Chapter 7
When Verrian left the mountain, he had no idea where he was going. He just headed for the bush, not even caring.
What did it matter where he went, when Lisa wasn’t with him?
Oh, he knew he should care. He should head back to Bruce and Narrian, and help them find his sister’s Mesmer chamber and wake her. That should be his priority.
But all he could think about was Lisa, and the fact that he’d never see her again.
He was paying so little attention, he nearly fell over the human hiding just inside the edge of the scrub.
“Hey,” Rita said, scrambling back. Verrian’s eyes recognised her, but it took his mind a moment to catch up. That’s right, the reporter. He wondered, with a vague disinterest, what she was doing here.
She took one look at Verrian, in all his glory, then fixed her eyes firmly on his face. “What is that dragon up to?”
Verrian shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t care.”
Rita’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?” she demanded. She glanced back through the trees. “And why are you leaving Lisa in the enemy lair?”
She didn’t get it. No one did. And Verrian couldn’t be bothered explaining. He just shrugged, and walked off.
Rita glanced back through the trees one more time, then scrambled after him.
Why wouldn’t she leave him alone? Verrian had nothing to say to her, or to anyone for that matter.
Hopefully, if he ignored her, she’d give up and go away.
“What’s going on?” Rita said again.
Verrian ignored her. With a minimal amount of magic, he could dampen the sound of her voice so he couldn’t even hear her. Her lips kept moving, but no sound came out. Far more peaceful.
But she didn’t give up. Verrian kept walking, and she kept following him. After a few minutes of that, she managed to get in front of him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. Her expression was angry and frustrated.
Rita gave him a shake. “Wake up. Whatever he did to you, you need to snap out of it. Lisa needs you.”
Somehow, her voice got through his magic and managed to penetrate his brain.
“I can’t,” he said wretchedly. “I gave my word.”
Rita’s eyebrows shot up. “To who?”
“Ultrima.” Even as he said it, he realised how stupid that sounded.
Rita put her hands on her hips. “Seriously? You’re going to keep your word to your enemy? Who’s never kept his word to you?”
“Well, he didn’t attack my family, after he made a deal with them,” Verrian tried to say.
“Why did you give your word to him anyway?” Rita asked. “That makes no sense. I was watching the whole conversation, but I couldn’t hear that bit.”
“Because he healed her,” Verrian said, trying to stop his voice breaking. He turned his face away so she wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. “I couldn’t,” he admitted, forcing the words past the lump in his throat.
“Well, he’s walking away now,” Rita said poking a finger at him. “He’s going with the police. So he won’t be here to see you not keeping your word.”
Verrian struggled with the idea. Keeping his word was important to him. He didn’t make deals and then go back on them. Lisa had said all was fair in love and war, and this was both, but… it still didn’t feel right.
Rita stared at him for a few moments, then shrugged. “If you really want to just walk away, then go for it. I have pictures to take.”
She turned around and headed back to the edge of the clearing, in a different spot to before, pulling out her camera and pointing it at the scene, snapping away.
Verrian watched her through the trees for a few moments, frowning. Lisa hadn’t liked Rita. She’d said she was only interested in the story, not in the people whose story it was. Her current actions certainly indicated that.
But he somehow couldn’t believe it.
If that was the case, she’d had no reason to bother talking to him, or trying to convince him that Lisa needed his help. Despite himself, he walked back towards her.
Towards the edge of the clearing, where Lisa was.
Verrian focused on Rita, not letting himself look towards Lisa. “Why are you here?” he asked her quietly.
Rita snapped another picture, then turned around to look at him. “Because this is an important moment, don’t you think? I mean all this,” she waved her hand at the police and the dragons, staring at each other, “the first meeting of our people. This is history in the making here. And no one is here recording it. One day, our children are going to want to know what happened here, and who’s going to tell them?”
For a second, Verrian felt a strange connection to Rita. Dragon’s didn’t have cameras and phones to record history with, but they recorded it just the same. In fact, that was part of his role, to see that his people’s history was remembered in the form of song and dance. In his case, most of the songs about dragon’s interactions with people were full of death and danger, but that hadn’t been his experience. When this was all over, he’d have to make his own records of this historical moment.
