Page 26 of Bryce

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Iwanted to tear his head from his shoulders and throw it into the woods.

My dragon wanted the same. In fact, she insisted on presenting me with images of doing that very thing. Unfurling my wings, using razor-sharp claws to grasp his head. Sinking those claws into his flesh. The satisfying pop of his head leaving his shoulders.

A sly smile spread over my face. Yes. It would be satisfying, indeed. No one told my dragon what she was capable of. Who did he think he was? Not my protector, certainly. Not when he’d abandoned me, forgetting we’d ever meant anything to each other.

It would’ve been amusing if it hadn’t infuriated me so. The notion of his telling me what to do, thinking he had any say whatsoever in my well-being when he’d dropped off the face of the earth for months. I could have died, and he never would’ve known.

Now he thought he could tell me what to do, even better, he expected me to listen. Such a fool.

“What are you smiling about?” Leslie whispered. We pulled up the rear, several paces behind the men. I’d been staring at the back of Bryce’s head and imagining tearing it free.

“Hmm? Nothing,” I shrugged, looking down as if to watch my step.

“Lying. Why are you lying again?” She glanced at him. “He truly was trying to keep us out of danger.”

“So it’s his side you’re on.”

“I said no such thing. There are no sides here. Only in your mind.” She tapped a finger to her head. “Not in reality. Now is the worst possible time for you to look at this as you are. Us versus them. We are a team, and we must behave as one if we’re ever going to make it out of this successfully.”

I gritted my teeth. How it pained me when she made sense. My dragon, too, who roared and thrashed in my aching head. I did so need a rest. A long vacation, in fact.

On an island surrounded by crystal waters…

I gulped, pushing the memory aside in favor of concentrating on the present. “I know,” I admitted. “I need to put it aside for now.”

“You ought to clear the air with him.”

“Now you are asking too much.”

“Why not? What better time is there? Tell him how he made you feel, tell him you resent him for… whatever it is you resent, seeing as how you still haven’t told me the story.”

“I will,” I promised. “As soon as I feel like tearing my heart from my chest.”

“It was that serious, then?” She took my hand, holding it tight. “I am so sorry.”

“Why else do you think I want to kill him?” My lip curled in a snarl. “Or at least maim him. Severely.”

“Can you do just one favor for me?”

“What is it?”

“Wait until we’re out of this before you do.” She winked, pulling me near for a hug. “I think you ought to speak to him. Get it off your chest. We can all tell there’s something wrong, you know. I see it in Logan’s face, and in Gate’s. You aren’t fooling anyone.”

“I’d think he would get the message then.” I nodded toward Bryce, who was deep in conversation with the others and unaware of our presence. He was good at forgetting people, wasn’t he? At going on with his life and pretending nothing and no one else was more important than him.

Oh, how he’d crushed me. I hadn’t understood just how badly until just recently.

When Gate threw an arm out, blocking our way, my attention snapped back to the situation at hand. “Wait,” he whispered. “Can you smell it?”

We raised our heads, sniffing the air. I closed my eyes to better focus my senses. What did he smell? I couldn’t pick up anything. Until I did. And when I did, I wondered how I’d missed it before. “Food,” I whispered.

“Yes. Food. A cooking fire.” Leslie sniffed harder. “Gasoline.”

“Rubber,” Gate murmured. “Vehicles.”

“People.” My eyes opened. “We’re close. Very close.”

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