“In what way?”
“It’s not every day that one betrays the king and doesn’t suffer any consequences,” Dean says, scowling.
“I didn’t betray the king!”
“Your involvement with Jacques Tellier’s daughter isn’t a betrayal?” Dean arches a condescending brow.
I curl my hands into fists, trying to contain my anger. “You can’t blame her for her father’s sins.”
“Did she not kidnap you, kid?” Connor smirks.
Fuck. He has me there. “Well, yeah, but that was before she knew who I was.”
“You’d better hope she’s not a two-faced bitch,” Dean retorts.
Anger rises in my throat. Fuck trying to keep it bottled up. I step forward, invading his space. “Don’t you dare call her that again.”
“Whoa. Looks like the puppy wants a fight.” Connor laughs.
Derek pulls me away from Dean. “Don’t be stupid, boy. Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
I’m still fucking pissed, but the anger is subsiding, allowing me to see that going head-to-head with Dean would be a terrible idea. He’s a deadly warrior, and I’m not even level two in my training with Ronan. He’d make minced meat out of me.
“My car is parked on the next street. I can get myself home.”
“I’ll drive you to it, then.”
“Why? I don’t need a babysitter,” I snap.
Derek watches me with an impassive stare. “In case you forgot, we’re near dragon shifter territory.”
Oops. I totally forgot about that. “I thought things were squared away with Larsson.”
Derek laughs without humor. “Dragons hold grudges like no other. Mauricio was able to smooth things over with him, but if one of his enforcers sees you, they might take liberties.”
“Fucking great.”
“What did you do to piss him off anyway?”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “I broke his collection of sparkly figurines by accident.”
Dean, Connor, and Derek stare at me as if they can’t believe my confession.
“How did you manage that?” Connor asks.
“I hit the air hockey puck too hard.”
Connor’s grin broadens, and Dean looks at the sky with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Ronan would do something similar whenever he got frustrated with me, which, sadly, was often.
“Maybe Connor got it all wrong,” Derek pipes up. “You aren’t lucky. You’re a disaster magnet.”
I don’t offer a comment because deep down, I know Derek is right. Trouble seems to follow me every-fucking-where I go.
Twenty-Eight
SOPHIE
It took a lot of convincing to get Igor to leave. He’s worried about me, and I feel bad, but not bad enough to allow him to spend the night on my couch. I need time alone to process everything that happened to me tonight.
