Page 58 of Prince of Tides
I struggled for a reply that would encompass everything that had just happened.
“Maybe this was too soon,” Rip said, speaking to Eb. “Maybe she should go home.”
The older dragon grunted. It sounded like an “I told you so” to my ears, though I really didn’t trust any of my senses just then.
My eyes flicked to Rip as the window started to roll up. I wished they hadn’t. The hurt on his face was like a knife stabbing my insides. It cut deep, an ache that almost had me kneeling over in pain.
I wanted to say I was sorry. To tell him that he didn’t need to be sad, that everything would be okay. That I hadn’t meant anything by it. To tell him anything that would replace that look of dejection that simply did not belong on Rip’s face.
Instead, I sat still, facing forward, not saying a word. I couldn’t get over it.
“Very well,” Eb said, starting the vehicle into a U-turn. “Let’s get you home then, Miss.”
I could only nod. My mind was racing.
How did they expect me to react to something like this? It’s unbelievable. It goes against, well, everything. Was it even real, or perhaps a magic trick, some sort of sleight of, well, not hand, but deceit or trickery to make it look real? I don’t know. It had looked plenty real, though. Did they just expect me to take it in stride like it was no big deal? It’s not like this is a normal, everyday thing, people changing into dragons!
Except, to them, perhaps itwas. Still, there was no need to do it so abruptly, at night, in the middle of a snowstorm. As Rip had said at the end, it was too soon. I needed more of a workup to something like that.
“Why did he show me this?” I asked suddenly. “Why here? Why now?”
Eb was silent for a moment as he finished turning the car around. “Because he wanted you to know the truth about him. And perhaps accompany him.”
“Accompany him where?”
“To our home,” Eb said somberly. “To respond to the goings-on there. That is why he must go.”
“There really was an emergency?”
“Our homeland was attacked. He must defend it,” Eb explained. “Without him there to stop it, some of our defenses have fallen. Rip’s presence will ensure more don’t die.”
I frowned at this. “He’s going to fight?”
“Yes.”
I licked my lips. Rip would fight whoever was attacking. What if things went wrong? What if he didn’t come back? Would I ever have a chance to make things right?
“Stop the car,” I said abruptly, coming to a decision.
Eb slowed the vehicle. “Is everything okay, Miss?”
“No. Take me back.”
Eb glanced over his shoulder at me.
“Please,” I added. “Before he leaves.”
Eb grinned and gunned the SUV, whipping the wheel around and heading back up the driveway toward the house.
I just hoped I wasn’t too late and Rip wasn’t already gone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rip
Iwatched her go until the falling snow and darkness swallowed up the car, and all I could see were flakes.
“Damn.”
