Chapter Nineteen
Christy asked, “So, what did you just do?”
Heather sighed as she found a soft gown and slid it over her head. “I’m so stupid.” She crawled between the rumpled sheets and turned to face Christy. “Go ahead, say it. That was so dumb, to sleep with him again. I know we can’t work out and I am not even sure if he wants to work anything out with me. Honestly, he doesn’t seem to. I mean, he never says anything but that the portal will open and we can go. I guess that is a pretty good indicator that he wants me to ghost on him, and in a way that will make sure he never has to see me again. Like, ever.”
Real bitterness lay in her words and heart. She asked, “Do you think I’m dumb?”
Christy grinned at her. “Never, Heather. I know you too well. You’re smart and sweet and kind, and you’re damn hot too. Dumb? Not even close. I think he’s just so different from anything you have ever known that you’re drawn to him. I mean, my God, how could you not be?”
Heather knew her friend well too. “You like Blake.”
Christy screwed her face into an expression of disgust. “Blasphemy!” She sighed and dropped the grimace. “I do. Believe it or not, we spent some time together alone, and he’s actually not as heinous as he seems to be. He’s a knight, too. Did you know that he was the one who killed the Orc, like, overlord or whatever they call Orc leaders back in the day? He was just a kid, and he saw his dad fall, and he ran out onto the field and killed that Orc. That’s pretty impressive.”
It all made sense to her: all of a sudden, Christy’s real and physical fear. Heather hugged her, hard. “I take it you still don’t want to have his kid.”
Christy blew out a long breath. “Did Max ever tell you what happened?”
“No, he just said it was not fair.”
Christy scooted closer. “It wasn’t. It’s against the law here for a dragon to kill another dragon, no matter what the circumstances, not even in self-defense. But Blake’s father did just that. There was a dragon that wanted to be king, and Blake’s father killed him because he found out that that dragon had decided not to dirty his own hands and to hire Orcs to kill the royal family. He had to do it to save them all. That dragon was all set to open the gates and kill everyone in their path, except that dragon and whoever he chose to live. Whoever would bow down to him.”
“Wow.”
Christy sighed. “It does seem unfair, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” It did. All of it was terribly, terribly unfair.
Several days later, the sky was blue, and the clouds raced across it, and of the Orcs, there was still no sign as Heather stood on the roof looking upward and out across the mountains. It was a pretty sight: one that she never got tired of. The walls of the castle reached upward, so high she was sure all she had to do was reach up one hand and touch it.
Despite the view, Heather’s heart was heavy. The portal was opening; she could see the red tint lying across the sky, the tint that said she was about to be sent back to her own world, and with so many things left unsaid between her and Max too. Her heart gave off a powerful ache, and she had to blink back tears. Nothing was right anymore, nothing was ever going to be right in the world—not this one and not her own either. Her life back there, had she ever been as happy as she had been the last days with Max? Time was funny in dragon world, yes, and it felt like she had been there for many years, but she had not been. She had been happy though, after the shock and everything else had worn off and she had understood that she was drawn to Max and that her feelings for him were real.
But had his been real? Did he have any feeling at all for her? Todd had left her so shaken and unsure, and she hurt all over again as she wondered if she had just assumed that he felt the same way she did.
Oh, he liked sleeping with her, and he really liked her company, but that was not the same as being in love, now was it?
No.
It wasn’t.
Tears came up again, and she could not stop them. They ran down her cheeks as her eyes searched the skies, hoping for a glimpse of Max, of the span of his wings as he flew above the earth and toward freedom. He had left, knowing she would have to leave, and he had not tried to stop her or asked her to stay.
If he loved her, he would have asked her to stay right? Well, sure, and he had not so he must not care at all about her.
She dropped her head. On the ground below the castle sat the war machines. Her teeth chewed at her lips. Max had a world to rule, and he had said, over and over, that this was his world—that he would not leave it. She understood that. He loved his world.
Did she love hers? She wasn’t sure anymore, but if she did not have Max, what would that world be like for her? All she would know was sorrow and grief and having to see him, knowing that he did not want or love her, that would be the worst thing she had ever had to feel. That would be worse than what Todd had done.
She sighed again and turned away, heading across the roof and to the door that would lead her back inside the castle. Her heart, however, was so broken that she was not sure what she would be like when she did go back.
That gave her pause. Had she decided to go then? It seemed so. It was the only decision she could make. There was no reason to stay. She was not going to have that happy ending with Max, and there was no way she could be in that world without him.
The stairs were empty. The whole castle felt empty and lonely; all the dragons had gone to see what the Orcs were up to, and if they were indeed about to start a war against the dragons.
The door to the outside courtyard opened, and she stepped through it, not even wondering anymore what made those doors open so automatically. The training ground was empty, and the falcon cages empty too. She spotted Christy walking through a long row of the gardens, and she headed for her.
Heather surveyed her face as they stood staring at each other. “Hey.”
Christy nodded, “Hey. You okay?”
