Page 34 of Dallas

“You know, then.”

“I suppose so.”

I waited for more. A scream, a laugh, a gasp of horror. When I received none of those things, I ventured, “Does it shock you?”

“Yes, somewhat. I cannot lie. But it is the way it is, and there isn’t anything any of us can do about it.”

My eyes widened. “You mean that?”

“Yes, I do. I know it. The certainty—it’s alarming, almost. There is no room for negotiation, or for second thoughts. When a dragon and his mate are meant to be…” She shrugged.

Alarming. A good word for it. I was most certainly alarmed. Surprised and overwhelmed and questioning everything. What did this make me? Who was I if this was true?

“Who are you?” Callie asked with a wry smile. “The same person you have always been.”

“Not fair,” I whispered, nudging her. “Reading my mind.”

“I can’t help it. Everything you’re thinking is right there, on the surface. Like having a book fall open before me. Am I not supposed to read?”

I laughed and rejoiced in the laughter because it meant she was well. When I stretched out beside her, lying on my side, she shifted to her side so we might lie face-to-face. Just as we had when we were little girls, sharing secrets past our bedtime.

“I’m so tired,” I confessed, blinking slowly.

“I suppose you never slept.” I shook my head. “You ought to now.”

“Not while he is out there. You were right, of course. I lied when I said he went to the car. He never told me where he was going. I upset him, and he stalked off, into the woods.”

“He can take care of himself. Perhaps better than we can, at the moment.”

“You feel it, too? Your powers have weakened?”

She frowned, then blew a sharp exhalation through her nose. As she always did when something left her fit to be tied. Yes, she was still herself. I knew not what I’d expected.

“It’s this place,” I decided. “Perhaps there’s a reason why this mountain was chosen for the clan to live on. Perhaps magic doesn’t work here for some reason. For their protection?”

“Regardless, it’s got me terribly frustrated. We could reach the peak so easily.”

“I know. I know. I’ve thought about that, and it’s already driven me half mad. The feeling of sitting on my hands, being unable to do anything to help us.” I couldn’t even keep Dallas from leaving. I deserved to have him turn his back on me.

Callie took my hand. “Do you love him?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I laughed, but my laughter turned into a bitter, tearless sob. “I simply do not know. I cannot love him. Can I? I don’t even like him.”

She giggled. “I think you like him more than you’re willing to let on. Even to yourself. Why not allow yourself to be honest now? You have nothing to lose.”

That was easy for her to say. I had everything to lose. No less than everything. My heart. My place in the coven. My family. My sense of self.

Her hand tightened around mine. “I know what you think, but I doubt it would be as bad as that.”

“She banished Demeter.”

“It was a long time ago. I believe she has come around. I believe she deeply regrets acting as she did.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“Then I suppose we’re both in trouble, as I drank the blood of a dragon. How much less would she think of me?”

“You had to heal.”

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