Page 45 of Destiny of the Dragons

“So you’re choosing your family over me,” Jace said. Bitterness leached into his voice. “Great. Get out.”

Mia looked like she wanted to argue, but in the end, she left.

Smoke stood up. He shook his head.

“Smoke, come on. It won’t be like it was last time.”

“You can’t promise that for yourself, much less me.” Smoke paused at the door.

Jace’s heart was split in three now. A piece for himself. Mia left with one piece, and Smoke was about to take the third.

“Let me know when you get your head out of your ass.”

“Let me know when you get over your fear,” Jace snapped.

Smoke left.

“It was supposed to be the best day of my life,” Jace said out loud, the sound bouncing back.

Jace’s condo had never felt so empty.

Mia hadn’t cried so much in years.

She curled up on her couch and cried until her head hurt and her eyes burned. Then she ate some ice cream and cried some more. Tikka tried to cheer her up by sitting on her face, and forcing her to throw shiny toy balls, but nothing could stop the gnawing pain inside her.

Mia considered laying all her cards on the table. Explaining to Jace in slow terms so his thick skull would understand, that she didn’t want to trade one master for another. As soon as the dragon clan discovered the magic she could do, she would be the same situation.

Only this time, the leverage would be Jace and Smoke. She couldn’t live like that, couldn’t turn her lovers into pawns. It was better to stay with her family and try to find her own way to break free than take her chances.

Jace had been so sure being part of a clan was a good idea. She wanted to tell him everything.

But she couldn’t do it. He was already so sure, so certain that his way was the best. Either he would hand wave her concerns away, or worse, recoil in horror.

They might still have a way of talking through things, that communication Jace was so found of mentioning, but the look on his face when he told her to get out was final.

Mia washed her face. Anger started to replace her sorrow. How dare he? How dare he convince her he had nothing but the best of intentions, and then push her away the second she didn’t go along with his plans?

Someone knocked on her door.

Dear Circe, let it be Jace and Smoke, there to apologize. She would tell them everything, so they would understand she wasn’t getting out of her family without something ironclad.

It was just Smoke.

Mia stepped aside. She reached out to touch him, but he flinched. Mia let her hand drop.

Smoke wandered over to her window.

Mia sat on her couch, and wrapped her blanket around herself.

Silence stretched out between them until it was a frozen block of ice she didn’t know how to melt. Jace had taken all the warmth with him.

“I didn’t know he wanted back into his clan.” She started.

“Me either.” The words were heavy. Smoke stared out her window. His profile was beautiful, the lines of his face sharp enough to cut herself on.

There was another long silence. They would have to muddle through somehow, even though it felt like she was missing half her heart.

“You can stay with me for as long as you want,” Mia said quietly.

---