Hidden Fate

8

Trying to ease my mate’s mind, I squeezed his hands and connected, If they trust one another, I can see why he wanted to be forthright about what they’d be getting into.

He should’ve asked us first, he replied, tugging me against his side. I’ll be damned if I take you somewhere that warriors might be waiting to pounce on us.

“I had to.” Theron bit his bottom lip and stepped away from Hydra. “I can’t just show up with you, and with Sol healed, they’d know. They’re more willing to accept the risk by knowing their injured child or thunder member can be healed. Don’t you understand how much we all hate Drake and what he stands for?”

He had a point. Anywhere we stayed, the thunder would eventually know we were there. Maybe it was better to give them a heads-up so they wouldn’t feel tricked into helping us. But we were screwed in our current situation.

“Look, I told them that Drake killed the king and is putting his plans into action without any barriers. I also told them how you helped us instead of running off like you could have.” Theron bit his bottom lip. “The king’s death is making everyone panic. This particular thunder that reached out is in the Midwest. It’s a two-hour flight from here.”

That was farther away from Asheville and the royal dragon lands. The warriors would be focused on the internal uprising, and then they’d focus their efforts on looking for us here first, knowing we’d taken the king with us and wouldn’t get far.

Vlad crossed his arms. “How do you know they won’t make a deal with the guards? My dad vouched for you—that’s why we came here. What assurances do we have that this woman is trustworthy?”

“Everyone in this network knows that Drake is killing our people and is not to be trusted. Today’s events solidified that decision for all of us. If Thorn is willing to heal the injured thunder members of the people who are willing to risk hiding us, then we have a better chance of resolving this situation.” Theron placed a hand on his chest. “I would not be taking Sol and Hydra to a place with people I didn’t trust. Drake now associates us with you. There’s no getting out of that, and you all know it. If I’m willing to risk the lives of the two people I love most, I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

“Unless you allied with them to bring us in as a way to make up for betraying Drake.” Errol rubbed his chin. “That’s also an option.”

“We know that wouldn’t work even if we wanted it to.” Hydra stood tall next to Theron. “Unlike my mate, I’m not afraid to admit that the thought crossed my mind, but to Drake, we’re traitors. There’s no way he’d forgive us even if he said he would.”

Brenton kicked at the dirt left over from digging the grave. “If there is an injured dragon network, why didn’t I know about it? Tyson would have benefited from that.”

“We all found each other in passing, and one thing led to another.” Sol shrugged, flicking his attention to Eva every chance he had. “We didn’t know about Tyson. No one had seen him around.”

Tyson’s face fell. “That’s because I barely ever left the house.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat and shivered, reminded of what it’d been like to be constrained. The panic of knowing I couldn’t connect with my dragon had been damn near overwhelming.

“That doesn’t matter.” Thorn tapped his fingers against his leg. “We need to make a decision and move. If a few warriors aren’t already searching for us, they will be soon, and more will join them. We need to leave while we can.”

The sky was darkening, too, which would hide us from humans and aircraft.

I sighed. The hardest decision I’d had to make before all this was whether to go home after exams or work an extra shift at the coffee shop instead of studying. Now I and everyone I loved was being hunted.

“I don’t think we have an option.” I turned against Thorn’s chest to look him in the eye. He was the one who would ultimately decide. “Theron has been on our side, even if begrudgingly, since we got here. If he trusts this woman, I say we should as well.”

Peter sneered and glared at me. “Everly’s always putting her nose in places—”

“Someone shut him up, or I’ll do it myself.” Thorn’s jaw clenched, and his nostrils flared. “If I trusted myself not to cause permanent damage, I’d knock his ass out, but if he insults my mate and wife one more time, I won’t care about the outcome.”

Mouth snapping shut, Peter swallowed. Apparently, he didn’t like to learn, but he remembered enough to know better.

A smile tugged at my lips, and I tried to keep my face neutral.

“My mate is right.” He paused, shooting eye daggers at Peter. “We don’t have much of a choice, so if everyone is agreed, we should pack some supplies and go.”

Sol’s shoulders drooped. “I promise Edna and Mindy are solid. Mindy’s dad died in the car crash that injured her five years ago.”

This was the first time I’d heard of a dragon suffering a permanent injury while in human form.

“Let’s split up and move.” Vlad stared at the sky. “Get the bare essentials and load up the cars.”

Hydra stilled. “We’re not flying?”

“It’s too risky.” Vlad hurried to the door of the white barn house. “A warrior could come across our scents, and they’ll have eyes in the sky. Traveling in vehicles will help us blend in better.”

Raising a hand, Eva waved. “Let’s not forget about the humans who can’t fly.”

“Or!” Elliott lifted a hand. “Just hear me out. You could change us, and then we could fly.”

“Elliott Abbot,” Peter rasped. “Shut your mouth right now and speak for yourself. I don’t want to become that.” He gestured at me.

Out of everyone here, he’d targeted me. At one time, that would’ve hurt, but now I rolled my eyes. He tried to blame me for anything he disliked.

Thorn released me, marched over to Peter, and got in his face. My stepdad stumbled back until he slammed into the side of the house. Thorn’s face was red, and smoke trickled from his nose as Peter blanched.

Thorn punched him in the jaw.

My stepfather’s head snapped back and bounced off the siding. His eyes watered, and he quickly covered the spot where he’d been hit.