Bridges Burned (Entangled Teen) (Going Down in Flames)

by Chris Cannon

  “What were you thinking about?”

  This was one of those times where a partial truth would be for the best. “I was thinking about cars and learning to drive.”

  “Jaxon has his license.” Pride was evident in Lillith’s voice.

  What was the dragon equivalent of the DMV? Dragon of motor vehicles rather than department of motor vehicles? “Good for him. I’m not sure how the whole driver’s license thing works.”

  Lillith blinked. “His father taught him how to drive, and he took the driver’s test. How else would it work?”

  “Where did he take the test?”

  “He scheduled an appointment with the transportation director. I’m not sure where they went driving.” Then it was like a lightbulb went off in Lillith’s mind. “We should ask Jaxon to teach you to drive.”

  That had bad idea written all over it. “I’m not sure I’m ready for lessons yet.”

  Her grandmother nodded, but said nothing. Great. Now if she ever mentioned wanting to learn how to drive, she’d be stuck with Jaxon as a teacher. Talk about a lose-lose situation.

  They rode in silence until the driver dropped them off in front of a baby boutique. As far as Bryn could tell, the difference between a store and a boutique was anyone could enter a store, but you had to be buzzed into a boutique. Did the boutiques ever refuse to let anyone in? Maybe you had to make a certain amount of money before they thought you were worth their time.

  Inside the store, Lillith kept picking up baby blankets and saying, “Isn’t this adorable?”

  Bryn figured it was her role to smile and nod. Which was fine. She could do that. Her grandmother disappeared into another part of the store. Lillith didn’t seem to notice.

  A flash of color across the aisle caught Bryn’s eye, and she investigated. Rainbow-colored fish swam on a bright blue ocean of a blanket. She picked it up and carried it back to Lillith. “Look at this. It’s bright and happy.”

  “It’s cute.” Lillith scanned the store. “Where did you find it?”

  Bryn led Lillith over to the section with the ocean-themed mobile and bassinet.

  “The bed is a bit much.” Lillith ran her fingers over the mobile. “But I love this.”

  Bryn’s grandmother returned with a pale blue gift bag in hand. “If you promise not to cry, you may open this here.”

  “I make no such promise.” Lillith took the bag and pulled out a pale blue blanket. The middle was soft and fuzzy, but the edges were bound in a silky blue material. The border was decorated with snowflakes.

  “It’s lovely.” Lillith sniffled.

  “They have the matching mobile if you’d like to see it.” Her grandmother pointed to middle of the boutique. “It’s over there.”

  Lillith shoved the ocean blanket back at Bryn and walked off to investigate the snow-themed section.

  “Oh, dear. Now she’s looking at that tacky snowman mobile.” Her grandmother took off after Lillith.

  Manipulate much? Bryn folded the fish blanket and placed it back on the shelf.

  One thing for sure, she had a whole new appreciation for her grandmother’s ability to corral people into doing what she thought best.

  While Lillith and her grandmother were busy picking out snowflake-themed bedding and decorations, Bryn snuck over to the section with items already in gift boxes. A silver baby rattle would make a cute gift for Lillith. They had to be planning a baby shower, right? Didn’t all females, no matter the species, come together to celebrate new babies?

  “We offer monogramming services,” said the saleslady who’d crept up behind Bryn.

  Trying not to look like the woman had startled her, Bryn held out the rattle. “Can you put Westgate on the rattle, or is that too long?”

  The saleslady took the silver rattle, which was shaped like a miniature barbell, from Bryn. “We’ll make it work. Should I put this on your grandmother’s account?”

  That’s when she realized not a single item in the store had a price tag. The phrase “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” took on new meaning. Her grandmother wouldn’t care if she put something on her account. Right? Then again, she did like to be made aware of things ahead of time. Bryn dug her Dragon’s Bluff credit card out of her purse. The card worked at every store and restaurant in Dragon’s Bluff. Hopefully that meant it worked at boutiques, too.

