Page 72 of Guardian's Dilemma

“You abandoned your duty,” he said.

I felt those words like a lance through the chest.

Before I could think better of it, I blurted out, “I did my duty.”

It was a mistake to speak. It was doubly a mistake to challenge Lord Somerville. I’d lifted my eyes to meet his and I saw swirling inside them all the power of a dragon elder. It made my skin break out in goosebumps and my dragon pushed up. It wanted to protect me from all that power.

“You left the territory unguarded,” he spat.

“I have protections around it.”

“Weak! Weak protections.”

“They—”

I’d been about to say that they weren’t weak. I had layered protections up around the whole territory, again and again. Over the years, I’d fought and killed two dragons and a bear shifter who’d thought they could get inside. They couldn’t. It was only a coven ofridirewho could break through my protections.

The thing was, I couldn’t deny that the protections had been too weak to keep theridireout.

“You abandoned the territory.”

“I left. Briefly. But I stayed nearby.”

“Where did you go?”

I held my tongue. It wasn’t as though telling him would help. If anything, it would make him more angry. To find out that I’d been with aridire. That we’d been living in a cottage I’d prepared specifically for a dragon he’d banished from the clan. That I’d left the territory before, to find Seren.

Lord Somerville snapped at Rhod, though his eyes never left mine. “Go and fetch Conley.”

Rhod hurried from the room as though he couldn’t wait to leave. I didn’t blame him. The power was filling it, pressing against me. It was making my dragon rise.

As soon as we were alone, Lord Somerville snapped, “You are no longer the Guardian.”

“What?” Even though I could feel his magic turning the room icy, even though I’d never known him to joke in my life, I thought for a second that he was joking. “You can’t be serious. I’m the only one who’s strong enough to be the Guardian.”

That was a fact. The only person stronger than the Guardian was the elder, because they needed to guide the Guardian and control the rest of the clan. Nobody else in the clan came close. Not any longer. Not since we’d lost Seren and, long before him, Lord Somerville’s son, Alexander.

Lord Somerville stood. His chair flew back and crashed into the wall, his eyes glowing with his dragon.

I’d never seen Lord Somerville’s dragon before and I had my own private suspicions as to why. That didn’t mean I wanted to see him shift now, though. With the fury I could feel pouring off him, I knew it would be deadly.

“You abandoned your duty. You left the treasure unguarded.”

“He was safe,” I insisted.

“You are a disgrace!”

I flinched back. I couldn’t hold his eyes, with the sheer power I could see in them now.

I felt small and weak and powerless, standing before my elder in disgrace. If I’d been in the right, it wouldn’t be so bad, but I wasn’t. I deserved this.

When I’d left the territory before, it had only been briefly and it had been specifically to find Seren and protect him. To protect my treasure. I’dhadto go.

Leaving each night to go to Kingsley hadn’t been necessary. I hadn’t needed to protect him. Even when I wanted to, I couldn’t convince myself that he needed my protection.

My wild dreams of persuading Lord Somerville to accept Kingsley into his clan vanished. Somehow, I’d nursed that crazy dream at the back of my mind, telling myself that Kingsley was powerful enough to tempt Lord Somerville into letting him stay.

Kingsleywasthat powerful but I’d lost any leverage I could hope for.

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