Chapter Thirty-Five

Silas

Caleb's hand landed on my shoulder and spun me around. The dueling grounds whirled in a blur at the unexpected motion.

"What the hell?" I snapped, blinking furiously to recenter myself.

"Look at you," he said, shaking his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? I'm not the one manhandling his brother for no reason when he's trying to prepare himself for a duel that starts in moments!"

"If that's what you were doing, then I'm secretly three pigs inside a human body," he snorted.

"You're strange."

"And you need to get your head in the game," Caleb said pointedly. "Stop daydreaming."

"I am not—"

"Don't lie to me, brother," he growled angrily. "I know you better than that, and I deserve better than that."

I didn't respond. I didn't have to.

"Exactly."

Sighing, I turned back to the dueling ground as I waited for Caine and his entourage to show up. They were bordering on being late. The crowd, however, was ready and raucous and only growing more so with each passing minute. It had been ages since a duel had been fought, and those who weren't part of the upper echelons of dragon society always enjoyed seeing blood spilt by their "betters."

Not that there was any difference between us.

"You need to get her off your mind."

"Trust me, I know," I growled more at myself than Caleb. He was only telling me what I'd been telling myself. "But I can't."

My dragon, nearly silent since she'd been taken away by the guards, shifted in my mind just enough to make its sorrow known.

"Have you been to see her yet?"

"No," I said, shaking my head.

Caleb was silent.

"I just can't believe she would do such a thing," I said. "It didn't seem like her at all, you know? She played us so well. A spy."

"And you're sure she truly did?" Caleb didn't sound like he believed it. He was just playing devil's advocate.

"They have pictures of her at a CIA building. Meeting with the head of the Caribbean. We know that. Our agents in their government have confirmed it. Why else would she be there?"

Caleb frowned at me. "You don't have her reason?"

"She didn't give one."

"Did you try asking her what she was doing there?"

I blinked.

Caleb shook his head slowly from side to side. "You seriously never asked her what she was doing there or listened to her explanation?"

"I …"

"Even if she was lying about it, you should have asked her, brother. If you care as much as you said you did, as much as your moping seems to reveal, you could have opened your mouth and told her to give her version of events."

He was right. I'd never listened to Chloe, never asked what she had to say, and I hadn't even considered it. I'd just leaped to the conclusion she was guilty. Like everyone else.

"What have I done?" I half-whispered, appalled at myself and my willingness to jump to a decision. Even if it was the right decision in the end, I should have listened to her. Asked her. Given her a chance.

"So, I guess you can't explain why she came back then," Caleb said. "Because I've been wondering that."

"Shit."

He cocked his head in disappointment, while behind me the crowd went wild. Caine must have arrived, but I didn't look.

"You didn't ask her that either?"

I shook my head.

"Did you even wonder why she would do something so risky and stupid?" he pushed.

"No." I looked down. "I just … I assumed."

"You let your bias control you," Caleb said.

"Yes. I did." I ground my teeth together, fury mounting.

There was a call from the other side of the dueling grounds. They were ready to start.

"You need to do better if you want to be the ruler of a house," Caleb said.

"You're right." I took a deep breath, my lungs inflating, puffing my chest up. "And I will."

Caleb nodded, but his eyes were fixed past me.

"What is it?" I asked, finally turning.

Caine was there, in tapered black pants and a matching shirt emblazoned with a red slash diagonal across the chest. His hair was, as always, slicked back. He wore thick black utility boots, and his fingers were curling and uncurling into fists with metronomic precision as he glared at me across the open field.

"Anything about that seem odd to you?" Caleb muttered.

"Other than the misplaced confidence?"

"Not that. Look around him. Come on, use your head."

I glanced around Caine, shrugging. "What? It's just empty grass."

Caleb's hand smacked the back of my head. "Chloe later. Duel now. Come on. Look around you."

I glanced around. There was grass nearby me as well. It had been trampled by Caleb and me. Nearby, Shi was with Abby, our youngest sister. Our mom was with several of her friends, close but not near. Father was in the crowd somewhere. I didn't care where. But he was there. Even he wouldn't stay away.

Frowning, I looked back at Caine.

"He's alone," I blurted out as my mind caught on at last.

