“Now, as you know, there’s currently a prophecy and all of that nonsense going around,” Jack said, and Ashley brought her attention back to him, wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
A prophecy? Well, that was the sort of thing that often happened in fantasy novels and, and even though she was a dragon shifter and everything had gone wrong recently, Ashley didn’t exactly consider her life to be a fantasy novel. If anything, the whole becoming a dragon shifter probably meant that she was living out a horror novel right now. If she ever managed to shift successfully, she would undoubtedly turn into a giant flying monster. But, still, Jack seemed more than pleased by Jasmine’s reaction to the bringing up of a prophecy and that her eyes narrowed as she looked over at Ashley, once more taking in Ashley’s features, almost as if she could read the woman’s importance in this world with a simple glance alone.
Ashley couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, wondering if Jack was implying that she was important or the subject of this prophecy. If so, he was about to be sorely disappointed.
“Listen,” Ashley jumped in, waving her hands rapidly at her sides and grimacing as she did so, her eyes soft as she silently begged the woman to offer her some sort of pity because Jack was hardly a man who anyone could control. “I don’t know about any prophecy or anything like that, and I don’t really know what he’s implying, but I’m glad to meet you either way. I’m just a normal girl, just like anyone else, so y’all don’t need to worry about me. Or that I’ll tell my brother that I saw you because that’s probably why you’re living in the woods and all,” Ashley said, and she couldn’t help but immediately flinch, realizing at that moment that she had made a crucial mistake, the same mistake that she made all the time, ever since she was a kid:she talked too much. Or at least, something about how Jasmine reacted, her eyes narrowing, and her face once again morphing to something, making Ashley feel like she had said too much. It was evident that Ashley’s brother was a touchy subject, so it was probably best that Ashley brought him up as little as possible.
The only problem was that she was cursed with the existence of Jack, and Jack seemed to take that moment as a prime opportunity to throw a far too charming smile in the woman’s direction. It was like he wanted to remind her of the fact that Ashley had just fucked up.
“Right, she doesn’t want to dredge up any bad memories or remind you of the way that her brother threw you aside like you were nothing. And she certainly doesn’t want to bring up the fact that there’s a new young woman that’s been stopping by getting all his attention,” Jack said.
Ashley wished she had a broad leather belt because Jack sure could use a good whooping.
He grabbed Ashley’s arm, forcing her to turn around with him and practically guided her through every step she took. Ashley was confused, wondering what the fuck he thought he was doing, especially because they were leaving pretty much mid-conversation with the woman. No southern belle had ever had such bad manners before in their lives, and yet, there was something about the haste with which Jack moved that encouraged Ashley to move as well.
And then, because that wasn’t enough, Jack said something that was even more confusing, turning his head slowly in Ashley’s direction.
“Take five more steps,” Jack murmured out of the corner of his mouth, with authority.
Ashley wanted to protest but obediently took the five steps. One, two, three, four, five. Actually, she had no idea what she was waiting for at that moment, or why Jack paused on the laststep. He knew more about life here, and what a pissed off witch was capable of so she waited wit him.
“Fine,” Jasmine said, groaning as she rolled her eyes at the pair of them like they were genuinely exasperating. Which Ashley thought was unfair because it was clear, apart from her verbal stumble, that Jack was the exasperating one.
“There will be trouble at the Dragon Games, that much I can guarantee,” Jasmine said, and something about that satisfied Jack, if the way he nodded was any indication. Jack didn’t reply, he just took Ashley’s hand to guide her away from the cottage. But Ashley couldn’t help but look back at Jasmine, her steps slowing for just a moment as she dared to wonder what exactly she meant by that and why Jack had been trying so hard to get that information out of her.
Ashley knew that the games were coming, that they were somehow meant to be part of her debut into society, and her engagement. She’d heard people whispering about it, but the way Jack needed that reassurance that there’d be trouble at the games worried her.
Especially when, as the two of them started for the woods again and began to disappear behind all the branches and brambles, Ashley heard Jack repeating Jasmine’s words to himself with a sort of reverence that made Ashley’s stomach tighten in trepidation. Something terrible was going to happen, she was sure of it.
The only problem was that she didn’t know how to begin to tell Val.
Or what Jack would do if she did tell her brother.
Chapter
Fourteen
“Your brother is worried about you,” were the first words that Ned said upon finding Ashley in her room. He’d barely knocked before throwing the door open. Ashley was glad she’d made it back before anyone noticed she was gone, and before dinner was set to begin.
Ashley had never spent so much time away from her father, especially since becoming an adult. She often worked long shifts but wouldn’t go for days without seeing him. He would always be there waiting for her on the couch at night, ready to talk with her.
But now their relationship had changed, and something was strained between the two of them. The iron collar that sat around Ned’s neck, which he made little to no effort to address, didn’t help matters. Ashley found herself staring at it time and time again, thinking that if she were to leave the castle, then something might happen to Ned as a result. She just wondered what he knew, if he knew anything at all.
But he wasn’t her only concern, not when so many of the servants hated her brother and for reasons that she could fullyunderstand. Val deserved some of the hate he got, if his behavior towards her was anything to go by.
Her adoptive father showed up in her bedroom just as she was trying to decide whether to tell Val about her visit to the witch in the woods. Even though she had rarely been annoyed with her father, Ashley was a little annoyed by how her father barged into her room, hardly saying anything as he invaded her space and sat down on her bed.
But another small part of Ashley couldn’t help but wonder if she was being petty and if there was something more to the fact that she didn’t want her father there. Primarily because she couldn’t ignore or deny the fact that her bedroom was currently far more beautiful and grander than any room that she had ever had before. Ashley was self-conscious as she took in the wide space, noting the towering ceilings and beautiful floor. She wondered what her father thought of it as he sat on her bed, his thighs resting against a mattress that was probably worth more than her car.
Ashley had never been truly angry with or resentful towards her father while growing up. She knew that Ned had done the best he could with money he made. He had given her everything a girl could want, at least everything he could afford, and she was truly grateful. While some of the other girls she had grown up with had Porsches and could trace their family lineage back through generations, she had been bullied time and time again for her hand-me-down thrift store clothes. She felt a tingle of admiration for her father for the way that he fought to keep her in a somewhat comfortable lifestyle.
Which made it all the more awful that she was currently surrounded by all the things he never could have hoped to give her. Ashley hated it that he was sitting amongst all those rich things and knew that he undoubtedly wished that he had been the one to give them to her. She could tell that just from themotion of him picking up her white cotton duvet, rubbing it in between his fingers, and seeing that it was a far higher weave than he ever would have been able to afford.
Hell, Ashley saw the way he looked at the large, grand ball gown that was currently on her and knew he was wondering what life would have been like if he had been able to afford for her to go to prom. Suddenly, she found herself once again wishing for the comfort of sweatpants and wishing that she wasn’t there, but back in her real bedroom. Her brother knew how to keep her in style.
“Val is worried about you and how you’re settling in,” her dad said, not looking at her now.
“Fuck him,” Ashley spit out. “He was the one that dragged me here, that caused all of this, all because he wanted what Daddy wouldn’t give him. He didn’t care about me. All he cared about was how he could use me.”
