“Viol, wait,” Saffron called.
Viol didn’t stop.
I sighed. I didn’t want to run or chase him down. I’d hunted enough to know that being chased only made things flee faster.
“I just want to talk,” I added.
Saffron snorted. “Oh, you shouldn’t have said that. He hates talking, unless it’s swearing at something. Or if he’s talking to a kid. Then he really opens up.”
That comment combined with Jade’s talk at dinner gave me an idea.
“Viol,” I called, “it’s about our baby.”
He halted.
Beside me, Saffron’s eyes rounded as wide as full moons. But he didn’t have time to question me as I caught up with Viol, who stood frozen in the hallway. Saffron and I stood cutting off his path so he couldn’t squeeze past us. Still, I tried to appear non-threatening. I didn’t want him to bolt.
When I finally came face to face with Viol, I found myself at a loss. Besides the black leather outfit and the permanent scowl, he looked so… normal. There was even a family resemblance echoed on his features. It drove home that I really was facing Saffron’s older brother.
Was he truly the dark dragon I’d held a grudge against for so long?
A few beats passed in awkward silence until Viol rasped, “Well? What about your baby?”
I took a breath.
“I’m going to have one with Saffron eventually,” I said, “so we’d better talk it out before then.”
Saffron’s jaw dropped silently. Meanwhile, emotions clashed on Viol’s face. He looked more nervous than I felt. Hells, up close, he wasn’t that scary at all.
“The dragon that attacked the tundra clan. Was it you?” I asked point-blank.
Viol clenched his jaw hard enough to hear it creak. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“What’s the point of telling you? It won’t change anything.”
“Because otherwise it was senseless violence that got my clan mates killed.”
Saffron’s gaze darted back and forth between us. He stood close to me, ready to jump to my defense, but I didn’t need defending. I felt calm. Solid. For the first time in my life, I felt like a real person with my own thoughts and feelings.
Viol sneered. “You’re welcome to keep thinking that. I ain’t telling you shit.”
Saffron crossed his arms. “C’mon, Viol. Don’t beef with Rorik when he’s about to be the daddy of a new dragonet. You want to be involved, don’t you?”
Viol paused, clenching his fists. He ground his teeth as an internal war raged visibly within him. Apparently, that was a serious threat.
“I had to help somebody,” Viol finally spat. “That enough for you?”
I frowned. Who could his destruction have possibly helped?
Before I could unravel the thread, Viol exhaled deeply, like all the fight had evacuated his body. While I felt solid, Viol felt hollow. Part of him was gone.
“I don’t want trouble with you, Rorik,” he muttered. “You can hate me all you want.”
“I don’t hate you. Not anymore.”
Viol scoffed. “You should. I fucked up your life.”
