by Chris Cannon
“If someone had told me about the freaking plan, I could’ve been more help.” Tears filled Bryn’s eyes. “I’m so mad at Jaxon. He should’ve told me so I would’ve known what was going to happen.” If she’d known she was on a timetable with a bomb going to blow, she would have killed Janelle faster. And that was a disturbing thought. She’d used her medical skills to kill someone. She hadn’t admitted that to anyone yet. And maybe she never would. Who would want to be treated by a Medic who’d taken someone’s life?
“I guess no one counted on Janelle being there. They thought Adden would walk out of the library trading Jaxon for his escape before the rings detonated. And if he tried to take any of the rings off he’d be poisoned.”
Medic Williams came toward Bryn, chugging a container of chocolate milk. “When you’re ready, we need to talk about what happened with Janelle.”
“Not now.” Bryn was barely holding it together.
“I understand, but this conversation isn’t over,” Medic Williams said. “You can see Jaxon now. Fair warning we still have a lot of work to do.”
Bryn swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Thank you.” She walked down the hall to the private room and put her hand on the doorknob. How bad would this be? She pushed the door open and walked in. Jaxon lay on the bed. They’d healed the blisters, but his exposed skin was still red. They hadn’t bothered to regrow his hair. His eyes…his eyes were open. They were back to their normal bright blue and they were looking at her.
“What in the hell were you thinking?” she shouted at him.
He smiled and then grimaced. “That’s my line.”
“That’s not funny. We’re supposed to be partners.” Flames ignited in her gut. Smoke drifted from her lips. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That’s not how this works.” She growled and sparks shot from her mouth.
“It’s my job to protect you,” he insisted.
“No. Wrong. It’s our job to protect each other. And I can’t do that if you’re running around making half-assed plans without me.”
“So you’d rather I make full-assed plans with you?”
“Not funny.” She took a deep breath and focused on cold. She walked over to the bed and reached for his hand but stopped when she saw how red it was.
“I probably look like you did after the explosion at your grandparents’ estate.”
She gently laid her hand on his shoulder which was medium pink rather than bright red. “Please. They just had to regrow my eyebrows. You’re practically bald.”
“Yes, but I’m a Westgate, so I’m sure I look fabulous.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”
“Listen. I really am sorry I didn’t tell you. I was hoping to keep you out of the battle. Then Clint and Ivy showed up. Once Adden had them I knew you wouldn’t be far behind. If it makes you feel any better, this wasn’t my idea. My father and your grandfather approached me and told me about the poisonous rings they’d planted, knowing Adden would try and take them. It was my job to lead him to the library. They thought the poison or the explosive in the rings would do the rest.”
“Once you’re fully recovered, I’m kicking your ass,” Bryn said. “When I saw you on that stretcher I thought you were dead. I grieved you. I destroyed an entire aisle of books with ice because I was trying not to burn the damn building down.”
“Hey, I’ve seen you look pretty bad, too,” Jaxon said.
“Yes, but you didn’t love me back then so it doesn’t count.” And holy shit, had she just told Jaxon she loved him?
He stared at her bug eyed. “Did you just—”
“Nope. Rewind. That never happened.”
“Yes, it did,” he said.
Okay. He was right. It did. And now was the time he needed to chime in and say that he cared about her, too, but he was just staring at her. Great. This is freaking fabulous. She stood and stalked out the door.
“Bryn, get back here.”
“Nope.” She’d had enough drama for one day.
“I’ll call your grandmother,” Jaxon shouted.
“Seriously?” Bryn turned around and stormed back into the room. “You’ll call my grandmother and tell her what?”
“I’d tell her you’re stubborn and you have a terrible temper, and it’s almost like we were made for each other. Which is probably why I love you, too.”
“Really?”
“I’m not saying it again.” Jaxon gestured. “Get over here.”
She walked over and stared down at him. “You’re a mess,” she said.
“Right back at you. Mentally, rather than physically, of course.”
She arched her eyebrows. “Another trait we share in common.”
“Probably.” He grinned. “Stay with me for awhile?”
“Sure.” She sat in the chair next to him. “I’m going to tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a cute princess and a handsome prince. When they first met, the prince hated the princess because his father was still mad at the princess’s mother. Once they became acquainted, they went on many adventures together and became friends. Then the prince did something really stupid and scared the crap out of the princess, forcing her to see that she loved him, but that was okay because he loved her, too, and he swore never to do anything stupid ever again. The end.”
“Never again? That might be a hard deal to keep.”
“But you’ll try, right?”
“I’ll try,” he said. “And now I’m going to tell you a story. Once upon a time, a prince thought he understood how the world worked. He believed everything his father told him. Then this strange princess with multicolored hair barged into his life and threw everything off course. She showed him there was more to life than shiny objects and fast cars. Not that those things aren’t awesome—because they are—but she showed him that sometimes, all you need is someone who will sit with you, read books, and share their cookies and milk. Although she wasn’t very good at sharing cookies, but that’s a story for another time. The End.”
