Page 78 of Her Dragon Daddy Disaster
What about Jakub?
I bared my teeth at Malakai. If he had hurt my son …
“Ahh, the fire still burns in him. Well done.” He sniffed. “You almost made it. A little quieter and you might have evaded my notice. As I told you on the roof, however, I plan for all situations. You should know that.”
“I guess I don’t make a habit of planning for betrayal by my best friend,” I spat, trying to mask the genuine hurt his actions had wrought. In some ways, it was worse than the physical pain.
“Oh! The irony! It bites so deep.” Malakai shook his head, stabbing a finger at me. “Youstarted this, dear friend.Youbetrayed us first.”
“How?” I snapped, climbing to my feet. A wave of nausea and dizziness swept over me, but I powered through it, my anger burning high and bright like a pillar of flame, banishing anything else. “I did no such thing!”
“You did, too!” Malakai shrieked, pointing to his left at something I couldn’t see. “You betrayed everything we stood for when you brought her back here! Then you had the gall to go reproduce with the human? How do you let yourself go?”
I shook my head. “Malakai, Malakai. Our mission, our purpose, it never had anything to do with humans. It was about bringing down the sovereign.”
“And I will do that!” he shouted angrily. “With or without my best friend, who seems to have found better things to do with his time.”
“Listen to yourself,” I whispered.
“I hear myself plain and clear. And everyone else will, too, once I have the throne.”
“Once you have the throne?” I slammed my hands against the wars. “Onceyouhave the throne? Our entire purpose was to abolish that, Malakai! To see it brought down so someone might beelectedto lead the dragons. Someone who served the will of everyone. That was what we were fighting for!”
Malakai tossed his head, his pleated braid of hair flying wildly behind him. “You don’t know shit. I’ll show them what arealleader does and how they work for the betterment of all our people. And I’ll start by removing all humans from among us.”
I just stared at him, seeing the anger and desire for power twist his face into that of someone unrecognizable.
“How long have you been planning this?” I asked. “How long have you been lying to me, Malakai? Using me to help you achieve this end?”
Malakai laughed. It was harsh and grating and all the answer I needed.
I slowly retreated to the far side of the cell, my hands reaching out for the solid rock that formed the wall. The steady unyieldingness of the rock was sorely needed in that moment as everything crashed down painfully around me.
How long had I been blind to it all? How long had I ignored what was going on and let myself be used by Malakai? By Lydia? Had that truly been his goal from the start?
When had I lost my best friend?
Another question sank its blade even deeper.Had I ever really had one?
Everything between Lydia and me sprang to the forefront of my mind. She must have known from the start that Malakai was her mate and not me. Yet for several years, she’d strung me along. Making me think we had a chance. That she might pick me.
The pain in my head redoubled, and I sank to the floor once again as the reality of it all crashed in over me. My breath quickened. I was losing control.
From beyond the cell, Malakai exhaled through his nose loudly. “I have to go. We’re taking the palace tonight. I’ve managed to arrange a special surprise for the sovereign, even without your help. No matter what, today will be her last day on that particular throne.”
An evil smile spread across his face. I stared at it, trying to find the person I’d thought I’d known, buried somewhere deep within him, trapped.
But all I saw was darkness. Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing loudly on the stone floor.
“Levi?”
I hunched over my knees, lost in my own self.
“Levi?” A hand appeared from around the corner at the front of my cell. Fingers waggled. “Can you see my hand?”
“I see you,” I said numbly, crawling across the damp floor and grabbing on to the only thing. “I feel you.”
“Oh, Levi!”
