're going to bed, and for the sake of all that is decent, stay in bed until the morning. I'm exhausted." He dragged me to my feet.

My back twinged with every step, but I let him pull me inside and guide me toward the bed. "I'm going to have to take a shower first."

"Fine." He let go of my arm. "Just don't leave this room. You need to rest and heal."

I wanted to hold my tongue. Letting him pretend to care about me wouldn't hurt anything, and it was painful enough just knowing how much he hated me. Hearing him say it out loud would've been too much. But I couldn't keep quiet. Better to be hurt now than later.

"What do you care if I rest and heal?"

He was halfway to the door when he stiffened, wings sticking straight out. "What do I care?" He flicked his wings down and turned to face me. "What do I care? What kind of question is that? Just because I'm only a walking buffet to you doesn't mean-" He threw up his hands. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand." He stormed out of my bedroom.

"What just happened?" I muttered to myself. I checked the fireplace. It was roaring, and Eva rested inside.

"You really are oblivious," Piper said, scaring me half to death.

I'd almost forgotten she was still here. "What do you mean?" I turned to face her.

She was standing in the doorway to the balcony, holding her tranq rifle loosely by its strap. She tossed it on the ground next to my bed and started digging through her bags.

"Lilly, that fairy has a crush on you." She pulled out a set of clean clothes. "Where's another bathroom?"

"What?" How could she be so casual about something like that? Kyton couldn't have a crush on me. Maybe I'd been wrong and he'd liked me, not her, before he knew I was a changeling, but there was no way he could like me now.

"I'll just use Kyton's bathroom. It's right next door, isn't it?"

"I-" I nodded. "What did you mean, when you said he has a crush-"

Her cheeks reddened beneath a layer of dirt. "I asked him out a while back, and he said he liked someone else, another witch. It's obviously you. He's not faking it. He's a clever guy. If he lost his contract with your grandma, he would find another way to get the money he needs."

"But-"

She waved a hand at me. "You're a changeling, Lilly. He's a fairy. His dad is dying because of a dragon attack. Any other fairy would've left you to die, but he trusts you, for the same reason I trust you. Normal changelings don't help fairies, and they definitely don't run away when they have the chance to kill one. You're not normal. In this case, that's good." She grimaced at her clothes. "Now, do you mind if I take a shower? I'm filthy."

"Sure, whatever." I shook my head, trying to make sense of what she'd said. Could Kyton really...? "He could've been talking about another witch."

Piper was halfway to the door when she shot me an annoyed look over her shoulder. "You do realize he just went up against a dragon to save your life, right?"

I crossed my arms. "So did you, but that doesn't mean you have a crush on me."

She raised her eyebrows. "It's different."

"No, it's not. You're my friend, and you came after me. He's my friend, too."

Turning around, she sighed. It was a heavy sigh, full of unsaid things. Her gaze wandered from me to rest on her equipment bags.

"Lilly, I'm glad I went after you, but I didn't do it for you. I did it to keep him safe."

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words escaped me. She hadn't wanted to come after me. She'd come to help Kyton.

"Don't look at me like that. It wasn't personal." She shrugged one shoulder. "Eva said you... freaked out, and I assumed your instincts kicked in."

"They did." I couldn't look at her. It had been a little more than 'freaking out.' I'd tried to eat my familiar.

"Well, stage one, even stage two changelings sometimes, act perfectly normal. They pass as part of their host family for years before killing anyone. Then they do terrible things. Even if everyone liked them before. I just thought that when you ran off, you were going to be with... your people."

"Dragons aren't my people." My anger flared, urging me to rip out her throat. She was right about my instincts. I dug my claws into my palms, growling softly. 

Piper took a step back, and the sound of her heartbeat pounded in my ears. "Calm down, Lilly." Her eyes darted to the discarded tranq rifle.

I stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. My fists shook as I grabbed the fallen shower rod and jammed it back into place. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Piper's terrified face as she looked at the tranq rifle.

She was right. I was a monster. She should've convinced Kyton not to follow me. Then no one else would have to be afraid of me. Well, she wouldn't have to be afraid for long. As soon as I was rested, I would make a plan, and I would go after the dragon again, this time with more magic and energy on board. At least one good thing would come out of this horrible night.

I shed my clothes and stepped in the bathtub. When I started the water, the cold made me shiver. Silver-red and blue blood ran together, flowing down my scales. Tears mixed with the blood. I didn't fight them. The walls were thick, and Piper would've left already to take a shower. No one could hear me cry.

Sobs shook my entire body. I couldn't stop them. I couldn't stop shaking. My knees gave out, and I sat down hard in the tub. The water warmed slowly, but it wasn't any more comfortable than it had been cold.

No cry, Eva's sleepy voice said.

Sorry. I put a mental block on our bond, hiding my thoughts from her. She should rest now, not worry about me.

The bathroom door creaked open. For a second, I thought Eva had pushed it open, but then Piper came in. She wasn't quite looking at me, but there was no way to tell whether that was because I was a changeling or because I was naked.

"I heard you-" She swallowed audibly. "You know the curtain's open, right? You're getting water all over the floor."

I yanked the curtain closed. "Better?" I tried to sound tough, but my voice was wavering too much.

She plopped down on the floor beside the tub. "That's not why I came in. You were... you know, and I- I know this has to be tough for you."

"Tough? You were right, you should've just made Kyton stay. Both of you could've died, and for what? A monster?" I hugged my knees to my chest. "I'll be lucky if the dragon kills me when I go after him. At least then I won't hurt anyone else."

Piper jerked open the shower curtain. The fear was gone from her face, replaced by a glinting anger. She slammed her fist down on the edge of the tub.

"No, I wasn't right. If I'd listened to Kyton from the beginning instead of trying to stop him, we might've saved you before you got hurt, maybe even before the dragon found you. You could've died because of me."

"But you were right. I almost-" I scrubbed at my eyes. "Eva-"

"-is fine. When it came right down to it, you couldn't hurt her. You couldn't hurt me or Kyton, either. You ran away." She took a breath and blew a lock of hair out of her eye. "Lilly, there are humans who without changeling instincts who do horrible, horrible things. They murder and rape and cannabilize. You were starving, with changeling instincts on a full moon, but you still didn't bite Kyton when you had the chance."

"What if tomorrow, or the next day, I make a mistake?"

"It'll be easier tomorrow." She squeezed my shoulder. "I might not be an expert on changelings, but I've read enough to know that the full moon affects your magic and your instincts. If you can keep from hurting someone tonight, you can do it any day."

"Really?" I sniffed. "You're not just making that up so-" I couldn't even think of why she would make it up, but I didn't want to get my hopes up if she was.

"Of course I'm not making it up." She stood and pulled the shower curtain closed. "So clean off, get a good night's sleep, and in the morning, all three of us will plan how to get dragon's blood. Well, probably the afternoon. I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping in. You're fine sharing the bed, right?"

I scoffed. Like my possible aversion to sharing a bed with a friend was the real question here. "You sure I won't bite you in my sleep or something?"

"I'm sure enough."

I wished I was that sure.