  The saleslady accepted the card without looking at Bryn like she was an idiot, so the card must be okay. Thank goodness. Bryn wandered over to where her grandmother was showing off a mobile with snowflakes. Lillith clutched a mobile featuring snowmen wearing multicolored scarves.

  “There you are. Help us pick out a mobile for Asher,” her grandmother said. “I think this snowflake mobile is timeless and classic.”

  “But I like the snowmen.” Lillith sounded on the verge of another set of hormonal tears.

  Disagreeing with her grandmother wasn’t a good idea. Lillith’s bottom lip quivered. “Why not buy both? You can change them in and out so the baby won’t be bored.”

  “Oh, I like that idea.” Lillith turned to find a saleslady. One was already walking in their direction with a patient smile plastered on her face. Dealing with women who were liable to burst into tears at any moment could make this job not so much fun.

  Bryn’s grandmother leaned close. “That was very diplomatic of you.”

  Time to score some points. “I was afraid she’d cry if I told her I liked the snowflake one better.”

  Her grandmother puffed up with pride. “Good to know you inherited my taste.”

  Right. “I bought a silver rattle that they’re going to monogram. Speaking of which, I need to get my card back from the saleslady.”

  “Next time just put it on my account,” her grandmother said. “Then you don’t have to worry about carrying around a card.”

  …

  When it was time for lunch, Lillith suggested Fonzoli’s. “I’ve been craving Italian food.”

  Would Valmont be working? Should she ask for him? Valmont’s evil grandma wouldn’t poison her food if she was with other people, right?

  They’d barely cleared the restaurant door when Valmont appeared out of nowhere. One minute Bryn was standing by the hostess desk. The next minute Valmont was grabbing her hand.

  “Pardon me while I borrow your granddaughter.” He tugged her back toward the kitchen, not waiting for an acknowledgment from her grandmother.

  “What’s going on?” Bryn asked.

  He didn’t answer her, just kept leading her through the kitchen and out the back door to a small enclosed patio with a porch swing. “Sit.”

  “Since when did you become so bossy?” She sat, preferring to think of it as her own idea.

  He sank down on the swing next to her, putting his arm around her. Leaning into him was instinctual. It felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She felt his muscles relax.

  “There. That’s much better.” He pushed with his foot, setting the swing in motion. “Now, tell me about your Christmas dinner. We can compare notes, see who had the worst evening.”

  “I don’t want to play that game right now.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “This is the most content I’ve felt in days.”

  “Fair enough.” The swing creaked as they rocked back and forth.

  She listened to his heartbeat, counting ten repetitions. “I’d love to stay here all day, but I think my grandmother might come looking for me.”

  “Can you stay for a visit after you eat?” he asked.

  “My answer is yes. We’ll have to see what my lunch partners say.”

  He squeezed her closer for a moment and then released her. “Too bad we can’t just run away together.”

  His words hit a target she didn’t know existed. She’d said the same words to Zavien several times. He’d never responded in kind. Did Valmont love her? Did she love him? One thing for sure, she wouldn’t leave him hanging.

  “That’s a nice fantasy, but I couldn’t do that to my grand
parents.”

  He leaned in close, so his mouth was next to her ear. “Maybe we could just run away for a weekend?”

  His hot breath on her ear sent happy shivers through her body. She wanted to kiss him. Was that the same thing as love?

  “A weekend retreat would be wonderful.” She didn’t turn her head to meet his gaze, because their lips would be too close, too tempting. Even though she wanted to, kissing him and then heading inside for lunch with her grandmother would not work. She pushed to her feet and then offered him her hand. “You stole me, and I will not face the consequences alone.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not sure who’s scarier, your grandmother in a foul mood, or Mrs. Westgate and her tears.”

  “It’s a toss-up.”

  Back in the dining room, Valmont escorted Bryn to the table by the window where the rest of her party sat. And somehow her party had grown by one. Bryn stopped in her tracks and said, “Wait. I changed my mind. Let’s go back.”

  Jaxon scowled at her from where he sat by his mother.

  “I didn’t know you were joining us,” Bryn said.

  “Neither did I.” His tone was clipped.

