by Rinelle Grey
Lily wandered around the room sniffing everything with interest. Nate watched her closely, but she didn’t seem to be causing any problems.
Kytrima was silent for a moment, then she squared her shoulders.
“We need to be systematic about this. None of this randomly driving around,” she said firmly. “We start at one end of the town and work our way to the other. We stop in the main street and ask everyone if they’ve seen your brother. You look enough like him that they’re going to recognise you straight away if they have. Then if we haven’t found anything by lunchtime, we head out of the town and start searching the surrounding area. Once we’re far enough out, I can search by air.”
Nate nodded. “Sounds like a plan. We better get some sleep then. Sounds like another busy day.”
Kytrima nodded, but she didn’t move from where she stood, near the door.
If she was going to be embarrassed about this, then why had she suggested sharing a room?
Nate stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. “Come on.” He patted the other side of the bed near him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kytrima joined him. She didn’t take any of her clothes off. Well, other than her shoes.
Nate couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
*****
And the next morning yielded just as much disappointment. They woke early, and started their drive through the town again, but a systematic search was no more fruitful than their random ones had been. A walk through the main street revealed a little more. They found a store that had sold Brad a baby’s carseat yesterday. Not particularly helpful.
Just when Nate was feeling about ready to give up and suggest they break for something to eat, they heard a siren in the distance. A police siren.
Kytrima heard it too. She stared at him for a minute, then turned without a word and strode back towards the car.
Nate followed her just as quickly.
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe a traffic infringement or someone chasing a thief. But he didn’t think so. This was a small country town. Surely they didn’t get too many chances to use their sirens. Meaning there was a good chance that it had something to do with Brad and Lyrian.
Hopefully Nate got to them before the police did.
He wasn’t too sure what he was going to do if he arrived to find the police arresting them. Maybe Kytrima would do something?
He glanced over at her, but she was staring out the front windshield, frowning.
Nate wondered what she was thinking. What did she plan to do when they found the princess anyway? He couldn’t help worrying every time he thought of it. So far he’d been adding it to the list of worries he couldn’t solve right now, but for some reason that was getting harder today.
It took only a few streets to find the police car on the side of the road in a ditch, it’s lights still flashing. Nate gave a sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to have to deal with them trying to arrest his brother today.
He drove past slowly, casually, glancing in their direction as he passed.
“We need to go faster,” Kytrima urged. “They can’t be far away.”
Her urgency only made Nate more uncomfortable. “We don’t even know it was them they were chasing,” he pointed out. “It could have been anyone.”
“And if it was them, then we’re going to lose them,” Kytrima challenged.
“And if we start speeding, they’re going to be chasing us,” Nate said firmly, continuing to drive at a sedate pace until he turned a corner away from the police car.
Then, instead of continuing to drive, he pulled over.
“What are you doing?” Kytrima demanded. “We have to find them.”
Nate stopped the engine and turned to look at her. “Why?”
Kytrima looked taken aback. “Well… don’t you want to find your brother?”
“Yeah, that’s my reason. What’s yours?”
Her determination that Lyrian was using his brother had been concerning him since the start of this whole adventure. He hadn’t seen any actual evidence to support her claim, although to be honest, he hadn’t ever met the dragon princess.
But his concerns had grown enough that he could no longer ignore them.
He was having a ball of a time, except for that. And he wanted to keep enjoying himself. But he’d already ignored them for far too long.
He had no idea if the princess was using his brother or not, but he had no doubts whatsoever that Brad was besotted with her. And he was even more sympathetic to his brother’s feelings now that he’d had some experience with love himself. If there was any chance of them working things out, and Kytrima interfered with that…
But surely she wouldn’t? She’d said that mating with the one you loved was important to her clan. Surely that meant she wouldn’t get in the way if Lyrian and Brad really were in love?
Maybe it just hadn’t occurred to her. Once it did, surely she’d do the right thing?
“I already explained my reasons to you,” Kytrima said firmly.
Nate’s stomach clenched, and he stared at Kytrima. He’d been kidding himself, that she’d changed. That she might care about him. Her determination to hunt down the princess hadn’t abated one little bit. She was so sure of what she was doing. What if she hadn’t stopped to consider that they might actually be in love?
What if she didn’t care? What if she’d made up that bit about her clan believing in love?
Why had she said she was hunting for the princess anyway? Nate frowned, trying to remember. She’d said Lyrian was in trouble for meddling in too many human affairs.
And yet, yesterday she’d said that her clan had no problems with a dragon mating with a human.
If that wasn’t meddling, then what was?
Would sleeping with him to regain her energy be meddling? As far as he could see, as far as she’d told him, that was all Lyrian had done.
Was there something else he was missing? Something she hadn’t told him? Because if not, her story was starting to unravel.
And if she was lying to him about Lyrian, what else was she lying about?
Maybe she was even lying to him about being a dragon?
