Silver(48)

He yanked open the door to see Citrine there, looking furious and holding a letter. His dark hair was mussed as if he’d been running, and his yellow eyes were angry rather than warm. His tanned skin was slightly flushed.

“What is this?” Citrine asked, holding the letter up and shoving it in Adrien’s face. “What do you know about it?”

“What?” Adrien asked, taking the letter tiredly and holding it up to read it. It was from Robbie.



“Dear Citrine,

I’m so grateful for the chance I’ve had to work at your club as a manager. I feel confident that you won’t need me any longer, and this was never supposed to be permanent. Given the damage I caused yesterday, I’m sure you won’t disagree with my decision to resign. I don’t think I belong there, and I have trained Kelsey so that with a little bit of work, she will be able to replace me. I will miss all of you, and I’m so grateful for the chance to meet you all. Give my best wishes to Adrien and Sever, and tell Kelsey I loved being her friend.

Sincerely,

Your friend, Robbie”



“So?” Citrine asked, arms tightly folded, veins throbbing at his temples as though his brain were threatening to pop. “Am I the only one totally shocked by this? How could she just leave?”

“You know she’s right, though,” Adrien said, handing the paper back. This was always supposed to be a temporary thing.”

“I know,” Citrine said. “I mean, I know that’s why Ella sent her. But how is she just supposed to leave like this? Run away and imply we would think an incident with a door is more important than her?”

“Most employees would be fired for throwing a person through a door,” Adrien said, trying to hide his slight amusement at Citrine’s predicament.

Would the citrine dragon really be able to hide his feelings for Robbie now? Even from himself?

Citrine paced angrily in Adrien’s apartment. “I’m going to find her. Can you and Sever manage the club for an hour or so?”

“Wow, you never leave,” Adrien said, his tone teasing. “She must be special.”

“We take care of our own,” Citrine said. “We don’t let them just leave, thinking they aren’t wanted. She needs to give us more info.”

“And then you would let her leave?”

“I don’t know!” Citrine yelled, sounding completely un-Citrine-ly.

Adrien just raised a brow, glaring at him.

Citrine lowered his voice in defeat. “I know. I need to figure out what this is, why I’m angry.” He looked to the side wistfully. “What is going on between us. But I can’t do that if she just leaves. How could she just leave?”

Adrien folded his arms. “I guess you better go look for her. You should have her address from her resume. With any luck, she’ll be at home.”

“I know,” Citrine said. “I just had to know it was okay with you guys. I know I’m not supposed to leave two collared dragons alone.”

“We’re fine,” Adrien said. “It’s only an hour, and if that weird human woman shows up again, I think we can hold her off until you get back. Go after your woman.”

“Shut up,” Citrine said. “This isn’t about that.” But as he rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him, Adrien kind of thought it was.

He walked back to the bedroom where Kelsey was changing and watched in amusement as she turned, nearly tripping on her pants in surprise.

He was there in a second, catching her, and she looked up gratefully into his eyes. He was so glad he got to look at that beautiful, vivid green for the rest of his life.

It was always going to be his favorite color for sure.

She steadied herself, a deep blush on her cheeks. “Thanks again for last night,” she said softly.

He nodded. “Thank you.”

She giggled. “Okay, you. So what just happened with Citrine?”

“He left for a bit. He went to find Robbie.”

“She left?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “Seems she felt bad about the door thing.”

“I don’t know,” Kelsey said. “I… I think it might be about something that happened at the mall the other day.”

Adrien looked at her softly, understanding her position. “Well, Citrine went to see her. I’m sure they will work it out.”

“I guess so,” she said. She went to the fridge and pulled out a pastry. “But with Robbie gone, I better go have a look at the software.”

“Okay,” Adrien said reluctantly. He wanted to stay glued to her side all day, but there was really no need. “I guess I should go tell Sever what’s going on. He and I can go set up the club, get it ready for any appointments we might have.”