He’d better have a bloody good explanation. Otherwise, I’d be walking away. I’d been an afterthought too many times before.
NATE
There were no tears from Mrs Fortescue. Instead, there was ice-cold fury.
“I asked one thing of you, and you wouldn’t even do that. No matter all the years I looked after you as if you were my own child. Little did I suspect I was nursing a viper in my bosom. You’re a Mortimer, through and through—untrustworthy and grasping.”
It was clear where Ella had got her attitude—and her phrasing—from. Mrs Fortescue’s words were histrionic. The fury in her eyes wasn’t. I’d never seen Mrs Fortescue as a dragon, but if we’d been somewhere outside, away from humans, I was in no doubt that she’d be in that form right now and trying to tear out my entrails.
“I want you out of my house. James seems to think you’ll be useful to him, but I don’t care. Tomorrow morning, you will leave.”
“Yes, Mrs Fortescue,” I said, filled with relief at the prospect.
She had some more choice things to say about my character and my family, and then she dismissed me, if telling me she never wanted to see my traitorous face again counted as dismissal. Charlie would have laughed himself stupid at the thought of his mother telling me off, but her level of rage hadn’t been funny in the least. For years, she’d been the closest thing I’d had to a mother. That relationship was now destroyed.
I needed to speak to Alex. He always saw things so clearly, even when I was twisted up emotionally about them. I couldn’t believe I’d been back in this house for almost two hours, and all we’d managed was to exchange a couple of words and some texts.
I texted him from the hallway, and he came slowly down the stairs. I couldn’t read the expression on his face, which was a first. One that I didn’t like.
“Car?” I asked, once the door was closed behind us.
“Let’s go to that park,” he said. “You know, the one where you went the night you finished with Charlie once and for all.”
There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice. My heart sank as I realised for the first time how badly I’d screwed up.
We walked in silence to the park, and just as silently found a bench beneath a lamppost. I’d intended to do this carefully and tell him the official story, leaving out the dangerous part of it, but his silence was so unlike him and so unnerving that I blurted it out.
“Charlie was doing coke, and I had to get him away from here before his father had him locked up or killed for it.”
Alex’s eyes widened in shock. “Kill his own son? Are you—that can’t be for real.”
“I think he’d have been more likely to lock him up for life than kill him, but you have to understand—to our families, reputation iseverything.If Charlie’s addiction reached a point where hebetrayed the existence of dragons, the Fortescue name would become forever reviled, on top of them being as much at risk as the rest of us.”
“But it’s not a certainty that hewouldreveal our existence. Why would they be so extreme?”
I couldn’t understand how it wasn’t clear to Alex. “Because other dragons might discover his habit. The family would be ruined.”
“So the family name is considered more important than a family member?”
“Of course.” How could that even be a question? “I wanted to tell you what was going on, but all I could think was that I’d be dragging you into a secret that could be deadly. I didn’t know if I could help Charlie without his father learning what was going on, and if James had found out you knew…”
Alex winced. “Yeah, I can see that.”
There was a constrained quality to his voice, a lack of emotion that brought home just how badly I’d hurt him. I remembered how small his voice had been on the phone after he’d found me and Charlie together. I’d thought he’d understood it wasn’t what it looked like, but how could he, when I still hadn’t explained it properly?
“I’m so sorry, Alex,” I said, and hoped he could hear how much I meant it. I’d have given anything not to have caused this hurt in him. Anything except Charlie’s life, apparently. “I swear, it was nothing to do with the fact it was Charlie. I’d have done the same for Ella. It was just, the stakes were so high, I had to help him. I didn’t realise how badly I hurt you by not telling you.”
They were just words. They weren’t enough, but they were all I had.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, hopelessly.
Alex sighed, long and deep, then rolled his shoulders back. “I’m not saying I’m happy about it, but I guess I understand the position you were in.” He paused. “And this evening, you probably walked into a complete shit-show.”
Clusterfuck was perhaps a more accurate description. “I wanted more than anything to see you, to explain, but everyone wanted a piece of me. In the circumstances, I had to let them take it.” Even though it felt as if Mrs Fortescue had done so literally. There’d been a hollow ache in my chest ever since I’d seen her.
“C’mere,” he said suddenly, surprisingly, and he pulled me to him.
He held me, his arms tight around me. I scarcely dared to breathe, unsure if this meant he’d forgiven me.
