It had been a week since Julia’s confrontation with Iszak, and he still haunted her every thought. She wanted to hate him. He was everything she'd been raised to despise, and he'd hurt her so much. It wasn't so much that he was a dragon, since he was what he was. It was the fact that he'd made her want him, he made her body sing and she still craved his touch when she was alone at night. Why did he have to pretend that he wanted her when all he'd been doing was making sure that she didn't find out what his brother had done to hers. It would have been less cruel if he'd killed her outright.

The fire of anger that had been inside her when she'd shot him had burned out days ago. She couldn't believe that she'd done it, that he hadn't retaliated after the bolt had gone through his shoulder. He would have had time to charge her before she got the other bolt in the bow.

Her father always said that the only safe dragon was a dead one, that if you shot one it had to be to kill, otherwise they would be on you faster than you could blink. So why then had Iszak let her go? She'd shot him, he had every reason to want to retaliate if he was the mindless killer her father believed he was. Could her father be wrong?

She didn't know what the answer was as she pulled into the parking lot of Kevin's building. She was staying here for lack of anywhere else to go. If it had been up to her she would have left Waldron Valley by now. She would have chalked this all up to the biggest mistake of her life.

Unfortunately, telling her father a week ago that she'd met someone had only sent him straight to her. She didn't know what she would have told him about Kevin, but she'd forgotten to hide what Kevin had left behind and her father had read it all. He knew exactly what had happened to his precious boy.

His rage had been cold rather than incendiary and she shivered when she remembered the look in his eyes. She half expected him to go off after Iszak and his brother but he hadn't made a move in that direction all week. She was certain that dragon hunting was on the agenda, it was only a matter of time. She was unsure what she was going to do about it. If he'd gone off immediately after her confrontation with Iszak, she'd had enough hurt and anger inside her to go along.

All the time waiting had given her was time to think and time to miss him. Why couldn't she put him out of her mind? Was she some sort of masochist who couldn't see what was right in front of her? What had happened between them had been a sham, a lie to keep tabs on her. It meant nothing to him, despite what he'd said when she held the crossbow on him. He'd say whatever he thought would keep her from going after his brother for what he'd done.

She gave a shake of her head. Why was she even debating this? She'd been raised in a dragon hunting family, it was a legacy she couldn't dodge. Iszak may not be a killer, at least not that she was aware of, but the same could not be said for his brother, Andor.

Her phone rang inside her purse and she pulled it out. Her heart gave a small leap at the thought that it could be Iszak, and she shoved the thought ruthlessly aside. If it was him, she didn't want to talk to him. She needed to harden her heart. She was going to have to choose between her family and a man she barely knew, a man who'd callously used her so he could keep her from learning the truth about her brother.

The number was one she didn't recognize and when she answered the voice of a woman came on the other end of the line.

"Julia? It's Lyssa."

Julia's hand clenched around her phone. What the hell was Kevin's lying ex doing calling her? All the anger at her inability to stop thinking about Iszak came spilling out.

"What do you want?" There was nothing this woman could say to her that she wanted to hear, but she found herself unable to hang up the phone. God, she was a glutton for punishment.

"I thought you might want to know how Iszak is doing. His wound is almost healed." A spurt of relief went through Julia but she was not going to admit it to this woman. Lyssa sighed on the other end of the line, but it was apparent she wasn't going to give up on whatever the reason for her call was. "I suppose it's a miracle that you aren't hanging up on me. Would it help if I told you that I know how you feel?"

"Oh, you do? Did Andor kill your brother too? Did he seduce you and lie to you about everything just so he could keep you from finding out?" The anger inside her tasted bitter on her tongue as it spilled out. How dare this woman call her and tell her that she knew how she felt. She had no idea what it was like to know that someone you had feelings for, someone you thought reciprocated those feelings, was lying to you the whole time.

"I know you're angry and you have every right to be. I know you have no reason to believe me, but Iszak is just as devastated as you are about what happened. I think you were both in a situation that spiraled out of control, and you were both hurt as a result. And make no mistake, Iszak is hurting just as much as you are."

Julia gripped the phone tighter. She didn't want to talk about Iszak, not to her. "You don't know what I'm feeling or what I think, so don't try."

