Fang seemed reluctant to leave Riley. The bloody woman had bewitched the both of us. But the woman took Fang in her hands and extended her to me.
When I gathered her up, my fingers trembled.
“Come with me, Dreambit.” The words tumbled out as Fang scampered up beneath my hair. I’d lost control. My hand reached out of its own accord to run thick fingers along her jaw. “You’ll be such a bitching Dragon.” My voice was hardly more than a whisper. “We can soar to the moon together. And leave this fucking madness behind.”
Her eyes met mine, and in them, I saw the longing to be free. Felt it through our link, along with a memory of wind and wings. She wanted it, too, and for just an instant, I thought she’d say yes.
But then, she shut it all down. “They need me here.”
“Going up against Isobel is a fucking one-way ticket to—”
“Not if we can tap into Nikolai’s power. It might work,” she argued.
The Perditor was one scary dude. Having him involved didn’t make me feel better, only worse. I hadn’t experienced this tearing sensation in my chest since Ace died.
It scared the hell out of me.
“I’m leaving. Whether you come with me or not.”
I saw the words strike like arrows, and the pain appeared in her eyes, only to be shuttered. “I know,” she whispered. And then she stepped back, pulling away from my fingers. “Be free, Havoc.”
I didn’t wait to diagnose the twisting, piercing agony inside me—worse than any parasite, but I couldn’t let it stop me. My wings unfurled, and I was airborne before I’d finished the rest of the transformation.
I fled out over the jungle toward the wild gate, while my beast and my monster screamed.
42
Riley
I watched Havoc vanish above the treetops, and a piece of me went with him.
To fly away, and leave all this behind—for a moment, I almost called him back. I wanted him so desperately.
But it wasn’t just the mission that stopped me. It was Marcus and Rafael. They would do everything they could to end Isobel. And I couldn’t leave them until I was sure they were safe.
I reassured myself that I’d already spoken to Havoc across realms, that I would be able to find him again. If he would let me, that is.
But as I stood there, I felt broken. And I didn’t know how to fix any of this. Triss had told me to go get Marcus. But he’d only run again, and I knew it.
“Riley?” Vali emerged from the treehouse, holding a book against her chest. “Am I intruding?”
“No.” I sketched up a smile. “He’s gone.”
Her eyes darkened. “He’s a bastard, leaving you like this.”
My defense of him was immediate. “No. I get it. He needs to be free.”
Her full lips pursed. “His brother would never have gone. They were so different.”
“Havoc loved his twin,” I said slowly. “I think losing Ace broke him.”
Vali paused. “Ace believed in Havoc.”
Tears pricked at my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “They were family.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “They were.” Her own eyes flooded, but she blinked away her pain. “Ace was my mate. We were fated to be together, forever. His death left a hole in me that can never heal.”
Her words pierced me like a knife. Ace had been Havoc’s only family. Rafael and Marcus had lost their families, too. But Vali had lost both that, and her mate.
