He snorted steam. “Prefers to sleeps in forests.” His eyes narrowed. “Yous are slowings me downs.”
Vali tucked her hair behind her ears. “If you’d just carry someone—”
The red Dragon shook his long head. “Nope.”
He’s even more stubborn than you,Iskar noted.Remarkable, really.
I ignored him and addressed Havoc. “We’re safer together.”
“You’re safers withs me. I’ms fine withouts yous.” He turned and stomped off into the trees, snapping off branches as he moved through them.
“He really is adifficultDragon,” Kiko said.
Vali watched Havoc leave. “His twin was so different…”
“In what way?” I asked as the Dragona led us along the road.
When Vali remained silent for a few paces, I reconsidered. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s okay,” she said, although the note in her voice indicated it wasn’t, and Kiko moved close on her other side, taking her arm. “We were destined to be together,” the Dragona finally said. “We shared a love for discovery, among other things. Only he was a slave, and I was an underlord’s daughter.”
An underlord’s daughter. She’d been part of something my parents had fought so hard against before they’d paid the ultimate price for their courage.
Unaware of my own dark thoughts, Vali continued. About an evil Dragona underlord, and Ace’s death. About how her father’s greed had destroyed her family. Her voice hoarsened as the story came out in bursts, as if it were too painful to talk about.
By the time we walked up to the inn, scales had popped out all along my forearms. She’d had a narrow escape from a vicious world, but had, by some miracle, survived.
That miracle had red scales and preferred to sleep in the forest rather than a bed.
People are who they are for a reason,Iskar stated.Even Dragons.
The pain in Vali’s voice shook me. Was this what the death of a fated mate did to you? What if the mate didn’t die, but you never finished the bond?
Mates are meant to be together,Iskar said in a subdued voice.
I’d had my own share of issues in my life, but I’d been lucky to land with Emmanuel and Triss. They’d shown me that the world still possessed beauty. Without their guidance, I’d be dead inside, and quite likely dead in reality.
Havoc had never caught such a break. And Vali endured a different kind of pain.
We paused on the steps. A few cloaked figures drifted along the deck that ran the full length of the building.
“Havoc doesn’t seem much like his brother,” I commented.
Vali’s full lips straightened. “He isn’t anything like Ace. But they were all each other had. And when Ace died…”
“Doesn’t excuse Havoc being such a jerk.” Kiko narrowed her eyes.
Vali looked at me. “But he set me free,” she said. “He didn’t have to do that.”
She turned and led us toward the inn.
* * *
My eyes widened as we entered the inn. I was not expecting such a large structure. Judging by the crowd within the restaurant, it was a popular stopping point along the journey to and from Sarti.
Which was both good and bad.
The clientèle were hardly families on vacation. Most were so hooded and cloaked that they could have had six legs, and you wouldn’t know. While I was dubious on the leg count, I was pretty certain they were armed to the teeth.
