DALLIN COULDN’T LOOKaway from Tyne and Meyer.There was something happening between them, but he couldn’t tell if it was because Tyne had finally decided to keep his promise and talk to his dragon or if something else had happened.Dallin wanted to ask, but he knew better.Tyne would bite his head off if he dared bring it up in front of everyone.
Now that Dallin and Sol had found their way to each other, maybe it was time for Dallin to turn his attention to Tyne.Something needed to be done about whatever Tyne was doing—or not doing—with Meyer, and since no one else seemed to be willing to step into that mess, Dallin would.
He hoped he’d be able to avoid the blood splatter.
“He’s not going to change his mind,” Graham warned Jarvis.
There was a phone on the table in front of him.He looked like he was afraid to pick it up or even touch it, no matter how many times Jarvis pushed it toward him.
“You just need to try,” Jarvis said with a smile.
“You don’t get it.You don’t know my brother, but he’s not going to want to leave Carlyle to join me.He won’t change his mind.He feels he’s doing the right thing, and that’s that.”
“He’s probably worried about you, though, right?”Meyer asked.
“I don’t know about that.Before, he would’ve been, but since Carlyle entered our lives, Simon’s become a different person.”Graham gently touched his lower lip.“He would never have hurt me before, but he has now.”
Dallin’s heart bled for the man.He’d lost everything, even his brother, yet he was still willing to help.He was willing to ignore his pain to ensure that Carlyle would pay for what he was doing and to stop him from hurting more people.
Dallin hoped that Jarvis would give Graham a chance to stay with them once this was over.Graham didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone else to be with.He’d lost everything because he’d decided to help Sol, and Dallin would never forget that.
“I’d still like you to try,” Jarvis said gently.“I realize this will hurt, but we need to know where we stand.”
Graham sighed and grabbed the phone.He punched in his brother’s number, then put the call on speaker so that everyone around the table would hear.Sol leaned forward as if that would help him hear better, making Dallin smile.
Dallin wasn’t sure where he and Sol stood.They’d made out at the lake, and they kissed every occasion they had, but was that all there was to it?Sol had said that he felt like Dallin saw him and not Kent, and he wanted to give them a chance, but he was still overwhelmed and possibly confused.He might realize that Dallin wasn’t what he wanted once this mess was over.
It wouldn’t be enough to stop Dallin from spending time with him.It would hurt more if Sol broke things off later, but Dallin was going to enjoy every second with his dragon.Besides, maybe Sol wouldn’t break things off.Maybe they’d live together forever after this.
The phone rang for so long that Dallin was sure Simon wouldn’t answer.When he did, his voice echoed in the room as everyone held their breaths.“Where are you?”
“How did you know it was me?”Graham asked.
“Because no one else would call me, Graham.Where are you?I’ll pick you up.”
“Why would you?I betrayed you.”
“You did.What the fuck were you thinking?You betrayed me and Carlyle, but I talked to him.He’s willing to take you back.”
For a second, Dallin thought that Graham was considering it.It would make sense.He didn’t want to lose his only brother, and the best way to ensure that didn’t happen was to go back.
“Don’t you see?Carlyle is manipulating you,” Graham said.“He doesn’t care about you.He just wants power and magic, and to have someone to do his dirty work for him.”
“I’m helping him.”
“You are, and it’s the wrong thing to do.Carlyle wasn’t an innocent man trapped in a gemstone.He was a monster who stole his dragon’s magic and left him unable to shift for decades.He was someone who needed to be stopped, and he still is.”
“Stop lying,” Simon snapped.“I know you’re with those other mages.They’re brainwashing you.”
“No, Carlyle is brainwashingyou.They told me the truth.”
It was clear that the truth wouldn’t be enough to sway Simon to their side.He was pissed, and Dallin was tempted to reach over and hang up when he started ranting about what Graham had done and how it made him a bad person.Graham was biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, and Dallin felt sorry for him.
“You’re weak,” Simon said.“Carlyle always said that, but I told him that you’d be fine and that you’re on our side.Youshouldbe on our side.”
“I just want to do the right thing.”
“And you really believe that doing the right thing is allying with those mages?”
