He lowered his snout so our eyes were level with each other.My feelings for you are independent of the situation.
“That’s not what I asked.”
His dark eyes remained on me, staring into my soul.We lost so many of us, nearly half.
“I know.”
We don’t have immortal souls like mortals. We only have this one life—and those dragons sacrificed theirs to win that war. A war that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for him.
My eyes immediately dropped in hurt. I wished I could change his feelings about the matter, but if Callum weren’t the man that I loved, we would share the same opinion, the same pain. I’d probably be the one to execute him myself.
It’s unforgivable,Sunieth.
My eyes remained down on the stone beneath my feet.
Your father supports you because you’re his hatchling. He’ll always support your choices. But my father has become the unofficial king of dragons since Constantine’s death, and he takes the transgression emotionally and deeply. He’s also wounded that your father would stand by your man in this—that they’re not unified in their resolve.
I looked at Zehemoth again. “No. I don’t want them to fight over this.”
There is still love there…but distance.
My arms crossed over my chest as the early fall chill started to creep in.
He’s a dragon killer.
“He didn’t kill a single dragon, Zehemoth.”
Not directly. But indirectly, he wiped out half our kingdom. The humans will move on because you reproduce at a much quicker rate.But for dragons, we have few offspring, so every lost dragon counts so much more. We mourn in the wildlands, dragons sobbing for their lost life mates. Very few still have their partners. We’re one of the few families where every member survived—and that makes my father feel worse. I understand you love this man, but we will never feel that same affection.
“Would it help if he apologized?”
It would only make it worse. We prefer him dead but know that’s something Talon will never honor, so we want him exiled from the Southern Isles. We don’t want him to marry into the Rothschild family, because if he does, then our family will sever ties.
“This—this can’t be happening right now.”
I know you love this man—but he’s unworthy of your love.
The argument died in my throat because a battle felt pointless. Khazmuda’s family felt like our family, and it felt like I’d lost them in a single night.
I know how much pain this causes you,Sunieth. I’m sorry for that.
My eyes drifted past him, to the torches in the distance. “I’ll never love anyone the way I love him.”
Perhaps in a single lifetime. But Lily, you will live many lifetimes, maybe even hundreds. And one day, you’ll meet someone who fits the way your sword fits into your scabbard across your back. Someone your father will love like a son. A man whom your dragon family will love like a hatchling. But it is not this man.
I nearly let myself inside in my desperation, but I steadied myself and knocked on the door instead.
Callum answered shirtless, tall and muscular and unbelievably sexy as always.
But I felt nothing.
His eyes read my distress before he silently stepped aside so I could enter the house.
I walked straight to the dining table, my body feeling so heavy when I took a seat.
He wordlessly placed a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table. He uncorked the bottle but didn’t pour it. Then he sat in the chair that was pivoted toward me where I sat at the head. Instead of rushing me to tell him what was wrong, he waited for me to be ready.
“I have bad news and worse news, but I’m not sure which is which.”
