“How about just taking each day one step at a time?” Dusk spoke gently now to Rhennic, sympathetic. “Being a King isn’t easy, Rhen; I was thoroughly unprepared for it when I won my position. I thought I was merely going to bring down a tyrant… and now I’m a Dragon King with a metric fuck-ton of responsibilities all the time. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to my old life. Being a Concierge was simple, and the political shit-storms I have to navigate now as a King are so complex they make me want to hurl sometimes. But my secret is… that I want both. I promise myself now, that if I live through this battle with Hunter, I’m going to set up a new Red Letter Hotel at the Crystal Plateau. I love my lands and the Hotel – and I want to share that love with everyone, all around the world.”
“That’s beautiful, Dusk.” Layla smiled as she reached out and took his hand. “Isn’t there anything darker you’re holding on to?”
“Not really.” Dusk shrugged as a small smile curled his lips and a wave of light refracted through his hair. “You know me, Layla; I’m a pretty open book. The things I want are the things my heart desires. But you’re the last one to share. What deep, dark secret are you hiding that you’d like to get off your chest?”
Drawing a deep breath, Layla took a moment to think about it as all her men watched her. And then as the Star Bind suddenly flared deep inside her again, it hit her like a ton of bricks. “I want to help Hunter, not just kill him. Some part of me still believes I can help him return to sanity; or if that’s not possible, to at least relieve him of his pain. I don’t know if it’s possible, but if I live through this battle… I want to set him free from his agony. Rather than just kill him.”
“Back to our discussion of loving him rather than hating him.” Adrian spoke now as he reached out, twining his fingers through hers. “Are you saying that when the time comes, you don’t want to kill Hunter?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” Layla swallowed, knowing this was a lot to ask of her men, but knowing she had to say it. “I’m hoping there might be some other way to deal with him rather than kill him outright. But if we do need to kill him… I’m hoping it can be done mercifully, rather than in wrath.”
“After all he’s put you through, and us,” Rhennic spoke with a frown now, though he was calm and not angry, “you still would rather find a way to rehabilitate him than simply put him out of his misery?”
“Not rehabilitate, no. I honestly think he’s long past that.” Layla spoke quietly then, feeling her way through what her heart truly wanted. “Just… not kill him in anger, somehow.”
For a long moment, everyone fell silent, as peeper frogs chorused out in the night. But glancing over, Adrian spoke next as his vibrant aqua-gold eyes pinned Layla’s. “I support you. If you truly feel we need to find a way to end Hunter mercifully… then I support you.”
“We all do.” Reginald spoke with an eyebrow lift now as he raised his martini to Layla. “And what’s more impossible than killing a Dragon we all hate while holding only true love in our hearts? And who better than us, to do that impossible feat.”
“Thank you.” Layla spoke, a strange relief filling her even as something else twisted inside her with worry at what trying to kill Hunter mercifully might cost them. But as Layla looked around, she saw agreement in every face; if they could, they would try to kill Hunter in love or die trying, and Layla felt that steadiness flow through the Bind as she watched them all. Her men were not afraid of it, and neither was Layla. As they all sat in accord, their secrets and fears aired to the deep, drunken night, Layla felt a kind of peace breathe inside her.
Knowing it was the right thing – even if it was going to be impossible.
CHAPTER 16 – TIME
Layla, Adrian, and Dusk slept in after their drunken night at Reginald’s. Rhennic, Fury, and Reginald had remained in Reginald’s apartment, talking late into the night as Layla and her primary men bedded down with sweet kisses and a brief, exhausted lovemaking back in her own rooms on the third floor. Now, they had risen and breakfasted, and Dusk had excused himself, saying he needed to check in on final solstice plans with Rhennic and Rikyava, who were orchestrating the sequence of battle-events, and Reginald, who was finalizing the masquerade.
Clad in a cream cocktail dress with black lace shoulders today, plus a pair of black patent leather heels, Layla faced Adrian now as they both finished their coffee at her breakfast table. He watched her as he sipped, wearing one of his nice white shirts and grey slacks today plus a slim charcoal vest with white pinstripes. His sleeves were rolled up, and Layla admired his Clan First Dragon-tattoo writhing up his left forearm and the other on his right, still unfinished for his eventual Kingship. Adrian caught her looking and smiled, his Mediterranean-blue eyes vivid in the morning sunlight streaming in through the tall windows.
Reaching out, he clasped her hand upon the table.
“What would you like to do today?” He asked quietly in the bright morning. “We have some time until we need to meet up with Rhennic, Reginald, and Dusk at two pm for a final briefing on the evening’s events.”
“It’s such a nice day,” Layla spoke as she glanced out the windows. “Want to take a stroll to take our minds off things for a while?”
“Sure.” Adrian smiled more, squeezing her hand as he downed his coffee. Layla had already finished hers and as they both rose from the table, Adrian ushered her out of the room, his hand lightly at the small of her back. As they proceeded out, Adrian’s scalding touch suddenly reminded Layla of when they had first met. That art gallery back in Seattle seemed so long ago now, and as they took a scroll-worked staircase down from the third floor to the nearest set of doors leading out to the grounds, Layla found herself in a wistful mood, reminiscing.
Adrian picked up on it as they gained the bright morning sunshine outside and began their walk in the sculpted rose gardens, heading out towards the topiary sections and wilder lands of the Hotel. But he was quiet as they passed all the bonfires set up for solstice tonight and their war against Hunter, his good cinnamon-jasmine scent and warm desert winds whirling all around Layla as they eventually gained the woods.
Glancing over as they entered the quiet of the Hotel’s manicured forest, Adrian at last spoke. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Don’t you have billions?” Layla joked, lifting an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t my thoughts worth more than just a penny to you?”
“Alright.” He smiled handsomely back. “A billion Euros for your thoughts?”
“That’s more like it.” Layla grinned wider as she enjoyed their stroll, loving how Adrian still escorted her with his warm hand possessively at her back. “I dunno. I was just thinking about the day we met at the art gallery. Can you believe that was nearly a year ago?”
“It feels like ten years sometimes,” he smiled as he guided them into a deeper part of the forest with a lush carpet of emerald moss around the flagstones. “Maybe even twenty, with everything that’s happened. But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing, Layla. I’m glad we had this time together. And I look forward to so much more.”
“You wouldn’t changeanything?” She joked now as they walked, ignoring the obvious question of whether or not they were going to live to see tomorrow. “What about that nasty fight we got into out here near the fish pond when you wouldn’t be honest with me about Dragon life?”
“I admit, that was dumb.” Adrian chuckled, though his green-blue eyes flashed as he glanced at her. “But I still got to touch your breasts for the first time that night. I call that a win.”
“Aaaand the Desert Dragon King-Heir is really just a guy sometimes,” Layla laughed, “wanting to touch boobies.”
“News flash: your breasts are very nice.” Adrian murmured hotly near her ear now as he leaned in close, making her flush before he pulled back. “But really, Layla, I don’t regret our heat and passion together. I know it spun us up hard when we first met, and those first few months we were Bound were almost nearly disastrous… but I don’t regret them.”
“I don’t, either.” Layla spoke with a smile as they walked. “You still piss me off sometimes, but other times I find myself admiring your searing intensity and clarity, Adrian. And it’s really nice now that you’re not trying to keep all your secrets to yourself.”
