31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Ruya

I followed Robin to her room. This whole situation with Josh was a mess. At least Richard was still here, however reluctantly, to help guide us through how to care for our newly turned friend. My heart broke for the quiet, kind man who had been forced into a new life—one tethered to the evil he had only just escaped. But I also knew Robin was furiously weighing the pros and cons of this new development with Acacia. As much as my heart went out to Josh, and by extension Sadavir… I knew that there were bigger things at play here, in the grand scheme of things.

And I also knew that something was wrong with my dragon alpha.

I tapped on the door and a soft growl greeted me. Shaking my head, I pushed the door open, stepped inside, and closed the door behind me.

"You're in pain," I said without preamble. There was no sense waiting for her to come to me for help, because she wouldn't. She would rather suffer in stoic alpha misery than admit she needed help.

Robin came closer, her powerful red aura washing over me, though it was still a bit unsteady and depleted compared to normal—from giving Sadavir sanctuary, probably. Though I still didn't fully understand all the implications of that action.

"It's nothing, love," she insisted. "Shouldn't you be tending to your new vampire. And your irritating snake?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Stop it." Reaching out, I snagged her hand, letting my healing power flow through the skin-on-skin contact. Not only a bit of magical depletion, but a headache. Again. And a bad one this time. "What's going on, Robin?"

She sighed. "I'm trying to bring a decades-long revenge plan to fruition and protect my court, Acacia knows what I'm up to, and now I have a very dangerous alliance with the enemy to navigate. It's called stress, darling. It will pass."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but didn't push the issue. She'd be stubborn for a while longer. But would wear her down eventually. "Thank you," I said instead. "For not murdering Josh immediately."

She dropped my hand with a dry laugh and moved away. "I'm still not sure if that was a good decision or a terrible one, at this point," she said, her husky voice flippant.

I followed her. "You're not as evil as you want to believe," I said confidently. Making my way to the chase lounge, I sat and folded my hands in my lap. "I'm not judging you on this one. When you finally get around to killing Acacia, you will be doing the world a favor. I know what she and her previous ruler did to Martina. And what she did to Josh. I know how she manipulated and enslaved her entire menagerie. What she did to Sadavir all those years. I understand the necessity."

"I must be rubbing off on you," she said, as if she didn't care.

I knew she did. I was going to chip away at that wall around her heart until it crumbled completely one day. And we both knew it.

"Why not just kill Acacia now, and wipe that complication off your list of stressors?" I asked, as if murder was just commonplace to me now.

Robin came to sit next to me, combing her long, warm fingers through my hair. "Everything Martina said is true. Acacia likely has information that we don't. It could help us find the emperor and not botch it this time." I heard the self-loathing in her tone. She was angry she had failed. "But there's also the question of who would take her place if the syndicate's current vampire leader was no more. Whoever it was, they would be an unknown. Whereas I have dealt with Acacia enough to have a reasonable idea about how she operates, what motivates her."

I hummed in pleasure as her fingertips slid along the shell of my ear. "I see." Taking her hand in mine, I stopped her petting. "Stop trying to distract me."

She sighed heavily, as if she was disappointed in the world. "Fine. Deliver your lecture. What is it I need to be chastised about now? How I failed everyone in my impulsive, rushed, botched attempt to assassinate the emperor the first time? How I foolishly exposed us to Acacia's blackmail? How I failed to protect the most fragile person under my care? Perhaps how heartless I am for agreeing to this alliance with Acacia and disregarding poor little Josh's feelings on the matter? Do tell me how I've disappointed you, omega."

I shook my head. "Don't be bitchy with me because you're mad at yourself."

The scent of incense smoke and cinnamon twined through my senses as Robin took a few calming breaths. "You're right. I'm sorry," she said stiffly. "None of this is your fault."

I reached for her, fumbling a bit before finding and cupping her cheek. "I'm here for you, Robin," I told her firmly. "Even when you think I shouldn't be. Even if you make me angry or I don't agree with your decisions. I'll always be here."

Her warm hand covered mine and I felt the tension leave her body as she relaxed into my touch, slipping an arm around my waist. "You're ruining me," she murmured, escaping my grasp to nuzzle into my hair. "I can't afford to be this soft thing you want me to be."

"Yes, alpha," I said calmly.

"I will kill people. I already have. And it will only get worse—the decisions I have to make." She huffed. "I'm not sorry I took so long to go get Josh."

I patted her shoulder. "I know you'll do what you think you have to do to succeed," I said evenly. "But I don't believe you about Josh."

She pulled away, and I felt her flop back against the one low arm of the chaise as she sighed. "You're right. I feel bad. After my stupidity with the failed assassination attempt, I was trying to act more cautiously. To make sure I had all of the information." She huffed. "I didn't anticipate that she would turn him. But I should have. It seems so obvious now. It was a good plan, I'll give her that. Now she has revenge against Josh and Sadavir for escaping, blackmail over us, and a bunch of powerful idiots to do her bidding and help her become empress."

I smiled softly in amusement at her outpouring. "She thinks," I reminded her, echoing Sanka's earlier statement.

Robin pulled me down to rest against her chest as she stroked my hair. "She thinks," she agreed tiredly. "I'll figure it out. But I am sorry about your friend."

Ah. She wasn't just mad about failing Josh. That was definitely part of the issue for the big, bad alpha dragon. But this was probably the bigger issue. She felt that she had failed me . Failed her omega. A grave sin for an alpha, from what I understood.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I told her firmly. Though I wished we had done more, acted sooner, I understood why it wasn't a good idea. And even big, bad alpha dragons were allowed to make mistakes now and then. "You're not an all-seeing goddess," I reminded my arrogant love. "You did the best you could at the time."

She growled. "Careful, omega. You could get yourself into a lot of trouble by denying my greatness. Not a goddess." She scoffed. "That's downright offensive, I'll have you know."

I smiled against her shirt, glad to see her flippant humor returning. I hated seeing her shaken. Robin was confidence incarnate, and she made me feel strong by association. But at the same time, she had let me peek inside at her regrets, and that was no small thing.

"I love you," I said, tilting my head back to kiss the underside of her jaw. "I always will."

Her arms snaked around my waist and held me close, but her voice sent goosebumps over my skin for reasons other than lust. "Don't make promises you can't keep, dearest Ruya," she murmured. "You still think you can change me, soften my edges, steer me away from my plans. You may change your mind when you see how cruel I can really be, when I must."

I almost told her then, about the fae elder's request. His premonition. She was right. I would still try to keep her from killing everyone associated with the syndicate. But would she still love me , when I took her glory and her revenge from her, and plunged the knife into the emperor's heart myself?

I couldn't bring myself to open my mouth. To tell her the secret that I carried. I could sense that her pain was returning, her headache was already coming back. And I thought we had bigger problems than her bloodlust or my fae bargain. I could sense it when I tuned into her. And it had gotten much worse over the last few days.

Robin's aura was unstable. It was breaking down. And if we didn't get her birthright back, I had no idea what we could do to stop it.