The Dark Places (14 page)

“
I
would choose a flaming death inside a sunstar, too, if Matt had
been
anything
like you!” I brandished
my clutch like a weapon, gripping the suede leather pouch so tightly in my
hands that I felt the dagger’s contours. I hoped my words had struck him
straight through his vicious heart. If it was possible for blood to boil within
veins, mine did.

High Lord Rakeda’s eyes glittered,
his face turned an alarming red, his hands clenched into fists, and his lips
clamped into a tight line—and not another poisoned dart flew from them.

Matt’s strong grasp urged me around
to follow as he strode toward the foyer we’d entered scant minutes before. “I’m
sorry, Kai. I never suspected he would do this, or I’d have never brought you
here and exposed you to that abuse,” Matt grated between clenched teeth.

We’d sped under the foyer’s high entrance
portal when a commanding shout rang out.
“Stop!”

“
Stop
yourself
,” Matt snarled, tossing a fuming
glare over his shoulder. He paused and turned long enough to rage at his sire. “And
you can take back all the land estate control you gave me too. We’re leaving
Drakis. Kai and I are returning to far-rim merchant trading.”

I could almost feel fury emanating
from him although I wasn’t a sensitive. I silently cheered at hearing that last
bit. Anything was better than being here.

Matt whirled and continued our
advance upon the outer door.

“
Mattin
—
Kailiri
—
wait
!” The
shout echoed behind us, and did my imagination detect a tiny bit of desperation
in the high lord’s strangled tone?

Matt reluctantly stopped and waited
without turning, but I had no qualms about facing the man. My stare challenged High
Lord
Markan
where he stood, framed between the foyer’s
entrance and the large chamber behind him.

His eyes narrowed on me. “Understand
this, young woman. I lost Mattin for five standard years, not knowing if he was
alive or not most of the time. Now that I have him back again, I only want to
hear one thing from you:
what
do you
want from my son?”

I was conscious of Matt turning to look
at his sire, then at me. “There’s no need to answer him, Kai,” he growled. “He has
no right to interrogate you.”

Every fiber in my
being agreed with Matt.
Outrage raced through me at the bitter old
dragon lord, but something in his tense stance told me my response was crucial.
For some reason, memories of
Timirshil-ka
flashed
into my mind. Then a veil lifted in my angry thoughts: I realized that just as Matt
had been afraid of losing me on that dying world, his embittered sire was
afraid of losing his son again. In that crystalline moment of clarity, my
hostility dwindled and I knew what to say.

“I only want him to be happy and to
live
.”

If possible, the old dragon’s
expression compressed into further disapproval, like he’d bitten into sour
fruit.

Wrong answer
?
I sighed and turned
away. “I’m ready to go, Matt,” I murmured, suddenly feeling drained.

“I want the same for him…,” High
Lord Rakeda said in a gravelly tone, as if the admission had been dragged from
his throat. “Mattin, come back here right this instant and bring that firebrand
wife of yours with you to my study. I’ll have the servants bring up some
refreshments for her, since my grandson probably needs something to keep
growing strong by now.” He tramped away with a stiffly held back into the great
hall.

And with those cryptic, not-exactly-welcoming,
imperious words, the dragon allowed me entrance into the Rakeda Hold fortress
and family.

“We
don’t
have to stay, Kai,” Matt assured me. He watched me with deep concern
and caressed my face with a gentle hand. “And I meant every word about leaving
here and returning to my trade business with you at my side.”

A wan smile found its way onto my
lips. “Thank you, Matt, but I want to stay. I’ve just discovered another one of
your dark places that I’m going to take on and do battle with.”

Matt lifted a dark eyebrow and the
dimple appeared near his mouth as his lips pulled into a reluctant smile.
“Should I warn yonder villain that he’s in mortal peril, doll?”

“Don’t you
dare
,” I said with a choked hiccup of laughter. I stepped close and
commandeered a kiss, then pushed away from his tantalizing lips and smiled. “I
love you, Matt
Lorins
. We’d better hurry before your
father changes his mind and decides to toss me out.”

“Just let him
try
,” Matt growled.

A glance at Matt’s firm-set
expression lent me courage. I was ready to storm the cantankerous dragon’s lair.

The End

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