The heavy door made a grinding sound as I slid it open and slipped into Myth’s dark den. I left the door ajar, not wanting to make more noise than necessary in this eerily quiet lair.
Myth hopped down from the platform where he’d been sleeping, moving into the sliver of warm light pouring in through the open door.
“How are you?” I asked, grinning as he tossed his tail back and forth. “We’re not going to get to ride right now, I’m sorry. I just wanted to check on you.”
His tail stopped flopping and slid less enthusiastically across the stone floor.
“I know, I’m sorry. We will soon. I promise.” Taking his face in my hands, I whispered to him, “Remember, you can’t use your flame, for any reason. I hope you can understand what I’m saying.”
His snort was my only reply. His breath was hot against my chest, but not painful. I nodded and turned to go.
As I stepped toward the flickering light outside Myth’s den, a figure stepped in front of the door, blocking my way.
It was Rushland Covington.
CHAPTER 12
He moved into the den, and I stepped backward, heat spreading down my spine.
Myth omitted a low growl.
“Tell your dragon to stop,” Covington demanded, his eyes on me.
After two attempts at swallowing, I finally said, “Myth, it’s okay.”
Covington nodded his approval as Myth’s growling ceased. “You didn’t think I’d let this go, did you?”
Sweat was forming on my back already, and I couldn’t seem to find a single word to say to him, my body in shock at his sudden arrival.
He stepped out of the light and into the shadows inside Myth’s den. “The whole city has been on the lookout for a black wild dragon after what happened the day of the race. Now we know where he is.”
My heart fell clean out of my chest. Myth would die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“We’re bonded!” I hissed, trying to keep my voice quiet.
Covington laughed. “Impossible. He still has his flame, doesn’t he?”
“No,” I said, resolute.
He shook his head, a worried half-laugh escaping. “Cutting a dragon’s flame duct at that age kills them.”
“Then it’s a good thing he’s not what you think he is.” Years of pretending everything was fine, for Evie’s sake, had given me plenty of practice at twisting my words to fit what another person already expected to be true.
His eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.” He gestured toward Myth. “You’re putting us all at risk by bringing him here.”
“My dragon has papers.”
He let out a quiet scoff. “Easy enough to verify with a little digging.”
I wanted to punch him. Every rule in our world was built by people like him, and yet he lived like they were all beneath him. He floated on a plane above the rest of us, above the rules, and he knew it. If he’d been the one to decide to keep Myth, he could have bent society’s iron bars just to protect him. But me, I had no power to bend the world.
“Dig all you want.” I was pushing my limits, but Covington needed to believe I had nothing to hide.
He looked as if he wanted to say more, and I waited as if he held me at gunpoint.
Finally, he sighed and ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Fine. But if I find out you’re lying, you’re gone. And that beast will die.”
“Fine.”
