Page 40 of An Accident Waiting to Dragon

Tell me, damn you. Why was he making this so hard on both of them? There had to be a reason. “King Ladon may not have been there, but I have no doubt he knows more than you’ve shared.”

“And he’ll ask me before he tells you any of it.” He tossed her a grimly smug look over his shoulder. “I’m his beta.”

Yeah. She’d heard that. After all, in her line of work for Delilah, she had her ear to the ground about most of supernatural kind.

Asher was the blue dragon king’s second-in-command. In line for the throne should the king, or his offspring, fail to continue their line.

“You’ve come up in the world,” she murmured. “Spy. Murderer.” She watched him closely for a reaction to that word, but it didn’t come. “And now?—”

“His Viceroy of War.”

“Ah.” That she hadn’t known. Dragon kings tended to keep their Curia Regis, or king’s council, fairly secret. But Asher had always been a fighter. Even as a kid, he’d had a natural talent for it. So it wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“Ladon is a friend,” Asher said now. “So is Skylar, his queen.”

Friend. Asher had friends. Friends that weren’t Goran.

The old bitterness she’d carried around for more than a decade prompted her to wonder if they knew what he’d done to her brother? What friendship meant to this man?

Except nothing was fitting together, like she was trying to assemble a puzzle with pieces from different boxes. This time, though, she wasn’t letting it go. She wasn’t going to keep running. Not anymore. “I’m going to find out the truth, Asher. One way or another.”

His body pulled drawstring tight, like a bow at its zenith, ready to loose a deadly arrow. But instead of yelling, or throwing the coconut in his hand, Asher only let out a long, pent-up breath.

“You want to believe I’m not the bad guy,” he said. “That’s why you’re still asking these questions.” He stopped and faced her abruptly, pinning her with burning, blue-flamed irises. “Let me save you the trouble. I am the bad guy in your story. Stop digging.”

She stared at him, every part of her rejecting those words hard. Even with the lingering anger and confusion and blame, deep down she knew he wasn’t that.

He banked the flames showing in his eyes, and for a moment, she swore she could see the smoke rising from the embers. He took off again, shoulders slightly rounded like he’d given up.

Asher never gave up. On anything. The man was the walking definition of determined.

He wasn’t going to put her off. Not this time.

“I’m digging anyway.”

Asher’s brows lowered, his expression darkening, though with the way he turned his back to her, she almost missed the pain dragging at his features. “I can’t, Gwen.”

The resignation in his voice, in the slight hunch to his shoulders was painfully obvious. But it was the word “can’t” that had her stilling.

Can’t.

Not won’t.

He’d never said that before. He’d never said he couldn’t.

“Why not?” she asked.

He straightened, regret disappearing behind stoic acceptance. “I just can’t. And anyone else who knows the truth is dead.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Gwen

* * *

They’d barely made it back to their crevice before the storms rolled in again. Hard.

Every flash of light came with an immediate clap of thunder so violent she imagined the entire island shook with the force.

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