Chapter 3
“We’re going to back to our place,” Rysden says, not leaving us any other option. “Farrah can ride with me, and Rauk you can take my horse.”
Rauk eyes the horse distastefully. I smirk. “You can ride a dragon, but you can’t ride a horse?”
“Does this one ever stop talking?” Rauk asks Rysden as he mounts.
Rysden wisely ignores him. If Rauk can feel the look I shoot him, he doesn’t acknowledge it. I ride next to Farrah and Rysden, and Lox and Rauk ride behind us. “You okay?” Farrah asks softly.
I shrug. “Pretty sure we’re not going to get any help out of that jerk.” I don’t bother to keep my voice down.
“I can hear you,” a gritty voice says from behind us.
“Good.” I reach out to Redara. Are you okay to be left with him?
More than okay. This gives me a chance to tell him what I think of him leaving me here for so long.
I grin. Give him what he’s got coming to him. It’s mostly a quiet ride back to Rysden and Farrah’s. I don’t miss the worried glances Farrah gives both Rysden and me, but I ignore them. When we get to the house, Jamik meets us and helps with the horses.
“Thanks, Jamik.”
I head inside, wondering how this is going to go.
The guy is an absolute jerk. However, we need said jerk if we have a hope and a prayer of defeating the guivres.
So far, they haven’t joined forces and come together in an organized manner.
If they do, we’ll be in serious trouble.
Now that more and more of them are shifting, the fear is real that they could definitely do just that and sooner than later.
We need Rauk to bring his dragons to meet them in the air.
We just have to first get their king on board, which is going to be just as hard as they told me it would be.
We head inside and gather around the table.
Well, Farrah, Rysden, Lox, Jamik, and I sit at the table.
Rauk doesn’t bother sitting. He stands on the far side of the room, staring at all of us.
Hector’s busy working in the kitchen, so he doesn’t come out and say hi.
It’s probably for the best; Rauk is not a nice person.
“So,” Farrah starts, drawing out the word and looking pointedly at Rysden.
“Anybody hungry?” Rysden asks.
I roll my eyes and take matters into my own hands. I lift my gaze so I’m staring right at the Dragon King. “Here’s the deal. The guivre problem has gotten out of control.”
His eyes move to Rysden. “Guivre problem?”
I continue as if he didn’t interrupt my speech to look at Rysden.
“Yes, the guivre problem. The reason Rysden asked you to come, multiple times actually, is that guivres are attacking more frequently. And now that Terron and his gryphon are dead, they’re not stuck in their forms anymore.
Their curse is lifting, and they’re shifting back to human. ”
“Impossible,” he rumbles low in his chest.
“Really?” Irritation burns in my chest.
“They can’t transform to their human form. They were cursed into a corporal form.”
“Yeah, well that’s what they’re doing.”
“It’s not possible,” he says slowly.
I sigh. “Would somebody fill in brainiac here as to what’s going on? Somebody preferably besides me? He doesn’t seem to be getting it.”
“It’s true,” Rysden says backing me up.
“How?” Rauk demands.
I throw up both hands. “Men.”
Rauk ignores my outburst. “Explain.” His command rubs me the wrong way, and I laugh. He turns that dark gaze on me, and I meet it head on. “Is something funny?”
“Hilarious,” I say without looking away.
“Well, please, enlighten us,” he says with an expression that couldn't be further from polite.
“Just the way you boss Rysden around, as if he isn’t the king of the Wolf Kingdom.”
“Harper,” Rysden says in a low voice. I look over to him. He gives me a look of warning. “I’ve got it.”
“Sure. Be my guest.” I make a motion with my hand, and he shakes his head.
He leans forward, elbows on the table. “What she said is true. When Terron and his gryphon died, the curse died with him. Under the curse, the guivres were changed into a corporal form and were supposed to stay that way. But now the curse is lifting, and they’re transforming back into human form.”
Rauk stares at him, taking in everything he’s saying. “That’s why you don’t mess with dark magic and curses.” But he says it more to himself than the rest of us.
Rysden leans back in his chair. “They did what they thought best.”
Rauk shifts. “Okay. So, the guivres are shifting back into humans. Thanks for the update. I’ll have my people keep a watch out for them.”
I stare at him, anger on the tip of my tongue but Farrah beats me to it. “Seriously?”
“Farrah,” Rysden says in warning.
“No,” she waves off his warning and leans forward, facing Rauk. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
He’s quiet a moment, and I prepare to jump in. “Don’t get too close to one?” he offers.
I’ve had enough. I stand up, shoving my chair back in one motion. But I’m beat out. Again. “There’s a war coming, Rauk,” Rysden says in a much calmer voice than I could have managed. “We want you and your people on our side for it.”
“No.”
“What?” Farrah asks even as shock rolls through me.
