Page 90 of The Dragon Queen
“Because I deserve to be hated.” I avoided her gaze but felt her stare remain stuck to me.
“You’ve returned to the people you love most, but you choose to spend your time alone. You’ve accomplished everything you dreamed of and lived to tell the tale, but you look out the window…at nothing.”
I turned my gaze back to her. “I just need some time.”
“Why?”
I looked at the hardness in her gaze and knew it matched mine. “If Calista saw her, then that means you saw her too.”
She gave a slight nod. “As beautiful as I pictured.”
“The last conversation I had with her…was difficult. I just need time.”
“You need to let yourself be happy, Talon. That’s the problem. That’s been the problem all along.”
I looked away.
“It’s okay to be happy,” she said. “You’ve defeated the man who betrayed and killed your family. You’ve avenged Vivian and Lena. You’ve found a woman who loves you so much that she traveled to the Realm of Caelum and demanded a god to help you. She traveled to Bahamut’s lands and risked more than her life to free you. You have a dragon who loves you more than my husband loves me. Vivian has forgiven you—and now it’s time you forgive yourself.”
I bowed my head.
“It’s time, Talon.”
I inhaled a breath before I looked at her again. “You promised me—and you broke that promise.”
Her clear eyes remained confident, like she faced an opponent across the battlefield. “I hope you don’t expect an apology because you’ll receive none. You’ve returned to us, and I will never regret that. I forgive myself—and you should learn to do the same.”
Chapter 26
Calista
Khazmuda went hunting, so I returned to my tree house. I showered, slept in a real bed for the first time in weeks, and ate food that I got from the market. Talon told me he needed space to process what had happened, and while it took every ounce of my strength to honor the request, I knew he needed the time.
The very last thing he’d done before he’d returned to me was speak to Vivian, so I understood his mind was in a different place. And as much as I wanted him, I didn’t want him when he was letting go of the woman he loved before me.
I did my best to be patient…and wait.
I sat at the dining table in my tree house alone, drinking a hot cup of tea because I’d finished breakfast a few hours ago. Life had been so chaotic these last few weeks that it was strange to feel peace.
I didn’t even recognize it.
A knock sounded on the door, and I nearly knocked over my teacup when my hand flinched. I pictured Talon’s dark hair and eyes, pictured the man I loved walking through that door andnever leaving. “It’s open.” I would be so disappointed if it wasn’t him.
The door opened and he appeared. Not in the armor and uniform he’d worn in battle and death, but a shirt with trousers that Queen Eldinar must have provided him. He usually wore black, so it was different to see him in olive green.
His eyes locked on mine.
I didn’t blink, but my heart rumbled like the earth during an earthquake. I felt so much excitement and love at the sight of him, a feeling so intense it nearly brought me to tears. It was like seeing him alive again for the first time, walking toward me through the sea of fireflies.
He came to the table and took a seat, his jaw clean because he’d shaved it all off. His hair had been washed and combed back. He looked refreshed instead of broken and exhausted. He stared at my teacup for a while before he looked me in the eye. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long.”
I missed him like fucking crazy. “It’s okay to take some time. I know you’ve been through a lot.”
He drew in a slow breath, his handsome face hardening before he spoke. “I slept for three days.”
“Wow.”
“In the underworld…there was no sleep.”