"Why don't I tell you something that I'm very familiar with then. I'm not sure you know what kind of man your brother was. Maybe he was the sweetest, kindest of men to his family." Kevin had never been that, but Julia was not going to admit it. She knew exactly what kind of man her brother was. Sweet and kind were not words that were even in the realm of existence for Kevin. But just because he was an obsessive asshole, did that mean he had to die? "Let me tell you about the man I was with for close to two years. He was dangerous. He broke into my home, destroyed my things. He threatened me and made me afraid to walk out my front door and he tried to kill Andor, twice. The first time Andor let him go. We both thought it best that the police deal with him and it was only after Kevin proved that he wasn't going to stop until both Andor and I were dead that the man I love did something about it."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lyssa's story jived with what Iszak had been trying to tell her. If she was honest with herself, she knew that this story rang true because Kevin had been dangerous to those women who'd been caught in the snare of his obsession. Lyssa wasn't the first woman he'd stalked, and he'd been violent with his other girlfriends in the past.

Julia was torn by the knowledge of the kind of man that Kevin had become with the memories of who he was when they were younger. He'd been the sweetest little boy when he was a kid and she didn't know what had happened to him to turn him into the abusive man he'd become. The kid version of Kevin was the one she missed, and he hadn't been around for a long time.

"I just want you to understand that Andor isn't the bloodthirsty killer you want him to be. Your brother threatened him in a way that made it clear he was never going to stop, and it came down to a choice. Andor chose to live. Your brother knew his death was a risk when he went after a dragon." Lyssa's voice grew softer, and there was a wealth of compassion and understanding in it when she spoke again. "I don't know what all happened between you and Iszak, but I do know he is hurting. I know that he feels the same about you as you do for him. If there weren't feelings there you would not be so hurt by what happened. You would have shot him in the heart and been done with it. If he or Andor were the monsters that you've been raised to believe, you wouldn't be alive now. As soon as Iszak learned who you were, he would have killed you."

Julia swallowed hard and didn't want to listen to any more. It was too late for all this. Her father was here, and she had to stand behind him. But before she hung up the phone she wanted to give Lyssa one chance to save herself and those she loved.

"My father is here. He knows what Andor did. If you thought Kevin was dogged, that's nothing compared to my father. He's out for blood and if you care about your man and his family at all you will convince them both to run and hide where he will never find them."

Julia ended the call before Lyssa could reply. She hoped that Lyssa heeded her warning, because there was no way her father was going to stop. And Julia knew that she didn't have the strength to keep him from taking his revenge. She'd spend her life obeying him, and she had nothing now. When she'd shot Iszak instead of listening to him, when she'd turned to her father and poured out her heartbreak to him, she'd chosen a side. Her father would expect her to be on his side, and she'd never stood against him before. A part of her was frightened of what he would do if she did. The best thing for them all would be if Lyssa warned Andor and Iszak, and they went somewhere her father would never find them.

She got out of the car with a heavy heart. Why had Lyssa called her, why had she planted the doubts in her head that made her want to believe her. It was wishful thinking on her part that made her think that Iszak felt something for her, that it all had not been a lie. It didn't matter what she felt for Iszak, as far as her father was concerned he was the enemy, and she was only one person.

She didn't think she had the will to defy him. And going against her father would do little to save Iszak.

She walked back into Kevin's apartment, and her father stood there with an implacable look on his face. It sent a shiver down her spine. She knew what her father was going to say.

"It's time to avenge your brother. It's time to hunt those bastards down and show them what it means to cross the Robillard family." As her father stood there, Julia knew it was crunch time. She could do what she'd always done, jump when her father said jump or she could do what she wanted to do and say no.

"I think it would be better if we let it go. Kevin knew what he was getting into when he went after that dragon, and he should have left well enough alone." Julia swallowed hard. A dark look descended upon her father's face and the urge to tell him that she didn't mean it, that she wanted to take it back, was so strong that she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from doing it. Iszak had numerous opportunities to kill her when he found out who she was. The fact that he hadn't, told her that he wasn't the dangerous creature her father wanted her to believe.

