She had the choice of believing Christy and running or believing that feeling inside of herself that said Max was hers, that he belonged with her. But which choice was the right choice? Why was she so attracted to him? What was wrong with her that she couldn’t seem to move even as the front door swung open all by itself yet again and the dragons, changed into their human guises, entered as it slowly swung shut behind them.
Christy hissed out, “There has to be a door out of here. There has to be!”
They moved along the wall, their hands reaching and searching along the blank face of it. Panic set in as Heather’s fingers found only slippery stone and no sign of any exit or entry. She whispered, “I think they just fly in and out!”
Max’s amused voice came to her ears, making Heather’s entire body go stiff. He said, “No. The door’s on the other side of the castle. What are you doing exactly?”
Christy let out a little inarticulate cry. Heather turned to face him, her happiness at the sight of him quickly obliterated by the real distress written all over Christy’s face. She said, “Christy says there’s something wrong. I believe her. She wanted to leave. She’s my best friend, and where she goes, I go.”
The words felt hollow. They fell from her lips so woodenly that she was not sure how she’d even managed to get them out. Everything in her wanted to beg him to ask her to stay, to ask her to be there with him and to not leave.
Instead, he walked through the thick pools of shadows, his black hair gleaming and his handsome face lit by a small light that bobbed over his head. Proof of his magic, Heather realized. He took in both their faces with his eyes and then said, “I see. I’m afraid that if you leave now, you are going to be in grave danger. We don’t know for sure if the Orcs are planning to mount an attack against us, but it certainly looks that way. However, you are always welcome to leave. We hold no prisoners here.
“The ones from the village are entering through the back gate. If you wish to leave, you must go there. I will escort you.”
No. That was not what she wanted at all! She wanted to be there and be with him. She wanted him to put his hands on her body and kiss her as passionately as he had kissed her earlier that day when she had nearly fallen to her death. She wanted to feel his hard and strong body against hers, to feel the life and the power and the muscles under his skin. She wanted to feel the heat burning from within his dragon heart.
Christy grabbed at her. A sidelong look showed her that Christy was pale and trembling. Her mouth had compressed down into two hard and flat lines and she was shaking like a leaf in a high wind. Her voice was just as high and frightened as she said, “Is that what it is? Am I scared because I know the Orcs are coming or something?”
Max surveyed Christy and then Heather. His face gave away nothing. “I sense no power in you. Whatever you are running from, it is something within yourself.”
Heather immediately understood exactly how that felt. She had gone along with that wild rush from the castle because she too was running from something. She was running from the strong, immutable, and undeniable feelings that tugged at her every single time she was in his presence.
What was he doing to her that she could think of nothing else besides him? What was it about him that called to her like a drug she had somehow become addicted to?
Her hands came up as if to ward him off. “She’s afraid. She wants to go home.”
Max said, “I’m afraid that the portal will not open no matter how much you want it to. The portal operates on its own time. I understand. I truly do. But I can do nothing about the portal. It is immune to our magic and to the magic of your people, those who have magic. It will open again and when you choose to leave, you may.”
Heather stared at him. That yearning, that deep and unrelenting longing to have him say that he wanted her to stay came back, crashing into her like a stiff wave from the highest seas.
She swallowed and looked at Christy. Christy looked at the ground at her feet and then shuffled her shoes in the dirt there. She muttered, “This sucks. I want out now.”
Max said, “I see. I think there’s little doubt of that.”
As he spoke, his dark eyes moved to her face and Heather found herself staring at him, her lips tightly closed and everything in her battling against the urge to tell him that she wanted to stay. His words had flattened her hopes and spirits. Surely if he wanted her to stay, he would’ve said something. He had not even seemed upset that she would leave. In fact, he didn’t seem to care at all!
He said, “In the meantime, however, I could use some help on the other side of the gate. We have people here, those from the village, and they’re coming in for protection. I have had to use a great deal of magic to keep the illusion up and in place that they are still there, and still in the village. The Orcs will not know they are gone until they attempt to actually attack there, if they even do. It’s better to be safe than sorry though.”
Heather’s fingers twisted together. Sharp pain began in the skin right next to her fingernail bed. Her nails were pressing into that flesh, pressing down hard, as she sought to counterbalance the raging agony within her heart.
She managed to speak. “I would imagine it is always better to be safe than sorry.”
Oh, how those words echoed in her heart! Now was the time to set aside the physical attraction that she felt for him and the even stronger tug she felt for him in her heart.
Itwasbetter to be safe than sorry. It was definitely better. The only way she could be safe was to close her heart off to him, and her body too. She had to battle back that complex and complicated spinning wheel of emotion, lust, and tenderness that she felt for him. She had to stop viewing him as someone capable of saving her. He had saved her life, yes, but had it not been for him, she never would have been in that danger in the first place!
He had brought her there, after all: both of them in fact. Christy was afraid and wanted to go home, and Heather was also afraid, and she too wanted to go home. She had no idea what it was that her best friend was afraid of, but she knew exactly what it was that she was afraid of.
She was afraid that Max was going to steal her heart and then keep it long after she had gone back through that portal and into her own world.
