Page 71 of Her Silent Knight

“That’s between me and...”

“I’m not in the mood for joking.”

“You’re a newly mated dragon, you should be in the mood.” Rhen winked.

“What did you and Sil decide?”

“You’re going to have to liven up a bit if you want to win Sin over.”

“I’m more concerned with keeping her alive right now.”

“To do that, you have to realize one thing first.”

“What?”

“Those assigned tasks from TD are bullshit.”

“Don’t start this, Rhen.”

“There is no leaving this plane, Kaede. I know that for a fact.”

“Yet, every time I ask you for proof, you say you can’t give it to me.”

“I can’t. I know that sounds suspect. But I’d be endangering someone’s life if I told you how I know.”

“I call bullshit.”

“I’m not bullshitting you. I’m serious. The creatures who complete their tasks don’t leave this place. They go missing.”

Kaede sighed. “Missing?”

“Yeah. Missing and freedom look the same depending on the person looking at it. We no longer see them so we assume they were granted their freedom. They, however, are probably wishing they were here with us, instead of where they are.”

“Which is?”

“That part, I don’t know. It depends on the creature and how useful he can be to The Deciders.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“So, did I. At first.”

“What changed your mind?”

“That, I can’t tell you.”

“Damn it, Rhen.”

“I know. I know. But it doesn’t matter for you anyway. You can’t take any more tasks because you’ll be on their shitless when you don’t turn Sin over. Your opportunity to kidnap your way to freedom has passed. What you need to do now is worry about surviving.”

What Rhen said was true. There was no longer a way for him and his mate to leave this place. All they could do now was survive.

“Why does she go to that house in the Frozen Region?”

Rhen shook his head. “I can’t tell you that. Even she can’t tell you that without getting permission first.”

“I’m her mate...”

“But that secret isn’t hers to tell without permission. Don’t try to force her to divulge that information. Doing so will only push her further away.”