Chapter Thirty-seven

ARCHER

We were halfway through breakfast when the doorbell clanged.

"Mark back for another go at the maze?" Ollie suggested. Mark had taken it personally that he hadn't been able to puzzle his way through to the centre, and I'd extended an open invitation to him and Rufus to come back. It seemed the least I could do after their help.

Ollie trailed me through to the hall, curiosity on his face. When I opened the door, I froze. "What the fuck ?"

Every muscle coiled, ready to rend and kill as my dragon bellowed furiously.

"I assert my right to counsel with the head of my family." June was standing very tall, shoulders back, but fear was in her face. Not surprisingly. If she'd said anything else, I wouldn't be answerable for the consequences, but I couldn't ignore this formal request.

It didn't mean I had to like it. " Fuck," I snarled, and she flinched. Probably because of the smoke rising from my nostrils.

I reined in my dragon, with difficulty. "Do you object to Ollie Shaw bearing witness?"

June looked past me at Ollie, taking her time to survey him. She nodded, finally. "I accept Ollie Shaw as witness to our meeting."

A petty part of me wanted to bar her from the house, to have this meeting in the gardens, but that wasn't how the head of a family should act. What I should have done was instantly expel them both so I wouldn't have to put up with this.

"Dining room," I said, standing back to let her in, and she followed Ollie into the big, gloomy room.

I sat on the opposite side of the table from her, and after hovering for a moment, Ollie pulled out a chair at the foot of the table. Neither on one side nor the other.

"Well?" I barked. It was all I could do to remain civil.

She spread her hands in supplication. "I've come to apologise on Chris's behalf. And my own," she added quickly. "I'd like to explain, if you'll allow me."

"You have an explanation that will justify him attacking Ollie?"

Her face paled and she stared at Ollie. "I didn't know. Were you hurt?"

"He was. So make it quick."

"It was Chris's treasure. He'd lost some of it, and it made him—it unbalanced him."

"Oh," Ollie said, very softly.

"Yet he's balanced enough now to send you to plead for him?"

She shook her head. "Will you let me start at the beginning?"

"You have five minutes."

She took off her fancy gold watch and placed it on the table before her, allowing her to monitor the time easily. Drawing a breath, she looked me in the eyes. "Chris lost his job four months ago. For some stupid reason, he couldn't tell me, so he kept pretending he was going to work every day and let me blather on about booking our next holiday." Her tongue flicked out, nervously moistening her lips. "You don't need to tell me what that says about me, not noticing. But the thing is, he felt he couldn't tell me, and he still had to pay the bills, and so…" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "He sold part of his treasure."

The words fell into silence where they seemed to echo forever. No dragon could voluntarily relinquish even part of their treasure. Not if they wanted to stay sane.

"He sold his treasure rather than tell you he'd lost his job?" She must think I was born yesterday.

She nodded, close to tears. "He—he thought that I'd leave him if he couldn't give me the big house and the holidays and the clothes. Stupid idiot. I knew something was badly wrong with him the minute he did it, but he wouldn't tell me what. He spoke to the Berstow dragon, hoping to learn he was the real head of the family so he'd be able to collect tithes from everyone to pay the bills and buy back his treasure. Of course, that didn't happen, but when she told him about the rumours that the bible had valuable secrets, he thought if he could get hold of it, he could sell them."

"Again, I come back to the question why his reason has suddenly been restored to him." She sounded sincere, but I'd been burned by her before and there were holes in her story.

"Because when we came back from the hospital, I made him tell me everything. Not that he remembers much about that night, other than the rage that consumed him when he thought you were standing between him and getting his treasure back." She glanced at Ollie again. "He certainly doesn't remember—" She paused and corrected herself. "He didn't tell me that he'd attacked Ollie. Once I knew about his treasure, I sold my car and some handbags and got his gold coins back from the dealer he'd sold them to, at twice the price he received. He's almost himself again now, but he's so ashamed."

"You know, if this is supposed to be an apology, I haven't yet heard the word sorry. And I question why it's you here rather than him."

She spoke directly to Ollie. "I took advantage of you to get into the library and search for the bible, as he asked. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, but he was desperate and it seemed so harmless. I didn't understand what I was doing."

Ollie's indecision was written all over his face, his generous spirit urging him to forgive her but warring with the knowledge of what her husband had done.

"You understood that you were barred from here, yet you came anyway, timing your visit for when everyone knew I was elsewhere," I pointed out. "You knew exactly what you were doing."

"True." She moistened her lips again. "I did know what I was doing was wrong. I'm sorry, Ollie, Archer."

I sat back in my chair, considering her. "Why are you rather than your husband in front of me now?"

"He thought you wouldn't see him, even if he asked for counsel. And he's in too much pain."

"What's wrong with him?" I didn't think I'd inflicted much damage, though I remembered how awkwardly he'd run to his car.

