Chapter Thirty-Six

Silas

"WHERE IS SHE?"

The words were out of my mouth before I even landed on the palace roof, my dragon's roar booming across the flat stone surface.

"Stay back!" one of the guards shouted as I touched down.

"WHERE IS SHE?"

More guards poured up from the starts. I paused, staring at the beehive of activity my arrival had stirred up. For so many to arrive so fast, they had to have been waiting.

"Stay back!" the guard shouted again as I walked forward.

I held my hands out at my side, letting my body language relax. Something was amiss, and I needed answers. I wouldn't get them through intimidation.

Behind me, Caleb and Shi came in with swift landings.

"What happened here?" I asked the guard. "I'm not going to attack. But tell me what went down? Why are you on such alert?"

The guard looked me up and down, realizing who I was. "We were attacked," he said unhappily.

"Seth." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know. They hit us too fast. We weren't ready, my men on the roof were taken down without warning."

Caleb hurried over to my side. "What's going on?"

"Seth hit the palace. And the dungeons, too, I would bet."

The guard stiffened. "How did you—"

"They were after the human. Chloe," I said, furious. "They got her, I assume?"

"Yes," the guard said unhappily, looking up and over my shoulder.

I turned to see the sovereign land, escorted by my father, her son Vicek, and several others.

"I have to go," the guard said, hurrying over to make a report.

We followed in his wake. I heard the report. Six dragons.

"Do we know where they took her?" the sovereign was asking as I approached. "Where did they go?"

"You stay out of this!" my father barked as he saw me walk over. "You've done enough damage for today. What the fuck do you think you were doing back there? Do you have any idea what you did?"

I ignored him. "They took her to their house. I'm certain of it. Caine told me he planned to destroy our house. She's part of his plan. They won't risk going somewhere they feel more vulnerable."

"What did I say?" my father shouted. "You are done."

Closing my eyes, I counted to ten while he continued on his tirade, hoping he would stop.

He didn't.

My eyes snapped open, and in a sudden burst, I was in his face.

"They have her," I said coldly. "They have her, and I am going to get her. You can either be a good father for once in your fucking life and support your son, your flesh and blood, and help me get her back. Or you can fuck the hell off and never talk to me again. Ever. Everyone will know how terrible a piece-of-shit person you are as a father, and I will do everything my power to wrest the family control away from you, so you can stop ruining it."

He opened his mouth to yell. I slapped him. In front of everyone.

"This is your last chance." I relented a bit as he stared daggers at me, his cheek red. "Please. I am your son. I am hurting. Be a good parent. Please. I need my dad. Not the head of house, not the leading Council member. My dad."

I fought back a tightness in my throat as I let loose something deep down I hadn't vocalized to anyone. The pain at not having that figure in my life since I was a child.

Perhaps it was the slap. Perhaps it was the admission of my own needs. I didn't know, but for a moment, I saw something resembling real care in his eyes.

"You love her," he said softly.

I blinked. I hadn't considered it before. Cared, yes, of course. But the big word? That was a first. Even as he said it, however, I knew it was true. There was no denying it. My dragon roared its answer.

"Yes," I said in just as low a tone. "I suppose I do. I know it's not what you wanted. It's not what I expected either. But I love her. She might be a spy, condemned to sit in prison for her life. But I love her, Father, and I have to get her back alive. I need to hear what she has to say about it all. I never let her have that chance. I never listened to her. She deserved that much at least. So, yes, I love her. And I am going to get her back. Are you coming with me?"

He was torn. It was easy to see on his face. His hatred of humans and desire to run the house his way was fighting with the emotion his son was showing and what it was doing to himself. I couldn't push him any further. I'd come halfway. He had to come the rest.

If he didn't, I would just have to accept I no longer had a father. Just a head of house. The final severing of any connection between us. He would be dead to me.

There was a lingering silence as he struggled to make up his mind. Just the fact he was taking so long spurred a moment of hope in me.

Caleb, meanwhile, shuffled to my side. His decision was clear. Shi came and took his hand.

Azarel glanced at them, then back at me. He exhaled slowly, obviously wrestling with himself. I just stared and waited. There was no more sense in pushing him. He had to decide on his own.

"I will help you retrieve the human spy," he said at long last. "So that she may be given back into proper custody."

"Thank you," I said, meaning it.

Just that much was a huge step for him. He'd found a loophole that allowed him to help while not outright giving in. To anyone else, it wouldn't seem like much. To me, it meant everything. Perhaps our relationship could be repaired after all. But that was for later.

"This won't be easy," he added. "We will be going into their house. Their lair. Even if we call the rest of our family that can be here on short notice, they will have the advantage. They will have everyone ready to defend. They've made their move. They can't afford to fail now. There will be no surrender from any of them. We'll be vastly outnumbered."

"No, you won't."

For the first time, the sovereign intervened in our conversation. Until then, she'd sat and patiently waited, despite our argument interrupting the report from her guard.

"They attacked the palace," she said coldly. "They attacked my men. My guards. I will not stand idly by and suffer that insult. Vicek!"

The heir to the dragon kingdom stepped forward sharply. "Yes, my Sovereign?"

"We have been attacked. We no longer have to stand on the sidelines. Assemble your men."

"Of course. Our mission?"

The sovereign's eyes gleamed with cold hard green light. "Bring me Seth's head."

I grinned, though there wasn't an ounce of joy in it.

I'm coming for you, Chloe. I'm coming. Just hold on a bit longer.