by Rosko, Mandy
“Fiona!”
God, he was still out there. She unlocked the door and yanked it open, determined to rush out into his arms.
Inferno stopped in front of the door, two feet away from her. He’d been marching towards it and now he stood there, staring at her as though he couldn’t quite believe she was here.
Alive.
Inferno moved before Fiona could break the spell, gathering her up and pulling her hard against his stony chest. She felt his relieved sigh, and a rumble within his chest, the sort that reminded Fiona of a kind of release. All the tension, anxiety, and fear he’d felt steamed out of him now that he could let it go.
That he had been that worried about her made her even more grateful to have him. Especially right now. “I’m all right.”
It was as though he was absorbing any lingering fears like a sponge. She felt nothing but relief.
Inferno said nothing right away. His fingers laced into her hair, his other hand sliding down and around her waist. He touched her shoulders, her arms, and Fiona realized just then that he was patting her down, searching for some hint of a wound.
She grabbed his hands, stopping him. “I said I was fine.”
Inferno stared at her, and she’d never seen his complexion so pale. Even with all the scary moments she’d had after coming into his palace, even with everything she’d found out about him, she’d never once seen him like this.
“Are you okay?” Fiona looked into his eyes, searching for any hint that he was at least awake in some sense. “Inferno?”
He nodded, finally showing her that he was at least paying attention. “I thought I would be too late.”
Fiona’s heart did a backflip somersault sort of thing that would have made a professional cheerleading team proud. Heat suddenly burned in her eyes and the sound of Inferno’s voice, and the look on his face, made her want to cry. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding him close and trying to center herself.
Which was difficult because she could still hear Tinder screaming as she was being yanked out the door.
“I didn’t know it was her.”
Fiona nodded. “I believe you.”
From outside Inferno’s living quarters, Fiona heard Flare calling out, demanding to know what was going on, if Fiona was all right, and most likely being as disruptive as possible. Fiona’s appreciation and affection for the other women grew about a thousand percent in that moment.
But then another long, high-pitched shriek soared brokenly through the palace. Fiona figured people off the property and on the closest street might be able to hear it as it made her eardrums flutter.
Inferno yanked Fiona behind him, his body tense as he took a defensive stance. The guards outside their room shouted. Someone screamed as though in pain.
“What’s happening?” She didn’t need to ask. Fiona already had an idea of what was going on.
Inferno didn’t glance back. “Stay behind me.”
Fiona did as she was told, but she also could not stop herself from peeking around his shoulder. Not seeing what was coming seemed worse than seeing it, much as she didn’t want to see it either.
And when she did see it, Fiona gasped, stumbling backwards as Inferno took a menacing step forward.
Tinder, her wings bursting from the back of her impeccable gown, slid into the room. She may have flown, Fiona couldn’t be sure. There didn’t seem like enough space for her to glide around, but Fiona also didn’t see Tinder’s feet touching the ground. The scales on her face, and the bright redness of her eyes, made her look more like a demon than a dragon.
Seeing a full-fledged dragon in front of her would have been less terrifying. This was a snarling nightmare with eyes only for her.
The guards ran in behind her, but Tinder flew towards the second room where Fiona and Inferno stood. Her arms reached out, whether for her or Inferno, Fiona couldn’t tell, but Inferno made sure that he was the one she made contact with.
Tinder shrieked again, as though strips of skin were being peeled slowly from her body as she struggled to make it around Inferno, clawed fingers reaching out for Fiona, answering the question of just who she was after.
“I hate you! You bitch! You fucking bitch! I hate you!”
Fiona tensed, stunned by the display, and then she was angry. “Well, I hate you, too!”
If Fiona was a better woman, she might have had some more forgiveness, but it was impossible to feel overly forgiving when Tinder was, in that moment, trying to get through Inferno so she could claw out Fiona’s eyes.
Tinder was the one who sent those men into her apartment, was the one who pretended to be nice to her after she was the cause for the burn on Fiona’s face.
Right. She could go and fuck herself. Fiona didn’t care anymore.
Tinder’s wings flapped violently behind her, scraping at the ceiling, holding back the guards who attempted to get close with little success. Fiona didn’t understand why until she took a step forward and saw for herself what was happening. She’d never seen Tinder in her full dragon form. It was rare to see the female royals in their full dragon shapes even in the magazines, but for Tinder, never.
From the looks of things, her wings were made up of many, perhaps even hundreds, of sharp edges, the sort that were dangerous and thin enough to hold back the guards behind her, and peel strips off the wallpaper.
Inferno, however, remained a solid wall between Tinder and the object of her rage. He stood stoically, as though he barely noticed the damage Tinder inflicted on his face and body with her wings.
“I hate you!” She screamed, this time at Inferno, who hardly looked moved by the show. “I hate you! I hate you!”
Inferno shook her hard, only once, but it seemed to be enough to get Tinder’s attention. She stopped, her watery eyes wide as Inferno leaned close. “I know. I am sorry.”
