My throat closed. He’d seen the worst of my memories. The one I’d tried to bury so deep a thousand times. “I dreamed of your father’s death.” My voice was barely a whisper. If we were going to do this, spill secrets in the dark, I might as well do it right and hide nothing. “You were there. Watching. And I... I became the monster in your nightmares.”
Silence stretched, heavy and unforgiving. We stared at each other through the aching void.
“I saw what you did when you got home,” he said, softer now. “You locked yourself in the catacombs, deprived of sound and light. There, you cried so quietly. Like someone who didn’t believe she deserved to mourn.”
That did it. I broke our stare, turning my head and blinking fast. That moment, so raw and shameful, rose in my chest like a bruise.
Taron cupped my jaw with a hand hot enough to brand. Gently, he urged my face back to his.
No condemnation burned in his expression, just compassion and something dangerously tender. “We’ve both been through terrible things,” he said, voice thick. His thumb brushed my cheek, a feather-light touch that scorched me anyway. “But this... whatever this is between us... it’s not going away.”
My hands reached for him before I could stop them, gripping his shoulders. My nails sank into his warm skin. “If you even think about suggesting we sleep together to get it out of our systems, I will rearrange your internal organs.”
His lips twitched. “How dare you? I’m a gentleman of honor.” Then his gaze dipped to my mouth and lingered there. “No out of our systems sex. But maybe we can be... not enemies. Today, tomorrow, and after the bond breaks.”
Not enemies. I licked my lips, my heart stuttering. Beyond any doubt, this fragile thing between us would shatter once the bond broke. I knew that. But even still... hope curled tight in my chest, and I nodded.
“Not enemies,” I whispered.
For now, it was enough.
Chapter
Twelve
Never laugh at a human. Unless they trip. Then it’s allowed.
-Humaning for Beginners: A Dragon’s Tale of Human Management
The next morning, Taron and I prepared for the last leg of our quest in silence. Tension swirled around us, but it was a wildly contradictory and worryingly different kind of tension than before. Awkward but comfortable. Sharp, yet softer than before. Mostly it sizzled. My awareness of him heightened, leaving me restless and torn. I fought the urge to step closer, knowing the danger of giving in.
After cleaning up in a nearby pond, I took a selfie with the Sunsong Crystal and the flower to send to Adelaide. Or tried to. I couldn’t hold the camera and both items while taking a proper proof of life photo.
Taron watched, his lips twitching at the corners again, in a way I was coming to really, really dig. “Let me help you.” He held out his hand, requesting the camera, which I gave after a beat of hesitation.
“Thank you.”
He snapped a few photos while I posed and blushed.
“I never realized dragon berserkers could be so…human,” he said, flipping through the images on my phone. The barest hint of affection hid inside his tone. Then he shocked me further. Lightning quick, he moved behind me, stretched his arms around me and angled the camera in front of us. SNAP!
“Did you just take, like, a couple’s selfie?” I demanded.
“In case your sister wonders about my condition.” He winked.
My chest clenched. Not being enemies was going to wreck my heart, wasn’t it? The real kicker? We were doing exactly what Lorik hoped, growing closer.
I gulped, reclaimed the phone to text Adelaide the picture, which I didn’t let myself study…yet. I asked for kingdom updates, then set off with the mortal who had basically scrambled my brain.
My phone dinged. Then dinged again. And again.
A series came in one after the other, and I groaned. “I’ll be fielding messages from her all day.” I didn’t check them yet, not wanting to be distracted as we entered new territory.
Trees rose tall and thick, stretching so high their leaves grazed the clouds. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, setting crimson and pink wildflowers aglow as though the forest staged a show just for us. The caw of darting birds and the gentle hum of trickling water over rain-washed stone threaded through the hush. The air smelled of honeysuckle and smoke, sweetness touched with danger.
Every footworn path beckoned, but we kept to the shadows, avoiding everyone we came upon, skirting around them, slipping through the dark and sneaking past.At the midway point, Taron pulled a tin of cookies from his backpack.
Oooh. Cookies! I reached for one, but he twisted, ensuring my greedy fingers couldn’t snag a sugary treat.
