Page 54 of The Heart of the Dragon

"I just need some space to think. To process all of this." I gestured vaguely towards the house. "I feel like my entire life has been a lie, and I don't know who I can trust anymore."

Kitra placed a hand on my arm, her touch gentle. "You can trust us, Rose. We're here to help you, not to hurt you. And your parents— they've been trying to protect you, even if their methods weren't the best."

I let out a shaky breath. "I know, I just— I need time."

"I know a place we can go, but it's pretty far."

"How far?" I hesitated. I still wasn't sure I could trust Kitra, but it was either her or my parents. And I so wasn't ready for that. Plus I needed to set Magnus straight on this mating heat thing they all kept talking about. I didn't completely understand their culture, but I liked to read and when your parents spent their whole life shoving Celtic folklore down your throat, you managed to pick up a few things.

"Isaac and Magnus's brother had a place on one of the islands a few hours from here. It's still in the family. We go there from time to time."

"Where is their brother?"

"Ian is gone. It's been a long while now."

My stomach lurched. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. He must have been so young."

She grimaced. "Not as young as you might think."

My innate curiosity was piqued by her comment, but in truth, I was too exhausted and overwhelmed to concentrate on anything else at the moment. "Should we get the guys and explain the plan?"

"The real question is are you up for the trip?" Magnus rounded the corner halfway through his question, serious concern shining in his eyes. "Thirty minutes ago you looked like death and were in a lot of pain."

I stilled at his assessment. He was right. "I'm already feeling better. What does that mean? Was it all a false alarm? Is there a chance I'm right and this isn't real?"

Kitra snorted. "Hardly. The binding spell around you is probably a proximity spell. It's likely tied to your guardians, so they'd know if anything happened. But don't take that to mean all is okay again. It's not. I can still feel the magic of the spell and its unraveling. Messily. That time bomb is still ticking."

"Great. Are we sure we should travel so far? There is a lot of space here."

"It's more remote at the Ferguson estate. If something is going to go wrong, I'd rather it happens as far away from humans as we can get."

"I could get her farther."

I backed up at Magnus' simple statement. "Yeah no, I am not into kidnapping."

He smirked. "Sure could have fooled me."

"That was different. I thought you might die." Okay, so the parallels were a little too close for comfort. "Still."

"She can dish it out but she can't take it," Magnus taunted.

"Uhm. Are they going to stand here all day and flirt with each other?" Isaac asked.

Kitra pushed at his arm. "Leave them alone. How easily you forget how weird you were when you set off my mating heat."

"I was not weird."

"You almost killed Ensley! Several times. Not to mention you and him trying to kill each other." She glared at both Magnus and Isaac.

Isaac frowned. "Well, that one is still a possibility. Depending on if he can keep that dragon inside him under control. I'm still tired of cleaning up his messes."

"I'll show you control," Magnus hissed a trail of fire with the words, aimed directly at Isaac's head.

Kitra stepped between them and Magnus quickly extinguished the fire. "You three are exhausting. And speaking of...If we've got a long drive ahead of us we should get started." I was feeling dead on my feet.

"Wecouldget there in a fraction of the time." My eyebrow raised at the exaggerated tone of Magnus's voice.

"What did you have in mind?"

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