I didn’t know what to say to that. My own family had been supportive of whatever decision I made about Callum, and now I realized how momentous that was. “You—you think you can talk to him?”
“He’s still in mourning with the others.”
“Zehemoth hasn’t mentioned this to me.”
“It might be because he’s afraid he’ll lose you.”
I turned to look at the portrait on the wall, my grandfather, a man I’d never met. Burned alive with everyone else I’d been related to. “I—I didn’t see this coming.”
“Dragons are different from us. They see situations in pairs, black and white, good and evil. I think you can surmise how they feel about this. Callum was responsible for everything that happened, and therefore, many dragons are dead that should be alive. They risked their lives to fight alongside us, a fight that didn’t need to come here. I can’t even say Callum’s name to him without his nostrils flaring with fire.”
I pulled one knee to my chest and crossed my arms, suddenly ice-cold. “Maybe they just need some time.”
“Time passes differently for them than it does for us. I think that might make it worse rather than better.”
“Then perhaps I can say something?—”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can say, Lily.”
“Then Callum?—”
“Under no circumstances is Callum allowed to go near a dragon—not unless you want him ripped into pieces.”
I sat back in the chair. “Can this really be happening?”
My father’s eyes dropped back to the desk.
“You’re the only person Khazmuda will listen to.” I looked at him again.
“I can keep trying, but I really don’t think it’ll make a difference. He’s angry that I allow Callum to stay here. He’s angry I gave Callum that vineyard.”
Why did I fall in love with the one man I couldn’t have? The man who was the most difficult to love? Convincing Khazmuda and the others to pardon Callum sounded far harder than any other challenge we’d had to face thus far.
“Does that mean you’ve made it work with Callum?” my father asked.
My eyes had been on the portrait of his father when he asked the question. I brought them back to him. “Told him I still needed space.”
“You seemed pretty devastated when I told you Khazmuda won’t accept him into our family.” He accompanied the accusation with a piercing stare, analyzing me from across the room.
“I love him, and I can’t live without him. I’m just not ready to live happily ever after right now.”
He gave a nod in understanding. “And if you feel this way, imagine how Khazmuda must feel.”
“He has every right to be upset. I completely understand it. But he needs to find a way to coexist with Callum.”
“He asked me to exile him from the Southern Isles.”
I felt every drop of blood drain from my face.
“Obviously, I said no…for you.”
There was never an end in sight with Callum. It was just a hurricane after an earthquake after a tsunami. “Viper really is the easier choice, isn’t he?”
My dad caught my sarcasm and released a quiet chuckle. “What did you want to talk about, Lily?”
My tale seemed insignificant compared to the one he just shared. “Leviathan came to me when I was in my kitchen…” I told him the story and the lie the demon had tried to provoke me with. “Callum thinks he’s trying to bait me to go to the island. But I don’t think I could ever be upset enough to do that.”
My father had sat upright in his chair, leaning forward over the desk when the conversation turned serious. “Did he touch you?”
