Page 39 of Burn for the Dragon
“Because I had the honor of that title once. It…didn’t work out well.”
She just couldn’t see it. To her inexperienced eyes, he was the epitome of a leader. “I can’t believe that. Everyone makes mistakes, Hawke?—”
“Let it go, Everly.”
But she shook her head. “No, I won’t. As I said, everyone makes mistakes, but that’s no reason to?—”
Though his face had the same expression as before, his eyes burned with emotion. “A mistake that leads your entire coven to their death? A mistake that spares you only because you’re too cowardly to lead them? A mistake?” He threw his head back, mouth open. With laughter? With rage? “The only mistake was ever thinking I could be responsible for keeping them safe.”
“I find that hard to believe,” she said, adding on before he could say anything else, “But I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened or how true that may or may not be.”
“No, you weren’t.” He scooted to the edge of the chair, dark eyes intense, mouth twisted in disgust. “My entire coven was trapped and slaughtered within the village where we hunted. The humans were waiting for us with torches. They’d poisoned their blood with a venom so toxic it temporarily weakened us, and then they burned my family alive while they writhed in pain.” Hawke paused, chest heaving as though he’d just run for miles. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and his hands clenched into tight fists. “It may have only been one decision, but it was a decision that wiped out my entire coven.” He looked as though he was about to say more, then with a start, as though just remembering she was there, he sat back. “But no, you weren’t there.”
She wanted to reach out to him, comfort him somehow, but instinct told her her efforts wouldn’t be well received. So, she decided to try a different tactic. “There’s one thing I don’t understand, though.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he cocked his head to the side and waited. His eyes shifted to the door once with an air of impatience.
Scooting to the edge of the bed, she mimicked his pose from before. “If Kohl is the coven Master, and he’s half vampire and half dragon, why hasn’t he tried to change the laws pertaining to the two species?”
“Because Kohl believes his existence is a curse, and he would never wish it upon anyone else.”
Everly scowled. “That’s ridiculous.”
Again with the shrug. “He has a point. Even if we changed the rules for this coven, others wouldn’t understand. We would be under constant scrutiny. Covens who are our allies now would want nothing to do with us. Dragon Thunders, either. When threats like Parasupe happened, no one would be watching our backs.”
“But—”
He slashed his hand through the air. “Stop.”
She pulled back, surprised by his outburst and honestly, a little hurt.
He must have noticed, for he visibly exhaled, allowing the tension to leave his body. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “But there’s no sense in going round and round about this. I know what you’re doing, and I wish things were different. I do. Right now, I would love nothing more than to pursue this thing that’s started between us. To say fuck the laws and pull you onto my lap and show you all of the ways I would love to worship you. Talk with you about everything and nothing. Watch you grow into your wings. Tell everyone to fuck off and run away with you.”
Warmth filled her at the images he created. “But?”
“But we can’t do that, honey. Our kind needs others like ourselves around us, for support and protection. Our people—my coven and your Thunder—are why we’ve survived this long in this world overrun by humans. We wouldn’t make it long on our own.”
“I don’t know about that,” she told him. “I’ve survived just fine on my own up until now.”
“I can tell by your desperate need to find your brother.”
He smirked, and she scowled. “That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not. But it proves my point. Your instincts led you to search for him. They know you need to be around others of your kind.”
She leaned toward him again. “I need to be around you.” There. The truth was out. Her cheeks burned, but she wouldn’t take them back or look away and pretend she’d never said it. “I don’t know about instincts, but something keeps telling me I need you, Hawke.”
Gently, he brushed her hair back from her face. “It’s getting late. You should get some sleep.”
She didn’t want to sleep. She wanted him to finish what he’d started earlier. But she knew he wouldn’t. Just like she knew pressing him any more on this subject would only deepen the divide forming between them. “Would you stay just a little longer?”
“Only if you promise to try to sleep.”
With a grin and a “be right back,” she jumped up from the bed and went into the bathroom to put her pajamas on and brush her teeth. When she came out, he’d turned down the lamp and made himself comfortable in the chair.
After Everly climbed into bed, he asked her to tell him more about her childhood. She did, glossing over the unpleasant parts of being in foster care and focusing on the good years. She told him everything she could remember, none of which was any use in discovering who her real parents were. And eventually, she fell asleep with tears in her eyes and the back of her knuckles against the warmth of his leg.
When she woke up, he was gone, and a ripe peach lay on the nightstand beside the book.
