“Put it on speaker,” I mouth.
“Are you sure?” she whispers.
I nod, once. She hesitates, then sets the phone on the counter and taps speaker.
“Sorry, Ze—Lord Ezekial. Could you repeat that?”
When she says his name, my body goes still. I forgot what their names could do to me.
“I wouldn’t let you go alone, Kace. You know me better than that.”
His voice.
His fuckingvoice.
That soft gravel, the slight formal accent, the rasp.
I bite my tongue, trying to dull the stabbing sensation ricocheting through my chest.
“I won’t leave you alone with him. I could come with you or Sai, Julien, Kane. It doesn’t matter who.”
Hit after hit after hit.
Every name is a brutal reminder that they’re real. That the bond is real. That this pain—this tearing ache—is caused by them.
By their absence.
Kacey stares at me, terrified. However I look right now, it must be a face she hasn’t learnt to categorise yet.
Ezekial keeps speaking, clearly mistaking the silence for something else. “He’s struggling, Kace.” He pauses, lets it sink in. “I’m not telling you this to try and manipulate you, but he feels… He thinks you rejected him—”
“I never rejected him. I never said anything! I mean, except ‘no’.”
I stare at her, deadpan, becausenois pretty close to a rejection. She must realise this too because she winces, hiding her face with her hands.
I hear Ezekial take a breath, and I can’t help but picture the way he’s doing it. And there it is again, that ache. Like fine needles pushing into my skin.
“It’s your choice, Kace. It’s always your choice.” He says it so… solemnly, like he’s already given up. And for some reason, it makes the ache even worse. “But maybe, you could give him a chance? Just to meet him. Talk to him. That’s it, that’s all he’s asking.”
I feel Kacey’s uncertainty, her worry, but I also feel her excitement. Over the last few days, she’s become quite the stalker, watching the dragon nonstop over the monitors.
“I—I really don’t think I can. Even just—just thinking about it… I… I don’t know what it is.” She swallows. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She finally drops her hands, eyes filling with tears, chest rising and falling as the words tumble out. “I know I should want this... I know he hasn’t done anything wrong but I—” Her words cut out, her erratic breathing making it too difficult.
That’s when I remember what a shit friend I’ve been.
“Kacey, we can—”
“I’ll come with you.”
When I interrupt Ezekial, there’s an incredibly still moment. A frozen pause. A silence any one of us could have broken. But somehow, I know, from just hearing my voice, that same painful ache is back for him too.
Kacey stares at me, wide-eyed, already starting to shake her head. She wants to say no, to tell me it’s not needed, but thisis exactly what she needs. Someone on her side, someone she can rely on, someone choosing her.
“Are you sure, J?” she murmurs, voice quiet with uncertainty.
I give her a small smile. “Yeah, I’m sure, K.”
“One of us will have to come with you.” Ezekial finally speaks again, but there’s a grit to his voice now. “I can’t let you both be alone with him.”
