by Chris Cannon
“I am aware of that.” Her grandfather put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed like he was giving her a sideways hug. She smiled up at him. He grinned and then pulled her into a real hug. She couldn’t believe it. She hugged him back and then stepped away.
“Don’t tell anyone I did that,” her grandfather joked. “It would ruin my image.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
Bryn and Valmont headed down the stairs and walked across campus holding hands. Guards lined the sidewalks checking out everyone who passed, which was kind of nice.
When she reached her room, she called Clint and Ivy to check on them. Her friends were worried about her, but they were fine. Exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave.
“Go change into your pajamas,” Valmont said. “We’re camping out on the couch.”
Dressed in yoga pants and a T-shirt, she joined Valmont on the couch. In the back of her head, she thought about suggesting they sleep in her bed. It would be more comfortable, and they’d slept there before when she’d been sick, so it wasn’t a big deal. But tonight after everything they’d gone through, it might be easier to stick with something close to normal. Not that her life was ever normal. Despite all the tragedy tonight, the one good thing to come of this mess was she’d become closer to her grandfather.
She seemed to be on a more even keel with Jaxon. That was good. And what had happened with Ferrin tonight? He’d actually acted respectful toward Rhianna and the dead guy who wasn’t really Zane but had still been Rhianna’s knight. She had never imagined Ferrin capable of such kindness. Maybe the expectation of a new baby had softened him up, after all.
The last sound she heard before falling asleep was Valmont talking in his sleep, something about pizza and lasagna. Maybe he was dreaming about working as a waiter. Would he be happy to return to his real job? Seeing Rhianna crying over a knight had taken Bryn’s breath away. If she ever had to stand over Valmont’s body like that… She shuddered… It was too horrifying to imagine. She’d do whatever it took to keep him safe. Even if it meant letting him go.
Wait. Where had that thought come from?
This whole night was messing with her head. She wondered how Rhianna was coping. Of course Rhianna was traumatized, but at least she’d released Zane before he’d died. Not that she would’ve gotten sick and turned to stone over a knight she’d known less than an hour. Right?
…
Jaxon showed up at Bryn’s door way too early the next morning. She opened the door, bedhead and all, because she worried something might have happened with Rhianna. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to talk.” He studied her attire of yoga pants and Munch’s “The Scream” shirt and shook his head, but he held a carryout box and a tray with three cups of coffee.
“Come in.”
Valmont sat up on the couch, bleary-eyed and confused. He pointed at Jaxon. “Why?”
Bryn shrugged and snagged two cups of coffee, downing half of one and passing the other to Valmont. “He had food, so I let him in.”
Jaxon sat at the library table. “I’m here because I don’t know what to do about Rhianna. My father told me about the real Zane being murdered. How do I tell Rhianna she’s grieving an impostor?”
Bryn opened the carryout box and chose a cranberry orange muffin. “Give me a minute.” She ate half the muffin and finished off her coffee. “Okay, my brain is now engaged, but I don’t have an answer for you.”
“Do you remember what impostor-Zane said to Rhianna last night?” Valmont said.
“He apologized for what happened to her,” Jaxon said. “Knowing what we know now, it makes more sense, but why did he try to kill the traitor he was working with?”
“The driver that attacked me earlier this year was actually my grandmother’s driver. He’d worked for her for more than a dozen years. If someone had something powerful enough to blackmail him or threaten him with, I could see the same thing happening with not-Zane.”
“For simplicity sake, let’s call him Zane,” Valmont said. “And say Zane was drafted into this situation against his will and he didn’t want the traitors to get away with it. He could have attacked that guy because he didn’t want him to succeed with whatever he was doing and he believed strongly enough that he gave his life to stop him.”
“That paints him in a better light,” Bryn said.
“Maybe he wasn’t as evil as his counterparts, but he also wasn’t the brave hero that Rhianna is mourning.” Jaxon shoved his hand back through his hair. “How do I fix this?”
“You can’t,” Bryn said. “Even though Rhianna released him and he wasn’t her knight any more, he did save her life, and he died right in front her.”
“That is not the answer I came here for.” Jaxon sipped his coffee.
“Maybe,” Valmont said, “you should tell her the truth. It might help her recover a little bit faster.”
“Maybe.” Jaxon sighed. “Any other knightly logic you’d like to share?”
“Not really,” Valmont said. “Bryn and I have been making it up as we go along.”
“Again,” Jaxon said, “not helping.”
Valmont shrugged and sipped his coffee.
Jaxon frowned like he was considering the situation. “There’s something else. The fact that those hybrids were Black and Blue made me wonder about something. Remember Analise, who supposedly died in a car accident?”
“What’s he talking about?” Valmont asked.
“Alec, the Black Radical Revisionist dragon who died at my grandparents’ estate, had petitioned to marry his girlfriend Analise, but the marriage petition was denied so she took the only other option, which was a Directorate-sanctioned benefactor.”
“How does that work?” Valmont asked.
Anger flared in Bryn’s gut. “If a female is declared unfit to marry, for whatever reason, which the Directorate doesn’t bother to explain, then an older married man will offer to keep her as his mistress after she graduates.”
“And these men’s wives are okay with this?”
“It’s mostly Blues that engage in this behavior, since their marriages are based on money and political alliances.”
“What does this have to do with Alec and Analise?”
“Jaxon and I looked into the whole benefactor situation and discovered all mistresses are required to undergo a procedure which keeps them from having kids.”