  Valmont pulled a chair out for Bryn. She sat and reached for her glass of ice water. “Did you have a productive morning with my grandfather?”

  “Small talk?” Jaxon raised a brow. “Is that what we’ve sunk to?”

  Bryn looked at her grandmother. “I deserve points for trying.”

  “Why don’t I bring you a few appetizers while you study the menu?” Valmont suggested, backing away from the table.

  “At least he’s smart enough to retreat.” Jaxon leaned back in his chair, like he was trying to put distance between himself and the three women.

  Bryn’s grandmother shot him a disapproving look. “I’m not sure why you’re unhappy with our company, but you will sit up and speak in a respectful tone.”

  Jaxon straightened in his chair, but the sour grapes look on his face didn’t change. He pointed at Bryn. “Do you know why your grandfather really wanted to speak with me?”

  What was he getting at? “I assumed he was teaching you the secret Directorate member handshake and taking you on a tour of the clubhouse.”

  “After your grandfather discussed legal issues and demonstrated how they were recorded in the ledgers, he showed me a book of marriage contracts where he already had our names written in for a request of lineage check.”

  Valmont arrived at that moment bearing trays of cheese sticks and toasted ravioli. He froze with the platters halfway to the table. “What?”

  Jaxon actually laughed. “Please, run away with her. I’ll pay you.”

  “That’s it.” Bryn’s grandmother spoke in an ice-cold tone that cut through the room. “Jaxon Westgate, if you ever slight my granddaughter again, you will regret it.”

  Okay. Jaxon had been a jerk, but he’d been joking. Sort of. Maybe that wasn’t the root of her grandmother’s concern.

  Bryn touched her grandmother’s arm. “I promise I will never run away.”

  White-lipped, her grandmother nodded.

  Nervous laughter bubbled from Bryn’s throat. “Even if the Directorate sticks me with Jaxon, I won’t run away. I may have my knight run him through with a broadsword, but I won’t run away.”

  Her grandmother glanced at Valmont. “You may have your uses, after all.”

  Valmont grinned. “I live to serve.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Bryn was surprised when Rhianna called her the next day. “I was wondering if I could visit you this evening.”

  “Sure. Is everything all right?”

  “I’ll see you at seven,” Rhianna responded like she hadn’t heard Bryn’s question, and then hung up.

  Later that night, Rhianna sat on the couch in Bryn’s rooms, hugging a throw pillow to her chest. “Sorry to bother you, but I didn’t know anyone else besides you and Jaxon I could talk to about this.”

  “You can always talk to me,” Bryn said. “That’s what friends are for.”

  Rhianna released her grip on the pillow and laid it flat on her lap. “Rather than returning to school, the Directorate suggested I might be more comfortable at home with a private tutor.”

  That was bullshit. “Tell them they can take their suggestion and shove it up their narrow-minded—”

  “Stop.” Rhianna laughed. “Finish that sentence and I’ll never be able to keep a straight face around a Directorate member again.”

  “Did they ban you from campus?” Bryn asked.

  “No. Technically, I could return to school with you.”

  “You are going back, end of story.”

  “What if none of the other injured students come back?” Rhianna’s voice wavered. “I don’t want to stand out any more than I already do.”

  “We’ll just have to make sure the other students know they have a choice to come back.”

  “Some may not want to,” Rhianna said. “I felt sorry for myself, until I heard the extent of some of the other students’ injuries. I’ll fly crooked but at least I can still fly.”

  “Exactly, and you can still think and learn and do all the things a student should do. So, we need a plan. What’s the best way to reach everyone and ask if they want to return? And how can we do this without the Directorate hearing about it?”

  “Good question.” Rhianna stared at the fireplace for a moment. The corners of her mouth turned up. “I bet Lillith would do it for us.”

  “Why would she?” It’s not like she ever stood up to Ferrin, or as Bryn thought of him, the asshat extraordinaire.

  “We can appeal to Lillith’s maternal instincts. We’ll tell her student morale is low due to the attacks and the threat of war, and we wanted to invite all the students to some sort of ‘welcome back to school’ party. That way everyone, even the injured students, will receive an invitation to return to the institute.”

