Violet
“What is the point of all this?” she asked, tired of sitting and staring at the television mounted to the wall in front of her. “Am I supposed to get so bored that I beg for you to finally kill me? That’s lame, if you ask me. Real bad guys would just kill me and be done with it. Are you a real bad guy?”
The guard didn’t respond.
“And what’s with the television? Can you turn it on? Maybe there’s something good on. I like the home renovation shows. What about you?”
Still no response.
Violet was about to open her mouth to try again when the guard abruptly put his finger to his ear. He was listening to something, then he nodded. “Got it.”
“Got it?” she asked, craning her head around. “Got what? What did you get?”
The guard turned on the television. It showed her a room she knew quite well. Malkin’s office looked much the same as it had when she’d been dragged out of there. Clean, cold, sterile. Just like its occupant. Malkin was once again seated behind his desk, writing on some papers.
“What does he do all day? Does he just scribble on them to make himself look important? Why am I watching this? It’s kind of creepy, don’t you think?”
The guard just smiled. Of all the responses he could have given her, that one chilled Violet’s blood the most. Whatever he was expecting her to see, it was clear she wasn’t going to like it. Worry coagulated into a solid block of fear in her stomach, nausea threatening to bring up any remaining contents she might have.
Without warning the door to Malkin’s office exploded inward. Violet jumped, not having realized the room was wired for sound as well, the speakers blaring with the sound of wood fracturing and ice falling to the floor in the office.
“What the hell is going on?”
The guard didn’t respond, but she fell silent as it became clear just what it was. Ivore had come to the office as well. Hell of an entrance. Much better than just walking in like she’d done. More dramatic and tense. She could just imagine what things were like in there right now. Ivore had come to rescue her. Maybe he could wipe the smug look from her guard’s face.
On the screen Ivore stopped in front of Malkin’s desk. His anger was visible. She could see the way his arms were bunched up, huge biceps threatening to rip the shirt apart at the seams. She watched as his chest rose and fell, the deep breaths of someone on the verge of flying off into a rage. How had he found out that Malkin had her? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going.
“I thought we had a deal, Richard.”
Violet frowned. What was he talking about?
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Malkin responded, sounding far too calm for someone confronted with a dragon that could rip him apart. “I never agreed to anything. You came here, caused a lot of damage and then left, as if that were enough to make me agree.”
Ivore was seething now, his shoulders hunched forward the way they did when he was really frustrated. Violet watched as he forcefully restrained himself. She wondered just what would happen if he were to let himself go. Just how much damage could an angry dragon cause?
“Either way, it’s over now. You’re going to back off.”
“Again. Why would I do that? Why is it that nobody has a plan these days?” Malkin’s voice cracked slightly, showing some of the psychotic persona he managed to hide so well unless provoked.
Ivore, to his credit, didn’t flinch or back down at the revelation that the man he was talking to was insane. Maybe he’d already known that. Violet wasn’t sure.
“You’re going to do it because we’re going to make a bargain.”
Violet shook her head. “No, don’t do it, Ivore.” She knew what he was planning now. Why he had come to the offices.
“A bargain, you say? And what sort of bargain is that?”
Malkin was leaning back in his chair again, in the exact way he’d done to her as well. It was like seeing the scene replayed in real time, only with Ivore in her place.
“You leave Violet alone. In exchange, you get me. I won’t resist.” Ivore seemed to deflate as he spoke, leaving him looking exhausted and almost defeated.
“No, Ivore. Don’t. I’m right here!” she cried out. “It’s a trick, dammit. He already has me!”
If Ivore gave up, then there would be nobody to rescue her. She’d been wrong in assuming that’s why Ivore had shown up. But he had no idea she was there; he was just coming to make a bargain, almost like she had.
She sat back. He was coming to sacrifice himself for her, just as she’d done. His motives were different, more pure. But they begged another question, one that had been raised by Malkin and that she still wasn’t positive she had an answer to.
