Chapter Thirty-Six

Emma

T rue to Rhyse's word, Rikell had already been getting ready to leave when I was hurried down the docks and onto his boat. The captain didn't take well to the last-minute addition, but some whispered words from Rhyse had seemed to mollify him.

Rhyse had quickly and curtly said farewell and then run away. I'd watched him retreat, his back to me, until the marketplace on the dock's edge had swallowed him up.

He didn't even stay to watch me go.

I hung over the railing under the disdainful eye of the stern captain, watching the Dragon Isles slowly fade into the distance. He hadn't stayed.

It hurt to feel so cast aside.

Below, the waves of the ocean rose and fell, passing by to the rear.

Just like this chapter of my life.

It had been brief, but oh, had it burned so bright. And now, it was over without even a hesitation in his step, a look over his shoulder. Nothing. He'd simply decided it was done, goodbye, and thanks for nothing.

" Men ." I tried to spit the word out, but my anger was heavily outweighed by a mixture of sadness and curiosity.

Whatever Rhyse had said were his reasons for packing me away on Rikell's rusty trading ship, there was more he wasn't telling me.

Something else had happened with him. Something he was refusing to tell me.

The boat hit a larger rogue wave that cut across the others, rocking the deck unsteadily. I grabbed frantically at the railing in an effort to keep my footing. A born sailor I was most definitely not . The sooner we hit the Keys, the better.

And then what, Emma? What will you do once you're on land in your home country with nowhere to go? Returning to the refugee camp isn't an option. Even if Bob wasn't an asshole, the guards think you're on the Dragon Isles now. If one of the ones who took you spots you, you're right back in trouble again.

With Rhyse's money, I could disappear, for a little bit. Unfortunately, twenty grand just didn't go as far as it used to. In a few months or so, I'd have to come back up for air. And then what?

I followed the wake of the ship to the dark outline of land beyond.

Stop it. Going back is not an option. Rhyse made that clear when he let you go.

The turmoil in his head was at odds with my own logic. It was impossible to ignore because, try as he might, he hadn't been able to stop it from leaking out. I knew what he was feeling as well as he did. The problem was, I couldn't understand why he felt that way? Why did he think sending me away was the best?

Why had he tried so hard to appear like he didn't care only to let his own sadness at having me leave fill our bond?

Had he been trying to tell me something?

That was nothing more than a silly, fleeting thought. There was no reason for Rhyse to give me coded messages. I was just looking for them in the hopes that something, anything , might explain what had happened.

I continued to replay it in my head even as the last of the hint of land became nothing but a wispy black thread of gauze floating into the sky.

Floating into the sky?

Yanking my brain away from its thoughts, I focused on what I was seeing. It most definitely was not land. The dark line on the horizon was long gone.

"Captain!" I called. "Mr. Rikell."

Looking over my shoulder, I waved at the wheel to get his attention. The man was apparently hard of hearing because he didn't respond until I moved almost directly in front of him.

"Yes?" he asked. "What do you want?"

Caught off guard by his brusqueness, I stammered over my response.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I snapped, not feeling any guilt over my tone. "But the people where that's coming from might not be."

I pointed to the line of black smoke drifting across the horizon.

The captain didn't follow my gaze. He was staring straight ahead still.

"Smoke means fire," I said. "Fire on a ship in the middle of nowhere is a bad thing, Captain. Shouldn't we go check it out and make sure everyone is okay?"

"No."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Are you serious? People could be hurt or dead, and you want to just ignore it? For what? Your precious trading route? You'll just let them die for no reason?"

The captain's jaw muscles tightened. But still no response or change of direction.

"Fine," I said, striding up to the wheel. "If you won't take us there, then I will. At least one of us isn't a coward."

That worked. I'd employed the word carefully, hoping that Rikell, like most dragons I'd met, would not take well to being challenged on their courage by a human—and a human woman , at that.

Sexist jerks.

"I am not lacking in courage," he snarled back.

"It sure looks like it from here. You're too afraid to go help someone else out because you might run a little late."

"You know little," he said with a sneer.

"I know what I see, and what I see is a man running away," I shot back.

There was only so much a dragon as proud as Rikell could take.

"You want to go see what's going on?" he growled ominously.

I hesitated at the hidden meaning in his words. But I couldn't just let someone possibly die. Not if I could save them.

"Yes," I said sharply. "I do. Someone might need our help. Who knows where the closest ship might be."

"Very well," the captain said. "You have said we must go check it out. So, we shall."

He hauled on the wheel, turning the ship sharply. I grabbed onto the nearest railing, holding on as we followed the smoky trail toward its source.

"But I make no promises as to any consequences that may befall us from doing this."

"Consequences? What the hell would happen to us just for helping out some people?"

In response, the captain lifted his chin toward the front of his ship.

I followed his gaze.

"Oh, god," I whispered, clutching the railing tighter.

On the horizon, I could see the ship. It's stern was ablaze, the flames slowly working their way forward.

As horrible as that sight was, the sight of two massive, unmistakable forms in the water was worse.

Dragons.

And they were headed right for us.