Page 23 of Dragons & Dumplings
But what in the great skies was I going to do when word of this eventually got back to my father, my brother, and my fleet like it always did? Though when Mei’s parents returned, I had little doubt they would give me a warm welcome. It would be a hot one, as they chased me away from their daughter with streams of firebreath.
Not even an ice dragon’s scales could withstand that sort of inferno.
Andyet.
And yet, here I was. With her.
Her fingers found my horns and traced their ridges, sending shivers down my spine. She touched me like I was an ice sculpture, one that could shatter or melt under too much pressure. All my life, I had been expected to be as a mountain: sturdy, icy, unscalable.
She was the only one who expected me to be nothing more than myself.
And I would never have the words to express what that meant to me.
“Yuri,” she whispered against my lips.
I deepened the kiss, enjoying the way her breath hitched and her temperature rose. Steam filled the air where our skin touched, fogging the window.
But then I saw white through the glass, a white as pale as snow and packed with frost magic. My blood turned to ice.
This time, I knew that flash of white was not in my imagination. Pearlescent scales glowed in the night, and sapphire eyes glinted angrily at me.
They’d found me.
The illusion of easy peace I’d treasured here shattered like thin ice.
The sudden avalanche of fear extinguished the warmth, and I glanced down to see that I had accidentally frozen not just the ice cream, but the entire slice of pie and its plate, too.
I pulled back, the sudden absence of her warmth like a spear through my heart. A heart I had allowed to grow far too soft. Her golden eyes looked up at me with confusion, but I couldn’t tell her.
He’d already seen us together; the best I could do was harden my heart, until it was black enough that the bruises wouldn’t show. Any cracks, any weakness, and I wouldn’t survive what came next.
“Yuri? Is something wrong?”
I plastered on a smile that I knew didn’t reach my slitted eyes. “Something’s come up, that I need to take care of tonight. But let me walk you home.”
“Oh.” The hurt on her face nearly stole my breath. My chest tightened, knowing I had caused it. But I couldn’t drag her into this.
I shoved my laptop into my backpack and slipped the USB drive into the pocket of her skirt without her noticing. Precious things belonged together. Hopefully, both would remain safe.
Mei glanced down at the frozen dessert, her brow scrunched in confusion. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” She raised an eyebrow at me, noticing that I had answered her in the future tense instead of the present. But she didn’t press me any further.
Mei returned the frozen dish to the fridge—though she had to melt some of the ice to lift it off the table—before flicking off the lights.
I ushered her out of the diner and glanced around guardedly while she locked up. No sign of wing nor tail yet.
He was too much of a coward to attacktwodragons. No, he would wait until I was alone. He always did.
And he would only go after me. He knew better than to attack a fire drake in her home territory, when her fleet could be waiting in the wings to protect her.
So I took longer than I should have, walking her home beneath the cold and distant stars. It was quiet and tense, thanks to the distance of things unspoken. I hated that invisible barrier. Hated that I was the one who had put it there.
I knew I was only delaying the inevitable, but if these were the last moments I got to spend with her, I wanted them to last as long as possible.
When we finally stood outside of her door, she turned to me awkwardly. I moved closer, hoping to brush my lips against hers one last time, but she pressed her finger to my lips instead.
With a sad shake of her head, she whispered, “You didn’t say it back.”
