Page 74 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

“By the way in which he conducted himself when faced with a woman from his past. Relationships are a mirror, Lady Brennan. Ruin’s conduct towards you is… revealing.”

‘Are you hearing this?’ I sent Donavyn as I swallowed and raised my chin.

‘Yes.’ His voice was dark with foreboding.

“Do I want to hear what he’s told you?” I asked finally, to break the silence, then raised a hand towards him. “No, don’t answer that. I know the answer. I do not.”

“And yet again, you show greater restraint and maturity than your former lover.”

“Flattery will not help your cause, Lord Hanson—”

“Just Hanson, I told you.”

“—I cannot decide if you’re misinformed, naïve yourself, or you know something I don’t.”

His brows drew down. “Explain, please.”

I took the plunge. “Your dragons listen to Ruin…?”

“Not to Ruin himself, but to his dragon, yes,” Hanson admitted.

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure if I was pleased to hear confirmation that Ruin had told the truth. “If they hear Carnage, then you need him. A dragon’s submission to a leader isn’t fickle. And no matter what you’ve told yourself, I will not work with Ruin Galdec in any capacity, ever.”

“You would not need to.”

“Are you not listening? The dragons submit to a leader, a dominant dragon. If they believe Carnage leads them—”

“These dragons listen to the word they are given, they are not submitted or otherwise. These are not your Vosgaarde herd. Trust me.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why should I trust you? You work with a man who I know to be a rotting pustule, and his dragon leads—or at least, instructs—your dragons. If I abandon the man who’s brought me this far, and without force, to walk into that with you, I am discarding safety for… things to which I vowed I’d never return.”

Hanson stepped closer, his gaze avid. “Come with me, and I will discard Ruin and Carnage. Say the word.”

I put a hand to my chest. “You can’t expect me to believe you would just—”

“Give me the blade to cut ties with him. I beg you.”

“You need him—he’s the one who can reach your obedient dragons—”

“Not if you bring the boy.”

I was shocked, and trying to look shrewd. Was this his angle all along?

‘Did he know about Benji when you took him?’ Donavyn asked in my head.

‘No. I had to suggest that… I thought?’

Didn’t I? I knew I hadn’t offered Benji until after I met the dragons. But we hadn’t known Ruin was there. And we had met with Rayv. Had Hanson heard about Benji somehow before that night?

Hanson, thinking my silence meant I was considering his offer, leaned in again. “I am offering you true freedom, Brennan. Can’t you see that? I know the men in your life have always used their own power to keep you shackled. I will not do that. Come with me—choose your dragon, teach me what you know. We will build this herd together, build a life. And when it is done and our strength is applied… you will have your choice to stay or go.”

I stared at him. Just as I opened my mouth, the shadows at the end of the hedge shifted and I realized Donavyn was there, though I couldn’t look at him.

‘It’s time to leave him wanting. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Keep him uncertain.’