That had his attention. He could just pack up the books and leave, coming back at another time, but that didn’t seem to matter. Christine was obviously adept at tracking him, and if she wanted to find him, she would. Therefore, it was probably in his best interest to just let her talk. She had gone through enough trouble to find him and ensure that she could talk. Maybe if he let her, she’d leave him alone.
“Fine,” he said, sitting back with a heavy sigh. “Go on, give your speech so we can get this over with.”
Christine glared. “I’m not here to give you some sort of speech, Altair. I’m not going to preach to you or order you to do something. That’s not at all why I’m here.”
“Why are you here then?” he said, growing more irritated with the roundabout nature of her words with every passing second. How hard was it just to spit it out?
“I want to talk to you. I told you that,” she said snippily.
“You did that earlier.”
“My you’re feeling like a stubborn ass today, aren’t you?” she growled, feeding his attitude right back to him. “Fine, I’m here to talk with you. To have a conversation, something adults do, where both people speak and contribute to it. Do you understand that, or are you going to pick apart my words even more?”
Despite himself, Altair nearly snorted in approval. Christine never backed down, and she wasn’t going to put up with anyone pushing her around. He kind of liked that about her, even now, when he would much rather be at peace without her there.
“What would you like to talk about, Christine?” he said politely, giving her the floor to start things off.
“You know I want to be the leader of this team, yes? That I am vying to be the one in command of it.”
“I believe that has been established, yes. I’ve noticed the others mostly deferring to you, or that other one, Gardener. Though I have yet to see what that has to do with me. I’m not trying to take your place away from you, if that’s what you think.”
Christine laughed. “Oh, trust me, I don’t think you want it for yourself, no. But you are taking it away from me, even if you don’t want it for yourself.”
“How am I doing that? I’ve not made any attempts to lead the others,” he protested. “I’ve specifically tried not to do that. I know that as the sole dragon, I stand out more, so I’ve let you or whoever do all the leading.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “I’m not worried about that at all, to be honest with you. But no, it’s not what you’re taking for yourself, but what you’re taking from me. Your actions, especially today, are preventing me from being able to lead.”
“Huh?”
“You’re out there, doing your lone gunman thing, Altair. Your actions are jeopardizing everything because you aren’t working with the team. You’re trying to do it all yourself.”
“I was trying to defeat the demon, to take him down.”
Christine shook her head. “No, I think there’s more to it. I had to think about it, to try and truly understand what it was, but I think I’ve figured it out now.”
He tilted his head forward, inviting her to continue with her explanation.
“You want all the glory for yourself. You want to have books written about you, to have people praise your name. That’s what it’s all about.”
Altair laughed, a sharp, harsh sound. “That’s preposterous,” he snapped. “I am not interested in glory and fame in any way. I am not that vain,” he denied hotly, not appreciating the way her comments made him feel.
Or how close to home they hit, even if they weren’t accurate.
“Really? I’m not at all close to the truth?” she pressed.
“Not even remotely.”
“Okay,” Christine said, leaning back against her chair. “Well then you can tell me what it is you’re really trying to do. What you think your actions are accomplishing out there. Then I can point out to you why you’re wrong.”
Altair almost got up to leave, to walk away again. But that wouldn’t matter, he realized. It wouldn’t do any good for the situation. She was going to keep coming after him, tracking him down and questioning him until she got the truth out of him.
He was trapped.
Chapter Sixteen
Altair
MAYBE HE COULD OUTWAIT her. Dragons had phenomenal patience, and if he just didn’t answer, stayed silent and waited, perhaps she would get frustrated and leave. He’d noticed that humans tended to be rather impatient. It shouldn’t take long.
“Ah, are we playing the waiting game?” Christine asked, somehow sensing his ambitions before he’d conveyed them to her. “I can do that.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, one foot coming up to push her chair back up on the two hind legs as she waited.
“That’s cool with me. I’ve not got anywhere to go. We can wait here allll night if we have to. But you’re going to open up to me and tell me what’s going on, Altair.”
“My life is my life,” he said.
“You’re right, it is. But when your actions are continually at odds with the rest of us, then we have a problem. As the leader, it’s my job to solve it, and sometimes that means getting people to talk about things they don’t want to, so I can better understand them.”
Altair fell silent, not wanting to argue with her anymore. He watched as she rocked on the legs of her chair, regarding him from behind half-closed eyelids. There was a stubbornness there that he wondered if he could match. Could she be just as stubborn as he?
“I’m going to wait as long as it—Eeep!” she cried out, pushing too hard on the table and toppling backward.
Altair moved like the wind, but she had hit the ground and rolled over her head, landing in a pile before he could reach her side. The sudden action had