“Are you serious?” Valmont stared wide-eyed.
“It gets worse,” Bryn said. “Analise missed her follow-up appointment to make sure the sterilization worked, and not long after, she died in what we assumed was a Directorate-sanctioned car crash.”
Valmont opened his mouth and pointed at Jaxon. No sound came out. He tried again. “I’ll bypass the rant about how the Directorate is insane and go with the obvious reason you’re bringing this up. You think Analise, or another dragon like her, could have faked her own death and given birth to a Blue-Black hybrid dragon.”
Jaxon nodded. “In essence, maybe the Directorate isn’t the only one responsible for car crashes and other mysterious deaths. Maybe women fake their deaths, with or without their benefactor’s knowledge, and then they become a part of a secret community of hybrids.”
“Who would have every reason to despise the Directorate,” Valmont said.
“If someone denied my marriage, tried to sterilize me, and then told me my only choice was to shack up with a guy old enough to be my father, I’d be pretty pissed off at the Directorate, too.” Bryn waited for Jaxon to respond.
Jaxon spoke in a quiet voice. “If the Directorate explained why a couple was not allowed to marry, do you think that might make a difference?”
“It might,” Bryn said. “But it would depend on their reasoning. If the DNA of the two dragons would combine to create a super-evil genius or someone driven insane by lust for gold, that would be understandable. If the Directorate denied marriage based on something ridiculous like one of the people developing a limp…” Sh
e didn’t bother finishing her sentence.
Jaxon stared into his coffee cup. “I now see some of the Directorate’s decisions are not…as logical as I would like them to be.”
Wow. For Jaxon, that was a huge confession.
“Maybe, since you’re slated to be on the Directorate,” Bryn said, “you can help change the system.”
“Maybe, I could.” Jaxon stood. “I think I’ll go tell Rhianna the truth, because not knowing won’t help the situation.”
Bryn let Jaxon out and locked the door behind him. She turned to find Valmont smiling at her. “What?”
“You are like a pebble tossed into a pond. Everything you do and say creates ripples in dragon society.” He raised his cup of coffee to her in a silent toast. “Did you ever think you’d get Jaxon to admit the Directorate is less than perfect?”
“No.” She grabbed the box of muffins and carried them to the coffee table. “If only we could convince whoever is attacking the campus that violence isn’t necessary for change, everyone’s lives would be a lot safer.”
Valmont picked up a muffin and peeled off the wrapper. “Agreed. Any ideas on how to do that?”
“It’s not like we can send an invitation to the hybrids to attend a welcome Back to School Gala like we did with the injured students.”
“No, but you could have an open forum where students could share concerns. You could even do it online and keep it anonymous. That way, if anyone, hybrids included, wanted to ask questions or voice opinions, they could do so without fear of retribution.”
“That’s a great idea.” Bryn went to sip her coffee and discovered the cup was empty. She pouted at Valmont.
He laughed. “Do you want to get dressed and go eat in the dining hall?”
A sudden idea had her smiling. “I have a better plan. We’re going to have breakfast at the swanky cafe downstairs. And I’m going to speak to every person we come across, even if they don’t talk back.”
“Just to be obnoxious?” Valmont asked.
“Partly, and partly to reinforce the idea that I’m not going away. I’m a member of the Blue Clan, whether they like it or not. And with Jaxon’s help, maybe we can convince more students it’s time to change the way things are done around here.”
As Bryn changed clothes, she thought about everything that had happened since they’d come back to school after Christmas break. The Back to School Gala had been a success in more ways than one. A good portion of injured students had returned to school and most of them had been accepted by their Clans. The Blue Clan might still be a little rigid, but the Blue females were now talking to Rhianna, and according to Akbar’s experiment, Clan boundaries were definitely softening. She wasn’t sure what her grandfather would think of that, but she enjoyed his company now. Both of her grandparents seemed like people she could depend on. And oddly enough, she now felt like she could depend on Jaxon in a crisis. They might not have the warm fuzzies for each other, but she’d grown to understand and respect him, even if he tended to act like an ass-hat on a regular basis. Then there was Valmont—her rock in these turbulent times. Even if the magic of the bond made them both a little unstable sometimes, she knew he’d always be there for her, not out of obligation, but because he truly cared.
If the Radical hybrids would stop attacking campus, maybe the peaceful hybrids could come out in the open. The Directorate might come to understand not all hybrids were bad. And the good hybrids could help broker some sort of peace between the Directorate and the Radicals. While she was dreaming, she threw in a new law, which would allow Jaxon to marry Rhianna. Who knew, maybe if they all worked together, dragons could be allowed to marry whomever they wanted….even their knights.
“Bryn, are you ready?” Valmont called from the living room.
“In a minute.” She ran a brush through her hair and smiled at her reflection. “Ready or not, here I come.”
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to say thank you to all the readers who left reviews and star-ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. Without you, there wouldn’t be a third dragon book. I’d like to thank Erin Molta and Stacy Abrams for their editing expertise. I’d like to thank Entangled Publishing for believing in my dragons.
About the Author
Chris Cannon lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and her three dogs: Pete the shih-tzu who sleeps on her desk while she writes, Molly the ever-shedding yellow lab, and Tyson the sandwich-stealing German Shepherd Beagle. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures or romantic comedies. You can find her online at www.chriscannonauthor.com. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.chriscannonauthor.com/connect/
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