Page 23 of Tamhas

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Tamhas

No. It wasn’t supposed to be like that.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with my eyes?” I knew very well what was wrong with my eyes, at least when compared to hers, but she wasn’t supposed to be able to see that. How could she see it?

Were they right about her being what they thought she was?

“You know what’s wrong with them. Why are you doing this to me?” She drew her knees up again, pressing them close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She was just as beautiful as she appeared during our chats, but stronger. Her body was all lean, powerful muscle. Even then, I couldn’t help but admire her.

“I’m not trying to do anything to you, Keira. I promise you this.” Still, I couldn’t help glancing down the tunnel to where I knew the others waited. They’d want answers. I had nothing to give them.

“Then why are you deliberately trying to mislead me? Why are you gaslighting me?”

“You ought to know by now that I would never—”

“Stop.” The word was like a whip, cutting through the air. “Just stop. I don’t know anything about you. God, she was right, she was right.”

“Who was?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “It just doesn’t.”

“It matters to me,” I growled.

My patience was thin and getting thinner by the moment. What sort of game was she playing? A woman who could see the gold in my eyes when other humans could not. Who could get into a fight with three of my fellow dragons and come out relatively unscathed. Who could find us to begin with, which in and of itself was quite a feat.

Why did she insist on pretending not to know who she was?

Who did she think she was kidding?

Her gaze was openly defiant when next she looked at me. “My best friend told me it was a bad idea to come out here. She reminded me that no matter how well I thought I knew you, I didn’t know you at all. That you could be anyone, absolutely anyone. I told her how wrong she was. I was so sure.” It came out almost as a sob at the end.

Was she telling the truth? I wanted to believe she was. The thought of having hurt her, having deeply betrayed her trust, was heartbreaking but better than the alternative: that she had come to Scotland to attack my clan.

I had to hear it from her lips. “Keira. Who do you think I am?”

“I think you are exactly who the rest of them are. A dragon. I don’t know how. It’s crazy. It’s all so crazy. Isn’t it?” She looked at me with wide, wild eyes, almost as if she dared me to disagree but wished desperately that I would just the same.

I held onto the bars and wished they would dissolve from between us—though whether I wished to take her in my arms or strangle her was still unclear. Was she telling the truth?

“Well?” she prompted, challenging me.

There was nothing to be said. Not when I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. I left her sitting there, glaring at me, the weight of her stare following me down the tunnel.

“Well?” Alan asked the moment he laid eyes on me.

I wondered what he’d think if he knew he’d echoed her last question.

“Well, what?” I waited until we reached the control center, where Owen was waiting.

I had more than a few questions for him—such as how Keira had found us, to begin with. He was supposed to be a genius when it came to such subterfuge.

“What did she say? You know what I’m asking.” Alan closed the door behind us, leaving the others outside.

They were all gathered, all waiting. All accusing me with silent, judgmental eyes I was more than happy to have on the other side of the door.

I leaned against the table, spreading my hands in a shrug. “She claimed to have no idea dragons existed. Said it was crazy. Seemed extremely surprised and disbelieving of the entire situation.”

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