Page 125 of Deadwood
But rather than a polite goodbye or sticking around to make sure she was alright, I managed to grit out, “I want names.”
And left.
* * *
The ground shookas Vulcan landed, his talons digging into the soaked earth.
“You knew,” I spit at him.
“You have hurt her on top of it,” Vulcan replied, knowing exactly what I was getting at. He could feel her emotions from inside the house and most likely came to the conclusion I’d left her due to them. But it wasn’t because of the scars. It was because I wanted to rip the world apart, and I couldn’t feel that way. Not when it came to her.
It was unfortunate dragons could sense the emotions of those who were vulnerable, whether fae or human, for it gave us the underhand when they decided to use it to their advantage.
I stepped forward, not giving a shit about our size difference. We could both kill each other where we stood, and yet, I felt no fear in front of him. “I’m doing what’s best for her.”
A flash of white flew past us before giant wings folded in on the snow dragon’s massive body, her landing almost causing me to lose my balance. “Staying away from every being on this planet is what is best for the girl.”
Glacies had something coming to her if she thought taking Auria away would benefit her. “You try to take her, and I’ll?—”
But my voice was cut off as she snapped vicious teeth at me, the razor sharp fangs dripping with bloodied saliva, indicating she’d likely been hunting before coming here. Before she could come any further, Vulcan let out an ear-splitting roar, and Glacies swiped her tail at him, knocking it into his neck. The two of them never got along, but when it came to Auria, Glacies was protective for reasons I didn’t know. She had been the one who saved Auria when the bandits had attacked.
With blazing red eyes aimed at Glacies, who growled deep in her throat, Vulcan said, “She will not take the burned one.”
“Call her that one more time,” I warned.
“Do not be so sure,” Glacies gritted out, ignoring my threat toward Vulcan.
Vulcan stepped forward, his footfall as loud as the thunder that pelted the sky. “She is too valuable.”
The rain had slowed, but the night was dark, the rings dimmer through the lingering clouds.
“For all the wrong reasons,” Glacies hissed, her eyes glowing a bright blue as her ice threatened to release itself all over Vulcan.
As if called to the presence of power, smoke curled around my arms, nipping at my skin like a rabid dog wanting to attack. I was surprised it had stayed silent as I spoke. “Stop speaking of her like I won’t end either of you where you stand.”
Glacies swung her head my way, her large nostrils flaring as ice crystals formed in the air. She had a temper, and it was showing. “You defend her, yet you could just as easily use her like she is nothing.”
“I would never use her.” I, more than anyone, did not want to see Auria have to make a choice between her life and our mission.
“He is not thinking with his brain,” Vulcan sneered, shooting me a judgmental look.
“I won’t do it.” Bringing Auria into this would mean risking her life, and by the scars on her back, there was already someone in that castle who didn’t care whether she lived or died. I wouldn’t be the reason for another crater in her skin. “We can find it on our own.”
“Years, and you are still coming up blank,” Vulcan’s voice boomed through the meadow. “How long until the corrupt king finds out? Until he not only attempts to decimate faekind again, but us in the process.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Vulcan’s face was in mine in an instant, heat radiating off his breath as it turned to steam. “You are a single fae. You do notletanything happen.Ithappens.”
Glacies watched both of us with an intense stare. If she assumed there had been a shift in my loyalties, she didn’t speak of it.
“I do what I can for my kind, as well as yours. I don’t see you snooping around castles you have no business being in.” They had no hope if it wasn’t for me. After the dragons had wiped out the fae—so the humans believed—they were left to their own devices, so long as they didn’t come near the human kingdoms. If they did, they were shot down, killed on sight. The humans saw them as simply an unlikely ally, but they didn’t ever stop to think that dragons might have ulterior motives of their own.
Vulcan huffed, the burst of air warming my arms. “I could torch them where they stand.”
“Yet you don’t. Why is that?” I knew exactly why, but I wanted to hear his over-confident self say it. Dragons hated admitting their weaknesses, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to encourage them to do so, but Vulcan would never harm me. He’d just threaten roasting me like a kabob until the day he died—which would likely be never.
Glacies chortled to the side, her breath coming out in little puffs of white. “You are a cruel one, even for a fae.”
