Chapter 45

A DRAGON’S DEVOTION

Beaufont Residence, West Hollywood, California, United States

“You’re doubting yourself,” Liv said, like a statue reading Gen’s thoughts, echoing her heart and the feelings in her inner being and also confirming the gaze in her eyes for the last hour.

“I’m fine,” Gen lied. She didn’t know how to tell the truth in that scenario. How did she say that she worried on so many levels and simply by voicing her doubt, she felt that she gave power to them? All Gen wanted to do was pretend that her fears were smaller than they were. She couldn’t tell anyone that they were more than insurmountable. She couldn’t say how she really felt—that she felt crushed before she even began. But she knew that one being knew how she felt right then and that was enough.

It’s going to be okay, Emperor implored in her mind.

But how do you know, she asked, real despair in her thoughts as they raced.

Because, he said simply.

You can’t say because it always has been okay, like some dragons can say to their riders, because they’ve been together for eons, she argued. You can’t say that we’ve been through worse, because we haven’t. You and me, Emperor, are brand new. We are untested. We are untried. We haven’t been to the gallows and escaped. We’ve hardly been to the supermarket and back. You don’t know that we will be okay in this scenario or others…

Gen, I do, he encouraged. Because you don’t need time to test a bond. You only need resolve. And I would do anything for you. I knew that from the moment I met you. I know that now. You don’t test a relationship by the good times. You test it by the bad ones. I waited six hundred years for you. For you. Only you. I could have chosen any other rider. Any one. But you were mine. And you know why?

Why? she dared to answer.

Because of the way you behave when times get tough, he answered.

What?

Everyone can be happy when things are good, he replied. But you have always stood by the side of those you love when they were ill. When they were mad. When they were cross. When they were grumpy. You, Gen Beaufont, love everyone for who they are despite the one off day. You are the true friend. You are my true rider. Because no matter what, you will be there for everyone. And you want to know why?

Why?

Because justice isn’t mood dependent, he said with a slight giggle. You actually taught me that. Can you imagine that?

She shook her head. Hardly.

Imagine being the first dragon and learning from a lonely human that love was something that you gave no matter what, he continued in awe. I was…well, magnetized. You don’t know this about you, but I do. You were one of the first—one of the first people to love regardless. And in that moment, well, I was done. It didn’t matter what gender or race or ability you had. You were mine…

Can you please stop, Gen encouraged.

Why?

I’m going to throw up, she replied.

Fair enough, he said with a laugh. Just thought you should know.

Gen looked up at Liv, a vulnerable expression in her eyes. “I’m not okay and I am doubting myself. This is a lot. It sort of feels crushing.”

Liv reached out. Put her hand on hers. Offered a smile. “What can I do?”

“Just what you are doing,” Gen answered, nodding to the comforting hand Liv offered her. “This is an Emperor and me problem. You can’t be involved. That would implicate the House of Fourteen. Alicia and the others can’t either or it could harm them. And Captain Neal absolutely can’t be involved until I have evidence. So it’s just us. We are, as you said before, totally rogue.”

“That’s a lot,” Liv said darkly.

Gen nodded but grinned. “You know we like it.”

Liv shared the expression. “I love a good rogue mission. No one extra to mess it up.”

“Yes.”

“Also, no one to take the credit,” Liv added, coldly.

“I’m okay with that,” Gen muttered. “I’m not doing this for the credit.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Liv offered. “But still….”

“I have to do this. I have to stop Charlie Sloane and those trying to hurt the city,” Gen stated adamantly.

“If you were young, like Sophia had been, I’d be a little worried, but you’re not just young,” Liv continued. “For you, it’s worse. You’re young and na?ve. Are you sure you and Emperor?—”

Gen held up a hand. “I know you think because we are new to this world we aren’t cut out for it. But everyone keeps telling me that’s why I am. I believe that too. What if I see the problems that you all don’t because I am not complacent to this world and the ways it is?”

Liv grinned wide at this. “I like that.”

A long moment of silence passed between the two before they said another word. Finally, Liv looked intently at Gen and said, “I don’t think of myself as smarter than you?—”

“But you’re still giving me advice,” Gen joked.

Liv shook her head. “Just this. Remember not to get sucked into the hostility of your enemy. I once had one who was so close… He killed my parents. I felt ultimate betrayal because he was a Councilor for the House of Fourteen. But in the end, I realized, we aren’t all made of the same fibers. Some of us splinter into good. Some bad. Don’t hurt yourself trying to figure out why your enemy went bad…”

“But he did,” Gen encouraged, leaning forward. “You know, I know that I have to find out why. I have to discover the truth behind his motives.”

Liv nodded. “I know. Just don’t take his vendetta against you personally. That man wants you dead because he does. He is simply using the Commissioner to help his cause.”