“Do you have kids?” Zarek’s voice cut through a gap in the conversation.
The question landed in the circle, and Reese’s story about Max trailed off. Atlas went quiet. Lucan’s fingers stilled against my neck.
It wasn’t casual. It wasn’t small talk. The way Zarek held my gaze made it obvious he already knew the answer mattered less than whether I would give one.
Lucan shifted beside me, his body tensing. I sensed the protest building in him, the protective instinct coiling.
I put my hand on his knee. He stilled.
“No.” I held Zarek’s gaze across the flames. “No kids.”
The silence lingered, and I recognized it for what it was. An opening. An invitation to fill it with deflection or a joke or a quick change of subject.
I was tired of deflecting.
If I expected these people to trust me, to let me into whatever this was, then I had to give them something real. Something that cost me.
“I was with a man for ten years.” My voice came out steady, which surprised me. “We got engaged last year, and we co-owned a construction company together.”
The fire popped. Nobody interrupted.
“Scott had a sports betting problem. I didn’t know about it until the IRS sent a letter about back taxes he owed. By the time I untangled the finances, I’d discovered he’d drained our business and personal accounts. I had nothing left.” I swallowed. “The company folded, and because my name was on everything, his debt became my debt.”
Lucan’s hand moved to my shoulder and squeezed once.
“I came to Ashford because I needed a place where I could clear my head and couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. All I had was a tent, my car, and enough cash to last maybe a month if I ate cheaply. I found the knife in my tent after a naked man scared me half to death in the middle of the woods. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what any of you were.”
My eyes stayed on Zarek’s. His expression hadn’t changed, his eyes reflecting the fire.
“If I had come here to steal from you or cause trouble, I would have taken the knife and disappeared days ago. I wouldn’t have shown it to Reese. I wouldn’t have let a local jeweler put it on record. And I definitely wouldn’t be sitting here telling you the most humiliating chapter of my life while Lucan plays with my hair.”
Atlas made a sound that might have been a suppressed laugh. Reese’s hand found my arm and rested there.
Zarek studied me for a long moment. The fire shifted, and shadows moved across his sharp features.
“Fair enough.” His voice was quiet. He uncrossed his ankle and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I had to ask.”
“I know.” I exhaled, feeling like a truce had been reached between us. “I would have asked too.”
The tension broke like a wire snapping. Atlas launched into a story about the time Lucan got his claws tangled in a fishing net as Lucan’s fingers resumed playing with my hair and stroking my neck.
I stared into the fire and let myself breathe.
Chapter 20
Lucan
The fire had burned itself down to a low glow by the time everyone started drifting. Kade and Reese left first, Kade wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he steered her toward their cabin like he’d been counting the minutes until he could have her to himself. Atlas followed not long after, yawning wide enough to crack his jaw and giving Liz a dramatic bow that made her laugh.
Zarek stared at the dying embers and gave me a single nod when I caught his eye. It was the closest thing to an apology I was going to get, and I took it.
The path along the lake was darker now, the trees blocking most of the moonlight. I reached for Liz’s hand, and she gave it without hesitation, her fingers threading through mine.
The pressure of my dragon was a constant, low hum that had been running hot all evening. He’d nearly surged forward twice during Liz’s story. Once when she said Scott’s name, and once when her voice had gone flat in the way people did when they were describing something that had gutted them.
“You’re quiet,” Liz said. “What are you thinking about?”
“Honestly?”
