I put my trust in the wrong man. He used me to try to hurt my own family. I’ll never forgive myself for what happened, but now I’m making amends. When I’m Dragon, nobody will ever use me again. Nobody will ever hurt my family again.
I need to focus on the dangers in front of me, but clearly I’m going to have to put in some effort for Nika. If she wants to find her mother, then I’ll find the damn woman. It shouldn’t be that hard.
“I’ll do what I can, but you should be careful. If we bring attention to her, our enemies might try to use her against us.”
“Ourenemies? I didn’t realizewewere trying to become dragons together.”
“You’re my wife, remember? Once I have my position, you’ll be Queen Smaug. Breathe all the fire you want.”
She sits up straight, grinning, and I feel a sharp jolt in my stomach. Why do I like making her smile? Why does it matter to me? She’s a pen and paper. She’s a signature on a dotted line. She’s a means to an end, and that’s all.
“Great, I’m up to speed. So how do we do this, exactly?”
“Blood. Lots and lots of blood.”
She wilts. “Seriously?”
“I kill my rivals.” I refill my coffee and talk as I move. “The four current Dragons are meeting to decide who will take the final position. If I can eliminate them, there won’t be anyone else for them to choose, and it’ll default to me. If I can’t, I need to ensure I’m in the strongest position imaginable.”
“Your brother-in-law is one of them, right? That seems like it’ll help.”
“He’ll do what he can, but he’s forbidden from directly giving me aid. The Dragons take this shit very seriously.”
“Sounds dramatic.”
“It holds the world together.” I sit down beside her. She watches me intently and I like her focus. “The Dragons aren’t just guns and money. They’re a set of norms and regulations that guide the entire global trade system. Without them steering the world from the shadows, we would’ve descended into madness and chaos a dozen times over. You know World War Two?”
“I believe I’ve heard of it, yes.”
“That only happened because of a dispute between the Dragons alive at the time.”
She stops tapping at her plate and laughs at me. “Pretty sure we can blame Adolf Hitler for that one."
“He was a useful patsy. A psychotic, racist monster, but not the true catalyst. That war nearly ripped the world to pieces, and the Dragons since then have worked hard to make sure what’s left stays intact. You think the Cold War stayed frozen by accident?”
“Okay, assuming you’re not totally full of crap, and let’s be honest—“ She gives me a deeply dubious look. “When you’re Dragon, what are you going to do with all that influence?”
I reach out and touch her arm. I don’t know why I do it. My fingers run down her skin on total impulse, almost like it’s out of my control, and I hate the feeling, but I can’t stop myself. Her lips part in surprise, but she doesn’t pull away.
“When I’m Dragon…” I lean in close and my voice drops to a whisper. “You and I will sit on top of our hoard and never have another worry again.”
The corner of her mouth lifts. I can tell she likes that. Except it isn’t exactly true.
A Dragon’s life is a constant struggle. It’s meant to be hard. Pain shapes and molds us into something stronger, and if we can’t handle it, then a stronger man will take control. That’s how it works: the weak get pushed aside. A Dragon’s life always ends in violence.
If I were half the monster I pretend to be, I’d tell her all that. I’d make her understand that she’s now involved in a life of dangerand struggle, and her husband is likely going to end up in a shallow grave at the end.
But she doesn’t need to worry about any of that.
Because I’ve already decided that no matter what happens I’m going to make sure she’s safe at the end of it.
CHAPTER 7
NIKA
Iget an hour in a local mall to buy new clothes. That might be fun under normal circumstances, except today I have what feels like a dozen men trailing after me, and my husband frowning and commenting on all of my purchases.
“You needhow manypairs of socks again?”
