His shoulders straightened, his head high. “No, Alpha. Of course not.”
He knew that I’d let her go. I assumed he also knew I couldn’t admit it. Only Hadriel would ever hear that confession, because I knew he’d keep it to himself for her sake. There was no one more trustworthy than Hadriel when he was helping someone he cared for.
“I would never relinquish my duty. Our kingdom is counting on us.”
“Yes, sir.” Still, he hesitated. “Just so we’re on the same page, in case no one says what they’re thinking... Going after the actual problem and not the decoy is your duty. Letting Aurelia goisdoing your duty. We’d just be wasting time looking for her. Her journals are the sum total of what she knows, and we still have those. I see one just there. She can’t help us by being here anymore.”
“Thank you for your input, Dante. You may go.”
This time he did leave, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Ordinarily, no, letting her go was not part of my duty. The dragon royals had initiated this assignment and they should get the final say on Aurelia’s fate. As their commander, though, I had to be allowed some liberty to determine which leads to chase. As her true mate... I couldn’t stomach the idea of them hurting her, for any reason. She wasn’t evil, I was sure of that. She should not be punished for what were ultimately Granny’s sins.
The camp was pulled down and ready to go in no time. Those who’d go into the nearest town to look for Aurelia had been chosen, Hadriel among them. With him was Dante and Nova and a few others who held positions of power but had softened to Aurelia’s plight. Hadriel would tell them the goal and ensure Aurelia was not found.
To keep her safe, this was my goodbye.
Chapter 26
Aurelia
“Hey!”
Something hard slammed into my ribs.
I jumped up before I’d realized what was happening, grabbing a boy by the neck and twisting him until he was bent backwards in an uncomfortable headlock. His arms flailed and his boots—probably what had just hit my ribs—scrambled for purchase.
Horses grunted as they shifted below and hay scratched at my neck and was probably sticking out of my hair.
“Sorry.” I let him go and then dusted him off.
He slapped my hands away, staggering backward and falling into a pile of hay.
I’d slept in the hay loft of the inn stables last night, the one with the horse-fish on the sign, intending to get up near dawn and inquire about a room. Instead, I’d clearly slept a bit later than intended and been found out. Whoops. Such were the hazards of traveling at night.
“Sorry,” I repeated. “I just laid down, waiting for a respectable time.” I held out my hands to show I meant no harm and bent slowly to reach for my lantern and pack, both of whichhad been laying at my side. “I meant to be gone by now. I’ll just go check in.”
“They had rooms last night,” the boy said, cross now that he knew I wasn’t going to continue hurting him. He pushed up to standing. “You should’ve just gone and slept there. We don’t allow people to sleep in here.”
“Definitely. Totally. I get that. It’s just... kind of odd for a woman to wander in in the middle of the night, you know? I didn’t want them to refuse me thinking I was some sort of, I don’t know, bad news or something.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not around here. We get women coming in here all the time, trying to sneak their snacks or waiting for their misters to sleep it off so that he don’t raise the fists.” He took in my clothes and scanned my face. “Which are you? You’ve got no bruises but you have all your teeth. New to the snack box, I’d reckon, right? Which one has you on the hook?”
“No, no, it’s not that, not at all. I’m just passing through.”
He huffed, his grin knowing. “We got plenty of them, too. I swear, we might as well claim heavy tourism for how many people come through looking to buy.” He shook his head. “Excuse me to say it, ma’am, but you should try to resist until the urge goes away. You’re still pretty. The hunger will come back if you can just resist that hook for a while. That lantern is real nice. I’m sure you’d get a good price for it. Use that to buy the dragon elixir that kills the hook. I reckon you’d be able to buy enough to get you off. Then stay off, you hear what I’m telling you? I live around it. I see it all the time. All roads lead to a bad ending on that stuff.”
“Wait.” I shook my head, my palm held up gesturing for him to give me a second. This was all new lingo, and I needed a few breaths to organize my thoughts. “When you talk about the snack boxes, do you mean Granny’s, or just... you know, in general?”
“Yeah, Granny’s. None of ‘em hook you like hers. Someone should’ve said that. It’s the best around, I heard, but it comes at a steep price. If you get a bad dose, it’ll kill you.”
“There are no bad doses at market,” I said without thinking.
The knowing glint in his eyes dimmed, a little bit of sadness seeping in. “Trust me, I’ve seen it. It’s bad stuff. They shouldn’t allow it. The mayor is getting a little action from it, though, so...” He shrugged. “You know how that goes. The people in charge don’t care about the commoners if someone is greasing their palms.” He stepped back. That was my cue to go.
“The dragons make the cure for the hook expensive?” I pulled on my pack and waited for him to go first.
“Yeah, ain’t that a bitch? I hear they wax poetic about the dangers of drugs and how horrible it is to be addicted but don’t they have their hands out, too? They’re gettin’ rich, same as that Granny. Same as the royals. Everyone is profiting off somebody.”
Indeed.
