Page 73 of Prince of Storms
I cringed as Mia shied away. Ty frowned, and I made a tiny gesture for him to drop it. He shrugged, but his expression was already sobering.
“What is it?” I asked. “What happened?”
“We have a problem,” he said. “A big problem.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Mia
Ilooked back and forth between the two dragon men.
“Is this news?” I asked, confused. “It’s your sister. Isn’t it, Ty?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “It is. She came back while you were gone. Found me all but passed out in your room.”
“And she didn’t kill you?” I asked, a little suspicious.
Tor’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Let him explain,” he rumbled, not appreciative of my tone.
I fell silent, though I wasn’t entirely sure why I was even questioning what had happened. It wasn’t my fight, wasn’t my issue to deal with. It was between the dragons. They could figure it out. All I wanted was to go home and try to move on from this. To forget Tor.
As if you could do that. His hand is on your shoulder still, by the way, and you haven’t made any effort to get him to move it. You like how it feels.
Angrily, I told myself I was well aware that I knew I liked how it felt. That, in fact, was the problem! I didn’t want to risk letting myself get used to the feeling. Tor might be under some misguided delusion that we were fated to be together, but I couldn’t afford to let myself get entangled with him like that. I had to focus on my safety.
Besides, there was my father to think about. He’d just lost my mother. How would he react if I up and eloped with someone, leaving him alone? Not to mention that I wasn’t even considering doing it with a human, but with a dragon in human form! It was all too crazy and too much for me. I needed some normalcy in my life.
“She sent me a warning,” Ty said as I shifted out from under Tor’s arm.
“What sort of warning?”
“She assumed you would be dead,” he added. “But she said that if we didn’t announce her as the new Princess of Storms in three days' time, she would come after us all, one by one. Until there were none left to oppose her. It was her mercy, she called it.”
“So merciful,” I said, crossing my arms. “Well, at least you have an advantage, given she thinks Tor is dead. Maybe the two of you can use it to your advantage somehow.”
Ty glanced at Tor when I said “two.”
“Maybe,” Tor rumbled, ignoring the comment. “Three days, you said?”
Ty nodded.
“All right.”
I looked at him strangely. I didn’t want to get more involved, but the nonchalance was almost concerning. “All right? That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t seem concerned,” I said, wishing I could just keep my mouth shut and move on. I needed togo home.
Tor shrugged. “If she wants to give us three days to plot out how to deal with her, then she’s most welcome to it. I will make full use of that time and ensure she is dealt with properly and permanently. No mistakes.”
I shivered at the finality of his promise. He meant he was going to kill her. I knew that, but hearing the deadly undertone was not something I thought I could ever get used to. They weren’t humans, they were dragons, and I didn’t want to try to apply human law and morals to them, but he was still talking about killing his sister. That had to take a toll.
Do not go to him to console him. You can’t waver. Not now, not over this. Keep your distance.
“She must have a plan,” Ty said. “She’s strong, but not so strong that we couldn’t stop her if several of us tried. She must have something else up her sleeve.”
Tor nodded. “You’re probably right. Let me get Mia on her way. Then we’ll sit down and brainstorm just what sorts of things Rica will try to do.”