"You are going to call that abomination you spread your legs for and you are going to do it now." Her father didn't yell, in fact his voice was calm, but the tone raised the hair on the back of her neck. She'd never heard it from him before and neither had she seen the look that crossed his eyes. It was cold and menacing, like a snake staring at its prey the moment before it struck.

She swallowed hard and straightened her spine. This moment was the most important one of her life and what she did now would inform the rest of her life.

"No. There is nothing you can do to make me do to call him. I will not lead him into a trap."

A shark like smile crossed her father's face and he reached around his back to the waistband of his jeans. He brought his hand back around and pointed a revolver at her. Julia's body went cold all over and in that moment there was something dead in her father's eyes that told her that her carrying his blood in her veins would not stop him from shooting her if she didn't do what he wanted.

"How about you make that call now?"

* * *

Iszak stared straight ahead as he tried to block out his brother’s voice. Julia had been gone a week, and still his brother wouldn’t let it go. Iszak pinched the bridge of his nose as he sharply exhaled.

“Look, I’m not moving back to the mansion. If I want to sit here and wallow in my own self pity, as you seem to want to accuse me of, then I will.” If Andor wanted him to come home, nagging him into it wasn’t going to work. Perhaps he was feeling sorry for himself, but surely he had a right to. His woman was gone, and he knew he was never going to get her back.

“You don’t have time to indulge in this. I don’t think I have to remind you—“

“That I’m under a curse. I know. How could I forget when you tell me at least twice a day. Do you want to know why I left the mansion in the first place, why I went to the cabin? To get away from you. I know I’m cursed, I know I have less than three months to find my soulmate or I will go insane. This isn’t news to me Andor. And guess what? You may not want to believe it, but chances are very good that Julia is my soul mate and she’s gone. So don’t fucking tell me that I don’t have time for this.” Iszak’s voice echoed against the walls and he sighed. “Look, I appreciate that you’re concerned for me. I was in your shoes not too long ago when Lyssa learned the truth about you and didn’t take it very well.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Andor crossed his arms over his chest, and it didn’t appear that Iszak’s mini tirade had made any sort of impression.

Iszak closed his eyes for a second. Why couldn’t his brother go away and leave him alone? He didn’t want to talk about his curse and he didn’t want to talk about Julia. He just wanted to sit here and wait until it was time for him to die. Andor raised an eyebrow, apparently he was waiting for an answer.

“What am I going to do about what?”

“About her.” There was a tightening of his brother’s mouth on the last word, and Iszak knew that Julia wasn’t his brother’s favorite person at the moment.

“Nothing.” What could he do? She’d made it very clear that if she saw him again she would put a bolt through his heart. Since the wound she’d put in his shoulder had only just healed, he had little doubt that she would follow through on the threat. He’d lost her and there was no getting her back.

“Wrong answer. If she’s the one, you can’t just let her go. You have to talk to her, tell her how you feel.”

“Oh like you did when Lyssa left you after finding out what you are? I seem to recall that you were intent on drinking yourself into oblivion.” His brother had hit rock bottom when Lyssa had left him. It was only because Lyssa had come to realize that he was telling the truth about himself that she'd come back.

“I know. And I got a taste of what the curse can do, and it would have consumed me if she hadn’t saved me from it. I don’t want that for you. Do you remember how hard it was for you when you thought you were going to have to kill me? Do you think it would be any easier for me?”

“I know.” Iszak looked down at his hands. “I hurt her. She thinks that I toyed with her, that I used her so I could keep tabs on her inquiry into Kevin’s disappearance. And the truth was, that was how it started out in the beginning. As soon as I found out who she was, I decided that I was going to seduce her, to keep her close to me.”

“But that’s not how it turned out, and she needs to know that. If you love her, you have to tell her. I came so close to losing everything, Lyssa, my sanity and my life, because I wouldn’t go after her. I wouldn't tell her how I felt about her. I let my pride get in the way and I wouldn’t be alive to pester you about this if she hadn’t saved me. You have to talk to her. You have to get her to understand.”

“It’s not that simple. In case you failed to notice, she shot me the last time I talk to her. I’ll end up looking like a pin cushion if I go near her.”