Nate shook his head. Maybe not about that one. There was definitely something strange about her. No human could have healed the way she did. Or made him feel the way she did.
The question was, was she using him? Or was she telling the truth?
His heart sank at that last question. He was pretty sure she wasn’t. There was something off about her story. Not quite enough for him to put his finger on, but enough for him to feel uncomfortable in the pit of his stomach.
What if he was actually helping the person who wanted to harm his brother? Or even just the woman his brother loved. Or their baby.
She’d said that it wasn’t Brad’s baby. That dragons and humans couldn’t have babies. But apparently they could mate. If she’d lied about the other stuff, maybe she was lying about that too.
Kytrima looked up at him at that moment, and she must have seen something on his face, because her expression changed. For a moment, he thought she might be going to say something. To admit the truth.
Then she looked away, as if she couldn’t meet his eyes.
That was more damning than anything else she’d done.
“What exactly did she do wrong?” Nate asked, his voice soft.
He could be making a big mistake. If she really was lying to him, if she really was a dragon, and if she didn’t care about him, or his brother, or love, then he could be in very big trouble.
But somehow, he didn’t believe it.
He didn’t want to believe it.
Call him a fool, but there was a part of him that was still hoping that she had an explanation for all this.
But Kytrima froze at his question. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. She glared at him.
Nate held his breath, half expecting her to… he wasn’t sure what. What did dragons do when they wanted to get rid of someone? Som
ehow, he suspected it wasn’t breathe fire.
Instead, Kytrima heaved a sigh. “She fought to keep our leader, Ultrima, from mating with her elder sister.”
The story was different to what she’d told him last time. This had nothing to do with humans, or the princess relationship with his brother. Nate searched her face.
This time, she met his eyes, even if her expression was a little defiant.
He found it hard to believe that was the only lie.
“What else did you lie about?” Nate demanded. “Is any of this true? Is she using my brother? Or was that a lie too? How about the baby? Did you lie about that as well?”
Kytrima dropped her eyes. “I don’t know why she’s doing it,” she admitted in a small voice.
It wasn’t enough. “Can dragons and humans have a baby?” Nate demanded. That, at least, she must know.
She nodded her head. “They can,” she confirmed. “We have several in our clan.”
Was she telling the truth now? He found it hard to know what to believe. Especially since she wouldn’t look at him.
He wanted to yell at her. To be sure she was telling the truth now.
Instead he asked, “Why did you lie to me?”
Kytrima shrugged, not looking up. “I didn’t expect you to understand. I just…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I just needed to heal.”
Nate stared at her in disbelief.
He’d expected protests, excuses, anger even. But for some reason, her quiet admission cut far deeper than any anger would have. It was like she didn’t even care.
Nate felt sick to his stomach. How could he have been so wrong? How could he have been so mistaken in her?
How could he have fallen in love with her, when she’d just been using him?
She had been honest about that. She’d never pretended to feel anything for him. Never even indicated that she did.
So why did it hurt so much? Why did it feel like someone had stabbed him in the gut and then twisted the knife?
Oh yeah, because she’d lied to him.
She’d lied to him, and used him.
And the only reason she was admitting it now was because she’d been caught out.
He could kind of understand why she’d lied in the beginning. She hadn’t even known him. But she’d kept it up, right up until now.
“It didn’t once occur to you to tell me the truth?” Nate demanded. “I thought… I thought we had something more than that. Even if this feeling is normal for sleeping with a dragon, I still thought we’d shared something else. That we were… friends at least. But apparently it was just me. Apparently this is all normal for you.”
His voice was shaking, so he stopped talking, even though he had plenty more to say. He took a deep breath, and tried to slow his breathing.
Kytrima hung her head. “I’m sorry.”
Nate stared at her in disbelief. “Sorry? You think sorry is going to fix this?”
He had no idea what he was saying. Did they even have anything to fix?
Probably not. She’d used him to get to the princess through his brother. He’d helped her.
Now he was thankful that they hadn’t managed to find Brad. He had no idea what she’d been planning if they did, but he wanted no part in it.
“It’s over. Done. Stay away from my brother.”
He should have kicked her out of the car then. That was a strong parting statement. But somehow, he couldn’t do it. Nate paused for a second, to give her a chance to say something.
“I made a mistake,” Kytrima said quickly. “I didn’t stop to think that your brother and the princess could be in love. But when I realised… I just want to help you find her now, not to take her back to my clan. I’ve changed my mind.”
That was what he’d wanted to hear, so why did it feel so hollow?
Because he didn’t believe it. Why would he believe that she had suddenly decided to tell him the truth now? She was just telling him what she thought he wanted to hear.
“Get out of the car,” he said flatly.
“But, Nate… you don’t understand. I think I’m in love with you…”
Her words twisted at his heart. The very words he’d been longing to hear. But not now. Not when he’d realised he just couldn’t trust her.
All they did was cause more turmoil.
She sounded desperate.
