Page 16 of Cruel Destinies

With focused discernment, I pieced together what Arthur wanted to do with Arya. I felt my eyes widen slightly. “You seek to weaponize her.”

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s be realistic. The prophecy speaks of a siren who will overthrow Hadrian. That sirenisa weapon by the prophecy’s definition. And that sirenisArya.”

“No,” I countered. “The prophecy only alludes to Arya’s potential. Right now, she is a vulnerable young student. We can’t pluck her out of the classroom and throw her into a military uniform. We’d break her.”

“We need her to be more,” he replied.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. While Arya was our greatest hope, we had to tread the path of her training carefully.

“If we push her too hard, we could push her away,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “Remember, Arthur, that until a few months ago, Arya thought she was merely a human. She’s in a whole new world full of concepts and abilities that seem alien to her. If she’d grown up here at the Dome, or at the veryleast, with parents guiding her, she’d be better equipped to handle military training. But she needs time to figure out who and what she is. Until that point,Iwill see to her training. Only after that will I allow you to come and begin more rigorous instruction.”

Arthur hunched over, placing his elbows on the desk and resting his chin on his interlocked fingers. The dragon shifter sighed with disappointment. “I do not feel this is the right path, Caesar. I’m in charge of an army that is fighting a war that can’t be won without the girl. Every day our numbers decrease. How many lives must be spent until you feel Arya is ready?”

It tore me up inside hearing about more death. All my life had been surrounded by it. I—more than anyone—wanted to see the downfall of Hadrian and the vampires. The image of my parents laying in a pool of their own blood flashed through my mind, and my dry throat thickened.

Yes, Hadrian would pay for his crimes. But sending in Arya when she wasn’t prepared? Such an action could result in the death of all shifters. And that was something I refused to risk.

“You and the shifter military must buy us as much time as you can,” I said at last.

Lord Dracul studied me for a long while, then got to his feet. “We will buy you time. But you must prepare the girl—accelerate her training.”

“I’ll work as hard as I dare to with her,” I promised.

Arthur nodded. “One more thing. You’ve been director of the Dome for a long time. We could use your strength and abilities in the military. Have you given any thought to passing the torch on to somebody else?”

The question struck me like lightning, freezing me in place. I’d invested so much time into directing the Dome. It was the closest thing to what I could callhomeever since the incidenton Framboise Island. And to leave it all behind to join the military and help in the fight against the vampires?

“My place is here,” I replied.

I thought of Julian’s warning—that Hadrian knew the location of the Dome, and that a vampire attack could happen at any time. If they got past the defenses and safeguards that had been put into place over the years...

“But in the near future, it might well be that we all must join the fight—students, teachers,allshifters.”

Arthur gazed at me as if he expected further explanation. I didn’t give anymore, but instead opened the door with a tap of my tablet.

“Farewell, General.”

Arthur bowed slightly. “Goodbye, Director.”

I couldn’t relax my shoulders until he’d finally left the room. The conversation had left me mentally and emotionally exhausted, and I desperately wanted to separate myself from all my worries, if only for a moment.

Reclining into my chair, I pulled out my phone and opened the text string with Shea. A GIF of a kitten winking with hearts floating around it sat at the bottom, and I couldn’t help but snicker at the innuendo behind it.

I hadn’t spoken to her since she left the Dome after the vampire attack on Arya and her friends. We’d texted back and forth, mostly flirty memes and jokes, but neither of us had dared bring up the amazing sex we’d had or what that meant for the nature of our…whatever this was.

I really didn’t know how to think or feel about it. There was no denying the way I felt about her anymore, the way I missed her when she wasn’t with me, and the way just the thought of her beneath me gave me an instant hard on. I only knew that Iwanted more than anything to have her again, and that I fully intended to despite the multiple ramifications.

Foolishly, I decided that I’d figure that stuff out as it came, and I tapped out a message.

“Are you free to talk?”

Chapter 7

Shea

I listened quietly to my phone as Arya recounted everything that had happened to her in the past few days. Some of it was cool, like her finding out she was part harpy—what was the term? Chimera. Super cool.

Apparently, Letti, the comatose girl I’d been smuggled in to awaken with magic, had come through just fine right after the attack. I ached to tell Arya about that—and what happened after with Caesar in his room. God, that had been incredible!

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