He gives her a look that is so demeaning, it makes my teeth grind together. “Should I repeat it, Sweetheart? No. Not helping. Not interested. Need me to keep going?”
And that has Rysden on his feet, but I speak before he can.
“He just told you that a war is coming. Do you even care that people in this kingdom are being attacked? And it’s not nearly as bad as what’s happening in the Jaguar Kingdom.
They’re being overrun by guivres! They need you and your people—”
“No.” His voice is like granite. “Now, is that all?”
I stare at him, too shocked to even form words.
I’m normally pretty quick on my feet, but this.
..this is too much. I glance at Farrah, who looks like she’s been kicked.
And Rysden—he's got that blank expression on his face, but I’m not fooled.
Even Lox looks like he’s going to be sick.
I lift my gaze to Rauk’s as anger burns through me.
“You are the most stubborn, pompous, arrogant, cold-hearted—”
“You forgot powerful,” he interrupts.
I shake my head and keep my mouth shut, refusing to show any more emotion.
He hasn’t even mentioned Redara or asked who’s bonded to her.
He doesn’t care, the voice in my head that isn’t Redara’s.
..the one that’s solely mine...shouts at me.
I push aside his rejection, just like I’ve pushed rejection away my entire life.
This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with rejection, and it certainly won’t be the last. I turn to Rsyden, ignoring Rauk, as if he’s invisible.
He may as well be; I won’t give him an ounce of my energy any longer.
“It’s fine,” I say in a strong voice. “We’ll continue without him.
I’ll keep training with Red and—” A low laugh behind me cuts me off and makes the hair on my arms stand up.
“What?” I demand, forgetting my new plan to pretend he doesn’t exist.
“You’re going to fight?” he asks, humor in his voice.
“Oh boy,” Lox mutters, but I barely hear him through the ringing in my ears.
I snatch my dagger from my side; it’s out of my hand before I can blink. It strikes the wall right next to his ear, nearly cutting his ear in the process. He doesn’t even blink. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
“No,” I tell him, not skipping a beat. “It’s supposed to get you to leave.”
“Gladly.” He walks from the room without acknowledging any of us.
I watch him go and feel something deep in my chest, but I push it away.
Of course, Farrah and Kinsley find men who would burn the world down for them, while I get the guy who would burn the world down with me in it. I almost smile at my joke. Almost.
“Are you okay?” Farrah asks tentatively.
“Peachy.”
She sighs and sits back against her chair. “Sorry,” I finally find it in myself to apologize. “That was a disaster.”
“It’s not your fault,” Rysden says, but we all know it is.
I push away from the table, suddenly feeling weary beyond all belief. “Where are you going?” Farrah asks.
“Home.”
“But you didn’t eat,” she points out.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Harper,” she starts, but I really need out.
When I look back at her, Rysden has his arm around her waist. I don’t meet her eyes; I don’t want to see her disappointment or fear.
The disappointment I think I could handle.
The fear? Not so much. I leave before I say or do something I’m going to regret.
Anger burns through me as I walk back to my place.
It's a long walk without a horse, but I need the release. But the longer I walk, the more my anger grows. Six months. We waited six months for him to come, only for him to refuse to help us. I feel so stupid. We should have just been making plans instead of waiting for someone to save us. By the time I get to the house, I’ve gone through a range of emotions.
Now, I’m just tired and empty and ready for bed.
I slow when I see the hulking outline of somebody on the front step.
I look for the black dragon but don’t see it anywhere; I don’t see Redara either.
Where are you? I send to her.
With my mate. I wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t. I face the man blocking my way inside. “What are you doing?”
I can see the dark look he gives me because the moon is extra bright tonight. “He won’t let me leave.”
“Why?” He doesn’t answer, and I’m really past caring. I shrug. “Wish I could help.” I manage to maneuver my way around his big body and open the door.
He stands to his feet. “You’re going inside?”
“Yep.” I’m about to close the door when he speaks again.
“For the night?”
“Uh, yeah. That's usually how it works.” I close the door in his face and lock it. I breathe out a sigh of good riddance and make my way upstairs. I methodically get ready for bed but don’t allow myself to dwell on any of the events of today.
A few minutes later, I find myself in bed.
But as badly as I want to sleep, I can’t.
I stare up at the ceiling for a little while before twisting and turning as I try to get comfortable.
My mind drifts to the male sitting outside, and I wonder if he’s finally left.
I remind myself that I don’t care and roll over and try to sleep once again.
It takes a while, but finally, I fall asleep.
It’s a fitful sleep, though. I keep dreaming of dragons, and it feels stressful.
My heart races, and I keep waking up. I throw my covers back mid-morning and head to the shower, hoping a hot shower will erase my intense dreams from last night.
I don’t plan on thinking about Rauk or his dragon ever again.