Page 22 of Her Tortured Beasts

She doesn’t miss a beat. “Your eyes,” she says. “Are they an issue?”

A fiery whip of irritation snakes into my gut, but I push it aside. “No. In fact, some would say they are an advantage.”

She nods slowly, as if considering this. As if she’s testing whether I’m lying or not. Again, I have to push that whip aside.

“And your berserker genes, when was the last time you had an episode?”

I stop and turn to look at her. “Your research has been thorough, Francesca. I’m sure you make a great lawyer.”

She tosses her length of blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’d like to think I am. I’ve had glowing reports from my seniors. I hope to make partner soon.”

“Why consider the match, Francesca?”

Her eyes search my face, lingering at my mouth. “They say you are the most powerful dragon in the country.”

“That remains to be tested.”

She says seriously, “I think you are.”

And her opinion matters why? I throw her a smile and turn around, offering her my arm. We start walking once again.

“And the Boneweaver?”

Insipid woman. “She is my captive and none of your concern.”

“If she will be sleeping in our room, she is my concern.”

Only the fact that Francesca’s family holds massive shares in the gold and cadmium mines up north stops me from tossing her out of the estate. “She is barely a concern to me,” I scoff. “The only reason I agree to tote her around is because?—”

“Because what?” She’s ogling me again, searching for falsehood. Frankly, it’s insulting.

“Because a lot of thieves and deviants have their eye on her, and I cannot let them get their hands on her.”

“She’sthatvaluable?” Jealousy mars the statement.

“To certain people,” I reassure her. “Not me.”

“Like Scythe Kharkorous and Savage Fengari.”

My jaw clenches of its own accord, and I have to consciously relax it to answer. “Sure.”

“Your ex-mates. The criminals.”

When I get back inside, I’m torching this woman’s biodata sheet, if I don’t torch her first. “What is your current relationship with them, exactly?”

“You overstep, Francesca.”

She snaps her mouth shut over her next sentence and purses her lips. Finally.

The crickets chirp in the night, and under my music, the rhythmic sound settles me. We finish our lap and head back towards Francesca’s parents, her mother rushing forward with her arms out as if to save her daughter from the evil dragon. “How was your walk, darling?”

Francesca leaves my arm to grasp her mother’s. “The garden is lovely, but it doesn’t hold a flame to ours.”

The heat in my orbital bones makes me sure that my eyes flash. Francesca’s mother stiffens, then forces a smile. “I’m sure the maze is top tier, darling. The Drakos Estate is the biggest in the southern hemisphere!”

“Is it?” Francesca frowns.

“Ah, that wasn’t a part of your research, then?” I smile.

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