Page 42 of Dragon Bodyguard
If he even mentioned that her inner dragon, and the now revealed truth of its powers might have something to do with her father’s scheming, he had a feeling she might lose it. He wasn’t entirely sure what the unity she was experiencing meant for her. He’d never seen a shiftless connect with their inner shifter. It was very possible that it might go to her head, that there was a need for balancing her inner duality out somehow. He just had no idea where to even begin. If their circumstances hadn’t been so dire, he would have taken her to a shaman to ask for guidance.
What he did know, though, was that whatever her father had done to her, she would never forgive herself if she hurt him.
“What does it mean?” she asked. “A blue dragon?”
“I don’t know,” he lied. “But… you’re a rarity,” he added, unable to think of anything else to say, giving her a smile that thankfully made her mirror it.
Then it faltered, her expression growing solemn.
“He knew,” she said.
“Kristina.”
“No, he did, didn’t he? He knew I was this… It’s why…” Her eyes rounded. “That’s why? Isn’t it? Oh, my God, that’s why he kept us apart! What the hell does he want with me? Do you still think he’s promised me to the Volkovs?”
“I don’t know,” he repeated. “Let’s get back to the house. Find Dmitri. All right? Have a sit-down.” She scoffed, irises flaring with golden fire. “Hey,” he said sharply. “I’m just looking out for you here. If you go berserk, they’ll burn you with dragon fire, just like they did with the last upstart on these grounds. Do you understand? We don’t know anything yet. We have no proof of anything.”
“And when we get there?”
“We need to get to Byron,” Misha said. “We need to make sure he’s ready to bear witness against your father.”
“He won’t,” she shook her head.
“He might,” Misha said. “If we can persuade him.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
Misha paused, eyeing her, then replied, “By appealing to his honor.”
“You and your honor.”
“He’ll listen,” Misha said. “I know he will. He was acting on orders—doesn’t mean he agreed with them. Let’s test where his loyalties truly lie. Ilya is breaking the blood bond, doing this to you. There is no greater crime than that.”
She grew quiet at that, knowing he was right.
If they could get Byron to bear witness, then Dmitri would have to listen. And Dmitri had the power to oust his uncle, to denounce his actions, to punish them. It would ensure that whatever Ilya was planning was stopped dead in its tracks.
“Okay,” she said. “How do we get to Byron?”
Misha reached out his hand to her and when she took it, he said, “Sneakily.”
Chapter 14 - Kristina
His hand was still warm from the flight, and she smiled at the implications of the word he’d just spoken. So, they were on a covert mission to get to the one person who might actually give her some proper answers to what was going on.
Also, she had just flown.
No.
She hadsoared.
Her inner dragon responded to the thought with a tender purr that reverberated through her bones. Through it she found herself reaching a level of happiness that she’d never experienced before. The sense of acceptance and love was immense.
It’s me, she realized.It’s my acceptance and my love.
It had been there since she was born, but now she knew why she hadn’t been able to connect with it. Because she’d never been told she was worthy of it, had never been made to feel loved without it. So, she’d blocked herself off from it. Until Misha’s acceptance and love had begun to open the door to it. And that door had been slammed shut again by the person who was meant to look out for her and care for her more than any other man or dragon in the world.
Her father was a monster.
