Sometime later—she had no idea how long—awareness of a presence yanked her awake. She sat up just as her father’s bright red hair crested the nearest mountain of treasure. His spiked locks framed the pale face that next came into view. That much had remained the same.
He stopped at the top of the hill and took in the scene. She gulped down a whimper at the sight of his full body. His clothes had changed since the last time she’d seen him in humanoid form. The stylish, modern outfit reinforced how much he’d integrated into human society.
Unless he’d killed a man for his shirt and pants. She wouldn’t put that past him either.
But the bright glow shining through his shirt below his ribcage made the biggest impression on her. If the intensity of his heart’s fire was any indication, he’d gotten stronger. Damn.
He scrutinized her, fixating on her torso. “Nastav is dead?”
His slender build and average height wouldn’t intimidate humans. She knew better.
She stood slowly and deliberately to hide her fear. At least she’d awoken before he changed into his dragon form. “Yes.”
“You killed him?”
Would he care that she’d killed his father? Just in case, she let her tone reveal her sadness. “Yes.”
“But you have not yet claimed all his treasure.”
He hadn’t worded it as a question, so she only lifted her chin in answer.
His arms spread wide. “Is this why you came here? To kill and take?”
“To protect and defend.”
He laughed, the cruel sound echoing throughout the cavern. “That human boy of yours?”
Her gut clenched at his mention—his knowledge—of Alex.
She covered up her reaction by removing her jacket and tossing it aside. No longer bothered by the cold, she didn’t want the bulky coat getting in her way.
“How did you find me?”
His scan of the cave brushed the ashen form of Nastav, the evidence of her sin. “I knew you would visit him, and I sensed when you came into your own.”
“And why did you come here? To kill me?”
His expression hardened. “I cannot let you live.”
“Is that what your father would have wanted you to do?”
“Did my father also tell you how this is all his fault?” His eyes narrowed, searching for an understanding she didn’t have. “He neglected to tell you that part, did he not?”
“We are responsible for our own choices. You cannot blame him for what you have done. But you can make new choices now. Just let me go. Let me live my life the way I want with the man I want.”
He ignored her, his features twisting into a hideous mask. His face reddened, nearly matching the color of his hair.
“He is the one who put those ideas in my mind. He is the one who worshipped my mother’s weakness and thought they had something meaningful. He is the one who told me I could love.”
His hair rippled into the leading edge of the frill along the back of his neck and then faded back into his locks. Despite her intention to show no fear, she inched away.
Stable dragons would never flicker between forms like that. Stable, he was not.
He stormed down the treasure pile faster than she could decide on a plan of action. Waves of fury rolled off him as he approached.
“He was wrong.”
His strides brought him within inches of her. His body shook, and his focus landed on the remains of Nastav.
He repeated his words, their Drakish consonants turning into a quiet, terrifying hiss.
“Sè. Ishë. Greşis.” He. Was. Wrong.
Ten years of running from her father had brought her to this—standing toe-to-toe with him and no way to escape. Ten years of trying to build up her strength, all to recognize too late that physical strength didn’t give her the power to convince or the potential to murder without remorse.
For too long, her refusal to kill for treasure had defined her, separated her from other dragons. And now, especially so soon after Nastav’s death, she couldn’t change that decision she’d made to respect life.
She couldn’t take the first step toward ridding herself of him. She couldn’t be the aggressor and strike first. She couldn’t end it like this.
“I am sorry, Father.”
His head jerked back, his reaction matching how she felt. But she’d told Nastav the truth. She did pity her father.
He reached out and stroked her cheek. She willed herself not to flinch.
“You are so like her. My beautiful Saština.”
A memory floated back to her of the countless times her father had said that about her mother. His beautiful Saština.
After the murder, it had been easy to forget how devoted he’d been to her mother. How much they had acted like a family. How much it seemed as though he had loved her.
Her father inspected her appearance, and his fingers trailed through her locks. “You have her hair. Do you know how rare it is, the changeling hair of the fae?”
His hand fisted in her waves and yanked. An eep leaked from her mouth despite her closed lips.
He’s unstable. Very unstable.
This doesn’t mean he’s being aggressive. This doesn’t mean he’s going to kill me now.
Her pep talk didn’t help, but she still couldn’t take the step to escalate this encounter. For all she knew, her mother had been killed because she’d accidentally set him off. Maybe this didn’t have to end in death.
His eyes sought hers again, this time with sadness reflected in their blue depths. “I wish you did not look so much like her.”
“I know, Father. I am sorry.”