He crouched down next to her. “So why are you hiding? Why don’t you tell them that? Surely they’ll realise it’s important?”
Rita made a face. “You really think so? The police, the authorities, they’d just be furious that these pictures were out there. Right now, they think they can hide all this. Not tell people. That it’ll all go away. They’re not thinking about history, they’re just thinking about right now.”
Verrian could sort of understand that. He wasn’t thinking much past right now either. He already had enough to deal with without worrying about tomorrow. “You think they’d just tell you to go away?”
Rita gave a laugh. “They already have. I’m not supposed to be here. They’d probably arrest me if they knew.”
“But you’re here anyway?” Verrian was a little surprised at her admission.
“Some things are more important than being told what to do,” Rita said firmly. “And anyway, they didn’t exactly tell me not to come…” She gave him a lopsided smile.
Verrian stared at her, a little impressed.
Rita stared back, then she winced. “Are you going to put some clothes on?”
Verrian stared at her for a moment. Clothes? Of course the humans were concerned with clothes. They always were. However, he’d left his behind when he transformed. Lisa had put them into her…
He pulled the backpack off his back and stared into it. Sure enough, there were his clothes. This obvious signal of Lisa’s concern for his wellbeing brought tears to his eyes. Even though she wasn’t here, she was still helping him. How was he going to manage without her?
Rita looked away as he dressed, then scrambled for her camera. “Excuse me, I don’t want to miss this.”
This time, Verrian couldn’t help following where she was looking.
They were further away from the action here, and part of the crowd blocked Lisa from his view. But he had a clear view of the police cars near the back of the group.
A police officer stood over Ultrima, his position tense, as the human form dragon bent and slid into the police car. Ultrima had made a deal with them too, he’d come with them as long as they left everyone else alone.
Rita snapped away, her camera making a quiet clicking in the night.
Would the police keep their end of the deal? Verrian watched as they spread out around the mountain. So far they were, but he suspected it wouldn’t take much for them to break it.
Verrian wasn’t even too sure why Ultrima had made the deal. With the number of dragons the Trima dragon had, he could have easily taken out all the police. Of course, if he had, then the humans would have been hunting dragons without pause.
That wouldn’t be good for any of them.
How would Taurian have reacted, when faced with the same proposition?
Verrian suspected that it would be similar. That thought was somewhat discomforting.
He wondered how Taurian would react when faced with the choice of getting help for his mate, and never seeing her again.
Somehow, he didn’t think Taurian would have made that deal. He would have pushed for a better deal.
Why hadn’t that occurred to Verrian?
His heart sank. Now Ultrima was leaving, and Verrian couldn’t try to negotiate a better deal with him. Couldn’t argue with him.
He was stuck with the deal he’d made.
What was he going to do?
His eyes sought out Lisa, being led away into the lair by the life dragon.
She was stuck with this deal too, and it hadn’t been of her making. She wasn’t going to be impressed with him.
Just before she disappeared inside the cave, Lisa glanced over in his direction. Directly at him, to be precise.
“Verrian?”
Her mind voice sounded lost and uncertain.
Verrian ached to respond, to tell her the he’d done it for her. But he’d given his word that he wouldn’t see her again. Technically, even watching her here through the trees could be considered breaking that.
It hit him like a dragon tail to the face.
He’d promised not to see her again. Not to never talk to her again.
A small smile grew on his face. If he took the promise literally, he could talk to Lisa all he liked.
That was what Taurian would do in this situation. Probably Ultrima too.
The idea amused him.
“I’m here, Lisa,” he said softly, turning away from the sight of her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A small twinge of guilt pricked at him. His sister needed him too. He should be making sure that Narrian and Bruce found her and woke her. That was the job assigned to him.
But he couldn’t leave his mate.
Narrian was a competent dragon. She would take care of Bruce and his sister. He had faith in her.
He had his own job to do.