Dragon Awakened(64)

“‘Targets.’ Targets? They were my parents!”

“They were targets to me. When you take these kinds of assignments, you can’t make it personal.”

She felt as though she’d been dunked in ice, the air leaving her lungs in a painful whoosh. She stalked into the living room and got dressed. The buttons on her shirt were missing so she held it together with one hand. He’d followed her out, but she spoke before he could say anything.

“But it was personal. They were people. Son, daughter, parents to a girl who needed them.” Heartache crushed her chest. She faced him, trying not to see the man whose face she’d just tenderly touched. Making herself see a cold killer. “Tell me. Tell me all of it.”

“You’re sure you want to—”

“Yes.” The word came out brittle and harsh.

“I rammed the boat and disabled it. I’ve killed enough Emerald Dragons to take on the ability to swim like they do. I took on your mother first. She fought well, though I now realize it was a mother’s protective instinct that drove her the most. But she was no match for me.” He spoke in a low monotone, now as emotionless as he’d been before.

Parts of Ruby’s heart broke away at the mental picture. “How? Exactly how did you kill her?”

“She lunged at me, getting close enough for me to lock my arms around her neck. She tore at me, but she couldn’t move her head to use her fangs. So she used her tail.”

Ruby felt a glimmer of pride at her mother’s ability to fight someone like Cyn. “Did she hurt you?”

“Yes. Enough to nearly free herself. I broke her tail.”

The blood drained from her face. “Go on.”

“She swam back to the sinking yacht and managed to get onto the part that was still above water. I climbed up, too, and she shot me with her fiery spikes. Nearly blinded me. Something you should know, Ruby. Our eyes are vulnerable, as is the flesh around them.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Noted. Continue.”

“I grabbed her snout, keeping her from Breathing out. Then I pulled her head back and ripped out her throat.”

He’d held back nothing, cold bastard. No, he wanted her to hate him, she realized. Something else occurred to her. “Did you…take her power?”

He nodded. “It’s customary.”

She clutched her stomach, feeling it spasm. He started to reach out, probably an involuntary reaction. She batted his hand away. “What about my father?”

“We can finish this later.”

“No, now. There won’t be a later.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t want you to stomp off in some rage before you were ready to defend yourself.” He gestured between them. “I never intended for this to happen. I was supposed to be your protector, nothing more. Every time we touch, it becomes harder to pull back. This time I knew I couldn’t stop.”

“So it wasn’t that we were going to have sex that forced your confession.” She reviewed the now painful conversation in her mind. “It was that I was going to give you my heart. And that was too much.” When he didn’t deny that, she shifted her focus back to the dark truth he’d revealed. “Tell me what you did to my father.”

He trained his gaze to some point beyond her. “While your mother kept me preoccupied, he got you into the dinghy. With his last breath, he tried to keep you safe.” He seemed to sink back to that moment. “He said something about them doing something dangerous. That he was just following orders. Then he pleaded with me not to kill his daughter.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I was following orders, too. I cut his throat. Then I looked in the dinghy and saw you.”

She took a step closer, her hands fisted at her sides. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

He met her angry glare. “You were an innocent. For the first time, I purposely failed a mission.” His mouth tightened. “And no, I didn’t get a pat on the back. I quit.”

“Because you lost your killer instinct?”

“No, I lost faith. You have to trust those in control, especially in the kind of work I did. Once I lost that trust, I was done.”

He’d quit over it. Saved her life at great risk to himself.

No, no, no, keep your anger. Think of what he took from you.

It wasn’t only his betrayal that hurt. It was how alone, utterly alone, she was now. She had come to see him as her ally. And more. He’d taken that away, too.

He touched you, kissed you, knowing what he’d done. Bastard!

She hit him in the chest, her tears blurring the stony look on his face. “You wouldn’t have taken an assignment like that if you weren’t a cold, heartless person. And I bet…I bet you enjoyed it, didn’t you? Killing them made you feel something.”