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“Your pain… called me.” His voice was harsh from disuse.
As quickly as her heart rose, it sank again. She had hurt another one of her mates. Her sob caught in her throat, but Luca heard it anyway. He pulled her tighter and let out soft chuffing noises as she sobbed noisily in his arms.
When her tears had finally run dry, the sounds of crickets and the wind rustling through the grass replaced the sound of her sobs. Luca still held her.
“You should go,” she said, her own voice raspy from crying, “before I hurt you anymore.”
Luca let out a low growl in his chest that vibrated through Holly’s body. “No,” he said shortly. “Never leave.”
Despite the situation, Holly let out a half smile. He sounded like his dragon did, but she insisted. “I hurt you,” she said. “My papa…” Would Luca hate her if she told him? If he knew her papa was the one who had trapped him at the hoard?
“Know,” Luca said simply. “Rec… recognized magic tonight. Couldn’t tell.”
Holly’s heart sank, and she stiffened in his arms. “Do you hate me?” she said in a very small voice, and she hated how weak she sounded.
Luca’s arms stiffened around her. “Never,” he rasped in her ear, shivers running up her spine despite the seriousness of the situation. “My mate.”
A new round of tears started, but Luca held her through them. She didn’t deserve him, but she was going to take the comfort that she could. “Not… fault,” Luca rasped again, his voice getting raspier the longer he spoke. “Other mates… right. You… deserve more than him.” His last sentence was finished in a rush as his voice cracked, but Holly knew what he meant. She hadn’t deserved what her papa had done to her. In the dead of night, after all the tears and swirling emotions, Holly’s mind was clear. Her papa was responsible for his own actions. Just like Holly was responsible for hers.
“I’m sorry,” she said, turning on her back to face him. She got distracted by his face, lifting a hand to cup his cheek and trace across his jaw. He captured her hand with his and placed a hesitant kiss on the inside of her wrist. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, “for not listening sooner. For not finding out who he was sooner. I hurt you.”
Luca shook his head. “He…” His voice gave out, and he frowned, but Holly had a feeling he meant to say “he hurt me,” and her heart ached at how forgiving Luca was being.
She went to look down and realized Luca hadn’t shifted back with any clothes. Her face went bright red, and her eyes flew up to his red face. He went to scoot away, and Holly placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I just forgot. Wait.”
He stilled under her touch, and Holly scooted a few feet away for her satchel that had been sent flying when she’d fallen. She reached down in it till her fingertips grazed on the blanket she had packed. When she pulled it out, Luca took it from her and draped it over himself. He opened his arms back to her once he was done. “Hold you?” he asked in a whisper.
Holly bit her cheek at the burn in the back of her throat. She would like nothing more right now.
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but a streak of light across her face had her blinking until the world came into focus around her. She turned her head, scared she had just dreamed of Luca, but he was lying there behind her, his arms still around her. His green eyes met hers, and she smiled softly. He mimicked her actions, but his eyes looked tired.
“Did you sleep?” she asked.
He shook his head, his lips falling into a frown. “Watched you,” he said softly.
Holly’s own smile fell as the events of last night trickled into her mind. Her discovery… Her papa…
Luca’s fingers under her chin had her lifting her gaze up to him. “Okay,” he assured her.
“I’m sorry,” Holly apologized again. In the light of the morning, the previous days events still weighed heavy on her mind.
“Okay,” he said again. “Need to tell others. Can’t… remember what he took.” He flashed her a much clearer image of her papa in the hoard.
Holly’s eyes widened as she realized what Luca was saying. He didn’t know if that was all her papa had taken from the hoard. What did that mean?
“What else could he have taken?” Holly asked out loud, more to herself than to Luca, but Luca answered anyway.
“Weapons.”
Well, shit. Had they built another ultimate weapon already? Or a version of it?
Someone shouted her name, and Holly looked over her shoulder. In the morning sun, she realized she had run farther last night than she had thought. Brandlevine’s manor was just a distant speck on the horizon, and the grassy plains around them stretched on to the Fae lands. Three small figures hurried toward them. Her mates. Why were they looking for her? They had asked for space last night.
The three of them closed the distance quickly but stopped ten paces away when they realized she wasn’t alone. “Who are you?” Kallan said, distrust lacing his voice as his hand fell to the pommel of his sword.
“This is Luca,” Holly said quickly, to avoid a fight.
“Luca?” Kieran asked, getting closer.
