“Let’s hear it.”
“I could make you fall for me. Make you break your parents’ rule.” I don’t know where my own confidence came from, but I just said that without a hint of doubt. My voice didn’t even tremor. Somewhere deep inside of me I’ve always wanted to confront him.Say I’m unattractive to my face. Say it.
His mouth parts in shock. When he reins in his surprise, he steps right into my personal space. Too close. Way too close.
“You’ve got a couple things wrong. Idowant to be here, more thanyou know. And I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” He lets out a dark chuckle, the closest I’ve heard to a laugh. “So, try your worst, Walsh. Try. Your. Worst.”
After what James said, those words deadly and dangerous, I scoff and then I flee. I flee all the way back to the house.
I slam the door a little too loudly, take two steps into the kitchen, and then slide down the cabinets, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them, both my parents stand over me.
“What happened?” Mom asks.
I can’t tell her what I just did. That I tested James Murphy. I pushed him, and he pushed back. And for the first time in my life it’s not only embarrassment flushing my face. It’s something else entirely. “Please reassure me this isn’t the end of the world.”
“That’s a little dramatic,” Dad laughs.
I feel like being dramatic. This is a dramatic situation. In fact, it feels like a horrible play, convoluted with an exceeding amount of conflict.
Dad sticks out his hand. “Come on. Let’s discuss.”
I take it and haul myself up. “Is this even up for discussion? Tell me the truth. Do we need Hort to make it through the year?”
“It helps.” Mom lifts her hands in defeat. “It helps. And they are paying us a thousand sterlings to lodge James too, which means we can keep Shelly on the payroll. Aine made this very difficult to turn down.”
Damn it. That’s a lot of money and great news for Shelly. Mom makes this place possible, scours through the ledgers like no one else could. It’s why we are the only dragon sanctuary in all of Forsen. Not because others don’t want to rescue dragons, but because the capital just isn’t there. If she’s saying we need the money, weneedthe money. “There is no way to undo this then,” I summarize.
Dad gives a small smile. “I know everyone here is worried. I’m worried too. But—” There is always a but. There is always light in the darkness. It’s what makes my dad such a good vet. He’s pulled animals through thatothers would deem doomed. And he really doesn’t think the worst is about to happen having a Murphy here.
“But,” he continues, “I think James could be a huge help. With Hort, of course, but all the dragons. You know as well as I how some of our clients would prefer a silver-crafter operating during procedures.”
My jaw drops. “So what, we let James Murphy hold the scalpel and take the credit?”
“I’ve let you. I could teach him. We could teach him.”
Envy bubbles under every inch of my skin. One wrong move and it’s going to explode out of me. James is a better student than me. He’s a better rider. He’s a better metal-crafter. My one edge was my father’s teaching. And now he’s going to come and steal that too. My dad has never once expressed he’d rather have any other assistant over me. Not once. Since I was a kid it’s been that same old joke,best and only don’t always mean the same thing, but in your case they do.So why does it feel like he’s enthusiastic with the idea of replacing me, like I might cry?
“How will we hide from him, though?” I press.
“How we always have, kiddo. We will be careful.”
No. James is too observant. I imagine his gaze, how I’ve caught him staring at me so many times, especially these past two weeks. I’ve already feared James might have suspected once or twice before. That those watchful eyes would catch and confront me. “James can’t be trusted,” I blurt out. “What if he’s here tofindNity?”
“Are you saying you think James has been sent as a spy?” Mom bites her lip.
I nod. That’s what my friend Cara calls him—John Murphy’s spy, directed to check any Murphy dragon when they are sold at her family’s auction house.
Dad sighs. “Even if he was, James is here to watch over Hort. Besides, Mrs. Murphy told us James was the one who asked to be here. He and his mother had to persuade John. I am confident he doesn’t know. We just have to make sure it stays that way.”
This is where I need to tell them. Tell them there is a very real possibilityJames knows about Nity without his parents’ direction or scheming. That he knows because of me and what I did two weeks ago when he wasn’t breathing, when it felt like I was holding a dead body in my arms.
Mom interrupts with her own question. “What kind of boy is he?”
“He’s…” I could do it. End this if I said the right thing. A devastating account of how he acts on the tracks. Primed and probably groomed to grow up like his father.
Dad beats me to it. “He’s a good kid. Quiet. Lonely.”
“Lonely?” I exclaim. “He’s worshipped at school and on the racing tracks. You should see what happens when he walks around. People move out of the way like he’s royalty.”