Did this mean that Ivore loved her as well?
It was no surprise that he liked her. The dragon hadn’t made any attempt to hide that, despite her constant back and forth on how she was going to act around him. Violet hated herself for the way she’d treated him now that she looked back on it. Her insistence on wallowing in her own guilt had meant she’d led him on, only to shut him down when she remembered she wasn’t supposed to be interested in anyone.
Yet despite all of her actions and her rudeness, he’d been honest, straightforward, kind, and caring beyond anything anyone could ever hope to ask for. His patience with her had been remarkable. She’d given off confusing signs, and each time she backtracked, he’d not gotten mad, but had apologized for pushing her too far, too fast. Never mind that it was she who’d opened herself up to these things.
So what did it all mean? Did Ivore love her? It seemed odd to think that he might, but things were just so different with him. The concept of falling in love over the course of a few weeks would have had her howling with laughter, but that was before she met Ivore, and before she’d seen how happy Andria could be mated to Cowl.
Violet wondered if she could have the same thing with Ivore if she just opened up to him. She had no reason not to trust him, not after seeing him try to bargain for her life with his own. All she had to do now was figure out a way to find him, get him alone, and confess everything. Reveal to him just why she was so messed up, and then find out how they could work around it.
On the screen Malkin was speaking again. “Her life for yours, is that it?”
Ivore nodded. “Yes. You let her go, leave her alone, stop attacking her, everything. Her store is to succeed. You aren’t to stop it.”
“That’s quite the sacrifice.”
“She’s worth it. For her I would sacrifice anything.”
That clinched it. How could he not be in love with her? She couldn’t let someone so selfless sacrifice himself for her. Nobody else was going to die so that she could live.
And that included herself. She just needed to get his attention. The problem was, the door was soundproofed. How was she going to get his attention through it? Somehow she would need to convince the guards to open it. Simply asking was out of the equation. They were goons, but they didn’t look stupid enough to fall for that trick.
“Got any water?” she asked, thinking maybe they’d open the door to pass it through.
“Go fuck yourself. We give you that, then you’re just going to start complaining about having to pee.”
She recoiled at the rage from the guard, using her surprise to cover the smile that tried to blossom on her face. He’d given her an idea. It was the most embarrassing thing she’d probably ever done as an adult, but it should work. It had to work.
On the screen, four hulking brutes had entered Malkin’s office, fanning out behind Ivore. She needed to act, and soon. Time was running out for her dragon.
Her dragon. It was the first time she’d ever thought of him as hers, and something about that acknowledgment rattled her to her core. She had someone. Someone who wanted to be with her, who seemed to only notice the good in her. But she wouldn’t have him for much longer if she didn’t act. Violet closed her eyes and willed her body to relax.
It took the guard longer than she’d expected to notice, and in that time the men on the screen had advanced, taking Ivore by the arms and preparing to escort him from the room. He stood there, head lowered, shoulders slumped forward to stare at the ground.
“I don’t feel good,” she groaned suddenly, leaning forward. “Something’s wrong.”
The guard stepped around to the front of her, blocking the screen for a moment, and that’s when he finally picked up on it. “Eww, what the hell, woman? Did you piss yourself?”
She opened her legs slightly, the stench of fresh urine immediately multiplying in the air. “I don’t know. I feel sick.”
The guard shook his head, moving over to the door and sliding it open. “Yo man, get some towels or something. This bitch just pissed herself. It fucking stinks in here.”
She waited until he was fully into the conversation, the door sliding open just a bit wider as he relaxed, confident in talking to his fellow guard. “IVORE!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
The guard whirled with a swiftness that belied his bulk, smacking her across the face. Violet’s head rocked to the side and blackness swept in at the corners of her vision as pain drilled itself into her head. The world was swiftly becoming a smaller and smaller hole as darkness closed in, but she was able to focus on the television screen one last time.
Ivore’s head snapped up.