Chapter 57 Stumbling on secrets
“Ashwood, fairy,” Hale responded calmly from beside me. “It was specially forged to not harm you, but it will keep darkness out of here.”
She lifted her head and moved those quiet eyes around, probably realizing we had this unique variant of ashwood lining all the walls.
Her lips parted to say something, but then she froze.
I saw tremors run down her body, from the base of her neck down to the tippy-toes she was still standing on like an exotic bird, when she spotted Finn in the garden below.
Through the mirrors, I saw her eyes mist over. Misery and heartache seeped out of her pores, the smell of it as strong as any cologne.
But in a blink, she fixed her face and dropped her gaze to the barre again.
“Does she realize what she’s doing?” Hale frowned as we watched her lift one leg back, probably from habit, till it was lined up flat against her spine.
She was balanced on just one big toe now.
It was impressive, perfect.
But the problem was she was not dressed for ballet, and this move bared the outline of her pussy beneath the silk underwear she was wearing below that miniskirt.
“I have a mind to go show her what she’s doing now,” I whispered back to Hale, and he caught my arm, chuckling.
“She cannot win that tournament this way. You have to learn to just sometimes watch, and keep those hands in your pockets.”
“Don’t start with your bloody lecture.”
“What can you do about it?”
I turned to fully face him now, and desire curled low in my belly at the sight of those shockingly blue eyes.
I caught his chin, “For one, I could stuff that mouth.” I whispered, running my thumb over his plump bottom lip.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, dragon.” His eyes mirrored my desire and I pulled away immediately.
He was just as dangerous as his fairy.
With a chiseled face, and that body so perfect it would make a Greek statue frown with envy, Hale was always ready to fuck at the drop of a hat.
And between both wolves, I was beginning to realize the next twelve months would be Sex Olympics.
“Fairy,” he called now, and she turned. The rays of the morning sun bounced off that auburn hair with a firelit sheen as she tossed it from her face.
Fuck! The things I wanted to do with that hair.
I bunched my hands into fists and sunk them in my pocket as Hale advised.
In a few muted footsteps, she crossed the studio floors and stopped before us. And then she flashed the brightest smile I had ever seen on her. “This is the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
Her cheeks rounded like little apples. Full and glossy. “Thank you.”
“Well, we expect something in return.” I cleared my throat.
“Oh.” Her smile slipped, and Hale elbowed my arm.
“It was a joke, fairy. You are our gift. Show me your right foot.”
She blinked, long lashes caressing her cheek bones. Then she stuck her right foot out.
Hale got down on one knee, and pulled a jewelry box out of his pocket. “In several eastern cultures, this symbolizes marriage. You need not wear it outside if it makes you uneasy.”
Snapping the box open, he pulled out a diamond toe ring and slipped it onto her big toe. Her eyes lit up.
“That’s for me...” His voice was a teasing sing-song now, “And this is for the arrogant dragon.” He slipped an identical ring onto the big toe on her left foot.
Her feet winked as he rose back to his feet.
I could not find my voice. The studio was supposed to be our joint gift, and then we each got her individual presents.
But then he got her something for both of us?
“Thank you,” Her smile was bright, eyes innocent.
And suddenly, I could not muster the courage to bring out my gift. There it was. A dragon would always be just that. Selfish, immoral and heartless.
Why had I not thought to bring something for both of us too?
Hale was watching me now, surprised at my reluctance.
I could have been five again for all the nervousness currently in my belly. My parents used to urge me forward then, to stand in the middle of the diner hall and show their friends one more dragon trick I had learned.
The first few times I had cried as soon as I looked up to find all those dragon eyes staring at me, waiting.
Finally, with a quick inhale, I closed my hand around the crystal case in my pocket. I was not five anymore.
“Turn around, pet.” I whispered gently, pulling out the crystal case.
She barely let herself glimpse all the colors bouncing off the case before she turned her back to me.
I drew closer till the heat of my chest burned into her back, and opened the case.
The hairpin sat in the velvet-layered interior, as white as the ivory tone of her skin. And when it caught the light, a thousand beautiful colors rippled across it, like oil on water.
Even I thought it was beautiful. As beautiful as my mother had been.
Bunching her hair up, I rolled it into a bun, and pinned it in place just like Nymphaea used to do centuries ago.
“It’s a dragonbone hairpin.” I stepped back.
Her hand went up, feeling around for it.
“It’s quite sturdy, you can dance with it, and it will keep your hair in place the whole time.”
There were tears in her eyes when she turned around, and unlike before where it used to spark irritation in me, it made me shy now.
“Dragon bone,” she whispered, and I nodded.
“It’s from my family.”
I could not bring myself to tell her it was my mother’s bone. One of the things I was able to take before running off with Nymphaea right before that horrible war of dragons began.
Hale knew this, but thankfully kept his mouth shut.
“Thank you.” She stared down at her feet, as her hand continued to feel her hair. “I will wear them every day.” She was sniffing now. “Every day.”
I turned away. My heart was doing that weird thing again.
Hale’s ringtone cut through the tension, and he muttered an apology as he walked towards the window to take his call. He stared out at Finn, his mouth moving in a whisper to whoever was on the other side of the phone.
I stole a glance at her, feeling awkward. And it was at that moment the stench hit me.
Besides a temporary whiff of it last night, I had not smelled it in years. Dark, smoky and vengefully hot.
I yanked her behind me without second thoughts and looked up to find Hale charging in our direction.
He looked livid in a way that even I found unsettling.
The quiet one, the one who always preached peace in my ears like a stubborn housefly from the day we met, but now, his face was red, tight, one second away from explosion.
“You have to breathe, mon amour.” I said, still holding the doll behind me. “Breathe, and then carefully express.”
He turned those flaming eyes towards me, and for one second I feared he had forgotten who I was and would lash out anyway. But then his eyes softened, and he turned his back to us, panting heavily.
“I asked you. I bloody asked you if there was something you were not telling me.” His voice was like thunder, and the fragile princess behind me started to shake like a leaf.