Yeah, desperate to find the princess. He wasn’t going to fall for that again. “Get out.”
He kicked himself for wanting to believe she might finally tell him the truth.
The real truth was, it didn’t matter what she said at this point.
He couldn’t trust her now, not after all this.
Chapter 16
As Nate’s car drove away, leaving Kytrima standing on the side of the road, she couldn't do anything more than stare after it in shock.
She’d bared her soul to him, and he hadn’t believed her.
That hurt. Hurt more than anything had before. The ache deep down in her belly settled in, like it planned to stay a long time.
And Kytrima couldn’t help feeling like she deserved it.
She’d known, from very early on in this situation, that lying was a bad idea. If she’d come clean sooner, maybe it would have made a difference. But she hadn’t.
Oh, she had tried to adjust the lies to be closer to the truth, but not close enough. The big one, that the baby was most likely Nate’s brother’s, and that the princess could well be in love with him, that she’d never fixed.
In fact, she’d lied as soon as yesterday afternoon, when she’d said she wanted to share a room with him to protect him. She was pretty sure he’d seen through that one, but it didn’t matter. That hadn’t been her intent. Her intent had been to protect herself from the truth.
The truth that was now coming back to bite her.
She loved Nate, and now, because she’d lied to him, over and over again, she’d lost him.
It didn’t matter that she’d realised her mistake and tried to make up for it. It didn’t matter she no longer planned to take the princess home to her clan, that she just wanted to help him find his brother.
He hadn’t believed her. And she didn’t blame him. Why should he? She wouldn’t believe herself after the number of lies she’d told.
He hadn’t even believed her when she’d told him she loved him.
That was the bit that hurt the most. Like a bolt of lightning that just kept zapping her, over and over again in the same spot. Whenever she thought about it, it dug in again.
Kytrima sank down onto the side of the road and sat on the kerb, staring off into space.
She’d really thought that one would work. That he’d believe her.
Couldn’t he see the truth of it in her eyes? Couldn’t he feel it in his own heart?
She heaved a sigh, and dropped her head into her hands. Even if he could, he would refuse to believe it. He couldn’t trust her after this.
And she couldn’t blame him.
She deserved all of this.
She didn’t deserve to find love. Not after all she’d done to pull apart someone else’s love.
Maybe this time it really was time to admit her mistake and go home. She could make up some reason she’d left her post, and never tell her clan about the princess or Nate’s brother. Maybe that would go some way towards atoning for her lies.
Except that Nate would never know about it.
She knew that shouldn’t matter. That she should feel good just for doing the right thing.
But her heart wouldn’t listen.
It still wanted a way to get Nate back. Surely there must be some way to right her wrongs and still show him?
Kytrima sat up a little, and stared out across the road.
What she needed to do was to find the princess, and take her to him.
If she did that, he’d see that she was serious, wouldn’t he?
Kytrima examined the plan from all angles, but she couldn’t see how it could fa
il. If she brought the princess to Nate instead of taking him to her clan, surely he would be able to see she wanted to do the right thing?
The only question was, how was she supposed to find the princess? She and Nate hadn’t managed to find her, despite all their searching. Kytrima didn’t even have a car. And she couldn’t fly here in the town, too many people would see her.
Well, she was more than capable of walking, wasn’t she? She’d just wander around the town until she found her. Maybe she’d do better on foot. Or maybe a better plan would come to her.
Either way, it was better than waiting here.
Kytrima began to walk. Since she had no real destination in mind, she headed back towards the centre of the town. They’d already found one clue to where the princess was, maybe there would be another.
Of course, then she’d had Brad’s twin brother to jog people’s memories.
She walked up and down the streets for hours, until long after her stomach was rumbling and she was wishing Nate was here to suggest they stop for lunch.
It was hopeless. Pointless. She was never going to find the princess this way.
As night started to fall, and the sky and streets grew dark, Kytrima crept back to the street where the pub was, where she and Nate had stayed last night. Would he stay here again tonight? The man behind the counter had said one night only, but maybe Nate could convince him.
She hid in a strand of trees across the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. He wasn’t going to listen to her, but she wanted to see him again anyway…
*****
As it started to grow dark, Nate gave in. He’d been driving around Mungaloo for hours, but he’d had no more luck than he and Kytrima had. He didn’t know why he’d expected to. It was pointless. He had nothing at all to go on.
But he couldn’t just give up. He had to do something.
He had to find Brad before Kytrima did.
He had no idea what she intended to do when she found the princess, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be good. And Brad would likely get caught in the middle.
He headed back to the pub, hoping the barkeep would let him keep Lily there again. She hadn’t been the slightest problem last night.
Luckily for him, the barkeep seemed to have a soft spot for him. Or he felt sorry that not only had Nate lost his brother, he’d lost his girlfriend too. He didn’t tell the man the whole story of course, but the fact that she wasn’t there kind of said it all, didn’t it?