“No you won’t. She shot you in the shoulder, not in the heart. If she was intent on killing you, she would have succeeded. If she was as hurt as you say, then there has to be a reason for it. Maybe it’s because she has the same feelings for you that you have for her. Get her to listen to you. Don’t let your pride keep you from claiming her for your own.”

Could it be that Julia did have feelings for him? Was there hope for them yet? Iszak cast his mind back to the confrontation she’d had with him. She’d been upset about him being a dragon at first, and the issue with her brother was definitely a sticking point. But he recalled that her anger had only turned to tears when she’d asked him why he had slept with her. Did she feel so betrayed not because he was a dragon or that his brother had killed hers, but because she thought that he didn’t reciprocate her feelings? That he hadn’t been falling in love with her as she had been with him?

Iszak scrubbed his hand over his face. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he couldn’t sit here feeling sorry for himself until his curse came to claim him. If he was wrong, then he would be another dragon killed by the Robillard family. Without her he was dead anyway. He had little to lose by telling her what was in his heart.

“So, I’ll ask you again. What are you going to do about her?” A smile kicked up the corner of his brother’s mouth, and Iszak gave his head a shake.

Before he could reply, his cell phone rang and a frown wrinkled his brow. He looked at the screen, and his heart thumped heavily inside him. It was Julia. Could it be that the week apart had done the same for her that it had done for him? Had she realized that he hadn’t set out to deliberately hurt her and was willing to give them a second chance?

“It’s Julia.” Iszak’s fingers trembled slightly as he swiped his finger across the screen and put his phone to his ear.

“Iszak?”

He closed his eyes at the sound of her voice on the other end of the phone. How could he have thought that he could let her go when just hearing her say his name sent hope crashing through him? He was going to take his chances.

“I’m sorry for everything, sweetheart. No matter what happens I want you to know that whatever my intentions were at the beginning of this, I’d abandoned them the moment I made love to you for the first time.”

Her breath was a sob on the other end of the phone. “I need to meet you. I need to talk to you.”

There was a trembling quality to her voice, and cold seeped into Iszak’s veins. Something was off. “Come to the apartment and we’ll talk.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. I want to go to where this all started. I will meet you where Kevin died and you can explain to me how all this happened.”

Something was definitely wrong. Her voice had taken on a monotone quality, as if what she was saying was a script that she could not deviate from.

“Will you be alone when you meet me?”

“No.”

That could only mean one thing. Her father was in town and he knew what had happened to Kevin. This could only be a trap set up to kill him. He gripped the phone tighter as he prepared himself to ask her the following question. He needed to know if this was something she was a whole hearted participant in, or if she was being coerced.

“Your father is there listening, isn’t he? Are you in danger?” Iszak silently prayed that this wasn’t the case. While he didn’t want her to hate him so much that she was willingly leading him into a trap, the alternative, that her life was in danger, was much worse.

“That’s correct. But like I said, I don’t want to discuss this over the phone. Please meet me where Kevin died.”

The call ended before Iszak could say any more and he surged to his feet. His brother’s face sobered when Iszak looked at him.

“What is it?”

“Julia’s in danger. She wants to meet where Kevin died, and her father is with her.” He charged toward the door, dragging his hand through his hair as rage and panic rose inside him. If something happened to her, if she was hurt because of him, he wouldn’t need to wait for his curse to kick in to become a bloodthirsty killer. Andor grabbed his arm in a vice grip, and wouldn’t let go. “Let go of my arm or I swear to you that I will break your hand.”

“I know you want to help her, but you have to be smart about this. You can’t go off half cocked and get yourself killed.”

“I don’t care about that.” Didn’t Andor realize that she was his woman, that she needed him and that nothing, not even his brother, could keep him from her now.

“You should care. I know exactly what is going through your mind right now, because if the situation was reversed, and Lyssa was in danger, I’d feel the same way. You aren’t going there alone. If it’s more than just Julia and her father, you need back up.”

“No. I’m not putting you at risk too. This is my fight.” Them going together was probably what Julia’s father wanted, and he was not going to serve his brother up to him on a silver platter.

“It’s our fight. I killed Kevin, and the reason this is all happening is because of me. Now this is what we are going to do.”