Page 49 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Finn
Ryan had handedme a slip with an address. “I trust you,” he’d said. “Don’t do anything stupid, please.”
I’d thanked him, and two hours later, I was buying plane tickets. I wanted to get this settled as soon as possible, wanted to take the weight off Ryan. If I could just make him believe again that he could beat this… He’d sounded so timidly hopeful the night before. A bit like hewantedto hope, but he was scared to. And as long as he was, I was just going to have to be optimistic enough for both of us. Luckily I was good at that.
That's not to say I wasn't a little apprehensive about meeting Ryan's ex, the man I'd only ever heard about in stories. Or rather, in vague references, since Ryan had never liked to talk about him. It really had taken me way too long to understand his reluctance. He'd never been in love with the guy. No, he'd suffered at his hands, and everything in me wanted to make Jin pay for that, wanted to make him suffer twice as hard and twice as long.
I tried to shake the feeling off as I boarded the plane. I'd never had such violent thoughts before, and I didn't like having them now. They weren't me.
I knew where they were coming from, of course. I'd told Ryan I wasn't the most typical dragon, but I was still a dragon, and the beast inside of me that had been sleeping for most my life stirred every time I thought of the bastard who'd hurt what was mine.
But I had it under control. For now, I couldn't hurt the asshole anyway. As much as I hated it, Ryan's life depended on his cooperation. I had to play nice.
When the plane landed, I got off and left the human airport as quickly as possible. Outside, I hailed a taxi and handed the slip with the address Ryan had given me to the driver.
“Bad part of town,” he muttered. “You sure you wanna go there?”
“I am,” I confirmed.
The driver grunted, but stepped on the gas. I leaned back in my seat and watched the town pass us by outside the window. Other than the few shows we'd played here, I didn't visit human territory too often. Yes, I'd dreamed of traveling the world when I was younger, but in reality, it didn't feel good to know that a lot of the people around me would be scared of me if they knew what I was.
I wasn't scary.
Or was I? I'd had some scary thoughts earlier. But they all circled around another dragon, so maybe that was okay. At least I told myself so until I finally knocked on the door to Jin's apartment and he opened the door. Like Ryan, he was of Asian descent. I'd heard stories of Asian dragons before, but I'd never seen one. He was taller than Ryan--taller thanme--and much less pretty. The worst part about him though, was that smug smile that took over his face once he'd looked me up and down.
“You must be Finn.”
I glared at him, all the murderous emotions I'd suppressed before rushing back full force. How did he know my name? “Finalys to you,” I corrected him, almost forgetting that I was here to make a deal.
“Oh, but Finn sounds much better, doesn’t it? You must like it when Ryan says your name. I’ve heard him mutter it in his sleep.”
I bit my teeth together. How was I supposed to control my rage around this guy when he reminded me of all the reasons I wanted to tear him apart?
“I recognize your voice from our phone call,” Jin went on. “I assume by now you know what kind of deal Ryan has with me and you come here because you want to apologize for your crude words.”
Not exactly. I never wanted to apologize to this man. But if I didn’t, was he just going to slam the door in my face?
Stay civil, Finn. You can do this.
“I think we started off on the wrong foot,” I made myself say, because I knew what was at stake.
“Do you?” Jin’s smile grew a little wider. “Well, come inside then, I’m sure we have a lot to talk about.”
I swallowed down the unease I was feeling and stepped into his dark apartment, wondering how often Ryan had done the exact same thing. At least that was over. I had been right not to let him come here again.
“I trust Ryan has told you about the nature of our relationship?” Jin asked as he led me into his living room, which held a black leather sofa, a huge-ass tv and very little decor.
“He’s told me everything.”
“Everything?” Jin cocked an eyebrow as if he couldn’t imagine such a thing. Part of me wanted to punch his arrogant face in.
“Like I told you on the phone, he’sminenow.” I put emphasis on the word mine. “You’re not going to see him again.”
“And here I thought you came to me because you wanted something from me. But that can’t be it, can it? You wouldn’t be talking like that to someone you’re asking for a favor.”
“I’m not here to ask for a favor. I’m here to make a deal.” As much as I hated it.
“Ah, yes.” Jin looked at me with a small smile, as if all of this was very amusing to him. Asshole. He really enjoyed having the upper hand here. Was this what Ryan had to put up with for two years?
