Even though all of this concealing and hiding had torn whatever Ryker and I had managed to weave.
“Thank you,” Dax said so sincerely, it almost made the sacrifice worth it. I wondered if the precious Dragon showed the same appreciation to Ryker.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, but a tension lingered in the air.
I heard in the way Dax kept shuffling papers and huffing. Felt it in the way I grasped the stones.
“Here’s a wild idea,” he said, too casually. “We have to leave this crater to go to war.”
“Correct. By walking, not flying.” I gripped the rocks tighter. “AndIam going to war. You can stay here or go to one of your hiding locations, but–”
“Sure. As if I’m going to leave you alone among the Blood Brotherhood.” He chuckled, but it lacked all of his warmth. “I haven’t found anything amiss so far. Solkar’s Reach functions on precision and superstition. No shadows to shed light on, as far as I can tell.”
“Keep looking.” I gulped, already sensing the storm brewing. “Those attackers didn’t invite themselves in.”
“No, they didn’t. But this shouldn’t be our problem.” He took a deep, determined breath. “What if we leave and don’t come back here?”
Chapter 31
Allie
“And go where, Dax?” I asked, trying to keep calm.
It was so easy to just launch ideas and not bother with the logistics of making them a reality.
“Aquila, obviously,” he said.
I sighed, letting go of the stones before I threw one out the window. “We both know that’s not possible now.”
“Take control of the army and it will be. We can leave right now, you know the way out–”
“The exit is filled with traps–”
“Then take your Commander along with us.” He narrowed his eyes. “He might be a pain, but I’m pretty sure he would support you taking your Clan back.”
He would. I knew that without a shadow of a doubt and felt it in my bones–which made the situation between us that much more unbearable.
But he knew one detail Dax didn’t.
The crown.
“This isn’t about him,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
I curled my lip. “Yes.”
Even if Ryker and I wouldn’t have been trapped in painful uncertainty, if I would have been able to reclaim Aquila, with his speed, the distance wouldn’t have been a problem.
But that wasn’t the reality we were living in.
“Thenwhy? Because I can’t think of any other reason we’re freezing our bones off to stay here.” He grimaced at the crate and the parchments, voice rising. “We’re wasting our time with rocks and paper, when true power is literally in your reach. You were raised for the throne–”
“Dax.” I closed my eyes again and breathed in. And out. And in. “Silas has–”
“Screw Silas. What are we doing here, Allie?” he yelled. The limits of his patience had finally been breached. “This isn’t our home. I don’t care what the Council says, this is enemy territory and that fucking wedding proved it. We can go over the ledgers anywhere else in Malhaven.”
“Not safely. Not back in Aquila,” I said, just as fiercely. “Here, we can sleep at night without fearing a dagger to our throat will wake us up.Ifwe wake up.”
