“She too, will answer for her crimes,” Caz assured her. “But as I said before, we will be smart about it. We will not let the fact that we are on the back foot propel us into doing something foolish.”
“At least we havesomebright news,” Anna chimed in, pointing at Ella. “Ella’s dragon has come around, and they seem to be on speaking terms.”
“Working on that,” Ella said. “It’s taking time.”
“It took me time too,” Anna assured her. “But that’s two of us now, who have gone from Grounded to alpha-level for me, and who knows for you, but certainly powerful.”
“Don’t you all look at me now,” Milly said as bodies shifted. “I know what you’re all thinking. First, I have to get this collar off and deal with the effects of that.”
“Whenever you wish,” Caz spoke up. “I will gladly destroy it.”
“I’d like it now.”
Caz shook his head. “I must go and meet with the Elites from here. This afternoon. In your quarters, with your friends there to support you.”
“Done. I’m sick and tired of it, now that I’ve made the decision to go forward,” Milly said, smacking a hand on her thigh.
Nods of approval went around.
“What do we do now then?” Kolar asked, speaking up at last. “Just sit around?”
“Now we prepare for war,” Caz growled. “Florian will head to the border, get things organized, prepare defenses. The call for warriors will officially go out after the Elites vote, but word is spreading fast. Our people are already responding. Report back once things are organized and you can take over the general mobilization here.”
“On it,” Florian grunted, rising and leaving the room, his eyes already glowing with determined purpose of man and dragon in unison.
“As for the rest of you,” Caz rumbled. “Get some rest. I fear it will soon be in short supply.”
Fifty-Six
Ella
“Why does itfeel like we lost?” I asked Dirk as we headed toward Milly’s room later that day.
Dirk was silent. Had he not heard me? I opened my mouth to repeat my question, but he started speaking first.
“Because we did, in a way. This betrayal was far larger than we expected, far more people who hate Caz and the way he wants to run the kingdom. On top of that, it appeared we had justice in our hands. Wedid. Mirko’s treachery had been exposed, his lies revealed. He was at our mercy. And in less than a minute, it was all undone, and he got away free. Without punishment.”
“But nobody died. We didn’t lose territory. Nothing was stolen but another traitor. Yet everyone is walking around like it’s over,” I pointed out. “Even you and Caz.”
Dirk put an arm around me, pulling me into an unexpected hug. “Durion was one of us, love. He was part of our flight.”
His thick arms tightened around me. I leaned into it and him, enjoying the contact, even if I knew it wasn’t a happy one.
“I trusted him,” my mate whispered in my ear. “With your life. On multiple occasions. He could have used any of those to kill you, and it would have been my fault for not seeing his treason.”
“Nobody saw it, Dirk. Not even Kolar. You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I can, and I do, Ella.” He pressed a finger to my lips when I began to protest. “I am not going to live in that guilt. I assure you. But it exists nonetheless, my love. I am supposed to be better than the others, smarter. That’s the sort of thing Ishouldcatch, even if they miss it. Yet as you say, none of us did. And you could have paid the price for it. I think about that a lot. About what it would be like if they’d succeeded in taking you, or worse.”
I felt the shiver run through him, and I squeezed back.
“Oof.”
“Funny.”
“No,” Dirk wheezed, reaching up to unlatch my arms. When they came free, he breathed in deep. “I wasn’t joking. That was strong, Ella. Very strong.”
I looked at my arms. They didn’tfeelany different.
