Page 36 of Love Fire

Don’t panic. It’s not the first time she sneaks out. It’s fucking annoying but there’s no need to panic.

What if something happened again? Last time she ran out because she saw something out the window. She thought her father’s goons finally caught her.

No, no. There’s miles of forest that separates us from her father. The estate is hidden well enough to even deter other dragons. There’s no way humans can sniff out this place.

What if I’m wrong? What if her father’s power goes beyond Draconis? Then what do I do?

I smack my cheeks to concentrate. These thoughts aren’t mine. I’m just a little sensitive now that I’ve acknowledged my feelings for her. She must be hiding somewhere.

A light bulb lights in my head. She must be in the basement. It’s become her favorite hiding place. She must’ve had a nightmare.

Without another second to lose, I head down the basement. I laugh at myself at how worried I was. I guess our senses are heightened in other ways. I’ll have to keep myself in check for that.

Quietly, I open the basement door. I’ll give her a nice spook for leaving me in the middle of the night. Carefully, I go down the steps, trying not to make the wood creak.

I stop halfway down. I hear more than one voice talking. It’s not Nate’s voice.

My heart stops. My feet freeze in place. There’s many explanations for this, none of them being good.

Erin’s not in the basement, meaning she’s somewhere else. Possibly the forest again. Where she’s vulnerable. It would also mean I have infiltrators in my home.

Another possibility is that she’s sneaking around with Alessandro. I haven’t heard his voice yet to confirm, so I can’t just go in to kill him. That only leaves the other mysterious voice I don’t recognize.

I listen in further. Then I hear the other voice. To my brief relief, it’s not my cousin fucking my woman in secret.

That’s no longer important right now.

The stranger talks with a gruff voice. Along with their mumbling, it makes it difficult to make out what they’re saying exactly. I take three more steps to get closer.

“…the Draconis Fire agent,” I hear one of them say, with a little too much disgust.

The other responds in the same tone. “…the trafficking you’re supposed to be doing.”

“You know it’s your father’s wishes.”

I make a fist, digging my nails into my palm. With my strength, I puncture myself, and now my hands are full of blood.

They can’t be talking about Erin. I can’t wrap my head around it. But who else would they refer to?

My heart sinks to the pits of hell. She’s been playing with me this whole time. All her kisses and embraces meant…nothing?

Everything felt genuine, though. She couldn’t be so heartless to make me feel this way just to stop it on the ground. Her tears couldn’t be fake.

After hearing this, how can I be sure? Maybe it’s been her working on the inside against me.

32

ERIN

These past few days have been amazing. The happiest I ever felt since…ever. I really thought myself untouchable. Falling in love is a hell of a drug.

It blinded me from responsibility.

“You’re starting to piss me off,” Hank says.

At midnight, I’m on my knees, begging and crying. As if I’m a little girl again. It’s been many years since Hank’s given me a “scolding”. I have scars on my knees from how many times and hours I’ve received it.

“Hank, please, I need more time—”

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