Epilogue
The sounds of the orchestral version of “The Wedding March” drifted down the hall. Bryn clutched her flowers. Was she ready for this? No. Not really. But it was time, and she couldn’t disappoint everyone who’d come to Sinclair Estate today.
Bryn prayed she wouldn’t somehow trip on the silk runner as she entered the ballroom. Her grandmother would never forgive her if that happened. Why was she so nervous about this? It wasn’t a big deal. She and Jaxon had practiced the evening before. Speaking of Jaxon, he stood waiting for her at the end of the aisle, looking amazing in his black tuxedo.
Taking slow, measured steps, she made her way toward him and then stood to his right, clutching her flowers and smiling like an idiot. There was no reason to be nervous.
The orchestra played the first notes of “Here Comes the Bride” and Miss Enid appeared in the doorway. Her dark skin looked lovely against her cream-colored wedding gown. Mr. Stanton looked rather handsome, if a bit pale in his black tuxedo next to Jaxon.
Bryn had been thrilled when the Directorate had declared that Mr. Stanton and Miss Enid could finally marry. The two had been faithful to each other for all these years, carrying on their relationship in secret. Now they could finally be together out in the open. Once news of this spread, maybe other couples would step forward and have the legal recognition of their relationship they’d always wanted.
Once the ceremony was over, and they’d congratulated the happy couple, Jaxon grabbed Bryn’s hand and pulled her out onto one of the terraces. “What you did here today, helping them marry after all this time was a good thing.”
“Thank you.”
“I guess we can add that to the list of things you’ve changed since you barged into my life.”
“Barged?” Bryn said. “You used that word once before, and I don’t think it’s a nice description.”
“Well you didn’t glide in lik
e a graceful swan,” Jaxon told her.
She couldn’t argue that point so she changed the subject. “I’m just happy Miss Enid, or rather, Mrs. Stanton, made a full recovery.” The door down into the vaults had kept the librarian from feeling the effects of the blast but it had taken her a few days to recover from Janelle sucking out three quarters of her Quintessence. “Do they have any more leads on the crazy cult?”
“They found Janelle’s journal in her room,” Jaxon said. “Being part Green meant she made detailed notes about the dragon-pires, including the higher-up Silvers who restarted the movement and the feeders who fed on multiple students to make everyone mysteriously ill. She and Adden took out the higher-ups and sucked the feeders dry because they wanted all the power for themselves…”
“So they made everyone sick to shut down the campus so she and Adden could search for artifacts?”
Jaxon nodded. “I’ll miss my cuff links, but it might be for the best that they were destroyed. Janelle believed the artifacts could be combined to create some sort of super-weapon. No more cuff links equals no more super-weapon.”
“She was insane,” Bryn said. “And I had no clue.”
“She was brilliant and insane, so she outsmarted everyone.”
“Power hungry unstable super-geniuses are a scary discovery.”
“Speaking of scary discoveries,” Jaxon said. “We graduate from high school in less than a month and I have it on good authority that your grandmother has already scheduled half a dozen events for us to attend over the summer.”
She didn’t find that news as disturbing as he did. “As long as there’s food, I don’t think I’ll mind.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
She moved closer and reached up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Maybe because I finally agree that we’re a good match.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Leaning forward so their lips almost touched he stared deep into her eyes. Her heart rate sped up. Why wasn’t he kissing her?
“I have a question for you.”
“Now?”
“Yes.” He brushed his lips across hers in a feather soft kiss and then leaned away, keeping his arms around her waist. “We ended up in this relationship by default. To avoid any confusion, I thought maybe we should rewind the situation.”
Where was he going with this? She wasn’t sure. He wasn’t pushing her away, but he was making her nervous. Flames flickered in her gut. “Go on.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date. Not because we signed a contract, and not because your grandmother and my mother pushed us together, but because I like you for who you are…a temperamental hybrid with strange hair.”
She laughed. “You were doing so good up until that last part.”
“You didn’t answer the question.” He seemed a bit nervous.
Should she torture him? It was tempting, but this seemed like another pivotal moment. He’d taken a chance by asking her out so she went with her gut. “Even though you have a temper to match my own and annoyingly perfect hair, yes, I’d like to go on a date with you.”
“Good.” He kissed her and something about it felt different. Like the last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Maybe because now they’d chosen to be together rather than being together because of a contract. There were sure to be many challenges in the future, but they would face them together as true partners.
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank Erin Molta for editing my dragons into shape. Thank you to Entangled Publishing for believing in my dragons. Thank you to all the readers who left reviews and made the continuation of this series possible.
About the Author
Chris Cannon is the award-winning author of the Going Down In Flames series and the Boyfriend Chronicles. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and several furry beasts.
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.
Discover the Going Down in Flames series…
Going Down in Flames
Bridges Burned
Trial by Fire
Fanning the Flames
Also by Chris Cannon
Blackmail Boyfriend
The Boyfriend Bet
Boomerang Boyfriend
The Dating Debate
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