Page 21 of Rejected By Dragons

"Are you okay?" I ask.

A raw echo of a laugh colors his tone. "No. No, I'm not okay, Ember. I am the farthest possible thing from okay."

My stomach lurches. I cast about in my mind--and then I remember. "Is this about your sister?"

"Yes. No--It's..." His eyes squeeze shut for a second. When he blinks them open again, they're shining and red, but his jaw is hard. "I can't do it. I want to be strong enough, but I'm not. I can't--"

"What?" He's not making any sense. I've never seen him like this. "Storm..."

"I can't protect the people I love." His throat bobs, and mine goes tight.

Love.

I can't get my hopes up. After all this time... After the way he stood idly by while his brother and Jasmine taunted me... After his silence of the past two weeks. I can't expect that this is some kind of declaration.

"I tried," he promises. "I tried to keep her safe, and I failed."

There goes my stomach, plummeting toward the floor again. "Aria."

"Back, before. When the walls fell and my mother died, and Aria's illness got worse. I tried to keep her here and close, but we were all reeling."

My heart clenches. These are the secrets I always wanted him to share with me. The pain I knew dwelled in his heart but that he never showed.

Now here it is, and his finally opening up to me doesn't feel like a victory. It feels like he's been torn open. Like he's still bleeding and savaged, and I'm just here. Peering into the open wound.

"I said something stupid, pushed back against one of Dad's bullshit decrees, and he sent me away. When I got back..." He's choking on the words. "She was gone."

I drop the tissue and put my hand to his face. His unshaved stubble scrapes my palm. "You were a child."

"So was she." He clears his throat and blinks a couple of times. When he looks to me again, he's calmer. "And now she's back, and our father has this plan, and..."

"Plan?"

"I can't." He shakes his head. "I'm trying to keep her safe, but it feels like I'm driving without any brakes, and I can't-- I can't lose her again. I can't let him..."

"Storm, it's okay." Is it? I haven't the faintest clue what the hell he's talking about. But I assure him all the same, "You'll figure it out."

"I have to," he says, and the pain in his voice cuts me through. His grip on my wrist tightens. "Ember..."

I'm breathless. "Yes?"

"I can't lose you, too."

Anger and loss and pain swirl in his eyes. My heart clenches painfully.

"Storm..."

"You could be happy here. We could be happy here."

He might as well have slapped me in the face.

I jerk back. He loosens his grip, but only by a fraction. "Happy? Storm--Do you have any idea how miserable I am?"

"I know, I know. But we could find a way to make it better. I'll talk to Fury and Jasmine--"

"I'm a dragon." My throat grates. Fire burns deep inside my chest. I feel the edges of talons and scales scraping against my insides.

Maybe he sees the flickers of flames in my gaze. He lets go, but I don't move to put any more distance between us.

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