“Your primal fear brought up our own, I think,” Dusk spoke as he let out a long breath through pursed lips, his sapphire eyes finding Layla’s. “I was terrified just then that I was going to go full-Dragon right here inside this plane.”
Neither Luke nor Adrian volunteered what they’d experienced in their fear, but it was an angle to her magic Layla hadn’t considered, that her emotions could affect her Bound men in real time. Luke wasn’t even a part of their Bind and he was feeling it, and the thought sobered Layla. An even more dire thought was what might happen if she gave into her blackest fears, the ones that triggered the dark void inside her. She’d never considered it might have more consequences than just her going berserk. That it might cause her Bound Dragons to do so also – and anyone else who could feel her power.
“Do you think we’re all being contentious right now because of the Bind?” Layla glanced at Rikyava. “Because I’m upset my friends were abducted, now everyone is feeling it?” If a modest spike in her adrenaline could make them all this tense, they really had no idea how much Layla’s black rage at their current situation was pushing them all.
“Maybe.” Rikyava spoke with a lift of one blonde eyebrow. “I’ve never seen Adrian so visibly incensed against someone he knows so little about. And Dusk is famous for his buoyancy in times of trouble, whereas he’s cracking now under the strain. And Luke…”
Rikyava’s gaze held Luke’s a long moment, and Layla felt something pass between them, though she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. But at that glance, Luke drew a deep breath, turning back to Layla. “I want to support you, Layla, you know I do. But becoming a Hotel Courtesan? Why?”
“It’s a long story, Luke.” Layla glanced to him with a heavy sigh. “Let’s just say there are reasons for it.”
“Layla is now a Courtesan because we’re planning a coup against the Crimson Circle,” Dusk chimed in quietly. “The Crimson Circle are at the center of the Hotel Board of Owners and want Adrian’s head, quite literally, on a platter. We’re trying to prevent that, but it means Layla has to go undercover to rout out the specific person or persons who want Adrian dead, and becoming a Courtesan gives her access.”
“You’re going to become some kind of spy?” Luke’s eyebrows climbed his forehead as he gaped at her, horrified. “Were you ever planning on telling me?”
“I wanted to, Luke. I just never found the right moment.” Layla held Luke’s gaze, suddenly feeling how wide the gap had grown between them since summertime. Despite their tenderness last night, it was as if she and he had both lived numerous lifetimes since they’d last been together. As Layla watched Luke, she realized she didn’t know who he was becoming now with his Storm Dragon magic rising inside him – and he didn’t know who she was turning into either since August.
“No. No way.” Luke spoke at last, a harsh rasp of fury in his voice. “You assholes are so not using Layla as bait to take down a major crime syndicate!”
“I volunteered for this, Luke.” Layla weathered his hot rage as his emerald eyes pierced hers. “It’s why I was training to become a Courtesan these past months.”
“I don’t care.” Luke growled, fury emanating from him, even though Layla could feel it was backed by his deep protectiveness. But it was like a storm rising inside the plane now, all of Luke’s passion for Layla’s welfare rekindled in the wake of what they had shared. “I won’t be party to putting you in danger like that. And I won’t just sit here while everyone else agrees it’s an awesome idea. Whoring you out so you can lure supernatural crime bosses into yourbedroom?”
“I’m not human, Luke. Neither of us is human anymore.” Layla spoke back, willing him to understand how invested she was in this, trying to open her heart to make him feel how much Adrian’s life meant to her. “I can fight with magic, I can shift into my beast. Everything I’ve been learning in my life lends itself to this. You’ve felt your own Dragon-power opening up, how strong it is – mine is no different. I’m not weak, and if I can do something to help get Adrian out of this trouble, I want to.”
“I never said you were weak, Layla,” Luke countered hotly, gesturing at the group as fury seethed in his emerald eyes. “Only that you sit in company far older than us who have lived in this world their entire lives andstillnot managed to take down this group of crime lords. You’ve been a Dragon what, six months? And me – fuck, I don’t even know why I’m here right now!”
“You’re here because Layla’s magic called you here.” Rikyava’s lavender gaze pinned Luke, through there was sympathy in it. “Do you think it’s coincidence Layla’s Dragon-attack opened up your own latent Dragon bloodlines, Luke? And that you possess magic potentially more powerful than any of us here, including Layla?”
