Page 58 of Whispers of the Dragon
With that, Eira wasted no time in backing away and running as fast as she could, hoping they didn’t hear her take off. Being blindsided by someone she thought was genuinely her friend and Ryu’s most trusted people, she could no longer trustanyoneon this island. There were only two people here who had good intentions for her, and they were now in danger as well.
It wasn’t that she thought Ryu didn’t care for her. Especially after last night, she knew he did, but how was she supposed to tell him what she had just overheard? She wasn’t so sure he’d believe her right away, and Tatsudefinitelywouldn’t. At the end of the day, Ryu had known them much longer than her; she couldn’t chance that he might not listen. She could get her grandparents and herself off this godforsaken island, and then Ryu could come find her and decide if she was telling the truth when they were safe.
She fought every instinct in her newly mated, hormone-ridden body not to go to him, but she fought it with all her might, as she must. It was no longer just her life that hung in the balance.
32
The Red Spider Lily
EARLIER THAT MORNING…
Ryu had awoken that morning a bit unsettled. Everything was fine. Great even. However, maybe it was seeing Eira in his mother’s wedding dress, but something in his gut felt uneasy about her safety.
Now that she was his wife, Ryu was able to really make changes in his staff and update mandates for her protection, which he planned to do first thing this morning with his father and staff. After the flower incident, he had wanted to enact this immediately, but it was something he could only doafterthey were wed.
He didn’t exactly want to spend the morning after his wedding doing this duty, but he was glad he had when he’d woken up with a knot in his stomach.
What he didn’t plan on, though, was waking up an hour earlier than planned, but since he couldn’t sleep with thoughts of Eira’s safety, there was something he could do to pass the time that always helped to bring his mind at ease.
Whispering over to his newly wedded wife that he would be back before she awoke, he quietly got ready and left the room, heading to his favorite place in the world.
Just going inside the training building made him exhale all the terrible thoughts and release any bad energy he had pent up before he found himself pleasantly surprised to see he wasn’t the only one up before dawn.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“You know me,” Kage said, not even bothering to open his eyes from his meditation. “But I am surprised that you’re up so early. I thought you might be too tired after your big day.”
“Yeah …” was all Ryu could muster to say, not knowing whether to tell him about the uneasy feeling he’d felt the moment he had awoken.
But leave it to his sensei to notice, as one of Kage’s eyes peeked open to look at him. “Something bothering you?”
Running his hand through his hair, Ryu remembered Eira asking him the same question he was about to ask. At the time, he had answered so confidently, but now, why was he no longer so a day after their wedding?
“You don’t think … anyone else would try to hurt Eira, do you?”
“The old man is dead, right?” Kage said, getting to his feet with a ready stance. It was obvious his meditation was over. “So, stop your worrying. Eira is perfectly safe here on Kasumi Island.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Ryu pushed his hair back out of the way, the nervous action revealing it was easier said than done. “I’m just overthinking, is all.”
His sensei laughed. “Don’t tell me marriage has already made you whipped.”
Knowing his longtime friend was only joking, Ryu readied up at his words. “I’ll show you whipped.”
“Oh”—a bloodthirsty smile touched Kage’s lips—“I’d like to see you try.”
“Eira, what in the world is wrong?” Her grandmother looked at her as if she were crazy.
“There’s no time to explain,” she cried, knowing Yuri or Kage could find them at any minute. “We must get a boat and get off the island—now!”
“Oh, honey, I told you I’d get your grandfather to steal a boatbeforeyou got married, but you’re married now.” She patted her granddaughter’s head not so sympathetically. “Too late.”
“I ain’t leaving. No way,” Grandfather agreed, sipping on an ice-cold drink as ifhewere the king of Kasumi Island. “I’ve already grown accustomed to a certain way of life.”
Eira rolled her eyes, understanding Tatsu a bit more. “Grandfather, we haven’t been here that long to get accustomed to anything.”
“Well, it’s been long enough to know I’m not crossing back over that ocean to drink your grandmother’s hot tea again.”
When Grandmother went to swat at her husband, Eira knew she needed to knock her own bit of sense into them.