Fiona blinked. So did Tinder. She didn’t take her eyes away from Inferno. Her body trembled before something seemed to break, as though it took her that long before she was able to have a proper reaction to his words.
And she broke down in his arms, face twisting as her tears fell and wings slumped lifelessly behind her. She leaned against Inferno’s chest, weeping, and now Fiona did feel some sense of pity, then annoyance at herself for feeling it. But it wouldn’t be banished from her. If anything, Fiona began to feel awkward as she stood there, as though she was the one intruding on a private moment of some kind. As though she was the one who was doing something wrong by standing here as a genuine member of the royal family cried in Inferno’s arms.
And Inferno held her against him, stroking her hair, shushing her, soothing her.
And Fiona couldn’t blame him for it as Inferno allowed Tinder to cry herself out. When she seemed somewhat calmer again, the guards behind her stepped forward, gently taking her arms, pulling her back.
“No!” Tinder wailed. Inferno stepped with her, keeping close as her wrists were pulled behind her back.
“Don’t fight them, Tinder. This is for the best.”
“You said you loved me!”
“I still love you, you’re my cousin.”
Tinder’s face twisted with more tears, as though that was the last thing in the world she’d wanted to hear.
Okay, now Fiona did full-blown feel badly for her. It was hard to hate someone who cried like that. At least in the moment. Fiona could save her anger and hatred for later, when there wasn’t a crying woman in front of her.
Inferno walked with her and the guards outside of the room, and as Fiona kept her distance, knowing the sight of her might set Tinder off again, she couldn’t stay away either.
It was sick.
“I’ll come and see you later, Tinder. We’ll figure this out.”
“Inferno, please!”
Fiona peeked around the corner. Inferno shook his head, the guards surrounding both him and Tinder. Eric stood close by Flare, his eyes stunned, but the rest of him professionally cold.
Ember and Bl
aze had even managed to get there, both brothers looking massively uncomfortable at the sight of the royal guards leading a member of their family away.
Inferno watched Tinder go, regret in his eyes.
Was it hurting him to see this happen? Fiona couldn’t articulate how she felt about that.
Then Inferno turned his gaze back to her, and Fiona was struck dumb under the heat of his stare.
27
Fiona tensed as Inferno walked towards her. She didn’t want to turn away from him. She didn’t want to run even though she wanted to. Maybe he could sense that in her. That she wanted to keep her distance from him, from all of the royals and their guards and their dramatic bullshit.
“Fiona, are you all right? Did she…hurt you?”
Fiona clenched her fists. Her back ached from where she’d landed on it, but she didn’t want to admit it. She didn’t want to feel weak, facing him right then.
He clenched his teeth together, the look on his face suggesting he didn’t know what to say. Inferno reached for her. Fiona stepped back before his hands could touch her. “Don’t.”
His eyes changed, something hurt, something shocked. Fiona couldn’t contain how utterly pissed off she was because he wasn’t the one who had anything to feel hurt about.
“Fiona, I’m sorry she hurt you. She won’t be able to do that again.”
“You know, I could get over what she tried to do to my face. This will heal.” Fiona pointed to the redness still there. “But she actually tried to kill me twice. Meanwhile, you’re standing with her talking about how much you love her! I guess all that talk of torture was fine, so long as my attempted murderer wasn’t her.”
Inferno took a deep breath. She could see his patience was thinning, and Fiona didn’t care.
Blaze and Ember came into the room next, stopping at the sight that met them. Or maybe it was the heated vibe that swirled all around. The two bothers looked at each other, then back at Fiona and Inferno. Ember was the first to speak.
“Inferno, you should be there for her sentencing. Charrling is already demanding we get on with it.”
Fiona felt that heat rising up within her, and she couldn’t stand it, couldn’t contain it. “That bitch probably had something to do with it, too! Are you all serious? You’re going to take orders from her?”
Inferno briefly closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they glowed a bright, red-orange, like fire, like his namesake. “No, we do not take orders from Charrling. But this is still her daughter we are talking about and a member of the royal family.”
“So they get to try to kill me and you treat them like glass. Perfect.” Fiona turned her back to Inferno.
“What are you doing?”
She couldn’t look at him. Ember and Blaze were still standing in the doorway, and she didn’t want to look at them either. She didn’t want the attention, she didn’t want the titles, and she didn’t want to feel as though she was disappointing anyone either. She hadn’t wanted any of this. She didn’t want to be one of the only humans in the world that could give Inferno powerful children.
She hadn’t asked to be attacked, to meet him, she’d only wanted to be a baker. She wanted to make cakes and cookies and breads and sell them to people. She didn’t want the intrigue, she didn’t want the attempts on her life, and she didn’t want the guilt for not wanting those things.
“You want to leave.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew what she wanted.
Hearing it out loud, however, made it seem so much harsher than she’d thought.
“I don’t want to be a queen.” She looked back at him. “I’m tired of people trying to hurt me or kill me. I don’t want to risk that anyone else in your family will come after me.” She looked at Ember and Blaze. They backed off, apparently deciding this wasn’t for them to listen to.
