by Rinelle Grey
Rita’s touch gave him just enough strength to push away the fear, and her words propelled him to action. He raced to the other door, jumping in and fumbling for the seat belt as she started the engine. They raced out of their campsite, leaving it in a cloud of dust.
Life dragon laughter echoed in Warrian’s head. “Run, little prince. But it will not save you. I can find you wherever you hide.”
Warrian glanced over at Rita. Had she heard the voice too? Her mouth was set in a grim line, and she didn’t look back, just focused ahead, driving without stopping. No indication if she’d heard the words or not.
Much as Warrian hoped she hadn’t heard the life dragon’s taunt, the threat was concerning enough for him to ask, “Where are we going to go? Where can we go?”
Rita didn’t look away from the road, didn’t even glance in his direction. Her voice was short as she said, “Same plan. Back to town. That dragon won’t dare follow us there. Too many people to see her. Thank goodness.” She gave a shiver. “I have no idea why she was so terrifying.”
“That’s life dragon magic,” Warrian explained. “They can affect emotions and influence thoughts. Being a Trima dragon, she was projecting fear.” His lips twisted at the thought. “A Rian life dragon would never do that.”
Rian dragons played by the rules, even when it cost them. He’d been on the receiving end of that. The Rian life dragon had defended his clan as best as he could when Ultrima had attacked, but he’d refused to use his power to fight back. Apparently the Trima life dragon felt no such qualms.
“How did Trima even get a life dragon anyway? I thought you had to mate a life dragon to get one?”
Warrian shook his head. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “It shouldn’t be possible to get a life dragon from two lightning dragons mating. It makes no sense at all.”
If it were possible, had he messed up in keeping his sister and Ultrima apart?
Warrian shook his head again. No, it wasn’t possible. They had tried that combination many times before without success. They’d tried every possible combination. The only way to get a life dragon was to mate with a life dragon.
Unless there was something they had missed. Trima clan had to have done something else to gain a life dragon. But what?
The reality was, anything could have happened while he’d been asleep. He’d been gone for too long, and Warrian wasn’t sure how he’d ever catch up again.
Finding his clan would be a good start though. If the Trima life dragon was hunting them, then that would be the safest place to be. Maybe his clan had even bred their own life dragons in all this time.
He glanced over at Rita, about to suggest his idea to her, when he remembered. Just before the life dragon had arrived, she’d been about to admit the truth. Whatever that was.
He glanced behind them, but the life dragon had been left in the dust. Either it had given up after sending its message, or they’d outrun it. Either way, there was nothing stopping them having that conversation now.
“What were you about to say?” he asked Rita.
She glanced over, then back at the road. “About life dragons? I don’t know anything about them, so what would I be going to say?” She spoke quickly, as if she were trying to distract him.
She knew exactly what he meant. And she’d been about to tell him. So why was she avoiding it now? Damn that life dragon for interrupting at exactly the wrong moment.
A moment that was perhaps even a little too convenient.
Warrian clenched his fists. “Before that. Before the life dragon. You said you weren’t who I thought you were, that you knew more than I thought. What did you mean?”
Rita was silent, staring ahead, and Warrian held his breath. Would she tell him? Would she admit the truth, whatever that was?
Would the truth help?
In all honesty, he was a little afraid of what she would say. He didn’t want it to be something he’d disagree with. He didn’t want a reason not to trust her.
Not to love her.
His own thoughts startled him. Love? Where had that come from? He couldn’t possibly be falling in love with Rita. He didn’t believe in love. Love was just lust designed to distract one from one’s goal. That was what he’d told Sarian, what he firmly believed.
Or he had.
Warrian’s heart constricted as he realised the truth. Somewhere along the way he’d fallen in love with Rita. He’d fallen in love with her determination, her plucky spirit, and the way she always tried to make the best out of any situation.
She was like no dragon he’d ever met, and he loved that about her.
That was why he was willing to overlook the fact that she was hiding something from him. The fact that he had no idea who she really was, and even the fact that she wasn’t a dragon. None of that seemed to even matter.
“You’re not exactly who you say you are either, are you?” Rita’s words were bitter, angry, and they pulled Warrian out of his own thoughts.
Something had changed. Something was wrong. “What do you mean? I’m a dragon prince. I haven’t claimed to be anything else.”
What was she talking about? Where had this come from?
“No, that’s true. You’ve been quite clear, right from the beginning, that this was nothing more than the Mesmer bond, haven’t you? Any ideas I might have gotten that you actually cared are my fault. My mistake.” She refused to look at him, but Warrian could hardly blame her for the bitterness in her tone.
He hadn’t even realised it himself until this moment, but she must have picked up on it even before he did. And he didn’t blame her for being hurt.
What could he offer her? Nothing.
It didn’t matter that he loved her. It didn’t change anything in his life. He was still a dragon prince. He still had responsibilities to his clan and his princess.
Much better not to ever let her know. It might hurt now, but it would hurt less in the long run.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, and he meant it.
The startled look she gave him only made him feel worse.
“You’re sorry?” She didn’t sound impressed at all. “Is that the best you can do?”
What did she expect from him? He could no more change who he was than she could. And it wasn’t like she was being honest with him either.
“What about you? You’re still avoiding telling me the truth. Who are you, and what are you really after?”
For some reason, even as he asked the question, his own words sent a chill down his spine.
Did he really want to know the answer?
Before he could even answer that question for himself, something in the car gave a tinny ding. Rita’s eyes went to the phone, sitting in the cup holder between them. Warrian couldn’t help a feeling of foreboding stealing over him. “What is it?”
Rita stared at the phone for a long minute, as it dinged again, and then several more times. The she faced resolutely back to the road. “Messages. They’ll wait. Probably just my parents, wondering where I’ve been for the last few days.”
But she didn’t sound convinced. Warrian stared at the phone, unable to shake the fact that whatever the messages said, they, just like the arrival of the life dragon, heralded a change. Their time together, hidden away from the rest of the world, was over.
Now it was time to find out what was going on in the human world and the dragon world. Warrian needed to be sharp, focused, definitely not thinking about Rita, and wishing he knew what he’d done to upset her.
Or how to fix it.
The End
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She was mea
nt for the dragon prince. He wasn't supposed to fall for her. Can he make the ultimate sacrifice for his clan?
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About the Author
If you read a Rinelle Grey story, you can trust in a happy ending. Love will always triumph, even if it seems impossible… Rinelle Grey writes feel-good romance usually in science fiction or fantasy settings. Her heroines are independent and headstrong, and her stories are hard to put down.
She grew up in a remote area of Australia, without power, hot water, or a phone, but now lives with all of those and her (happily ever after) husband, daughter, chooks, ducks and veggie garden.
She also writes fantasy under the name Rin Grey.
She loves to receive e-mails at [email protected], or follow her on facebook or twitter.
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