Page 18 of Rejected By Dragons

She's as beautiful as ever, with the same gray eyes and golden hair. Unlike the last time I saw her, her pale complexion has some color in it. Her cheeks aren't so hollow, the circles under her eyes so pronounced.

"Aria," I manage to force out.

Her gaze meets mine, and I flash back to when we were kids. When I'd sit by her bedside and read to her for hours. We'd tell each other stories about what our lives would be like someday.

Little did we know.

"Brother," she says. Her voice is deeper.

It's also strained.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I don't dare pull it out, but I glance at my watch to see the preview of the message.

Fury: You can't protect her.

I jerk my head up. Fury's seated at our father's right hand. He shifts his weight, placing his phone on the table beside him. Pretending he wasn't just texting me some bullshit warning under the table.

"Ah, Storm," our father says, either oblivious or indifferent. In the end, it doesn't really matter. He gestures at the empty seat beside my sister's. "Join us."

I grind my teeth so hard they hurt.

It's not like I have a lot of choice in the matter.

I don't have a lot of choice about anything, it seems.

Except one. Years ago, I failed to protect my sister. Since then, I've lived with the regret until it burned a hole in my chest.

Today? I don't care what my brother says. I don't care what it may cost me.

I won't allow myself to fail her again.

* * *

EMBER

"Helena! Helena, hold up."

I look over to find one of my aunt's friends calling out to us from across the festival fairgrounds.

I groan as Aunt Helena changes course immediately to join up with her. I pull at Brynn's hand, catching her eye and gesturing toward the funnel cake stand up ahead. But Brynn shakes her head, following her mom, which leaves me with little choice but to follow her, too. We grind to a halt some ten feet inside the gates, and I roll my eyes so hard I see the inside of my skull.

At my obvious impatience, Brynn chuckles and squeezes my hand. "Be nice."

I am being nice. Or at least I was, the first three times we got side-tracked.

As one, my aunt and her friend ask each other, "Have you heard?"

"Literally everyone's heard," I mutter under my breath. This time, Brynn jabs me with her elbow.

And okay, fine, maybe I'm being a little crankier than is necessary. Considering what everybody's gossiping about, though, I think I'm acting positively cheerful.

"Princess Aria," my aunt's friend whispers, her eyes wide.

Aunt Helena nods like a bobblehead. "Back here after all this time."

Yup. Nothing like finding out about what's going on in your gentleman caller's personal life than through your shrew of an aunt's rumor mill.

Is Storm even my gentleman caller anymore? Ever since that day at the boutique, I've been resisting the urge to reach out. He didn't have any choice that day. He couldn't step in and protect me without risking exposing our relationship. I didn't expect him to.

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