The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,20

up.

Jace lifted his head long enough to wink at me. “Thanks for caring,” he whispered.

I glared at him. “Don’t die. Or I’ll start to believe you all really are some sort of cult, and you’re sacrificing your heart to your old-world gods or some shit.”

Wayne and Jace stared at me in shock for the longest time before they both burst out laughing. Jace leaned forward until his head rested on his knees as he laughed.

“Stop laughing before you make it worse!”

“Then stop making me laugh.”

His words made me feel warm, but maybe that was because he’d been so rude and cold toward me until now.

“I’m really already feeling better.” Jace rubbed at his chest as Wayne turned the truck engine over.

Wayne leaned over Jace again. “If you give me your number, I’ll keep you updated on his progress.”

I nodded and reached into my purse for a scrap of paper, but looked up sharply when I could’ve sworn I’d heard a growl come from the truck.

Wayne stared at Jace, and Jace stared at me. Then, Wayne’s face changed, and he looked surprised. “No way,” he whispered, then he laughed.

Jace held his phone out the window. “Put your number in my phone?”

I took it and sighed. “I’m only doing this because I want to know if you die. I’ll bring a casserole to your funeral.”

My father snorted behind me. I turned to look at him, my fingers pausing on the screen of Jace’s phone.

Dad shrugged. “I raised you right.”

“My conscience would bother me if I thought you were lying somewhere dying.”

“Thank you,” Jace said when I handed the phone back to him. “I’ll call you later.”

They pulled out of the parking lot. Dad and I watched them drive away, then I sighed and looked at my father. “Should we go get our things?”

He patted his shoulder and I realized he had the backpack full of our guns and ammunition in it. “I grabbed it while I was in there. Ready to go home?”

Dad didn’t speak again until we were in the car and backing out. He casually looked at me. “So.” He drew out the vowels in the word. “You know him?”

Curiosity dripped from his voice.

“Sort of. Not like you’re implying. He just happened to have been around when Damon confronted me—”

“Both times?” Dad’s voice was way too full of some sort of smug know-it-all vibe.

“Yes, both times,” I said quickly. “He helped me, and I appreciated it, but then he was kind of a jerk to me. There’s nothing between us.”

“Well, remind me to thank him.”

I grunted. “Thank him for being a jerk.”

Dad laughed, but thankfully, he let it go. It didn’t keep my mind from wandering repeatedly back to Jace and what the hell was wrong with him.

We were still staying with my parents, which meant my parenting requirements were pretty light. Mom had Hayden in the kitchen helping with dinner, and she’d cleaned everything that needed to be cleaned. I decided to check in with Skye.

“Hey,” she said brightly when she answered. “How are you?”

“I’m good. I wanted to see how the babies are doing?”

She gushed about their smiles and how they’d begun to laugh. Star was moving around more than Sean, and they’d been betting on who would reach which milestone first.

When she seemed to run out of steam, I broached the subject of Jace. “Isn’t Anthony good friends with Jace?” I asked.

She cleared her throat before answering. “He is.” Her voice was guarded.

“Why do you seem hesitant to talk about him?” I asked.

“No reason. I just wasn’t aware you knew Jace.” She chuckled. “You don’t know many people from Anthony’s cult, after all.”

“Yes, we’ve run into each other a few times recently, but both times Damon has confronted me, he’s been there.” I realized I hadn’t talked to her in a good week. “You know about that, right?”

She sighed. “Yes, but Kaylee had to tell me about the incident at the pizza place.”

“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “Things have been so topsy-turvy. Just when I think Damon has moved on, he shows up again. I actually started working with my dad at the gun range. I’m going to take my conceal carry test this week after work.”

“Oh, fun,” she said. “Well, not the part about Damon, but the part about learning to shoot. I love to target shoot.”

“Well, I’m doing it for a serious reason, but yeah, it is a lot more fun than I anticipated it being. But while I was there today, Jace turned up, and