“You understand.” He leaned closer, his voice nearly a whisper. “That is why you returned, yes?”
“Yes,” she lied, hoping she understood where his twisted mind was going.
“Good.” He released her hair and sauntered back, nodding to himself. “Your understanding of why I have to do it will make killing you easier.”
Damn! She hadn’t meant to be understanding about that. Damn, damn, damn. She needed to distract him from his current thoughts.
“Do you remember the time you took me to Loch Ness? When you teased that we would visit my long-lost cousin, Nessie?”
A smile—a real smile—formed on his face, and for a second, he was the striking male dragon from her youngling memories. Flaming red hair, bright blue eyes, and a brighter grin. She understood why her mother loved him.
“I remember. I had you fooled, did I not? You thought you would get to meet the Loch Ness monster.” His smile faded. “Saština was not happy about that trip. She never liked the water.”
“But you like the water, Father. So do I.” Finding common ground couldn’t hurt. “I even went swimming a few months ago.”
He stared at her without blinking. She couldn’t tell if he was patronizing her with his interest or not.
“I swam where the water is warm, blue, and clear. We should go there together, and I will show you where we can sit underwater and watch the fish swim by.”
“I would like that.” His brows slammed together, as though he was surprised by the thought.
“So would I.” She forced her lips to curve up, but a few trembles might have given her away.
“I wish I could love you. If I could love anyone, it would be you.”
A fluttery feeling in her belly knocked her off balance. Similar words had passed her lips months ago, the day before she’d left Alex. Did that mean her father did feel something for her, just as she cared for Alex?
He pressed his fist against his torso and swayed. “My mind will not let me though. I wish you had not taken the ruby she gave me.” He held his hands, palms up, in front of him. “I have to finish what I started.”
“Why? Why can we not be happy together?”
His fingertips curled and clenched. “Because she condemns me from your eyes.”
She flinched. Was that it? Maybe he hadn’t been chasing her this whole time simply because she’d witnessed his crime and taken something from him. Maybe he’d come after her because she looked like the one he’d loved, and she reminded him too much of what he’d destroyed. Or because her talisman ruby was special to him too, a gift from the woman he loved. Or maybe it was a combination of all of it.
No matter his reasons, she understood him so much better now. On some level, she could sympathize with every one of those motives.
She folded his hands in hers. “You do not want to kill me, do you?”
He growled and tugged out of her grasp. “It does not matter.”
“Yes, it does.” She stepped closer. “It does not have to be like this. I forgive you.”
His gaze snapped to hers.
She repeated herself, slowly and clearly. “I forgive you. There is no condemnation here.”
Humans wouldn’t understand her decision to forgive her father, but dragons would. The effect of treasure on dragons wasn’t something humans could comprehend. For dragons, treasure was food, energy—life—and so much more.
The temptation to kill for acquisition was something she’d fought for ten years, and the lure of precious metals and gems was something she’d learned to resist while with Alex. Following his rules, starting a company to sell jewelry instead of claiming it, not taking everything she could—all that made her able to control her instinct more than any other dragon in history.
The simultaneous temptation and repulsion of living near another’s hoard would drive any other dragon crazy. Her mother had known the risk. Had accepted the risk. Had chosen the risk.
Her mother had chosen love over her life.
And her father had paid the price several times over with his sanity. So yes, she forgave him.
“I believe you.” He stared at her with clear vision for a moment. Then he broke eye contact. “But I cannot forgive myself.”
“Killing me will not solve that.”
“I know.” His voice quieted. “It will condemn me even more.”
He grabbed her arm and lifted it, palm up. The tragic tone of his acknowledgement held her frozen. He pushed her sleeve up past her elbow. She didn’t resist.
His calm descended into a deeper pitch. “Condemnation is what I deserve.”
His talon gouged into the micro-scales of her skin at her forearm. She sucked in a hiss and stiffened. Blood leaked from the line he cut, all the way from her elbow to her wrist.
She stood transfixed by the sparkling purple liquid escaping through the gash. In the back of her mind, she knew she should pull away, fight back—something.
The pain, more excruciating than she’d thought possible, stunted her thoughts and actions. And the blood. All the blood.
She’d never seen her own blood before.
“I am sorry, my daughter. I am sorry.”
Even now, after he’d taken the first strike, she couldn’t find the will to stop him, much less attack him. How could she punish him for doing something he didn’t want to do? For making the same mistake she’d made? For letting his belief that dragons couldn’t love determine his actions and hold him back from life’s potential?
She’d die like her mother, with words of forgiveness and love on her lips.