I had to admit, having someone to talk to was kind of nice. To share new things with, even silly things like bacon. I had always been perfectly fine on my own . . . but maybe I was simply used to solitude. When the options were Mordecai or Alec, there really hadn’t been much choice.
Shaking my head, I lowered my eyes to the large dark-wooden desk in front of me. These were thoughts for another time. Mordecai was late. I had been standing in his office for well over fifteen minutes. Alec hadn’t mentioned why the Great Dragon wanted to see me, but I imagined he wanted me on the hunt for his Fae fugitives while I patrolled tonight. I huffed a laugh at that. Fugitives. That was how he treated them.
Tarik had to be frantic by now. The panic that had blazed in those emerald eyes when I had strode for the balcony . . . Was he really worried about me? Or himself?
Either way, I promised him I would be back before sunset. The sky was a brilliant shade of pinkish orange, though, and here I was. Waiting.
Worry began to darken my thoughts when the door finally banged open. Every muscle in my body tensed, my stomach twisting into knots. Mordecai’s expression was lit with fury, eyes flashing in my direction as he crossed his arms and waited expectantly.
I knelt. “In loyalty and service to the Great Dragon.”
“Is that so?” he snarled. Before I could look up a fist slammed into my jaw, sending me backward. “Where were you last night?”
I stumbled to my feet, not daring to glance at his face, resisting the urge to reach for the jaw that now throbbed in agony. “Father, I was on patrol all night.”
Mordecai circled me. I kept my eyes on the floor, eager to stop him from lashing out again. He shoved a long, white feather under my nose. My heart stopped and I fought to keep my face smooth. “Then why did I find this in my mines?”
“I don’t know, Father.”
A slap this time, one that vibrated through my body. I stiffened, hands clenched into fists at my sides. This time, though, I wasn’t restraining fear. No, I was holding back anger. Rage. Fury over all the things he had done to me, to Tarik, to an entire race of innocents. To a little girl with sparkling amber eyes that haunted my every nightmare. I backed away a step, then another, stopping when I bumped into his desk.
When I glanced up, he grinned wickedly and leaned forward. “Did you release those Fae? Were you involved in the death of my butler?”
“No, Father.” Lying was easier with poisonous anger flowing through my veins.
“You’re a liar,” he spat. “How else would this feather have shown up next to his body?”
“Maybe one of the shifters who attacked me the other day planted one of my feathers. They were all over the alley the next day. If they could make you think I was guilty, you would finish the job for them and no one will stop you.”
“What have I told you about telling lies, Reagan?”
Mordecai moved too quickly. I couldn’t stop him as he latched onto my hair. His hand jerked forward, slamming my face into the corner of his desk. Pain splintered from my cheekbone, lancing through my eye, and surged up the side of my head. Instead of crying, I ignored the pounding in my head. Let the fury win.
I growled.
Low, inhuman.
In the flash of time it took for his shock to register I had shifted, lion’s teeth bared as I snarled. He backed away quickly, straight into the bookcases.
Come out and play, dragon. I’ve had enough.
“Reagan, stop.”
I roared angrily, taking a step closer.
“Reagan. Leave now and I’ll consider this indiscretion forgiven.”
Forgiven? I should be the one forgiving him. Heat and rage warmed my blood.
I lunged for him, pinned him against the shelves. My nose was an inch from his face, my teeth ready to sink into the flesh trembling before me. I scanned his face, registering the unbridled terror at my animalistic fury.
“Reagan, my daughter, my dear sweet daughter. I’m sorry. My temper gets the best of me, you know this. Of course you weren’t lying. I’m sorry.”
His eyes glistened. I wondered why he didn’t shift; the Great Dragon could easily destroy my lion. Instead, I stared at him until my breaths became shallow. I could kill him. I could kill him right now. Destroy his legacy and set the Fae on a path to fight for their freedom. I could rip his throat out for all he had done. All he would continue to do, if I didn’t.
But I hesitated. The only one here was me. Directly, I was the only one in any kind of danger. And even knowing what kind of person he was, I simply couldn’t bring myself to kill him. Maybe he had trained me too well. Maybe I still considered him too much of a father figure. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, to enact that kind of violence on a cowering man.
Maybe I was too weak.
I growled again, a warning, and shoved open his balcony doors. Even though I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened in there, I did know one thing with absolute certainty.
That was fear in Mordecai’s eyes.
Fear.
Of me.
—
“That son of a—” Tarik pulled at his hair and growled at the ceiling. He took a few breaths that did nothing to calm him, then stormed toward me. Rage still simmered through my own veins. My arms trembled, but I tried not to move.
He reached for my face and, despite my best efforts, I flinched. The reaction gave him pause, his hand hovering mid-air. “I would never—” A tremor shook his fingers. He slowly curled them into a fist and let his arm fall. His