"Exactly." Caleb shook his head. "I don't like it. Where the hell are Seth and all his lackeys?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out later, though," I assured him. But my curiosity was rampant as well.

A dragon's roar blasted through the air, and the sovereign summoned both duelists forward.

I clasped arms with Caleb, and then marched out into the center of the field. The sovereign went over the ground rules. First scale, not to the death, etc. I didn't listen.

My mind was still focused on Chloe and how I'd wronged her. As soon as I dealt with Caine, I would make it right with her. As best I could, at least. She might still be guilty, but I would let her tell me her version if nothing else.

She deserved it.

Caine and I backed away and shifted into our dragon forms. My crimson scales clashed harshly with the electric blue of Caine's beast. The crowd roared in anticipation as they looked down from the rim of the steep-sided grassy depression where duels were held. It wasn't a formal arena. Rather it was simply a convenient land feature that worked to help contain the duelists.

The sovereign raised an arm.

I brought my mind to the present and fixed it on Caine. Watching his stance. The distribution of his body weight. Any sort of lean that might give away his intentions. The fight took over every thought, every ounce of my concentration.

The arm fell. The duel began.

A shifting of his weight forward signaled Caine would charge. He came across the ground, huge clumps of grass and dirt flying out behind him, dug up by his claws.

I watched him come, legs tense and muscled coiled. Ready. He knew I wouldn't just stand there and take the hit. I would try to dodge. Which meant he would be ready to dart left or right to hit me.

Leaning just a hair to my right, I broadcast my intention. The blue dragon's eyes flared as he saw my planned move. A second later, he angled to his left.

Which was when I flexed my legs and drove straight at him. It was a glancing blow because he was moving away from me, but the added momentum overbalanced Caine, and the cobalt dragon tumbled away. I didn't bother trying to pounce on him. He had too much time to recover.

Instead, I pivoted on my front two legs, claws digging deep into the sod.

Just as Caine got back on all fours and looked up, my tail came whipping around, the tip of it catching him squarely in the snout.

CRACK!

The crowd gasped. For a moment, everything was still.

Then, very slowly, Caine tilted over. He crashed to the ground, eyes going blank.

I was on him in a flash, my claws ripping a scale from his upper neck.

The crowd roared.

I shifted, reaching down with my right hand to pick the scale up.

"It's over," I said as Caine came to, shaking his head. I held up the scale for him to see.

He glared and looked ready to attack, but a whistle from where the sovereign stood stopped him. Furiously, he shifted back as well. A giant welt was already forming on his jaw. I grinned, walking over to him and tossing the scale at his feet.

"It's done," I said. "Over. No more of your bullshit between our houses."

Caine stared at the scale, then threw his head back and laughed.

"What's so funny?" I snarled. "You just lost in front of everyone."

"It's far from over," Caine said. "I'm going to destroy your entire house. All of you."

I rolled my eyes. "You just lost, Caine. Give it up. You have nothing left."

A wicked grin spread across his face. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess you haven't been to see your precious little human recently, have you?"

I stiffened, suddenly all too aware of where Seth and the rest of Caine's family must be.

I spun, eyes searching for Caleb. I would need his help. He saw my face and instantly started barking orders, even if he didn't know what was going on. Opening my mouth, I tried to tell him we were heading to the palace.

Before I could, something dug deep into my back.

"Never turn your back on me," Caine snarled as he stabbed me with the very scale I'd ripped from his body. "I am your end."

Fury over his actions mixed with fear for Chloe's well-being, and I lost control.

Reaching behind me, I pulled the scale free from my back, grimacing against the pain as blood flowed down my spine. I would heal, but flying would be agonizing until it did.

"I'm so done with you," I said to Caine in a tired voice.

Then I spun, whipping the scale across his throat and opening his neck to the spine. Blood erupted in a welter of gore. Caine fell to the ground, eyes wide with shock as he feebly grasped at the mortal wound.

The crowd lost their minds.

Crouching low, I gritted my teeth against the pain as my wings burst from my back. I would pay any price to get to Chloe in time. Pain was the least of my worries.

Without a look back, I shot into the skies with once focus and one focus only.

Her.