Page 113 of Tears of Gold

“That’s a relief,” he says quietly, the words thawing some of the shock numbing my system. His usual dignified-gentleman look is ruined; his sun-streaked brown hair windblown and his casual wrap tunic and pants stained with blood. Although he towers over me by two feet, his presence is reassuring—which is quite the change from when I’d lost my memories and thought he was terrifying. Vanrey is someone I can trust to watch my prince. No, more than that, because he came for us in the capital too.

Vanrey gently releases my hand and turns to the guys. “Thank you for protecting His Highness. I’m glad he has trustworthy people at his side.” With a nod he turns on his heel and disappears back into the glimmering vortex.

Harper scuffs his boot into a tussock of grass, looking a bit odd as he stares into the portal. “Not sure we did enough.” Skye grunts in response, but I shake my head. It’s true Erritt’s reinjured himself, but there were far worse outcomes that might have happened.

“We’re all alive. That’s enough.”

Skye and Harper reach for the bags, but when Skye tries to take mine, I pull it out of his hands.

“I'll carry my own.”

He doesn't argue, but I'm guessing that's only because he’s preoccupied and worn out.

I slip my hand into his. “Erritt’ll be okay,” I murmur. “We'll smother him with love as soon as he gets back.”

“Yeah. But I'm also worried about the politics of this.”

“You think the palace will want our statements?” Harper asks.

“I fucking hope not,” Skye grumbles, looking suddenly ill.

I glance at him. His brow furrows, and I have to walk faster to keep up with him. I tighten my grip on the straps of my carry bag, my pulse still running high from the attack. Hiding under the bed while the three of them fought rebels who wanted to take me was a shitty feeling, especially since Erritt reinjured himself.

Harper keeps pace beside us, hands in his pockets. “You know that brown dragon?”

Skye scoffs. “Knew. Past tense by now. And yeah, he's kind of my uncle.”

Harper stops on the path, turning to Skye. “Fuck! Sorry, man.”

“This shit is getting out of hand.”

I lick my lips, finding them dry to the point of cracking. Everything was perfect, but now it’s blowing up again, ruining the bit of peace we found together. And now Skye has been forced to turn his back on his own family. “He called you a prince.”

Skye growls fiercely. “He’s mistaken. Dragons aren’t into shit like titles. Someone’s been saying dumb stuff to him.” He lifts his nose to the air, sucking in deep lungfuls of the humid air.

I sneak a glance at him, but the angry twist of his lips tells me he doesn’t want to go into details. A sigh wells up in me. “It’s dangerous talk, isn’t it? And if you have a family member who has joined the Davinas, you’ll be suspect too.”

He runs a hand through his short hair. “If the emperor hears of it, I’ll be dead before we reach the tree line.” He waves a finger downhill towards the distant woods. Behind the trees, dark blue clouds with black underbellies mass far out on the horizon, promising a storm later today.

Harper and I exchange worried looks. Thankfully, Vanrey wasn't there when the other dragon called out, but what if the Royal Guards make any survivors talk?

I glance at both my boys. Blood spatters across Harper clothes, and he keeps pressing one hand against his shirtfront to check for his knives, and Skye has scratches all over him. They've both killed people today to keep me safe—people whose torn, leaking bodies we had to step over as we left via the cabin’s back door. A shudder runs through me and nausea cramps my stomach.

“You alright?” Harper asks.

“I’m better than those bodies back there.” I mentally kick myself as the words leave my mouth and Harper winces. I wasn’t trying to make it worse, just the seriousness of what the Davinas are doing sinks home. Their sole purpose was to find me and take me back to the Davinas, to be bait for their nine-tailed fox and they’re prepared to sacrifice a lot of lives to make it happen.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to remind you. I just hate that it happened at all.”

“Us too,” Skye grumbles. “I’d be quite happy to never have to kill again.”

Harper looks at Skye. Perhaps he’s thinking the chances of that will be low, because it’s what I’m thinking. All of us are caught up in this madness now, and something about Skye siding with us feels like a tipping point, although I’m not sure why.

My heart throbs dully, and my belly aches. This wasn’t supposed to be how our special week ended. “How did they find us? No one but Vanrey knew where we were.”

Skye kicks at an overgrown tuft of grass. “I’m afraid I’m the leak this time. There are a few dragons who know about my cabin, but I never dreamed they would come looking for us or that they would know you were with me.” He throws me a wobbly smile. “At least you’re safe. I couldn’t live with myself if I lost you again.”

I rest my hand on Skye’s arm and find him quivering. “How do we stop this?”