Page 69 of Firedrake Betrayal
Are you sure about that?
“Yes, I am,” I say quietly. “He hurt me, so I don’t care.”
Months from now, something big will change. Maybe my biggest change ever.
I move closer to the mirror, lifting my fingers to graze my flat belly.
A baby.
I thought getting out of the compound meant the end of Atticus Chira’s crazy obsession with all things dragon. Instead, it’s turned into the beginning of something new.
A new life.
I hadn’t thought this might be something I would want, but I think I do. At no point have I considerednothaving this baby. No one has brought it up, so it must be a thought I’m projecting? Is that even possible?
And is it strange to be so protective of someone who isn’t here yet?
I turn so I’m standing sideways, swiveling my head to keep my eyes on my still-flat belly.
What will happen when I start to show?
Will hormones make me want to forgive Dominik for his betrayal?
Can I protect my child?
As if the thought triggers it, a thin, wispy blue ribbon circles my right wrist.
Spirit.
At least, I think it’s the element Dominik called spirit. If he has the same ability, I’ve never seen it, though maybe that’s just another thing Dominik is keeping from me.
“He’s probably hiding it until the first opportunity he can use it to grab me and abduct me again,” I mutter.
I’d thought I’d gotten used to secrets and lies, but I think they’re making me cynical and slightly bitter.
I’m twisting my wrist one way and then the next when someone bangs on the door.
I jump and scramble to grab my dropped towel. “Give me a?—”
The door swings open and Patten stands filling the doorway. “I thought you might be upset,” he says, his hungry midnight-blue eyes focused between my thighs.
“I’m not upset.” Maybe that’s not entirely accurate.
“Right,” he says, not moving.
I’m not doing much moving either, my hand stretched toward my towel and completely naked.
His eyes take an eternity to traverse every inch of me.
I do nothing but stand there and let him look his fill.
And then he steps inside the bathroom, his eyes find mine, and he firmly pushes the door closed and locks it.
“Patten?” My mouth is dry.
He stalks toward me. “The towel. Drop it.”
My fingers must have a mind of their own, or Patten has some ability he never told me about.
