Only she’d lacked his power to make everything better.
And if what she suspected was true, it made him all the deadlier. Because that rage was eternal.
Without another word, he took off through the crowd.
“Where are we going, beast?” she asked.
“I have a man to kill and so do you.”
“You mean an imp, don’t you?”
Dash snorted. “Imp, man, irritant. All the same.”
To him, probably, but she didn’t think of them that way. “Did the imp steal the magick wand from you?”
“What?”
She had to struggle to keep up with Dash’s long strides. “The golden wand you asked about. Is that what you were after when I captured you?”
Dash slowed as he realized what he’d let slip. Over the last three days, he’d said much of nothing to the dragon.
Halla had done most of the talking, and the two of them had chatted about nothing of any consequence. Halla was good at that. So was the dragon.
Damn it. It wasn’t like him to talk about personal matters. He’d learned long ago that such things could and would be weaponized against him.
Never let anyone see any kind of vulnerability.
Never let anyone know what bleeds.
How could he forget that?
So, he quickly switched the subject. “You didn’t capture me.”
“You ran into my net.”
“A technicality.”
“You landed on your arse, beast. I saw it.”
He growled low in his throat at her reminder. Why did he tolerate her insubordination? Not even Halla would have dared such with him.
Renata would have.She’d have laughed, to boot.
But she was an exception. His sister had nerves of steel honed by the knowledge that she could get away with murder where he was concerned. That was only because she’d won his heart the moment she’d been born.
God, he could still see her laughing at him while she yanked at his hair.
No one else had ever loved him. Ever accepted him without judgement.
Not his father, nor his mother who forever let him know that he was a disappointment.
And he’d failed his sister...
Never had he hated himself more than he did right now. All he’d done to make this world safe for Renata and it hadn’t been enough.
You’re worthless, boy! They should have cut your throat when you were born instead of your cord!
His father had been right, after all. They should have strangled him with his umbilical cord and saved them all the misery of his life. He hadn’t been worth the cost of raising him.
