Yes. She’s like her father.
No. Not like her father. The elves trapped you down here, for the most part, and us with you. Like you tried to trap her. You grew used to it, because you love this place. She loves the Underworld too, I can see. I can hear the hum of it from Archion when he speaks of their time together. But she will not be trapped. And she would never kill someone she values as highly as that druid. Look.
She doesn’t value that druid…
The thoughts dried up in his mind. The nest of the pink dragon—he couldn’t remember its name—was empty.
She vowed to protect him, Tatsu thought. She gave him the gift of bonding with a dragon. She rode with him every day, side by side. She is loyal to him. Tell me, what lengths would you go to in order to protect someone you are loyal to?
His rose-colored glasses ripped off, he considered his memories from the last few weeks in a new light. Little things Reagan had said. Little things she had done. Her confusion at how much she liked his kingdom. Her joy in learning, her quick responses as a pupil…
Her flashes of defiance when he chastised her. Her incredible bursts of anger. Her quick wit, able to cut him to the quick after only a short time of knowing him. The look on her face when he’d mentioned sexing away her vampire lover.
That hadn’t been disgust at a father bringing up sex to his daughter. It had been disgust at the suggestion such a thing could be done.
Why did she send the druid away? he wondered. Why did she form an attachment with a dragon if she planned to leave? How did she so thoroughly trick me?
Because he had been tricked. He still couldn’t quite believe her capable of such an elaborate ruse, as a matter of fact. He did not believe she could’ve snuck out in the middle of the night, with the druid of all creatures, and tried to escape his paradise. Tried to escape him.
Rage twisted in his gut.
Go to the castle, he mentally barked.
You won’t find her there.
GO TO THE CASTLE!
Still his mind pored over every detail of their interactions. The nuances he had missed in his eagerness to connect with her.
One thing stuck in his mind: the look she’d given him when he told her not to destroy her mother’s garden. He hadn’t understood that look at the time, but he did now.
Detached abhorrence.
He had leaned into a fond memory, trying to create a deep connection, but she’d seen straight through him. It was then she’d shored up the wall between them—one he couldn’t hope to penetrate with friendly banter and declarations of fatherly love.
She didn’t want a father. She wanted her mother back. If he hoped to gain her trust and her affection, it couldn’t be through calling up his connection to a woman he’d, admittedly, barely known. He’d been entranced by her, incredibly fond of her, but he hadn’t loved her.
She had been Reagan’s whole world. Her sun, stolen from the sky. And he’d played false with that memory. With her pain.
“Vulnerabilities make us stronger,” he said softly, smiling sardonically as they flew.
Reagan’s raw grief for her mother was a huge vulnerability, and it had kept her mind focused in this new world. He hated how right he’d been.
This can’t go unpunished, he thought, leaning forward, knowing that Tatsu would take that as an indication to go faster. If she has lied to me all this time, and fled, it cannot go unpunished.
The question is, who will you punish—her…or yourself? For you were the one who forced this on her. You were the one who tied the chain around her ankle. Can you really blame her for an action you would’ve taken a couple of centuries ago?
He shook his head as she touched down, blocking out her unassailable logic.
Why hadn’t Tatsu raised her doubts before now? Why had she waited?
He asked her.
I have only known her for a few days. It took the end result for me to interpret her actions.
Not helpful.
He ran through the castle. At her quarters, he quickly studied the magical work blocking the door. It was exemplary. She truly had reached power level —his level—although her magic had a unique twist caused by those infernal angels, may they stay trapped in their “haven” forever.
His mind stuttered.
…like he’d been trapped down here…
Frustration rose. Overcame him. Quickly turned to anger.
He hated when Tatsu was right, which was usually always.
He worked at the blockage as her attendant drifted closer.
“Sire, what is the matter?”
He ignored the demon, tearing down the last bit of magic work before finding the fire spell that lay beneath. Excellent.
“Damn her,” he said, pain eating through him. “Please don’t do this to me. Please don’t turn on me.”