“Dragons measure commitment the same as anyone. And you’re old enough to know better.”
“I know enough.” I feel my teeth grinding.
“Do you?” Her voice sharpens. “She watched a friend die. Was captured and tortured. Spent days in survival mode.” Vanya’s eyes narrow. “And you took advantage of that trauma. When she was vulnerable and afraid and had no one else to turn to.”
My defense crumbles. Heat surges up my spine, along with scales. I force them down.
“She wasn’t— I didn’t—” I stop, try again. “She initiated—”
“She’s twenty-one!” Vanya’s voice turns ice-cold. “You’rethe one with centuries of experience. You should have said no. A man ofhonorwould have said no.”
“I have plenty of honor,” I grit out, wishing I didn’t sound so defensive.
Then comes her killing blow. “Really? Because I read the reports. You made a choice in those mountains. Mara Jones or my daughter.”
I go rigid. The memory flashes vivid: the helicopter spinning, the impossible choice, Mara’s limp body as she fell. Heat drains from my body so fast that I feel dizzy with it.
“You chose Ember. And Mara died because of it.”
“That’s not— The situation was—” My voice cracks, betraying me.
“Was your attraction to my daughter part of that calculation? Even subconsciously?”
The guilt hits so hard it leaves me breathless. I can’t answer. Because I’ve asked myself the same question a hundred times. In the darkest hours in the cave, holding Ember against my chest for warmth, I wondered if I made the choice that saved her because even then, something in me recognized what she would become to me.
My silence damns me.
“You’ve failed to protect your team,” Vanya continues. “You’ve exposed my daughter’s secret to our enemies. And now you’ve seduced her while she was traumatized and vulnerable.”
Each accusation true from a certain angle. My carefully constructed justifications crumble under their weight. Dragon heat retreats, leaving me cold and empty.
Her voice softens, which somehow makes it more dangerous. “I don’t doubt you have feelings for her. I’m sure they feel very real.” She pauses. “But feelings don’t erase the harm you’vecaused. Or the harm you’ll continue to cause if this continues.” Her eyes grow hard. “End it. Before you destroy her completely.”
“She won’t—” I begin, voice hollow.
“She will. Because you’ll make her understand it’s the right thing.”
“And if I don’t?”
Vanya’s eyes are winter itself. “Then I’ll make sure you never work another Aurora operation. I’ll have you removed from the Craven clan council. I’ll ensure every dragon in the Pacific Northwest knows exactly what you did.”
The threat is clear. She’ll destroy my reputation. My position. Everything I’ve built.
But that’s not what breaks me.
“And Ember will watch it happen. Watch you fall because of her. Watch her mother wage war on the man she thinks she loves. An infatuation.” Vanya leans in. “Is that really what you want for her? A lifetime of being caught between us?”
My defenses are gone. Every point Vanya made echoes my own worst thoughts. The age gap. The power imbalance. The guilt over Mara. Taking advantage of Ember’s vulnerability.
Images flash through my mind: Ember in the cave, shivering against me for warmth. Ember’s mouth on mine in the hunting lodge, her body arching beneath my hands. The way her skin had burned against my palms, her dragon heat meeting mine, scales glittering along her throat as passion overtook her. The way she gasped my name when my fingers traced lower, the moment I lost control completely.
Maybe Vanya is right.
Maybe I am exactly what she thinks: a man too old, too damaged, too selfish to walk away from something he should never have touched.
Ember deserves better. Deserves someone who doesn’t come with half a dozen lifetimes of failure and guilt. Someone who won’t cost her the relationship with her mother.
“You’re right,” I say, barely audible. The admission burns my throat like acid.