Luke shut his mouth as he stared at Rikyava, and Layla watched the fury drain out of him. Settling back in his chair, he rubbed a hand over his face. Across the narrow aisle, Rikyava reached out, setting a hand to his knee with a gentle camaraderie. Something grateful eased through Luke’s gaze though it was still bleak. Looking back to Layla, he shook his head. “How am I supposed to be okay with all this, Layla?”
“You don’t have to be okay with it, Luke.” She spoke quietly. “Just support me. It’s what we have to do to clear Adrian’s name, and if we don’t strike at the heart of the Crimson Circle, they’ll hunt Adrian to the ends of the earth. Me spying among them as a Courtesan gives us the ability to get to them before they get us. Adrian and Dusk and I are not entirely convinced this White Chalice attack on our friends is independent of the Crimson Circle. And if they’ve come after our human friends to get to us… who knows who might be next on their hit list?”
A heavy silence settled at the table as Luke’s gaze swung to Adrian, and Layla felt a heated rivalry spring up again between the two men. “This is all your fault, you bastard. If you’d never come to Layla in the first place, haunting her every move until she joined you in your world, none of this ever would have happened. And now, look where all the dominoes have fallen. Fuck you.”
“Curse me all you like,” Adrian glared back with a cold quietude, “but what if Layla had opened to her Dragon-powers without the talisman I bought her? What if I had never been there in the art gallery to provide her with theone thingthat could help control her rages and urges as her magic opened? You’ve felt your own opening power, Luke. You nearly died in the hospital because of it. Are you saying you would have wanted to stand by and watch devastation like that tear Layla apart? And it’s notmy world, Luke. You’re a part of this world now, too, so deal with it. Stop fucking hiding in the human world like a coward, afraid of everything you truly are.”
Luke’s lips had fallen open, his green eyes tight with fury as he breathed hard in his seat. Layla saw the golden veins in his bloodstone pendant whirl as he fought to contain his power, but even so, a crackle of electricity around him lifted the hairs on Layla’s arms. “How can you love this man, Layla?” Luke spoke at last, a devastated fury in his eyes as he glanced to Layla.
“Adrian’s my mate, Luke.” She countered quietly. “If you’ve been learning anything about Dragons from Dusk lately, you should know what that means.”
Luke shut his mouth. Layla knew it had been the wrong thing to say as he sat back in his chair, staring at her like she’d grown a new, far nastier head. In some ways his silence was worse than when he once might have blown up at her, and Layla felt that devouring blackness open up inside her once more as she felt Luke’s heartbreak. She wanted to explain. She wanted to undo that terrible look in his eyes, as if she’d stabbed him right in the heart. But it wasn’t a conversation she was willing to have in front of the others, and Layla was left gazing at Luke as some part of her died deep inside.
Staring at her, at last Luke rubbed both hands over his face. “I can’t, Layla. I’m sorry. I can’t support this; any of it. I’ll help go after our friends because it involves me, but after that—”
Luke stopped speaking abruptly. Layla watched him wrestle with the decision they both knew he needed to make – whether he was still in her life, or not. But even more than that, if he was going to join her in this world or not. Layla hadn’t considered that Luke had still been trying to live as a human all these months since his power had opened, but it wasn’t something Adrian had missed. As a hard shine of angry tears sprung to Luke’s eyes, Layla realized Adrian’s assessment had been acute – acute like talons shredding into Luke’s well-controlled life.
Unbuckling his seatbelt, Luke rose, leaving the table. Layla watched him go, though the only place he could go in the plane was back to Adrian’s sleeping area, yanking the partition shut behind him. Rising also, Rikyava glanced at Layla. “I’ll go check on him.”
“Thanks.” Layla sighed, giving her friend a tired half-smile, her heart twisted in knots.
“No prob.”
Silence settled around the table as Rikyava left, until Dusk heaved a hard sigh, glancing at Adrian. “Smooth move, Ex-lax.”
“He’s got to face the truth sometime.” Adrian growled, clearly not about to give in on his position. “Luke’s in denial about what he is, and what Layla is now.”
“Still, you can’t just push someone over a cliff and pray they’ll fly.” Dusk spoke, currying his hands through his hair. “We need him, Adrian. If we’re going to face the White Chalice to get Layla’s friends back… we could really use someone withnullaxabilities on our side.”