  “That just might work. As long as it’s not a dance,” Bryn said, “I’m in.”

  Some of the light left Rhianna’s eyes. “No argument there.”

  Great thing to say to someone with a permanent limp. “Okay, I’m now a nominee for the jerk-of-the-year club. Sorry about that. It’s just that my relationship with Zavien ended at one dance. And an act of war happened at the only other dance I’ve attended.”

  “Maybe we should leave the type of celebration up to Lillith.”

  There was one major flaw in this plan. “My grandmother would never speak to me again if she wasn’t asked to plan a major event.”

  “Then I’ll say it was my idea. I’ll contact Lillith, and suggest she ask your grandmother for help.”

  “Won’t this fall apart when Ferrin hears about it?”

  “If Lillith wasn’t pregnant, and likely to burst into tears at any given moment, yes.” Rhianna laughed. “Blue males, alpha males like Ferrin, back down from nothing, except upsetting a pregnant female. Heirs are how they control the world after they’re gone.”

  Bryn’s phone rang. “I wonder who that is?” She crossed the room and answered the phone.

  “Come down to the small dining room, immediately,” her grandmother said.

  “Something is wrong.” Bryn ran out the door with Rhianna following behind her.

  Covered in soot, his clothes singed, Valmont paced in front of the buffet while her grandmother stood off to the side talking on the phone.

  “Valmont?” She shot across the room. “What’s happened?”

  “Dragon’s Bluff. It’s burning. We need your help.”

  “What can I do?” Bryn asked.

  “Come back with me. Use your ice to douse the flames.”

  “Wait,” her grandmother ordered, then she went back to shouting at someone on the phone.

  “Are you hurt?” Bryn ran her hands down his arms, checking for injuries under his soot-blackened shirt.

  “I’m fine, but we need to hurry.” His gaze darted to her grandmother.

  She was torn. The worry o
n Valmont’s face ate away at her. She wanted to shift, take flight, and get to Dragon’s Bluff as soon as possible. But her grandmother had told her to wait. And she didn’t want to set off the security system that had almost sliced her to ribbons the last time she’d encountered it.

  Her grandmother slammed the phone down. “Word is out. Every available Blue will fly to Dragon’s Bluff as soon as possible.”

  “Including us, right?” Bryn’s muscles coiled tight, ready to shift.

  “On one condition. You stay with me and follow my orders.” Her grandmother pointed at Valmont. “Are you prepared to fulfill your vow as a knight, to protect my granddaughter at all costs?”

  Valmont stood straighter. “Yes.”

  “Come this way.” Her grandmother hustled from the room and down a side hall. They ran after her. Rhianna’s uneven stride rang out on the marble floor.

  “In here.” Inside the room, armor, lances, and saddles were displayed on the wall. Valmont went straight to a suit of chain mail and slid it on over his shirt. Next he grabbed a lance and tested its weight.

  Her grandmother went over to a pair of floor-to-ceiling windows and unhooked latches that allowed the pair to swing open like a set of doors, which happened to be on the third floor of the house.

  Bryn shifted. Valmont placed a saddle on her back. It fit between her shoulder blades like it belonged there. He pushed an end table next to Bryn, climbed up, and settled on her back. A ripple of power ran through her body.

  “You’re glowing.” Rhianna said.

  Must be some sort of magic from their bond. Whatever it was, it felt right.

  “Bryn, you need to change your scales to all Blue so someone doesn’t mistake you for the enemy,” her grandmother said.

  Bryn closed her eyes, sent a silent apology to her father for abandoning his heritage, and imagined her scales changing from red with blue tips to solid blue. She opened her eyes and looked to her grandmother for assurance.

  “Good. Now stay in tight formation. The security system has been disarmed in the south corner.” Her grandmother launched herself out into the night sky. Rhianna went next.

  “I’m ready,” Valmont said.

  Bryn dived out into the darkness, catching the updraft. A strange energy flowed through her veins, making her feel invincible. The scent of smoke hit her nostrils and sparks drifted through the sky.