Page 50 of Blood of Dragons
“What aren’t you telling me, and why aren’t you telling me it?”
“Because I can’t.”
He was quiet for a while, the anger in his eyes. “You know what I think? I think your father left something for you in Scorpion Valley, something he knew you would find and I would miss. He knew where the dragons were and imparted that information to you.”
He was right on the money, but I refused to act like that was true.
“But why wouldn’t you just tell me that? That, I don’t understand.”
I looked out the windows at the fireflies, at the dark forest that surrounded me on all sides.
“You would leave those dragons to their fate?” he asked. “Their minds taken from them and enslaved by a foul creature? Youcan sleep at night knowing they suffer and you don’t? You know suffering better than most, so I don’t know how you can tolerate this?—”
“Fuck you,” I snapped. “You can’t manipulate me, Talon.”
“I’m not the one manipulating you. Someone else already did—clearly.”
I looked away again.
“You don’t have to betray the trust of whoever houses you. Just tell me why you think my mission is hopeless.”
There was no way I could answer that question without betraying the trust of Queen Eldinar and the elves. When I’d asked for their help and they rejected it, I’d thought they were cowardly, but there was nothing I could do to change their stance. “There are things you won’t tell me, and there are things I won’t tell you.”
“But the things you seek are personal. My interest is not in you personally?—”
“Talon, I can’t give you what you seek. I can’t even explain why I can’t without giving you more information than you should have. My hands are tied behind my back, and my loyalty is divided.”
“If it’s divided, then that means I still have half of it. And that means whomever you’re with considers me an enemy.”
That was why I couldn’t say anything—because he pieced things together. “Everyone in these lands considers you the enemy, Talon. You conquered the world without mercy. Even those who serve you do so begrudgingly. If you died, your people wouldn’t bury you, not the way they buried my father…”
His eyes remained hard, like my insults didn’t sink beneath the flesh. “Please confide in me, Calista. I vow I won’t hurt those you protect.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’ve never broken my word to you.”
“No, but I see the way you change when you talk about the revenge you seek. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do, no vow you wouldn’t break, to fulfill it. I understand because my revenge is also unspent. My father gave his life for the protection of these people, and I will not betray his dying wish by confiding in you.”
His stare was so hot it burned my face. Like the surface of the sun, it was scalding, blistering. The rage shook like tremors of an earthquake, so profound I could feel the ground move beneath my feet. “Don’t take this away from me?—”
“I’m not trying to take anything away. I told you this plan won’t work, and that’s more than I should even tell you?—”
“You don’t get it, Calista.”
“I do get it. I’ve let go of my revenge, and so should you.”
“You’ve let go of your revenge?” he asked incredulously. “Then why aren’t you naked in my bed right now?”
“Just because I don’t wish to usurp you doesn’t mean I want you.”
He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes simultaneously—all in the blink of an eye. “I need those dragons?—”
“You’re the single most powerful being I’ve ever witnessed. Khazmuda can fly and breathe fire,but you can raise the dead.Your mind can bring you anywhere in the world that you wish. You’re practically a god. You don’t need the dragons?—”
“So you do know where they are.”
“I mean that hypothetically. Why are you waiting around for this when you’re capable of taking back what’s yours entirely on your own?”