Page 2 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
“Don't look so glum,” Finn said, eying me closely. “You know, you never seem like you're looking forward to going home. Aren't you excited to be seeing your family again?”
If only I was seeing my family... I suppressed a sigh. “Of course I am. I'm just... I don't like traveling much, you know? Planes and all that.”
“Planes are the worst,” Finn agreed, taking the bowl out of the microwave again and scooping the contents--beef stew--on two plates for us.
He didn't dig deeper into why I wasn't looking forward to the next day, and I was glad for that. There were only so many excuses I could come up with.
His mother's cooking was delicious as always, but I couldn't just let myself sit back and enjoy the food. After all, I still had a job to do.
After a few bites of my meal, I excused myself to use the bathroom. Finn stayed behind in the kitchen as I stepped out into the empty hallway. At this time of night, all of the staff his family employed had either returned home or to their quarters. Roaming the house unnoticed was almost too easy, really. Especially since I'd spent so much time here that I knew where everything was.
Only because this family offered so much hospitality to you.
Guilt weighing heavily on my mind, I entered the master bedroom. The object I was supposed to steal tonight was a part of Mrs. Fireclaws's jewelry collection. A pendant with a blue gemstone that was said to have healing properties. I'd seen her wear it only once, and so I hoped she'd left it behind tonight.
I was in luck and found what I was searching for within a minute of stepping into the room. The pretty piece of jewelry seemed to burn in my pocket as I slipped it inside.
You shouldn't be doing this, coward.
The voice inside of my head was entirely right, of course, but what choice did I have? I could either do this or visit my asshole of a boyfriend empty-handed—and that would not end well for me.
Before returning to Finn, I splashed some water on my face as if I could wash away my guilty conscience. Not that he'd ever suspect I'd done anything wrong. No, Finn believed in the good of people.
And that only made it all so much worse.
* * *
Ileftfor the airport very early the next morning. Apparently, though, not early enough to deter Finn from stopping by to catch me before I could board.
“Ryan! Wait!” he shouted out to me.
I turned around, surprised to see him. “Finn. What are you doing here?”
He grinned and held a lunch box out to me. “My mom thought you should have this in case you get hungry on the plane. There isn’t anything in it that you can’t take onboard.”
I stared at the lunch box, wondering why the hell I had to be stealing from the nicest dragons on all the island.
“That's really...” I wanted to decline the lunch, but realized that it was pointless. Finn's mom had already prepared it, and Finn had come all the way to deliver it. “Thank you,” I said eventually, taking the box from my friend. “Tell your mom thanks too.”
Finn reached out to ruffle my hair playfully. “Just be sure to come back in one piece, okay?” He said it in a cheerful tone of voice, but the look in his eyes added a certain edge to his words.
“I'll be fine.”
One time, just one time, a few months ago, I'd returned from a trip with a black eye that just hadn't gone away in time. I'd told Finn that I'd run into a door. He hadn't really believed it. I probably wouldn't have, either.
But the less he knew about where I got my bruises the better.
“Promise,” Finn said, an oddly serious expression on his face and I got the feeling he was about to come along with me just to make sure I was going to be fine if I didn't reassure him somehow.
“I promise. Seriously, Finn, I'm only visiting my family. If you want, I'll write you a postcard.”
“A postcard, really?” He seemed to ponder this. “No,” he decided then. “I'm going to call you tonight.” His lips tugged up even as he spoke. “And tomorrow night. And then you can tell me whether you ran into anymore doors.”
I sighed. “I'm not that clumsy. It happened one time, okay? Don't make a big deal of it.”
“Okay. Can I still call you?”
I gave him a small smile. “Okay. Call me.”
Bad idea. Very bad idea. But I couldn't help myself. I wanted him to call me, damn it.
“Cool.” His smile grew. “Then I'll talk to you tonight.”
I nodded, told him goodbye, and went to my gate.
At least now I had one thing on this trip to look forward to.