Great, and now she felt guilty for insulting them.
“They would never hurt you.”
“I wasn’t talking about your brothers, or your sister.” She looked back at him. “But how could I know that for sure anyway? I bet you never thought your cousin would be doing that to me.”
“To be honest, I supposed Charrling most, but…” He sighed, as though uncomfortable to admit to the next part. He didn’t have to say anything. She got it. He couldn’t look too closely at Charrling because of her station. Because she was related to him. For so many other reasons she didn’t want to give a name to.
Because of his throne, his crown, and expectations were always going to be more important than she was.
“I want to go home.” Fiona looked back at him. She held his gaze this time. “You said I wasn’t a prisoner here, so let me go home.” She didn’t look away from him, even when the pain in his eyes increased tenfold.
“You would leave all of this, leave me, to go back to your life?”
“It was my life. You didn’t have a right to take me away from it.”
“I saved your life.”
She broke eye contact for just a moment. Fiona took a breath, then looked back at him. Not even just that, she turned to face him, folding her arms because she didn’t know what to do with her hands. “Thank you for that.”
Inferno rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to be thankful to me. I would have done it no matter the situation.”
“I’m still grateful you did it.”
Inferno pressed his lips together. “But you want to leave.”
“I want to go home. I want…I want to go back to my life. I never wanted to be an Istavan. I never asked for any of this.”
“You don’t want me going with you?”
This time, it was a question, as though he wasn’t sure of the answer.
Fiona opened her mouth, then shut it again. She didn’t know what to say to that. She wanted the man he was when he was alone with her, but not the man who’d just allowed her attacker to be carted off as he told her he loved her.
The silence was terrible, and Inferno took it as his answer. His shoulders relaxed. “I understand.”
Fiona shook her head, stepping forward. “No, you don’t—”
“Yes, I do.”
Fiona stopped.
Inferno breathed deep through his nose. “I made you a promise I knew I would not be able to keep. Even if I gave everything over to Blaze, there’s too much…too much everything.”
Fiona winced.
“You will have your bakery.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want anything from you. I just want all of this behind me. I’ll earn my bakery on my own.”
“Even if you won’t have me, I promised it to you. I am going to keep that promise.” Inferno rubbed his jaw, and she could feel the tension within him, the raw energy he struggled to contain. “I will set out to finding some property for you. You will have your say as well. The equipment and location will all be your choosing.”
It felt too much like he was paying her off, handing her something she’d wanted almost as an apology for upending her life in the first place.
“I will have some proper luggage brought in. Pack all the clothes and makeup and such. If you don’t take it, we’ll just throw it out.”
“Inferno—”
He didn’t slam the door on his way out. He closed it softly, but Fiona winced anyway, her body, and heart, suffering the worst pain she’d ever experienced in her life.
28
Four Months Later
Fiona had to admit, being the ex-girlfriend of a dragon prince did have its advantages.
Once she learned to ignore the heart-ripping sensation of pain that surged through her chest, that is.
Inferno let her go, as promised, and even more than that, he’d released her back to her home city with a bakery of her own. Not just any bakery, either. When the architect showed Fiona the first set of plans, a huge two-story building, she had to put the brakes on it. And demand they remove all the taglines like From the Famous YouTube Baker!
Right, she was definitely not a famou
s YouTube baker, despite everything she’d tried doing with her channel, and there was no way she would be able to pull in enough revenue to keep something like this open for long.
Fiona shouldn’t have taken anything from Inferno, but she wasn’t selfless enough to turn down her own bakery.
So she’d told the architect to go smaller, and much more modest.
She ended up with the quaint little bakery of her dreams; something that was more manageable in size and scope. She had a few employees, and though every single appliance in the building was brand new and definitely outside of any budget Fiona could have saved for on her own, she wasn’t stuck with too much guilt over the expenses of the place.
The faint scar on her neck, and the residual redness of her face that never went away was a reminder of what she’d endured over a few short days to earn every last fancy gadget.
The bakery was built fast. Within the month of her leaving, and for the next month after that, many people came, from all across the country, dragon and human alike to taste her cooking.
The cooking that captivated a prince.
That’s what the papers had said.
Inferno had managed to keep what really happened out of the papers. She went with the story that she’d gone to the palace for a few days to bake for him, and that he’d been so impressed that he’d gifted her a bakery. As to why the royal wedding was called off, that much was a mystery, but at least no one bothered her about it.
Now, in her third month of business, things were slowing down.
Sort of.
There was now room to walk around in her bakery, and to actually look at the cupcakes, mini pies, and tarts behind her glass counter.
The one thing she hadn’t prepared herself for was the paperwork, payroll, bookkeeping, taxes, supply orders, and everything else she needed to do keep this place going. Running her own bakery was harder than she thought it would be, and she was happy to have it, but she definitely didn’t get to spend as much time baking in her own bakery as she’d thought she would.
