28. Chapter 28
John stood on the stone ledge overlooking the valley.
He’d felt the need to escape the small cabin, but he couldn’t escape the thoughts crowding his brain.
Listening to the meeting between Sienna and Mia earlier had his nerves pulsing like static electricity.
Sienna hadn’t pulled any punches, which didn’t surprise him, but that didn’t lessen his concern for her.
Mia’s belief that Sienna would be at the center of breaking this curse had his protective instincts kicking in.
In the past nothing would have distracted him from his main goal.
But back then he hadn’t allowed himself to be close to anyone either.
Now when he thought of breaking the curse, instead of blurry images of future dragons he saved, he saw Bella and Lily’s shining faces as well as their aunt, who had taken up residence in his chest alongside his eerily quiet dragon of late.
It wasn’t like he heard from his dragon any longer other than some minor rumblings and grumblings in his chest. When he’d lost his full dragon form, he’d also lost the ability to talk to him.
Which made him truly alone in the world.
Not something he would wish on his worst enemy.
And yet, all the dragons alive now had never experienced their full dragon form or consciousness.
Which made him push even harder to save magic.
Something in the sky caught his eye, and he focused on it.
At first he thought it was just a guard making their rounds, but when she drew closer, her pale-yellow wings catching the currents, his heart sped up.
Sienna was beautiful on a normal day. But in the air?
Ethereal. Had his thoughts conjured her?
She landed next to him. “Would you like to fly with me?”
Dear God, more than anything in the world. “No.”
She furled her wings, and he almost told her to stop. “I thought I might find you here.”
“Why?” he asked, looking back out over the valley.
“Because this spot brings me peace, which is why I shared it with you.”
He glanced over at her. “I seem to remember you yelling at me in this exact spot. Telling me that I didn’t have to be alone, and then you said you weren’t going anywhere.”
She smirked. “Maybe.”
“That seems to be a pattern with you.”
She tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Hell. He hadn’t thought that through. “Well. Ryan told me how he first met you and you informed him he was your new best friend.”
Her eyes widened. “And how exactly did you get on that subject?”
He shrugged. “Just came up.” It just came up? He was a mess. It wasn’t like he could claim to be a witty conversationalist after centuries of being a recluse.
Sienna stared at him for a moment, and he waited for the inquisition to begin. Instead she turned to the valley and took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked, cursing himself when she tensed.
“I’m fine,” said every female in the history of the world to mean the opposite.
“The meeting with Mia was intense. Do you believe her about taking down the Templars?”
She hesitated for a moment. “She seemed pretty sincere to me. And I hope it’s true since she could be a powerful ally.”
“Possibly. But you need to be careful. She doesn’t seem stable.” He knew better than anyone what obsession felt like.
She shook her head. “I know. I’ve heard it from Marcus, Adam, Eric, and Ryan. I don’t need another overprotective male mansplaining to me.”
His temper flared. “Sienna, you’re young and think you’re invincible. Trust me, you don’t know what it’s like to feel like everything is lost.”
Red circles dotted her cheeks as she spun to face him.
“Don’t be a condescending ass. Yes. I may not have lived a long time in your eyes, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t suffered.
I lost my mother when I was twelve, my father hated the sight of me because I reminded him of her.
He died when I was fifteen. Adam and Marcus raised me after Eric was banned from the clan.
” Her hand sliced through the air. “And then I thought we had lost Adam too!”
Damn. He’d blown it again.
“I know what loss is. I know what being alone feels like.” She poked a finger into his chest. “I would argue that I have lived more than you have.”
He had trouble sucking air into his lungs. She knew what his life had been like. It was listed in minute detail on the boards in her damn office. “How can you say that?”
The gold in her livid brown eyes sparked. “You may have lived for centuries, but how much of that time have you shut yourself away from everyone and everything?” She poked his chest again. “I would take twenty-seven years of truly living over hundreds of years of hiding any day.”
He prided himself at having built impenetrable walls around himself, but her words were like glass shards piercing his skin. Yes, they were hurtful because they were true, but also because they came from her. He looked over her shoulder so that he didn’t have to see the disappointment in her face.
“John?” Sienna’s voice had lost its fire.
He didn’t have a response. And he sure in the hell wasn’t going to defend himself. He was the last person who should be telling her how to live her life. He was a shell of a man living a shell of an existence.
“John?” she whispered.
Her soft tone had him looking down and shoring himself for the pity he expected to see. Instead her eyes were filled with…concern?
She placed both of her hands on his chest, and the warmth seeped through his shirt. “I’m sor—”
He placed his finger over her lips, stopping her. “Don’t apologize. You’re right.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and he couldn’t take it. She was not allowed to waste her tears on him. He brushed his finger over her soft lips, and she sucked in a quick breath, blinking. And damn if a tear didn’t roll down her cheek.
He leaned forward and caught it with his lips, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
“Don’t cry.” He kissed away the next tear and the one after that before leaning back and looking into her surprised face.
Before he could retreat, she grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him forward, her lips landing on his, and he was gone.
His brain came to a stop. Instead of backing away, he let Sienna take over, seeking entrance with her tongue, which slicked against his, and his brain came back online like it had been jump-started.
John grasped her hips and tilted his head to slot them closer together.
His chest expanded, and if he hadn’t lost his wings over a century ago, he would swear they had unfurled and he was soaring above the earth with Sienna in his arms. But all too soon reality infiltrated their bubble and he stepped back.
He cupped her cheek with his hand, not being able to completely let her go. “That was amazing.”
She blinked up at him, and he tried to keep his emotions in check. “But?”
“But.” He plowed on before she could argue since he was only so strong. “We’re close, Sienna, to breaking the curse. I can feel it in my bones.”
She studied his expression “And you want to wait until after we break the curse to see what this is between us.”
He almost choked on the lie. “Yes.”
She patted his chest. “We can table this for now. But we will be having a serious conversation about this the moment the curse is gone.”
He cleared his throat and took another step back, missing her warmth. “In the meantime, from now on, where you go, I go.”
He wasn’t surprised to see her eyebrows rise in challenge. “Really? Did we not just discuss the host of overprotective males in my life?”
“This isn’t about protection.” Lie number two.
But he knew better than to tell her the truth.
He wasn’t just feeling protective—he was half feral at the idea of her being away from him when the threats around them were so real.
“It’s about what Mia said to you. If you’re going to be at the center of breaking the curse, then it makes sense that I’m close by.
We all know that I’ll play a part in it as well. It just makes common sense.”
She shook her head, and he held up his hand to stop her protest. “You have nothing to prove, Sienna. You’re a great clan leader. And being a good leader means not taking everything on your own shoulders. Your brothers and clan are supporting you. We know you’re strong and fine on your own.”
He did know that. It gave him strength for what was to come. If he could change what was going to happen for anyone, it would be for her. But there was no changing his fate. He had willingly lied to her because there would be no after the curse for him. Or them.
Which was why he needed to stop this now before they were both in too deep. His brain understood this even when his rickety heart screamed that it was too late.