Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Three
My voice had gone so small it nearly sounded like a whisper. I couldn’t believe it. He had to be lying. He just had to. “That’s not true.” I shook my head.
“It is.” he finally let go of my wrist and I stumbled back.
“Y-you’re lying. I didn’t do anything, why would I have a bounty on my head?” It didn’t make sense.
“Haven’t you been wondering how you ended up in that place?” he asked.
“I was kidnapped,” I remember. I’d just closed from work and when I woke up the next day, I was in that place.
“I thought as much.” he hummed. “Whoever put you in there made sure you couldn’t come back. And even if you did, your reputation in Covenant City would be-”
“SHUT UP!” I yelled at him. “No. Vincent would--he’d understand. He’s my mentor. He knows I would never--”
“Vincent Caldwell?” There was something dark in his tone now. Something that made my stomach drop.”
“Yes. He’s on the Dragon Council. He’d help me. He’d--”
“Don’t waste your time on a man like that.”
“What?”
“Do you really think he cares? You’re a human. Dragons don’t care about Humans.” he almost scoffed.
“That’s a lie. Vincent isn’t like the others. He does care!” I hated how naive I sounded. Hated how my eyes burned with tears. “You don’t know anything about the kind of man he is.”
“Right? Because Vincent Caldwell is such a saint.” There was mockery in his tone now. “He’s not looking for you. But others are.”
How could he say such terrible things about Vincent? The man who’d trained me, guided me, believed in me when no one else did.
“You’re lying,” I whispered.
“I don’t lie.”
“Everyone lies. You’re just trying to keep me here--”
He took a step forward and I took one back instinctively. “And what if I am?” his voice dropped. He was just like the rest.
“I’m leaving and you’re not going to stop me.” I swallowed, steeling what was left of my resolve.
“And how far do you think you’d get before you’re caught? Or killed?” he hissed.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve been through worse.”
“No, you haven’t and you won’t have to if you just stay--”
“But I can’t! my voice cracked. “If what you say is true and you don’t want anything from me, tell me the truth, why am I here?”
“Because,” he said finally, so quietly almost didn’t hear it, “you--”
The doors were suddenly swung open and Aquila strode in.
“Crystal! I-”
His voice died mid-sentence as he pushed the trolley in, the wheels rolling softly against the floor and whatever it was Asher was about to reveal…that moment was gone and I’d lost my appetite.
“Oh,” he said, softer this time, as he’d walked into the middle of a stand off. He wouldn’t be half wrong though.
I became aware of myself all at once and quickly rubbed out the stinging heat that lingered behind my eyes.
“Thank you for the meal,” I said softly before turning away from Asher and crossing the room without as much as a single glance back at him as I started toward the door.
I stopped when I reached Aquila who watched me curiously, but my eyes caught something small and brown on his tray.
A slice of cake.
“...is that cake?” I asked, my voice betraying just a hint of something softer compared to the hurricane in my depths.
Aquila followed my gaze, then looked back at me with a sparkling grin.
“Oh, this?” he said, like it was the most important thing in the room now. I watched him reach for the plate and pick it up, offering it to me like an offering. “Go on. Have a slice. I made it myself-”
My hand moved before my mind did. There was just something about cake that got me. Though, I didn’t wait for either of them to figure that out.
“Hang on, Crystal-”
Bang
The door shut behind me, cutting out his words.
Aquila stood stunned for a moment, wondering what all that was about. He couldn’t have been gone for more than ten minutes and he comes back to find the tension in the air so thick he could slice through it with his claws.
A subtle frown marred his features as he turned around to find Asher where Crystal had left him.
“What did you do to her?” he asked.
A low grunt of disapproval came from him in response to the accusation. “Why would you assume I did anything?”
“Well, whatever happened she didn’t seem pleased,” he added, rolling the trolley to the center, before picking up the knife to cut himself a slice of cake, then took a bite.
A low satisfactory purr left his lips as his tail swished happily until his eyes caught Asher’s glare.
“What? I’m not the one who pissed her off.”
“I told you. I didn’t do anything.” Asher grunted. “She’s just…stubborn.”
“Birds of the same feathers.” Aquila chuckled behind his spoon as he strode back towards the door. “Don’t think too hard about it. She’ll come around…I think.” he waved his spoon. “You should probably get to work, that weretiger isn’t going to catch itself.”
Aquila’s rambling became muffled as he exited the dining hall, and just like that, Asher was left alone. He let out a l
Oh, breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.
Who knew women could be so… strong-willed?
“grr…”