"He turned up at home in the middle of the night, stark naked, with his leg clawed open and burned all down his side."

Ollie made a sound, and when I looked over, he was quivering. "He was burned?" he asked. His horrified eyes found mine, and he must have read in them what had happened. Because it had irritated me intensely that I hadn't managed to flame Chris.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck." Ollie was shaking, his head buried in his hands.

I shoved my chair back and went to him, gripping his good shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay, Ollie."

He looked up at me in shock. "How can it be okay? I flamed him so badly he had to go to hospital."

"To stop him from killing either of us. And maybe Mia if she'd moved the wrong way."

June gasped, but I couldn't deal with her. Ollie was my priority.

I crouched beside him and looked into his face. "You didn't mean to hurt him." I was certain of that. "If you hadn't intervened, things would have been so much worse."

"You're sure?" He was breathing raggedly.

"On my treasure," I promised him. "You did the right thing for all of us. Had our fight continued, either Chris or I would now be dead."

"Ollie." June's voice.

The only reason I didn't snarl at her for interrupting was because that would upset Ollie further.

"I love Chris more than he'll ever understand, and I hate to see him hurt, but he wasn't in his right mind. It sounds as if you averted an even worse outcome, and I'm sorry it's come at such cost to you."

I put my hand on Ollie's back, careful to avoid the burn. "You okay?" I asked him, before remembering an earlier conversation and the expectations that were built into my question. "Do we need to talk more now, privately? Because we can do that. I'll come back to June later."

He attempted a smile at me. "I'm all right," he said, and sat up straight.

I took my seat opposite June again. She put her watch on and looked steadily at me. "Archer, I owe you an apology on another matter, and I don't know what I can say that would convey how very sorry I am. I'm not sure where my head was back then, but I should never have done or said what I did. I am sorry, you know. I have been for a long time. I've just never had the guts to tell you."

The mere mention of what had happened caused my insides to clench. Smoke wisped from my nostrils, but June didn't flinch. She sat quietly, her eyes on my face, apparently sincere, as I tried to soothe my dragon.

"Thank you," I managed, though my voice was shredded. I believed she meant it, but it didn't change what had happened.

I now had to decide what to do about her and Chris.

Part of my challenge when learning how to be the head of my family was that I'd had no role model. I had no idea what my father would have done in any given situation, which was perhaps as well, as I'd always be tempted to do the opposite.

I looked at June's pale face, at Ollie's pleading expression, then I fixed my eyes on the table while I thought. A strong head of family would kick Chris and June out without hesitation after what they'd done. They could go and live with June's family, so they wouldn't be cast out entirely from dragonkind. Although, the Smythes didn't have the best reputation. There was no guarantee they'd take in June and Chris unless there was some advantage to them in doing so. The two of them might end up living in exile from all other dragons. Which was what they'd deserve, I thought, remembering Ollie's terrified eyes as Chris had held him by his throat and threatened to kill him.

A good head of family would be strong, decisive and wouldn't hesitate. But Ollie had helped me realise there were different types of strength. His empathy, even now, was willing me not to expel June and Chris. I could feel it.

Somehow, June's response to Ollie's earlier distress, the way she'd reassured him, had altered the way I saw her, as had learning about Chris's treasure. Chris had been unbelievably stupid, but what had happened afterwards had been out of his control. Punishing someone for a lapse in judgement didn't sit right with me. How could it, when I thought of all my mistakes?

None of that removed what they'd done so many years ago. My dragon stirred once more, uneasy and unhappy at the memory. June's apology was sincere, but it didn't make things right.

And then I remembered Ollie's unhesitating generosity when he forgave me for my accusation. How could I do less than Ollie?

I looked at June, whose eyes were scared as she stared back at me. She knew what was on the line, what I was considering.

"Chris will need to apologise to Ollie for threatening him and hurting him, as well as to me," I told her. "If I believe his apology to be sincere, and if I believe you've both given up on your idea of setting up a rival branch of the family, then I'll leave this matter— both matters—in the past."

Her chin wobbled, and her eyes filled with tears. "Thank you," she whispered. She took a few deep, steadying breaths and blinked back her tears. "I can assure you, Archer, neither of us has any idea of trying to replace you any longer. Not only does it seem to have been an illegitimate claim, no one else in the family would stand for it now. You've earned their loyalty, and more than that—their love."

I didn't know where to look. I thought she was trying to soften me up with such a ridiculous statement. When I glanced at Ollie, he was beaming at me, his face full of pride, though I wasn't sure why.

"Yes, well," I said gruffly to June. "I expect to see Chris as soon as he's well enough. No excuses."

"Thank you, Archer," she said, her voice steady but her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.

A heavy silence settled over the room. June glanced at Ollie, then at me, as if seeking my permission to leave. When I made no move, she sat still, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, waiting for my signal.