Page 44 of Born in Fire

He purses his lips, sinking deeper into the leather. “I can’t be everywhere at once, Dorian. And I can’t make everyone happy all of the time.”

“Yeah. But can you makeyourselfhappyanyof the time?” I lift an eyebrow.

“There are more important things to worry about than my happiness, dammit.”

“There’s nothing more important than your happiness. It’s how we thrive.” It’s not just a platitude—it’s dragon biology. Ourkind doesn’t do well with prolonged misery. It affects our health, our power, our very essence.

“It’s howyouthrive,” he retorts. “I’m doing just fine the way I am.”

I lift my foot onto the edge of his pristine glass coffee table, knowing it’ll annoy him. “Are you, though? Because at the rate you’re going, we both know how things are going to end up. Dad—”

“Don’t fucking bring Dad into this!” he snaps. “What’s happening right now is completely unrelated. I just need time to figure it out.”

He exhales heavily, and for a moment, he looks exactly like our father in those last days—overworked, overwhelmed, heading toward a breaking point that would leave him slumped over his desk with a heart that gave out from the strain. Or maybe it was heartbreak. Dad never loved again after he lost his mate. Dragons never do.

“Time is a luxury you don’t have right now,” I remind him. “Elena just walked into a room with our most treasured possessions. God knows what else she saw in there, but the Heartstone was enough.”

“For fuck’s sake, Dorian, can you pick a line?” His frustration erupts. “One minute, you’re shitting on me about not keeping my eye on the ball; the next, you’re telling me to get a life.”

“Can’t you do both?”

He scoffs. “You really have no idea, do you?”

His phone buzzes on the table. I watch his expression darken as he reads the message, then types a quick response. Something’s wrong—more wrong than before.

“What is it?” I ask, sitting up straighter.

“Security feedback. No signs of an intrusion on any of the systems. Malakai was in before midnight, but aside from that, nothing.”

I blink, surprise momentarily overriding my irritation. “I don’t get it. Do you think there’s a bug in the system?”

“If there was, it was only for her. Those checkpoints are serviced weekly. And I had no trouble getting in. Neither did Malakai. Both of us show up on the access feeds.”

This doesn’t make sense. Our security system is impenetrable—biometrics, retinal scans, voice recognition. How could Elena slip past all of that?

Caleb stands abruptly, prowling across the room and staring into space. I watch him, recognizing the tension in his shoulders, the slight tremor in his hands. Something’s shifted in him since yesterday. The Elena woman has gotten under his skin in a way I haven’t seen before.

Suddenly, he turns, grabbing his coat. “I need to go.”

I’m on my feet immediately. “Where?”

“To see Elena,” he says, voice tight. “And then to put an end to this.”

My instincts flare. “What exactly does that mean, Caleb?”

He pauses at the door. “It means I need answers. Real ones, not half-truths and riddles. Malakai knows something about her—something he was willing to betray the clan to protect.”

“And you think she’ll just tell you? After you rescued her from a psychotic seven-hundred-year-old dragon? She’s probably halfway to Canada by now.”

A strange expression flickers across his face—something almost… possessive. “She’s not running.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am.” He opens the door. “Don’t wait up.”

“Caleb—” I start, but he’s already gone, the door closing behind him with finality.

I stand in the center of his pristine penthouse, frustration churning in my gut. Once again, I’m left holding pieces of apuzzle while Caleb races off to play hero. The responsible one, the leader, the decision-maker.

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