Page 25 of Dragon's Honor

His dragon growled, and he could practically hear the beast saying,I do.

Her cheeks bloomed red, the color seeping down her neck and into her chest, making Ash want to follow the flush and see just how far down it went. Her lips parted and her breath grew uneven. “We wouldn’t want that.”

“Go home, Sawyer. I’ll call you later.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” She lifted her hand. “I think you should take it.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d rather you give it to me if you want me to have it.”

Her words rubbed him the wrong way. He understood what she was saying, but he didn’t like it. Most dragons gave their heartstones to their mates, it was true, but he liked that she had it. That she was wearing it. More than that she understood it was important even if she didn’t know why.

As he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, the stones lit up, glowing almost like green and purple embers, mimicking the fire that burned in his belly. There was no denying that the bracelet was his, or that it had found the wrist it was meant to be on.

But she didn’t want it. She wanted him to take it back. So, he gently tugged, the bracelet coiling into his palm, so different from the cuff it had been when Syrena sent it into the aether, but so familiar, like a piece of his own heart returning home.

Finley pulled her hand away and rubbed her wrist. She walked backward toward the door to her building, looking at him with a weird expression he didn’t quite understand.

“Good night, Sawyer.”

“Good night, Ash.”

She turned and headed inside.

Ash stood there for a while, holding his heartstone. It felt like it weighed a ton. He didn’t want to move further away from her.

Eventually, he made his way back to his house off the beach. He stripped off his clothes and headed to the balcony off his bedroom. The night air wrapped around him like a wet blanket. He didn’t mind the humidity, but his entire body ached with heat he couldn’t seem to rid himself of. The bracelet had formed around his wrist back into its cuff.

It didn’t feel right around his wrist. He didn’t like that she was without it now. Not that it protected her, but it did show that she belonged to him.

But she didn’t. She didn’t belong to him, no matter how much his dragon thought she did. Times were changing. Female dragons weren’t around. He wasn’t going to find a mate. There was no need to worry about his heartstone or Finley. She wasn’t his.

Ash pulled himself up onto the stone wall of his balcony and jumped. He shifted in a breath. His wings caught the wind and he lifted into the air before he hit the sand. He soared right over the private beach, over the shore until he was cloaked in darkness over the ocean.

He needed to clear his head. There was so much pushing up against his skull. With no chance of getting any sleep, he needed to go to his island. It was little more than a hunk of sand and a few palm trees, but Ash had claimed it as his own. It would wash away someday, but for now it was his private space, the only place he didn’t worry about the expectations of his clan, the risk of getting caught by humans, or the weight of a crown unclaimed.

The crescent moon and stars looked big in the night sky as he landed lightly on the beach. He laid down on the sand and just stared up.

Orion was high in the sky with his bow and arrow. On the hunt.

Ash had been hunting Tristian for month now. He slipped from his fingers because he’d lunged when he should’ve waited.

Tristian was all he’d been consumed with since his parents were killed, and his kingdom destroyed.

Except for the last month, Finley had been distracting him, even though he hadn’t seen or talked to her. Why did he have to walk by that restaurant?

Why couldn’t he walk by whatever building Tristian was in? Club Opal opened up six months ago. He had a hub in Miami. They were bringing in Dragon’s Fire and people were dying.

Finley could’ve died.

Of course, being attached to him in any way, she still could.

Fuck. He couldn’t call her again. He had his heartstone back. There was no reason to contact her again.

He needed to refocus.

He needed to find Tristian and get justice.

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