Page 2 of Flirting with Death

"Say what you need to say," I sighed. My nails scraped against my scalp as I pulled them through my hair. It was loose, harder to grab that way.

"Can you slow down for a second? The streets are empty tonight," he said. "They've been basically empty since—"

"Good, maybe we killed them all." I didn't slow my stride. If anything, I probably got faster. When he spun me around to face him for the second time, I glared up at him and crossed my arms again.

He dropped his hand immediately and scratched the back of his neck. "I should have told you."

I huffed out a sarcastic laugh but said nothing. They all should have told me. It never should have been a secret to begin with. The brick wall at his back held my attention as I waited for him to add more. My heart pounded out an uneven rhythm in my ears, and it took everything in me not to walk away right then, hide my head in the sand again, and forget the betrayal that had happened.

"I didn't trust what you would do. I'm a dragon, Sammy."

Blinking, I took in his words. I didn't confirm or deny what he had feared; I had thought them minutes ago. I pressed my lips together as I brought my gaze back to his pleading one.

"I'm not only a dragon," he added when our eyes met.

"What does that mean?" My fingers ran over the seams of my shirt as I held myself, I wasn't sure I could face any more surprises.

"I'm also the last of the royals. I escaped to this world when they slaughtered my entire family. Nyx helped me."

"Lex's mom? The Goddess?" I asked. He nodded and surveyed the street behind me.

"She was there when they attacked. I was young, so I don't know why she was at our palace. I was playing with a friend at the time." He dragged his fingers through his hair and rubbed at his neck. "She coaxed me into the portal, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"That is why you keep warning me away from Lex. It isn't because he is a demi-god, it's because of who his mom is," I said.

He worked his jaw, the tendon jumping. "She's powerful. She might have saved me at the moment, but why? Gods and Goddesses don't do things on a whim. Nyx has plans for my future that I'm not privy to, and I'm only waiting for her to return and collect."

For a moment, I forgot I was mad at him. But his story didn't excuse the fact that he hid who he really was from me. It was something I was either going to need to let go and forget about, or truly forgive. Was there really a decision?

"Rai, none of that is a valid excuse for not telling me. I'm not going to lie, I'm really hurt by it and the fact that you couldn't trust me. I can't say you are forgiven, because that is going to take time. But I'm willing to try if you are."

"No more secrets or lies," he promised. He hesitated with his words, and it made me instantly feel like he was keeping something from me.

I pressed my lips together and turned away from him; it was hard to trust him, but even harder not to.

"I can't believe you were a dragon the whole time, and I was afraid you'd get hurt coming with me," I said. I looked at him for a moment before I laughed to myself. "No wonder my family didn't have a problem throwing you into danger."

"Yeah." He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave a halfhearted shrug.

"They should have told me." My hurt and disappointment was heavy on my shoulders, weighing me down.

"They left the decision up to me. Don't blame them, they were only protecting me," he said. His shoulders were stiff. The worry for my relationship with my family was clear in the set of his jaw.

I snorted. "Well then they must have forgotten I was their daughter while they were protecting you. Like I would just pull out my dagger and shove it into your chest because you aren't human? You can't defend what they did."

"Always the possibility," he replied, answering my question. "The old you might have."

When I kicked at a rock on the ground, he pivoted toward me. "What do you mean, the old me?"

"Sammy, it is no secret that things were always about good and evil for you. Evil was anything that was a demon, you didn't kill them if they weren't doing anything wrong, but The Order convinced you it was only a matter of time before they stepped out of line. If you had known, it would have changed the way you interacted with me." He paused, his voice breaking again. Clearing his throat, he caught my gaze and held it. "I didn't want that."

He really believed that, and it hurt my heart. I searched his eyes, wanting him to trust everything I was about to say. "Rai, I wouldn't have thought that. Not about you. I played hide and seek with you when we were kids. When I fell off my bike, you helped Ty fix my scraped knee. You beat up the guy that made fun of me in the sixth grade when I decided bangs were a good idea. You're more than a dragon, you're my personal hero, and you always will be. It hurts that you didn't trust me enough to tell me."

He blinked, nodding as he took a step back. Emotions warred on his face, and I wanted to bridge the canyon that was growing between us. I wanted my friend back. Yeah, he had hurt me with his omission and the thought that I would have harmed him, but he couldn't stop his feelings any more than I could stop mine. We might have to start back at the beginning, but I had faith we could fix us.

"Now, enough of this sappy shit. Either help me hunt or go home," I said as I started walking again. The sadness wanted to take over again and force me back into hiding, but I shrugged it off.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile as he fell into step next to me.

---