Page 51 of Dragon Compelled
Paige stands again. “I don’t know what else to do. He’s dead, Blossom. Hoc is gone. Rotting. That entire time we were looking for him—” She stops speaking, her voice shaking. I cross over and try to wrap my arms around her, but she holds up a hand and shakes her head. “The whole time we were looking for him, he was already dead. Rotting away in some world where no one even knew who he was.”
“He is gone,” Blossom says quietly. “But you’re not. I’m not. You, me, Mag, Fred, Ted, Ned, Zed, Kitty, Bingo, and even Aries here are a family.” She throws a half smile my way, and the joy of being included brings me is unexpected. “We have to watch out for each other. For our home.”
“I know,” Paige says a little more gently. “But you heard Oliver. All we can do is get this place running smoothly so that, when she brings the third council member here, there is not a single thing Tawny can hone in on that makes us look inadequate. The way to protect this place is to operate it the same way Hoc did. With me in here and all of you making sure the books stay protected.”
Blossom looks disappointed. “That’s how you want to handle this?”
“How do you propose we do it?” I ask Blossom, genuinely curious.
“Get rid of Tawny and Oliver and pretend they never showed up.” She shrugs. “Seems simple enough for me.”
I snort because I've considered that plan myself—more than once.
“Except, then we’re no better than Constantine,” Paige replies.
While I appreciate Blossom’s idea, I’ve learned that when you cut off one head, three more grow in its place. And in this instance, killing two of the three council members likely means bringing that third to our doorstep—and not in such a way that we can show off how well we protect this place.
He’ll be looking for trouble, then. Just as Tawny is now.
“Speaking of that asshole,” Paige says. “He has to still be alive. Right? With Hoc dead—”
“More than likely, yes.” Paige sighs. “I should have known something was wrong with him when he first arrived posing as a guest. Should have done something before all of this happened.”
“Paige—” I start.
“No! I spent more time with him than any of you, and I failed to realize what he was! And because of that, because of yet another screw-up on my part, Hoc is dead, Mag is injured, and the council is threatening to rip everything away from me.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to be that person who blames themselves for something out of their control, but this feels like something I should have seen coming.”
“I’m the one who pawned him off on you, remember?” Blossom questions. “That makes this just as much my fault as yours. More so since I knew something was off too.” She looks to the door. “Just like I know something is off about Oliver.” She starts to leave.
“What are you going to do?” Paige asks.
Blossom glances back. “I’m going to do what I should have done with Constantine and find out just what it is about that council member that bothers me.” She leaves, and Paige turns to me.
“Can you please make sure the gnomes and Bingo are patrolling like they should be? We need to make sure there are no more incidents.”
“I can do that.” I long to reach for her, to pull her against me so I can soothe the ache I sense in her. But right now, I sense that, above all else, Paige needs time. To process and prepare for whatever may come.
“Thank you, Aries. I’m so sorry that I brought you into all of this.”
“Are you?” I ask. “Because I’m not. All of this brought me to you, and there’s not a force in any world that will keep us apart, Paige.” After pressing a quick kiss to her temple, I leave her office to do as she asked.
All the while trying to conjure any possibility where I can save my mate from a destiny that seems bent on tearing her apart.
Chapter15
Paige
The days pass in a flurry of work, but in the back of my mind, the future looms uncertainly. Tawny doesn’t return, and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad after her threats of a vote. Hoc’s absence weighs heavily, so I throw myself into doing what he would have wanted rather than allow myself to be overtaken by his absence. I spend hours getting caught up on the shelving requests, backlog of incident reports, and applications for outside visitors. For the first time since Hoc disappeared and the library bestowed the title of head librarian on my shoulders, I feel mildly in control.
It’s been three days since we discovered Hoc.
Three days since Tawny left to meet with Phillip and convince him to vote me out forever.
The grief remains at the edge of my thoughts constantly, and while I know I’ll give in to the emotions behind it eventually, for now, I’m shoving it aside to serve Hoc’s memory the best way I know how. By keeping this place running, no matter what Tawny says or does to try to stop me. Wallowing around in my losses won’t bring Hoc back, and it certainly won’t put a stop to Constantine. Which I plan to do as soon as I get the council members off my back.
My magic is a constant hum beneath my skin, though it doesn’t scare me like it used to. Since the moment I used it to bring Hoc back through that portal, it’s been a buzz inside me, and I realize now that it’s always been there. I’d mistaken it for the library’s magic for so long that I failed to realize it came from me. I’m still not confident enough to try to use it again, but I’m paying close attention to the feelings it gives me.
Because there’s a small voice in my head that keeps telling me, over and over again, that before we reach the end of this fight, I’ll be forced to tap into everything that terrifies me.
