Page 20 of Betrayed By Dragons

"Jianyu--"

He returns his gaze to mine, and the intensity of the self-loathing in them burns. "I failed," he tells me, miserable. "I failed myself and you and everything we've been working toward." He scrubs a hand down his face and laughs, aching and hollow. "I even failed Rafe."

"You didn't--"

"Bedrock is untouchable." His throat bobs, and he rubs at his eyes before dropping his hands. "I tried to move the investigation forward. Set Li on it this morning, but whoever he talked to went straight to my father, and he..."

"Yes?" I prod him, choked.

"He told me never to bring it up again--or else." Danger flashes in his eyes. "He doesn't want to know who set off that bomb." There's that ugly laugh again. "He's glad it happened."

"He can't be--"

"He can." The darkness in Jianyu's eyes haunts me. "Don't you see?"

"Help me," I beg him, because none of this makes sense.

"He wants war with the Fire Kingdom."

It's all I can do not to stagger backward. "But..."

"No buts." He shakes his head, fierce. "I don't know what he thinks he's getting out of it, or what's driving him, or what's changed, but he..." There's a wretched pain making his voice crack. "He used me. Sent me there without telling me the whole story."

"Jianyu." I reach for him, and thank the gods above, he lets me.

Burying his face against my hair, he holds me, and I hold onto him just as hard.

I'm reeling from the information he's just imparted, but also from the raw, naked vulnerability he's showing me in this moment.

"I can't disobey my king," he breathes into my hair. "But he's wrong. How do I reconcile--what do I--"

His voice cuts off, wet and broken.

"You'll figure it out," I promise, my hand clasped tightly cross the back of his neck. "We will."

Because I'm here for him.

"I've never felt so powerless," he confesses. "So weak."

I pull back enough to look him in the eye, but I refuse to let him go. "None of this makes you weak."

He hiccups, and his eyes are shining. "I'm all but crying in your arms."

"Good." I stroke my thumb along his hairline at his nape. "You need someone whose arms you can cry in." When he starts to protest, I cut him off. "You do. Let me be that for you. Please."

The intensity of my plea surprises even me.

Since the moment we met, Jianyu's been stoic and strong, and that side of him won a piece of my heart. But watching that facade fall away has only deepened my feelings. My desire for a true partnership with him has never been stronger than it is right now.

"Please," I repeat.

He looks straight into my eyes. Hesitation flickers in his gaze, and anxiety tightens my throat.

But then he exhales roughly. Taking my hand in his, he holds my palm against his chest. "Always."

The way he kisses me this time is softer, like giving in. There's still a commanding presence to the movement of his mouth against mine, but there's a give and take to it that's new. I want to cry for the relief. We've cracked something open together, here.

I wish our breakthrough hadn't come about at the expense of his efforts to probe more deeply into the isolationist cult that may or may not have had a hand in blowing up the peace summit. But a new confidence fuels me. We can and will figure it out. Together.

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