Florian waspacing back and forth on the ledge and hadn’t stopped doing so the second he spotted me in the skies.
“Where have youbeen?” he shouted the second my wings settled at my side, the rush of wind fading so he could be heard. “You said three days, Caz. Three days. It’s been a week!”
“I know,” I growled. “I’m not happy about it either. But …”
“She’s pissed at you.They’repissed at you. And since you weren’t here, they’ve taken it out on me.”
“You’ll be fine,” I said, waving off his concerns. “You’re a big boy. Is there anything else I should know?”
Florian glared at me, but he didn’t say more about himself. He’d said his piece, and now it was past. That was how it was with him. It’s why we got along so well.
“Other than you breaking a promise to your mate?” he replied at last.
I growled, eyeing the warlord. Such barbedwords were not his style. Something else was making him uneasy, but there would be time for that later.
Right now, I had to fix things with Anna. Without her, nothing else mattered. Wordlessly, I brushed past Florian, heading inside to get dressed before I went looking.
Once I was decent, I found the women on a rock out behind the cabin. I was not going to call it a chalet, which made me sound like a pompous dick. That was the last impression I wanted to give Anna.
“Ladies,” I rumbled, stepping around a tree and approaching to within easy earshot.
Neither of them had turned their heads to acknowledge me, and that didn’t change now. That stung. I tried not to let the hurt of disappointing my mate take over, but it wasn’t easy. I hated this feeling.
Never again.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to return.” I started to go into my long-winded explanation, the one I’d come up with on the flight over, but stopped. It was too manufactured. Too political.
Too much ice tyrant. Not enough Caz.
“I fucked up,” I said bluntly, stifling the urge to go to Anna and turn her around in my arms, to beg her to show me how to make it right. “I should have sent word. I didn’t. That’s on me.”
“Yes,” Anna said at last, turning until she couldsee me. “It is.”
I crumpled on the inside as I took in her face. The long lines, the obvious lack of sleep. And most of all, the look in her eyes. Disappointment stung worse than any anger. I had let her down. Badly.
My dragon howled its impotent fury at me as well, but it was nothing compared to my own self-loathing.
“You swore to me once, Casimir, that no matter how difficult, you would be there for me. You swore I could trust you, and you broke your word.”
I wanted to impale myself on my own icicle. Freeze myself solid. Fight the Red King. Anything so that I didn’t have to hear the pain she was trying to hide behind anger.
“What more can we expect? You said you wanted to change things,” Ella said, speaking when Anna couldn’t. “Have you decided to betray that as well?”
I jerked upright, stung by the verbal slap. “I am late, yes. I did not send word I would be late, yes. But I have committed no other sin. I have not wronged you otherwise. Be mad, be hurt. I will suffer that pain as I must, as I deserve. But be careful of the insults you levy. They can’t be taken back.”
“Spoken like a true tyrant,” Anna whispered, shaking her head at my commanding tone.
I wanted to grab her up and take to the sky, to remind her of the fact that to me, nothing existed but her and making her happy. Why couldn’t she see that? Why was this such a big deal to her? She was safe, secure, fed, with her friend. I was only late, and for good reason!
Matching anger rose within me. I hadn’t been loafing off, drinking beer and forgetting her.
“Or spoken like someone who’s spent seven days looking for your other friend,” I countered hotly. “Someone who has spentfarmore money on this search than anything else during my reign. Ever. Spoken like someone who was upholding one promise he made, even if he failed at another.”
Anna’s eyes opened a hair more. “Did you find her?”
I hated myself for having to crush the spark of hope that flickered to light in her.
“No,” I told her, facing my failure head-on. “I didn’t. That’s why I took so long. I couldn’t bear to come back empty-handed, to let you down. So I pressed harder, took more time. I bought off more pairs of eyes. We raided three different homes based on tidbits of information, and I have nothing to show for it other than breaking another promise to you by not returning on time.”
