“How?” he demands to know. “What lie?”
“You told me you were human,” I say, my head tipped back, my voice biting. “You acted as if you hate Blacksmiths.”
“Iamhuman,” he snaps back. “And I do hate Blacksmiths. Every fucking one of them.”
I narrow my eyes. “Including me, then.”
“Except you,” he snaps back. And then more softly. “And your brother.” His jaw clenches. “And even Asha. I no longer hate her.”
Other than moving closer to me, he hasn’t made any move to bridge the gap between us.
His arms remain at his sides.
“But you…” Confusion is like lava within me, burning through my thoughts. He claims to be human. He claims to hate Blacksmiths. But he’s a Blacksmith, not a human. “But you’re…”
Still trying to lie to me.
Allowing my anger to rise and give me the strength I need to push away from the wall, I step in far closer than is safe and pin him with my gaze. “You’re Malak’s son. You’re a Blacksmith, not a human.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t hate them.”
I’m close enough to him now that I could collide with him and still, he makes no move against me. “You aren’t human.”
He exhales softly, what sounds like a carefully controlled breath. The tension in his jaw eases as his focus passes across my earnest face. His lips part, then press together, the slightest movement.
Is he weighing his answer?
Is he trying to devise a lie?
Or is he preparing to tell me the truth?
For a long moment, silence passes between us, broken only by the heavy breeze.
Then, he says, “I have always been alone.”
I wait for him to go on, but he studies my face, giving me a chance to speak, as if he expects me to refute him again.
When I don’t, he continues. “I was surrounded by humans and raised by dragons. I learned their ways. I forged bonds with them. But always, I was alone. And always, Milena was never far away.
“All my life, she watched me. Waiting for signs of my father’s cruelty. And soon enough, I realized that the dragons were watching me, too. All of them waiting for me to turn to the same darkness that my father welcomed into his heart.”
Thaden stops again, as if he expects a retort from me, but I remain silent. Not because I won’t act or because I believe him, but because the more I know about his beliefs, the more knowledge I can gain. The more knowledge I have, the safer I’ll be.
“Just as you’re watching me now,” he says.
He raises his right hand, turning it over in the dim light. He’s close enough to me that he could wrap that arm around me.
Or break me with it.
“Even when it became clear that I wasn’t left-handed, the scrutiny didn’t ease. Milena didn’t hold anything back about my father and the things he’d done. She told me everything. Thedragon king himself, Graviter Rex, made it his mission to ensure I was aware of Malak’s every dark choice.
“But one day, Milena told me a lie. She found me sitting at the edge of a cliff when I was ten years old. I asked her if I could make wings out of metal and fly away. I wanted to leave my name behind. Find a place where nobody had heard of Malak Ironmeld, and I could be free of his legacy.” Thaden’s voice softens. “Do you want to know the lie she told me?”
“You’re going to tell me anyway,” I say.
He nods. “She told me that my father loved me.”
I blink at Thaden. I don’t know enough to refute Milena’s claim. “How do you know it was a lie?”
