The Protector (Fire's Edge #4) - Abigail Owen Page 0,35

struggling enough with herself when it came to Levi. Of the two of them, he was the rock. He always acted so sure of everything he did, every decision he made. Confident in his ability to handle everything that got thrown at him. But the way he’d stiffened in the kitchen a beat before he’d dashed off told her maybe he wasn’t that guy underneath.

Which made him more…relatable. Which should scare her, but somehow didn’t. And how hadn’t she already known this about him?

Because you’ve been avoiding him since day one.

Ugh. With effort, she put a muzzle on the voice and shoved the thoughts into a hole in her mind. She needed to focus.

A scent reached her, and she didn’t stop flying. “One of them is here,” she warned Levi and Deep.

“I know,” they both came back at the same time.

She didn’t have to scan the skies long because the black dragon didn’t bother hiding himself. He approached from a long way off, giving them plenty of time to see him in the air. No sneak attack this time.

“Are you the dragons we mistook last night?” He sent the thought on ahead of him.

“Yes,” Levi answered before she could.

“Do you mean us harm?” the dragon asked next.

“Do you plan to attack us again? Or set another fire?” Lyndi asked.

“No. You were not who we were after.”

Could they believe him? “Then you should be safe enough.”

“Good. Don’t come looking for us again.” He started to turn in a large arching loop.

“We are the enforcer team for this region. We need to talk to your colony,” Deep said. “Maybe we can help with…whatever made you set that fire.”

The black dragon paused, beating his wings to hover in the air, his back to them. Dangerous to turn his back on other dragons. “Do you have a man named Tineen on your team?”

Lyndi should have been shocked. She wasn’t. The leader of the Alaz team was named Tineen. Combined with the beta’s name, Roan, being overheard, this couldn’t be a coincidence. Could it?

“No.”

The dragon turned, still hovering as they drew nearer, seeming to debate with himself. “Follow me.”

The trip to the black dragon’s—who didn’t give his name—people took longer than Lyndi expected it to. They took a few detours and also had to stop at least once for Deep to take a break.

This was the first time she’d ever seen the old alpha do anything like that. Deep had to be nearing his eighteen-hundredth year on this earth, which put him in his late seventies in human aging. Not as spry as he once was, and yet still determined to serve.

“Deep?” She sent the thought only to the dragon at her side. “You’re from the Red Clan.”

“I always considered you an intelligent woman, Lyndi.” The amusement in his scratchy voice suggested he was reconsidering that opinion.

“I’ve got a point.”

“I should hope so.”

“You were around before…” How did she put this?

“Before the current regime of kings?” he guessed. And hit it on the head.

“Yes.”

“I was in my thirteenth century when Pytheios took the throne of my clan.”

“Did you know the previous king?”

“Yes. And his phoenix mate, and their daughter.”

All before her time, before everything happened. She’d only known one way. “What was it like? Before?”

He was quiet long enough that she wondered if he was going to answer.

“Better,” he finally said. “Not a total peace like you would think the phoenix legend indicates. Instead, life for dragons was more…open. The High King made sweeping decisions, but only after discussing with the other kings. The clans had remained fairly segregated until the 1700s, which had both good points and bad points. The colonies changed that somewhat, showing we could live together successfully in mixed groups. But mostly there didn’t exist this air of…hatred and fear.”

Lyndi tried to picture it. Difficult to do through the lens of her own experiences.

“Once the king, his phoenix, and their daughter died,” Deep continued, “things changed quickly. Almost as though the hatred had never been truly gone, but held at bay, buried somewhere dark, waiting to be released. Our society became one of judgment. Of such easy offense that everyone except a select few were deemed worthy, and even they had better walk on eggshells.”

“But you served the new king,” she said. “I mean you came here to uphold his laws.”

Deep’s lips pulled back, exposing yellowing but still sharp teeth in dark amusement. “I accepted the honor of leading the first team of enforcers in the Americas because it saved my