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Smoky was standing there, waiting for me, his gaze fastened on the doorway. He stared at me for what seemed like a million years, then his lip curved in a triumphant smile and he opened his arms.
“Camille, my Camille. I’m back.”
Not trusting what that meant, but praying it meant what I thought it did, I dropped everything and flew into his embrace. He swung me up and around, covering my face with kisses, his lips soft and passionate. I grabbed him around the neck and held on, letting him spin me at a dizzying speed.
“I love you, I love you, and I’m home,” he said. “My Camille, I told you nothing would part us.”
“I love you, too, but can you please put me down?” As ecstatic as I was, my stomach was beginning to shift into queasy from the makeshift carousel ride.
He abruptly stopped and dropped into the loveseat, pulling me down on his lap. I cuddled against him, resting my head on his shoulder as he gently kissed the top of my head, my forehead, my nose.
“So you’re staying? You aren’t going back to the Northlands? You aren’t going to marry Hotlips?” My voice broke over the last one and regardless of my decision to be calm and collected, I burst into tears.
“Sweet one, oh my lovely one.” He cupped my chin in his hand and gazed into my eyes. “I’ve made you cry. I’m sorry.” Wiping away my tears, his masks dropped and the millennia passed through his eyes, this thousands-year-old beast I’d fallen in love with.
“No, I’m not leaving you. I told you I wouldn’t. I’d part ways with my family if I had to. But Hotlips has been paid off. She’s of no concern to us now. My mother wasn’t terribly thrilled but she’s . . . she’s not my father.” His voice dropped and I glanced up to see a cloud cross those glacial eyes.
“What happened?” I asked, pushing myself off his lap. “Are you okay? Did they kick you out?”
He shook his head. “No. No, as a matter of fact, the Dragon Council was so appreciative of the news about Shadow Wing that they gave us their blessing. Basically, they told Hotlips to take the money and shut up.”
But there was something else. Something not so good. I could hear it in his voice and see it in the troubled expression playing across his face.
“You aren’t telling me everything. I want you to be honest with me. No more surprises.” My decisiveness returned after the little jaunt into maudlin-land and I sucked in a deep breath. “Smoky, I can’t afford to be worrying about us when I’m facing down demons and ghouls.”
He slowly nodded. “I see your point. And since you refuse to let me take you away from this war, then you’re correct. I should have told you about the betrothal sooner, but I thought I had time to figure it out before it became an issue. All right. Prepare yourself. What’s troubling me is this: We’ve made a powerful enemy and I’m frightened for you.”
I frowned. What powerful enemy wasn’t already signed up to hate us?
“Great. Whose hit list am I on now? You said the Dragon Council was on your side, and your mother may not be happy, but you said she . . . oh no.” I raised my hand to my throat, a lump the size of my fist forming. “Tell me it’s not your father? What happened with your father, Smoky?” Memories of Hyto’s hands on my ass came racing back.
“Hyto was kicked out of the Council and my mother denied him. Not only has he lost his seat in the Council, but he’s also been cast out of the family and has no rights over the children anymore. In essence, my mother divorced him and he lost any standing that we children brought him. She’s been leading up to it for some time, and this was the last straw.”
I could feel the fear hiding behind that impassive face. “Holy cripes, what the hell did he do? Isn’t it hard to get yourself kicked out of the Dragon Council?”
“For many, yes. But he’s a white wing, and white dragons hold only a moderate amount of caste and influence. When the Council put the stamp of approval on my marriage to you, he blew up and demanded the Wing Liege change his mind. And worse: When they cast him off the Council, he refuted them.”
I almost swallowed my tongue. “Is the Wing Liege your king?”
“No, the Wing Liege is the lead justice on the Council. He has the authority to speak for the Emperor—we don’t have a king—when it comes to matters like this. When Father refuted the Council, the Wing Liege ordered him to vacate Mother’s dreyerie immediately and then proclaimed him pariah for a period of a thousand years.”
Images of dragon rising against dragon flooded my mind and I was suddenly grateful that I’d been left behind and hadn’t had to witness the scene.
“Hell in a hand basket. Was anybody hurt? Did it turn into a fight?”
Smoky grimaced, a look of sorrow filling his eyes. “Not for lack of trying. Father sent a blast of fire my way, but I dodged it. The guards wing-strapped him for defying the Council ruling. There shall be no flame upon the Council’s sacred grounds. Ever. Only the Emperor and Empress may ignite flame in the courts.”
He looked so unhappy that I wanted to take him in my arms and kiss away the pain, but nothing I could do would soften the blow.
“I’m so sorry—and I’m to blame,” I whispered. If Smoky hadn’t met me, he wouldn’t have gotten into it with his father. Feeling responsible for tearing apart their home, I crossed to the window and stared out into the autumn night. “What can I do to make up for this? There’s nothing I can do, is there?”
Smoky whirled me around, his hands firm on my shoulders. He forced me to meet his gaze. “You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Father and I would have arrived at this point sooner or later. The foundation for this was set long ago, before I first left the Northlands.”
“What do you mean?” I felt so young compared to him. And in truth, I was so young. Fully a woman, yes, but a child in terms of the scope of years Smoky had already seen come and go.
“The reason I left the Northlands was to avoid coming to blows with him. I wanted to kill him when I was younger, I hated him so much, but dragons are raised to honor our ancestors. I thought if I left, things would get better. Maybe he’d change. Maybe he’d see the error of his ways. But Hyto got worse. He abused our servants, he threatened my mother time and again, and while she just ignored him, there was always the fear he’d act on his threats. And he loved to ravish and pillage the nearby human villages. He took pleasure in burning their houses to the ground and raping their women.”
I shivered. My instincts had been right on. And then I remembered when I’d first met Smoky. He had said, “I could steal you away and no one would stop me.” He did have some of his father’s blood in him, but he was doing his best to keep it under control.
