A bigger grin. She liked the sound of that. How could she have gotten there so quickly? Easily, she thought to herself, way too easily.
“Right now, I think that I just need some rest. I feel like I haven’t slept since I left.”
Christin got in the shower and Broch helped her. She asked him to stay and help her wash up, but he said he had to refuse.
“What sort of man would I be if I took advantage of you like this?”
“A satisfied man?”
Broch left soon after, making Christin laugh with how fast he moved. It was pretty clear to her that he was having a hard time. Serves him right, she thought to herself. It was better if he was as needy as her. Christin guaranteed that he wished he had made it go another way before. All she had to do now was make sure that she was ready next. Soon, Christin knew that they would be together, and she was waiting for it, but not yet. Not yet, she thought to herself.
Chapter 28
Broch
“Is she okay?”
Broch had just left Christin asleep in his room and her parents were wanting to know when they could see her. He would have let them go then, but Christin had passed out naked on the bed and he didn’t think that she was going to be ready for a while.
“She is, but I think she needs some sleep. She showered, ate something and passed out. I had the doctor look at her and they say that she is going to be fine, just dehydrated and malnourished. She has been down there all alone in the dark since we took the mansion. I can’t believe I didn’t hear her.”
Eve told him not to blame himself. She had her arm around his shoulders and Broch found comfort in that. It didn’t go deep enough to the coldness in his heart that he felt. He had left her there all alone, in the dark. Broch hated to think about it, but he knew that there was nothing else that he could do. She was safe now, but he had to kick himself for her not being safe the whole time. What he would do to go back and do it all over again.
“Christin is made of sturdy stuff. Don’t worry, she will be fine.”
Broch smiled at Richard and had to agree. She was made of studier stuff than all of them, to have lived with such a man for all those years. The parents had guilt for the match-up and Broch had guilt that he had let her down. None of them were happy with the sacrifice that she had made. Broch had spent very little time with Phillip, but through interrogations, he learned of the true threat he was. Without him around, Broch hoped that the clans could be friends and allies. With so many enemies, who needed anymore? With Phillip out of the picture, it was one less voice to the side of chaos.
Broch talked to them for a bit longer, then went to find Leonard. He hadn’t seen him most of the day, and that was saying something, considering that Leonard was usually by his side throughout it all. Broch wanted to know what was going on and he had a feeling that it wasn’t something that he was going to have too much say over. His second had been acting strange and when he finally caught up to him, he was whispering with some of the leaders of the army. Broch walked in on a conspiracy, he could feel it, though he didn’t know exactly what that meant. He was going to figure it out, one way or another.
“I have been looking for you, Leonard. Where have you been?”
“I do not like it here.”
“This is our home, always has been.”
“There are dragons in our midst. How can you forgive them for what has happened?”
Broch was surprised by his words, and he knew that Leonard was feeling it in particular. Both of his parents were killed with the elder attack. Many had lost parents though. They were not blaming the dragon warriors that were banished and came with Richard.
“These were not the dragons that were involved with the elder massacre. They were all out of the army and banished for years. They had nothing to do with it.”
“Yes, but they are still dragons.”
Broch didn’t know what to say. He knew that there were going to be some that would fight peace, but he couldn’t be bothered by them. They were going to have to live with it, just like he had to. Broch didn’t want to think about all the bad that was going to come from the infighting, but he knew that it was their way forward.
“We have never had a beef with dragons. We won’t again. This was a one-time thing. We are going to have them for our allies. They are going to be good allies.”
“You would rather stand behind a dragon and hide?”
Broch was offended at once and there were gasps, as people heard what Leonard said to him. No one talked to him like that but Leonard. They’d been friends for a long time, but Broch was only seeing pain and anger at the moment. His friend was full of it, and he didn’t know how to pull him out of it. They needed peace, not more fighting. Enough shifters had died that day, of all kinds.
“Who are we hiding from? Why do you think we are the ones hiding? We helped them, just as much as they helped us exact revenge. This was a win-win, Leonard, and everybody can see it. Why can’t you?”
“I can’t see it as anything good. You brought that dragon into our midst, went against the plan and brought her in. All of this was because of her. We would have never been at war, my parents and so many others wouldn’t have been murdered. This is all because of you and that little bitch. I will not dine and celebrate with them. They are not our kind.”
Broch was surprised that Leonard had decided to blame the dragons, Christin and him for it all. There had been true carnage that day, enough to satisfy anyone that was wronged, or so he had thought. Broch couldn’t have imagined that it would be any worse than it was with him. He had never seen Leonard so angry, and it didn’t feel like him, like the man he had known for all those years.
He told Leonard to go home, if he was feeling like he couldn’t partake in the festivities. He didn’t want to argue with him in general, but definitely not in front of everyone. Leonard was loved by all, and he was respected. When he talked, people listened. Broch wanted to talk to him alone, where they could work it out and the whole clan wasn’t involved in every minute of it.
