Page 70 of Betrayed By Dragons

Amy replies to the group message with a series of emojis that I think are an assent, and I confirm that I'll gather Rafe and Jianyu and get back to Freya with a time to talk soon.

"Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us." Rafe cracks his knuckles and flexes his shoulders. His dragon ripples with energy, rising toward the surface to fly us back to the castle.

Nodding, I put my phone away, and then I remember. "Oh! Also, we should probably talk about the fact that your father's new advisor is a Shadow Dragon."

Rafe stops dead in his tracks, his eyes bulging, his pupils dragon-like slits. With the scent of ash on his breath, he growls, "My father's advisor is a what?"

Chapter Seventeen

EMBER

“Where is she?" Amy whines, throwing herself into one of the conference room chairs with a melodramatic flop.

Jett rolls his eyes, his arms crossed over his muscular chest, his entire being radiating calm. "She'll be ready when she's ready."

There's an eagerness to him, too, though. He and Freya have been in constant communication during our travels, but his distance from his one true mate has been wearing on him. It doesn't matter that he's about to be one of a half dozen people crammed into a video chat; he'll take any chance to see his mate's face.

We returned from the Emergence fields about forty-five minutes ago. Amy and Grace had already gotten into their pajamas, and Jianyu and Ben were in Ben's room, having an in-depth conversation about something going on back home in Shítou. We rallied the troops the best we could, in a rush to talk to Freya and find out what she's learned about the attack in Unity. Everything's all set up on our end, but Freya's dealing with some sort of technical difficulty, our video meeting window still maddeningly black.

"Anyway, we're still waiting for Jianyu," Rafe reminds us all.

He smiles at me, and my heart dares to warm with hope. The intimacy we shared this evening seems to have loosened the tension that had been surrounding us. Rafe is calmer and more confident.

Hell, he's even being nice, reminding us to include Jianyu.

Speaking of whom...

I frown and glance at my watch. He told me he'd be here in ten minutes a solid twenty minutes ago. "I'll go find him."

Rafe nods, gently touching my hand as I pass him on my way to the door, and I make sure the touch lingers, savoring this new closeness between us.

It's a big castle, but in the twenty-four hours or so that we've been here, I've more or less gotten my bearings. It still takes me a few minutes to find the right corridor back to where Ben and the others are staying. I half think I've taken a wrong turn when I spot Li wandering out of a room.

"Ms. Ember." He bows his head in greeting, and I suppress a frown. Despite his accelerated healing as a shifter, his face is still mottled with bruising and scratches from the beating he took at the hands of the Stone Kingdom soldiers.

I gesture around and try to act normal. "Do you remember which of these rooms is Ben's?"

"Three down on the right."

"Thanks."

"Ms. Ember," he says again, and I turn, raising an eyebrow.

"There's still the small matter I was hoping to discuss with you the other night."

Crap, I forgot about that.

I really have to find Jianyu and get back to the conference room, though. I bite my lip, feeling bad about having to put him off again, but then another door opens, and out pops Jianyu.

My whole being relaxes at the sight of him. He smiles widely, and it's such a relief.

"Sorry, lost track of time." He takes me by the hand. Warmth crackles up my arm at the touch. Our gazes connect, and I soften further.

Earlier, when I told Jianyu about Freya's message, I didn't have time to really gage how he felt about me flying off with Rafe tonight, and I've been secretly anxious about it ever since.

But there wasn't any need to worry. We have an entire conversation with our eyes. He knows that Rafe and I shared something that was just between the two of us, and he accepts it.

I get lost in his warm, dark gaze, wanting nothing more than to shove him right back behind closed doors. Jianyu squeezes my hand, like he feels the same pull, but we both silently agree that it'll have to wait.

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