make every effort to do the right thing.” He took a step forward. “After all, she’s dedicated her entire life to protecting the dragon race.”
“After walking on water, right? Saving the world before breakfast?”
Caleb groaned. “Look, I know you don’t like her, okay? And I’m not saying you should either. But, Scarlet, what choice do we have?”
“We could leave,” she said flatly, staring him down. “We could walk out that door and take Zoe and Zavier with us.”
Panic rose inside of him. She was serious. Trinity’s voice seemed to echo through his head.
Do not let this get any worse than it already is.
“No.” He shook his head. “There’s no way.”
Scarlet scowled. “Why not?”
“Because that would basically prove we have something to hide. Don’t you see? We have to show them we’re cooperating. If we break them out and take off—that’s basically handing my brother permission to come after us.”
“Well, he won’t need permission if we’re just hanging out here, our dragons nice and neatly chained up and ready for the slaughterhouse.”
His gut sank as he saw the look on her face. She meant everything she said, and she was going to do it. Which left him, in his best estimation, with three options. He could help her. He could try to stop her. Or he could simply let her go. None of them sounded very promising.
“Please, Scarlet. Just give it one night,” he tried at last. “My brother’s unconscious, locked up, and stuffed to the gills with painkillers. He can’t do any harm tonight. And in the morning, we’ll go and talk to the others as we promised. We’ll make them understand. And if for some reason they don’t? Well, then we can leave.” He met her eyes with his own pleading ones. “But at least let’s try to give them the benefit of the doubt first. Okay?”
Scarlet let out a small moan, and Caleb could see the fight slipping from her shoulders. With her bravado gone, she looked small and scared. He found himself stepping closer to her, then, after a moment’s hesitation, taking her in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured into his shoulder. “It’s just… I’m so frightened. The idea that something could happen to them…” She cringed. “They’re all I have in the world, you know.”
Caleb swallowed hard. “That’s not actually true,” he told her, remembering something she had said to him in the Nether, back when he had been the one to feel all alone in the world. “You have me.”
She froze, looking up at him with wide, fearful eyes. “No,” she said, her voice shaky. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it. It’s not fair. It’s not—”
He silenced her with a kiss, his heart squeezing in his chest as their lips came together, hungry, desperate, seeking something solid and real in a world gone mad. Her lips were soft, so impossibly soft, and as his mouth moved against hers, his hands took on a mind of their own, pulling her to him, tangling himself around her, their breath coming hard and heavy and fast. She tasted like mint gum. She felt like heaven. And for a moment, he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted his precious Nether. Which was quite a lot indeed.
How long had he been holding back, scared of letting go? And now that he had, he never wanted it to end. He wanted to kiss her until there was no breath left in his lungs. And then to kiss her some more.
But she was already pulling away, meeting his eyes with her own. Such desperate eyes, such pleading eyes. It was all he could do not to say yes, no matter what her next request.
But he was pretty sure he was going to have to say no.
“Please, Caleb,” she begged. “Let’s get out of here. Let’s take the dragons and go. We can be a family—just like we were. We don’t need the rest of them. You don’t need her.”
Don’t need her.
Caleb jerked as reality crashed down, shattering the fantasy world. Suddenly, his mind flashed to their earlier meeting with Trinity. To her imploring eyes. To her voice, whispering across his subconscious.
You told me once—whatever I needed—you would be here for me.
He’d dedicated his whole life to her, given everything to help her in her quest. And yet time and time again, when she’d needed him most, he’d failed her. He’d made stupid decisions, given in to temptation, proven himself weak.
Keep her away from those dragons tonight. No matter what