He glanced down at himself. His entire torso and back were covered in them. There had to be hundreds. He envied Avery. She might free herself of the mark, but he doubted anything could remove the scars the past three hundred years had made in him. “I hope whatever you try works.”
She seemed to pick up on the darkness that had crept into his voice because she sighed and said, “I’m sure Raven will figure out what they mean and help you with your nightmares.”
“She hasn’t yet.”
“She’s been a little busy establishing a new government in Paragon and everything.”
“True.” Marius pushed himself off the bench. He felt like an asshole for bringing it up. “Thanks for the company, Avery. Xavier’s a lucky dragon.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, but she couldn’t keep a spark of worry from her blue eyes. “Marius, I just know things are going to work out for you. Look how far you’ve come already. Just give it time.”
He gave her a reassuring smile that he didn’t feel. “All I’ve got is time.”
Chapter Four
“Why is this place such a wreck?” Harlow brushed plates and glasses aside on the table to make room to count her winnings. The floor hadn’t been swept since she’d done it the previous evening, and there was nothing on the stove for dinner again. The fire in the fireplace desperately needed another log or it would give up the ghost.
Her father shrugged, his eyes empty. Dragons didn’t age, but his slumped shoulders and sagging mouth made him look positively ancient. “I’ve never been good at housework. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Dad, we don’t have servants anymore. I’m gone all day at the pits. I know this transition has been hard for you, but you’re going to have to learn to do it.”
He blinked, grimacing as if the thought of it might push him over the edge of whatever mental precipice he was perched on. “Perhaps you and your mother could help. You’d do a far better job than I would.”
She held up a fistful of dragmars. “I am helping. I’m keeping us fed. And Mom hasn’t been reliable in months. You need to talk to her.”
“She won’t listen to me.”
“Where is she?”
“The Silver Sunset… Again. Every night this week.”
Harlow gritted her teeth. They had no extra money for casual drinking. “What do we have left in the pantry for dinner?”
“It’s empty.” He stared at the fire. Its dying light added to the overall bleakness of the moment. It would be better if it just burned out. As dragons, they didn’t need it for heat, and she was starting to wonder if they could afford it for comfort.
“What happened to the food we bought yesterday?”
“Your mother came home for lunch.”
“Why didn’t you go back to the market?”
He waved a hand in the air, looking dejected. “I never know what to buy when I go alone.”
“Dad…” She was losing him.
It wasn’t particularly surprising that her father was in a dark place after the year they’d had. He’d lost the career he loved and the business he’d built from the ground up. With it went all his creature comforts, his friends, his support system.
He hadn’t always been like this. Harlow had vivid memories of a man who’d once been adored by his employees and customers alike. He’d been a good father as well, denying her nothing before their fall from grace. Which was why it was twice as hard to see him like this. Darium was a man who built things and made people happy. How had he become this dragon who felt too helpless to even lift a broom?
She swept her winnings off the table again and into her hand. Mind made up, she strode for the door.
“Are you going to the market?” he asked.
“No. I’m going to the Silver Sunset. I’m going to get Mom and bring her back here so that we can all talk about our responsibilities. If I’m at the pits earning money all day, I can’t also cook and clean.”
He didn’t protest her leaving. She wondered if there was any fight left in him at all. By the time Harlow reached the Silver Sunset, her frustration had grown into a monster she could barely contain. The walk hadn’t calmed her down one iota, and she burst through the door and into the tavern with enough force that heads turned, even her mother’s.
Lemetria was sitting at the bar, surrounded by dragon males, none of whom Harlow recognized. That was the thing about being a dragon. Immortals didn’t age. One might assume she and her mother were the same age if they didn’t know better, and because dragon females were rare, any in an establishment like this would garner plenty of attention.
