Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7) by Genevieve Jack (best book club books .txt) 📕

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I didn’t want you to fail. I simply knew better what we were dealing with when it came to that wicked, filthy fairy.”

“Did you know her better?” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure? Were you so certain that my vision would be wrong and she would betray us?”

“Someone is behind Eleanor attacking Everfield. Aborella is the most likely culprit. She went straight back to the Obsidian Palace and told Eleanor everything.”

The events of the past couple of days had come and gone so fast that Dianthe had barely had a chance to process any of it. But now, thinking back, adrenaline still coursing through her blood, everything became crystal clear.

“If Aborella had told Eleanor everything, those guards would have come straight to our home. They didn’t. They were looking for a traitor among our kind, but they didn’t know who it was.”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“I think Aborella is telling her something, but she isn’t telling her everything.”

“What’s your point? She told her enough to have the Empyrean Wood destroyed. Not exactly someone we would call a friend.”

Memories of Aborella flashed through Dianthe’s brain. Nursing her back to health. Conversations they’d had by the fire. Baking together. There was light in her heart, Dianthe was sure of it. “Maybe we can’t call her a friend, but I’m not sure we can blame everything on her either.”

“Oh?”

“Why are the guards digging in the Empyrean Wood? Why are they looking for four rebels and not the heirs of Paragon? Don’t you see, Sylas? She’s posing as Eleanor’s seer, but I think she’s giving her false information.”

Sylas shook his head. “It’s possible, but you can’t be sure.”

“What other explanation might you have?”

“Maybe Eleanor wants us to worry about her right hand while she plans something diabolical with her left.”

“You think the attack was a distraction.”

“Mother did attack my family when they arrived near Aeaea. Aborella must have told her the truth then. Why are you still making excuses for her anyway?”

She’d forgotten about the attack at Aeaea. She bowed her head. “This isn’t about Aborella. It’s about you believing in me.”

He scoffed and turned his head away. “I’ve always believed in you.”

“No, you lost respect for me the moment I brought Aborella back with us. You said yes, but you meant no.”

“I’ve always respected you. I still respect you.” His voice cracked.

“Do you remember when we met? I was already working for the rebellion. You came in, new, ignorant. I taught you the ropes. We fell in love, and the thing I remember most about those days is how you looked at me. You looked at me like I had all the answers. You were homeless. Cast out by your own mother. We made a home together in Everfield.”

“I remember and I’m so grateful, Dianthe.”

“So why can’t you look at me like that now? Why can’t you admit that you need me as much as I need you? You’ve been treating me like a child.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I do need you. I need you as much as the air I breathe. Why in Hades do you think I wanted to spare you this? Why do you think I let that hornworm eat me to distract it from you?”

She shook her head. “This is beyond wanting me safe. You want to control me. You want to lock me up like a jewel and wrap me in wards so tight I won’t be able to breathe.”

His face was red now, and that muscle in his jaw was doing one hell of a dance. “I never wanted to control you!” His voice was gruff and deep, his dragon rising to the surface. She tried to take a step back, but he grabbed her by the shoulders. “You knew what I was when you mated me. You knew I was a dragon. Dragons protect their mates.”

“Of course I knew!” She groaned as he shook her again. He wasn’t gripping her hard, but she didn’t like how his skin roiled with his anger. His entire body was trembling. “You’re scaring me.”

“It tears me apart when you’re in danger. Do you know what it was like to wait on that beach while you battled those sprites last night? It felt like a million bees buzzing in my head, stinging and crawling until I thought my skull might crack from the pressure. Every cell in my body is charged with one simple command that overrides every rational thought when you’re in danger. ‘Save her! Protect her.’”

She pulled away from him. “Would it kill you to acknowledge my contributions to our mission? Even Sabrina said thank you. I clung to the words of a vampire I hardly know because you, the person I call my family, did not so much as acknowledge my work. I am the one who accomplished the first phase of our mission. I got the orb.” She pointed her thumb at her chest.

“Thank you!” he bit out. “Is that what you want to hear? Thank you for risking your life for a fucking magic ball—”

She pressed her finger into his chest. “You need me on this mission, Sylas. I can do things none of you can do. And yes, I need your protection. But you need me too. And that means you need to trust me. You need to respect me. And you need to stop treating me like a child.”

“I never—”

“You’re smothering me! Just back off!” Goddess, she wished she could take it back. The words lashed out, and his previously red face blanched. He rubbed his chest as if it hurt. She’d gone too far. She’d broken his heart.

“I understand.” His voice was laced with contempt. “I’ll do my best not to smother you anymore.” He passed her to get to the beach and dug in his pack for, she assumed, a change of clothes. For someone whose blood naturally ran