“You’re right. I was harsh. But I never thought you’d ever hear it.”
“Well, Cara did.”
That explains a lot. Why Cara always seemed to avoid me. She heard me bad-mouth her friend. I’d hate me too. “I truly didn’t mean any of it.”
Her eyebrows arch. “How can I trust that?”
Because I like you.You’re everything. Everything I’m not and want to be.Iused the termworthlessbecause it was the antithesis of how I felt about her. I think we could be best friends if we just got to know one another. I don’t say any of that though. I can’t. Not when she’s looking at me like she hates me. Just because I know her secret doesn’t mean I’m even a friend. I don’t know why anyone would like me anyway, except for my money or status. Nonetheless, I step close to her. “Don’t I already have your trust?”
She sucks in a breath like this is a shocking thing. That her trust for me to keep Nity a secret, to perform these deals, snuck up on her. And maybe it did. “You do,” she breathes.
“Then believe this. Farren Walsh, you are the opposite of worthless.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOWHEN LEARNING SOMETHING NEW
FARREN
Afew days after our vet visit to the auction house, I’m back to routine—feeding my parents’ dragons strips of bass for breakfast. Only my focus keeps shifting to the loft’s stairs. I haven’t seen James yet today. Now that I’m teaching him veterinarian skills and we’re working through the sanctuary chores like fellow interns, I kind of assumed I wouldn’t have to go knocking on his door every morning. The other day, I knew I had to seek him out. Today I had hoped…
You are the opposite of worthless.His words won’t leave my head.
“Your parents are gone,” a voice suddenly says from the opposite direction of my staring. I whirl to find James leaning against the stone between stalls, nonchalant.
I’ve startled so bad Mom’s Sprinter, Aggie, bats her wings in irritation. Her mate, and my father’s dragon, Keen, snorts in James’s direction. Rule number one, never suspect James Murphy is sleeping, ever.
I backstep. “Why did that sound ominous?”
He jerks from the stone. Surprise or horror, maybe both, envelop his features. “No, it’s… It’s just, it’s your turn,” he prompts.
“My turn? Are you trying to dump your chores on me?” I throw another hunk of bass to Aggie. Her jaws snap the fish out of the air.
“No, I…” He nods toward the loft. “I promised I’d teach you how to craft a silver tea.”
Oh, now that explains why we need my parents gone. I’ve been waiting for the right moment. When James asked when I’d like to start learning a few nights ago, I told him to wait until both my parents were off the sanctuary. Something warms inside me that he remembered.
I glance toward Hort, still curled in sleep. “We’ll need—”
James reveals a scale of silver from his pocket. “Done.”
I toss two more pieces of fish to the dragons, emptying my pail. “Me as well.”
He jogs up the stairs and holds his door open awkwardly. “Come in.”
I feel like I’m entering unfamiliar territory instead of a place I’ve been hundreds of times. James still hasn’t decorated his rooms, not that I had expected anything different in the last week. I’m used to Jeffrey’s green decor and Shelly’s watercolor paintings splattering these walls. James’s neatness contradicts that.
I go to wash my hands of raw bass and turn to James staring at me. Somewhere over the last few days the irritation I used to feel in his presence has been replaced with a different sort of tension. My insides are pulled taut awaiting what he might say.
“I’ll get a kettle started,” he declares.
“Yes. Thanks.”
James boils water as I sit down at the table. Another thing I never thought would happen, I’ve grown accustomed to eating with James Murphy. He’s become a staple at family dinner. My parents furnish most of the conversation though. Mom hasn’t inquired about his dating life again, thank god, but does like to ask him questions. I’ve learned a little more about all twenty-four dragons under his father’s care, snippets of his life outside of school. Mostly, Dad talks about his cases. Now knowing why James was so eager to listen, I’ve spurred my father on, letting him teach.Half the time Dad will pull out diagrams after dinner and the three of us will pore over anatomy textbooks. It’s been… nice.
Yet I haven’t been here since the thunderstorm. While I’ve spent so much time chatting with Jeffrey and Shelly in this exact spot it feels inappropriate being alone with him. Maybe because I saw this place as their little cute love nest, a place meant for a couple.
Done setting the kettle, James sits down across from me and pulls out a vial much like the one burning in my pocket. Only his shines silver. “Since you can’t buy silver already pulverized, we’ll work on that first.” With a pop he uncorks the tube and pours out the contents. The metal spills across the table like glitter, so fine and polished. “We’ll use this for reference.”
So well prepared. And in this instance, not to compete with me, but to help.
