Page 51 of Betrayed By Dragons

"Wow," I murmur.

Rafe glances back at me, the distance in his expression finally receding by a bit. "Glad you like."

"It's a little much, don't you think?" Jianyu ducks on his way in, his nose wrinkling.

Rafe scowls and rolls his eyes as he flops down on a big, cushy sofa near the rear of the plane.

"Well, I think it's awesome," Amy says as she steps in.

"It has a very...strong sense of design," Sister Grace offers in a measured tone.

"Again." Rafe gestures out the window of the plane. "If you'd like to stay and get shot with darts, be my guest."

Jianyu sighs and takes a seat at the far end of the couch from Rafe. "We're grateful for the transportation."

"That's more like it."

At the front of the plane, Atina clears her throat. "If everyone could get settled..."

All bickering and critiquing trails off, leaving a tense silence in its wake. I drop into the empty space between my two mates, quietly grateful that it's become so automatic for us all to arrange ourselves like this.

Once everyone is seated and strapped in, the flight-attendant-slash-bodyguard closes the door. Minutes later, we're lifting off into the black night. I watch out through the window, chewing the inside of my cheek. A part of me is still worried we're being pursued. I can't imagine that King Haoyu would shoot down a plane with his son on board, but after everything that's happened tonight, I can't exactly rule it out.

We finally cross over the mountains and out of Stone Kingdom airspace. As we pass a Fire Kingdom outpost, the entire plane lets out a collective exhalation.

Ironic, considering how dangerous the Fire Kingdom has historically proven itself to be.

The flight from the border to the Crimson City will take a couple of hours, and people begin to relax. We're all exhausted, of course. It's the middle of the night, and we spent our evening clubbing and fucking and talking to an informant from an extremist organization--who maybe, kind of, sort of may have been a possible bride for one of my mates, back before he met me. We were also betrayed by the Stone Kingdom's royal guard and forced to flee for our lives.

I groan as I sink lower in my seat, barely able to handle it all. It doesn't help that I'm still wearing the dress I wore to the nightclub; the constriction of the fitted bodice is starting to get old. We didn't exactly have time to change, though. Supposedly, Li is arranging for some of our effects to be smuggled out of the palace and back to us, but for now, all we have is the clothing we're wearing.

I'm also pretty sure I've got a hell of a bruise forming on my ribs from one of those Stone Kingdom soldiers.

Probably sensing my discomfort, Jianyu absently drapes an arm behind me on the couch and rubs the back of my neck. I tip my head forward and close my eyes, drinking in the comfort of his touch.

He kneads at the sore muscles for a moment before dropping his hand. I open my eyes and look over at him.

He gazes at me with dark circles around his eyes. He's still not freaking out, which is probably good, but considering how anguished he was after his last confrontation with his father, it feels like I'm sitting next to a ticking time bomb.

"You okay?" I ask quietly.

"I'm a mess." Shrugging, he huffs out a breath. "But I imagine that's to be expected."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What is there to say?"

I feel him out, probing at our connection. He's not hiding anything. Even with his unnatural reserve, I'd be able to tell if he were. He seems...open. Freer than he was before he confessed his hurt to me beside the river the other day.

I nudge his knee with my own. "I mean, probably a lot?"

He laughs and rests a hand on my leg, gently stroking my skin with his thumb.

"My father might be working against me and the peace we've been trying to build between the dragon nations." His voice cracks, but the shine in his eyes is sad instead of angry or self-loathing. "Whatever he's up to, he's made his choice. He prizes power and ambition over his son."

How can he be so matter-of-fact about this?

"I'm sure he doesn't--not really."

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