Jack had stationed himself on her bed, sitting so his back was against the headboard. Somehow, he managed to splay himself across all the pillows, almost like he belonged there, even though he most certainly did not. The cocky smile on his face further added to the idea that this was where he was meant to be, even though, if Ashley had to choose who she fucked at the end of the night, it would be Alexander, the sweet butler, rather than Jack Tracey, the devil with his feet on her bed.
“You could, at least, keep your filthy fucking boots off my bed,” Ashley drawled, her eyes moving pointedly to his feet. He just smirked at her. She showed him her middle finger. “What do you want?”
Ashley had a feeling that no amount of dreaming, wishing, or swearing would make Jack Tracey go away. Even if she somehowmanaged to make him go away, it would take her some time to replace Emma.
Emma, who now looked like she might be more of a problem than Ashley had given her credit for. Emma stood at the side of the bed next to Jack with crossed arms, looking far less than impressed with her mistress. Which was surprising, because just about everyone in that room had been talking about how she was the subject of a prophecy. Now, they all looked at her like she was a misbehaving child.
Unfortunately, she was panicking so much she couldn’t even think of charging back out the door that she had walked through. Elliot moved around the room, as if reading her thoughts, and leaned against said door.
“Asshole.” Ashley tossed the word over her shoulder and moved to stand in the middle of the room.
“You’re going to help us whether you want to or not,” Elliot replied, which most certainly was not the sort of thing that someone who was the hero in a story would say. If Ashley was being honest with herself, she would say that it was probably something that someone who would kill you in a story would say. However, Ashley didn’t exactly need a warning anymore. She was awake, she was alert, and she was far too frightened.
Everywhere she looked, someone waited for her, making clear the fact that there was no escape. Even if she were to go out into the hall, she imagined that explaining the situation to her brother would be a tough one because she had decided to leave the grounds with a maid so they could go to meet Elliot and Jack. He wouldn’t care that she’d believed that they would have good information for her, rather than prophecy bullshit. Which now, all things considered, she was pretty sure that just about every interaction she’d had with Jack had been leading up to.
There was no way that she could explain any of this to her brother because if she told him everything that she’d done whenhe wasn’t looking, like talking with his ex, Jasmine, he’d lose his shit completely. Again.
And so, with no other options left, Ashley resigned herself to her fate, slowly sinking onto the floor as her eyes darted from person to person, futilely looking for just a little bit of help. She decided that there was no help to be found. She was well and truly fucked. She was going to have to deal with the hand that she had dealt herself. And, in this case, the hand that she had dealt herself was a bunch of angry servants and a fucking dragon.
A fucking dragon who she was fairly certain could, unlike her, switch into his dragon form at any given moment. Yeah, she was definitely fucked.
Ashley would have backed away in a reasonable situation, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. But this was hardly a reasonable situation, nor any situation that she had experienced before. She was going to have to hear them out and convince them, no matter how crazy whatever they said to her was, that she genuinely believed them, if only so that she could save her own life.
Easier said than done, though Ashley did have a certain way of settling into the role. Ashley had learned in her time as a waitress that just about everyone had expectations of her and that the best thing to do was try and be the person they wanted her to be. Or convince them that she was that person, at least. With bravado on her side, Ashley settled into her role, looking as attentive as possible as she stopped trying to think of ways to escape and acted like she was coming to terms with reality.
All the while, her eyes were peeled, her whole body on the lookout for a sign that someone was in the hallway, that someone could save her.
Jack must have caught it, considering the amused way the corner of his mouth tweaked upwards in a crooked smile ashe rose from the bed and approached her. Rather, he stalked towards her, not unlike a cat.
“Now,” Jack began, thinking over every word he was going to say, seeming to debate with himself for a moment.
“What were we saying before,” Jack dared to ask. Ashley didn’t know if she was meant to respond, obediently telling him exactly what they were talking about before, or if she was meant merely to watch him, waiting for the moment he gave her some hint of what was happening.
She opted for watching, allowing her eyes to trail after the man as he slowly approached her, making every step take as long as possible. It made Ashley all too aware that he was the one in control here. The fact that Jack had previously been in line to be king was obvious in the way he dared her to get up with his eyes and that slow walk.
After a moment, however, Ashley decided to speak, answering his question.
“We were discussing the Dragon Games and the possibility that they might be rigged, that someone might be working in the shadows,” Ashley said. She hated how obedient she sounded, if only because it further solidified in her mind just how powerful Jack was in that situation, more powerful than Ashley could ever hope to be. But, to show him that she had the upper hand and could seize the situation again, Ashley reminded him of a little, far too understated fact. “I believe you were also telling me something about a silly prophecy, one concerning me. One that it sounds like someone would need to be mated to me to fulfill for themselves,” Ashley said, and she dared to meet Jack’s gaze, the corner of her mouth ticking upwards at the same time as his did, and the two seemed to come to their own understanding. A quiet conversation occurred between them. And, with a laugh, Jack gave in.
“Yes, I do believe that that is exactly what we were talking about,” Jack admitted with a slight nod, continuing his walk towards her, his head turning to the side as he took in the sight of her with a far too pleased smile spreading across his features. “I know you don’t understand, but it is important to us that the right person ends up as the King of Dragons if they really must be a King of Dragons.”
“And who exactly is the right person?” Ashley dared to ask, straightening up just a little bit as the man approached her. “You?”
The question was rhetorical, but Jack laughed anyway, seeming to find some amusement in the idea of him, of all people, becoming the King of Dragons.
“We already have a chosen one,” Jack admitted.
“Oh, wonderful. I’m so glad to hear that the person I am destined to be with for the rest of my life has already been decided upon by someone who is not me. Again,” Ashley said, hating the fact that she felt just a little bit bitter at that point, but unable to stop herself from commenting, especially when Jack seemed so pleased with himself.
Her words settled over the room, sinking into everyone’s minds and causing them all to realize the same thing. They were asking her to give up her chance at real love to fulfill some sort of weird prophecy. Ashley hadn’t even thought of it like that, but now, her throat felt tight, and everything about her felt off. Sure, she had never been much of a romantic, mainly because she had never been allowed to be much of a romantic. She had never felt like the world had gifted her with many chances, but this was one of them. And now they were asking her to give it up too? Now, they were asking her to give everything up for some sort of greater good?
“We just want to make sure that the tournament isn’t rigged and that someone doesn’t try to change fate,” Jack triedto explain, but Ashley could only shake her head, not really wanting to listen to much more of it. Not when she was the only person who was being asked to sacrifice everything.
“You know, if you think about it the right way, then maybe whoever wins the tournament, either way, is meant to be with you. Maybe that’s how fate works,” Elliot said, ignoring the fact that Ashley wasn’t exactly a philosopher. She highly doubted that anyone else in the room was either. She didn’t want to be forced to accept fate, either way. She wanted to make her own choices and be her own person, but it seemed like life had different plans for her. Everything she wanted would never be hers.
“Well, who am I supposed to root for?” Ashley said, struggling to keep her voice steady as she spoke the words, silently recoiling internally at choosing one person over everyone else. Over her potential soul mate, even. “How am I supposed to do this? How do you think I’m going to help you?” Ashley shot all of them looks that could practically kill as she asked the question.
“You know my parents got rid of me because they thought I didn’t have any magic, to begin with, so how do you think that this is going to work,” Ashley dared to ask, hating the thick stone that settled in the back of her throat.
