Chapter Eighteen
Ember
She stared at me over the plate of food, silent except for her chewing through the remnants of her first sandwich. I stared back, noting the way she twitched every so often. A sure sign she was filled with the need to talk. It was just a matter of time until she did.
“Are you going to tell me now?” she asked, finally speaking up.
“No.”
Her jaw clenched around her next bite, and her yellow-brown eyes narrowed unhappily.
I prepared for another tirade. It would not be the first. It had been a back-and-forth conversation the entire flight to Fire Castle.
Her asking questions and refusing to take no for an answer.
I was growing irritated. Couldn’t she just accept that some things were not for human knowledge? Why was that so difficult?
“I think I deserve to know,” she said, pushing the plate back while staring me down. Her eyes narrowed warningly.
She was putting on a tough front, but I saw right through it. Dela was nervous and more than a little scared about everything that had happened. Who could blame her? I certainly didn’t, but that didn’t mean I was free to tell her everything she wanted to know. There were rules to be followed.
Rules that I had broken by somehow bringing her to the Fire Realm through the Watching Mirror.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked, stating the question she’d put before me many times already.
What did I tell her? I didn’t want to sound like I had no idea. I liked how she looked at me. If she knew I was just as clueless as her, that would change.
“Are you just going to stare at me blankly?”
“I’m thinking,” I said. I wanted to give her something to help calm her fear. She had nothing to be afraid of while I was around, and a part of me needed her to know that. I didn’t want to think about what that meant.
“About what?”
“You,” I said.
Dela leaned back in her chair, licking her lips. Her eyes stayed locked on me. “Me?”
“Yes. Who are you?” I said, my voice a low thoughtful rumble. “Why are you here? It shouldn’t be possible, yet you are. So, you say I owe you answers, but to me, you owe me answers. What did you do to get here? What are you hiding?”
Dela’s pretty little face filled with shock. “Me? What am I hiding?”
I nodded.
“I’m not hiding anything!” she said hotly. “I was going for some ice cream because I was having a really bad day, and something pulled me through the fucking door of the freezer and into your bedchamber! You did this, not me.”
“I didn’t do it,” I said, deciding to reveal a bit more. “I was looking in the mirror, and then you stepped through it.”
She reared back in surprise, then leaned forward intently, examining my face. “You’re serious. You didn’t bring me here.”
“Teleportation is not among my powers,” I said. “Nor any dragon I’m aware of.”
“So, how did I get here, then?” she gazed past me at the wall, though her eyes were looking past it. “I’m not even on Earth, am I?”
“No.” There didn’t seem to be any harm in telling her that. “But there must be a reason for it. So, who are you?”
“My name is Dela Brooks,” she said. “I work for a construction company in their office. I rent a second-floor apartment in a walkup, and I’ve been looking at getting a cat to keep me company.”
“I see.”
“I’m not lying. I’m nobody,” she said with a shrug.
“You are not nobody,” I growled fiercely enough she backed away from me nervously.
I did not like that, not at all. The last thing I wanted was for Dela to be scared of me.
I wanted her closer, not farther. I wanted her right on fucking top of me, her eyes rolling back in pleasure as she sank herself onto my cock.
In my mind, I could feel the warmth of her sopping wet pussy squeezing my shaft, the scent of her sex heady in the room. It was—
“Ember? Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
Dela pointed at the table, where my white-knuckled fingers were on the verge of cracking the wood.
“Fucking hell,” I half-moaned, getting up and walking away from the table so that she couldn’t see how my dick was stiff against the inside of my pants.
I needed to get a hold of myself. Losing control around Dela was not acceptable.
It didn’t matter how conflicted I was. If I sent her home with a fear of dragons, there was no telling what she might do.
Of course, losing control wasn’t just about my temper.
If I did what I wanted to do to her—ripping her clothes off and taking her—it would be just as bad.
“You don’t have to be scared of me,” I said, exhaling slowly, finally back in control. I slowly turned back to her. Though I still ached for her touch, I’d managed to quell the blood flow. For now.
She tilted her head. “Oddly, even though I probably should be absolutely terrified, I’m not scared of you. Is something wrong with me?”
“Not at all. I’m sorry for my outburst. But you are, in some ways, the most remarkable human I’ve ever met. You are not just a random person. There’s something special about you.”
I just didn’t know what.
“Uhm, thank you?” she said, looking down at her plate. “What do we do from here? How do I get home, Ember?”
I grimaced. I hated not having an answer for her. But my stomach twisted at the idea of lying to her. So I didn’t. “I’m not sure. Yet. But I will get you home safe.”
“Just how much danger am I in?” she asked, holding up a hand to forestall my initial response. “Tell me the truth. Please. I think I deserve to know that much, at least.”
I hesitated. “Here, in Fire Castle, I can keep you safe.”
“And outside of Fire Castle?”
“It would be best if you stayed here until I can get you back home safely.”
She sighed. “So, in other words, that would be trouble.”
I nodded wordlessly. There was no point lying anyway. She was smart enough to know better, the question was just a confirmation, and the least I could do was give her that.
“How much trouble?” she asked quietly.
Before I could answer, the doors to the kitchen burst open, admitting a tall, lithe woman, who was all lines to Dela’s curves. She walked with purpose, her eyes blazing with fire. Platinum blonde hair swung behind her, swishing from side to side in time with her hips, each matched to a step.
“There you are, Ember!” she barked, her booted feet hitting the tiled floor with a force that sent echoes through the room. Her thin eyebrows dropped as she took in Dela, lips that were normally full compressing into a very thin line.
“And who is that?” Dela asked.
“That,” I said with a sigh, “is more trouble.”