Page 115 of Ash

Dani glanced at him. Hadn’t he just come from the Dragon homeland? But she guessed he and Tyrez might have missed each other.

Cara’s eyes slid to Dani, and then back to Jacques. “He needed to stretch his wings.”

The Satyr didn’t miss much. He also glanced at Dani, and his brows dropped.

There were undercurrents to the whole exchange that only served to tighten the knot forming inside Dani, and the rattling door was now a constant barrage of noise in her mind. Rubbing her temple, she gazed after the Watcher as Cara vanished up the path toward the house. Sparkle chirped and followed her, no doubt in search of kumquats.

Jacques sat down on the bench. At first he snugged close to her, but when she shot him a look, he slid away.

“Tyrez was here up until about twenty minutes ago. You just missed him.” Dani hesitated, but something in the Satyr’s dark gaze tipped her uneasiness into outright worry. Something was wrong, and it revolved around Tyrez. It galvanized her to forge onward. “I had a fight with him.”

The Satyr’s brows rose. “Oh?”

It wasn’t any of his business, of course. But Dani felt compelled to tell someone, and she had a feeling Cara wouldn’t be happy with her about it. “When I woke up... I remembered he’d bit me, and I was angry.” She looked away.

“I . . . I see.” Jacques gazed off toward a rose bush . “I can understand how that would be upsetting to you.”

Dani pulled her legs up on the edge of the bench and folded her arms around them. “When Rindek turned me into a Dire—well, I swore no one would have that kind of power over me again.” She was pleased at how steady her voice remained, and although her heart constricted, it didn’t start to flutter. But the door cracked open, and through the fog of half-conscious memories, she once again felt Tyrez’s lips on her wrist, the teeth biting down . . .

Her wrist ached, and she rubbed at it as she shoved the memories back again. But Jacques hadn’t responded, and Dani frowned at him. Jacques was a twitchy type, but his reticence echoed through her. “Cara wouldn’t tell me where Tyrez went.”

Jacques refused to meet her eyes. That was strange enough that it fed into Dani’s angst. She started to tremble again, and suddenly, she needed to know, very badly, just where the big Dragon shifter was. “Do you know where he would have gone?”

The Satyr gazed at the flowers, at the sky, anywhere but at her. To the extent that her desperation for an answer drove her to reach out, and lay a hand on his arm.

“Jacques,” she asked. “Do you think Tyrez went home?”

A shudder passed through the Satyr. She pulled her hand away, and he grimaced, before he said, “Mon chéri, he no longer has a home.”

The door began to bang, now, as though something huge hammered on the other side of it. Dani folded her arms around her aching gut. “What do you mean?”

Jacques shook his head. “He will kill me for telling you.”

“Tyrez won’t kill you.” Her denial was automatic. “You are his friend.”

The Satyr’s eyes widened. “No one has ever told me that.”

“Jacques, please. What has happened to the Dragons?”

He sighed. “Nothing has happened to the Dragons. Tyrez is simply no longer welcome among them. He has been exiled.”

“What?” Her heart was thudding so hard, she thought it might break. Tyrez was aprince. How could a prince be thrown out of his empire? “What happened? Why has he been exiled?” But she had a sinking feeling... and as the hinges bent on her mental door, she pushed back on it with a sense of desperation.

No. She didn’t want to know what was on the other side. “Tyrez—” Jacques began.

“Tyrez has negotiated a deal to keep you alive.” The deep voice came from down one of the paths—both Dani and Jacques jumped. Razir appeared in human form. His gaze focused on Dani. “We need your help to trap Rindek.”

Mention of Rindek, so close to the shock about Tyrez’s exile, converted Dani’s angst to instant rage. She rose to her feet, so suddenly she almost fell. “What have you done? How could you exile your ownbrother?”

Razir frowned at her. “I had nothing to do with it. And our father had no choice.”

“There is always a choice!” Her legs wobbled, and Jacques guided her back to the bench. When she glanced at his hand on her arm, he removed it.

Razir watched the process with unusual focus, as though evaluating her health—which he likely was, considering that they had plans for her.

She shook like a leaf in a gale. Razir had plans touseher. And why had Tyrez been forced to negotiate for her life? Was that why he’d been exiled? His father hadn’t wanted her around, but to want her dead?

“You cannot have one set of rules for the majority, and then waive them for your own family,” the Dragon shifter said. “My father is furious, but he had little choice but to exile Tyrez. My brother knew, and accepted, the price for what he did.”

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