Free Dragon Mine (A Hidden Novella) by Jaime Rush Page A

looked at the clock at the same time he did. Noon. Thank God they hadn’t slept past the time his Dragon was to return. He had to get his father out of that tulpa the moment it came back.
    “We’d better get moving.” Elle gave Esmerelda a sheepish smile. “You remember Kirin?”
    The maid’s brown eyes alighted on him. “ Si . Nice young man.”
    He gave her a smile of gratitude, the best he could manage.
    “I’ll heat your lunch. Enough for both of you.” She pulled the door closed as she left.
    Elle burst out laughing. “Now that was an embarrassing way to wake up.” She sank to the corner of the bed, one long leg tucked beneath her. Her expression grew serious, all trace of laughter gone. “So what now, Kirin?”
    Between us. That’s what she meant. Her eyes looked as rich as melted chocolate, her Deuce fog swirling.
    What he wanted to say was, I want you, tonight and always, in my bed and my life, no matter what happens. But there was something he needed to tell her first. He would not let his lie stand between them.
    Before he could open his mouth, she said, “I tried to find you in Atlanta. I was driving through to pick up my horse in North Carolina.” She shook her head, and the light streaming in through the curtains danced over her hair. “I waited outside the building around lunch time. I really, really wanted to see you and feel nothing. Not anger or love or anything. But I still felt both just as strong.”
    His chest was too tight to speak for a moment. Finally he said, “I didn’t know. I wish you’d come up to me.”
    She gave him a tremulous smile. “Me too.”
    She started to reach for him, but he didn’t move. It was all he could do not to forgo the whole being-honest thing. But he had to. “While we’re in confession mode…I did see the note your mom wrote to my pop.”
    She dropped her hand. “What?”
    “I saw some of the note, the signature line: Thank you from the bottom of my heart, T. When I told you I never lied about how I feel, that was true. But if we’re going to go any further—and I want to go further—I have to be honest with you. I never told anyone, not even Lyra.”
    She swallowed hard, shifting slightly away. “Lyra must have seen something incriminating for her to burn the damned thing.”
    “She admitted she only saw that it was Tara’s writing. She panicked before even reading it, typical Lyra, and acted on impulse. She was afraid it would prove that they’d been romantically involved, which might implicate him in Tara’s disappearance. We grew up on stories about an uncle who was executed by the Guard based on circumstantial evidence. Lyra was terrified that the note would do the same to Pop.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So was I.”
    Kirin could see Elle close down, almost like she’d pulled a shutter between them.
    Elle stood, pulling the robe tighter, and stared out the window. “What was she thanking him for? I can’t imagine what he would have been doing for her.”
    She wasn’t asking him, and since he didn’t know the answer, he didn’t respond. Finally she turned to him. “Is there anything else you’re holding out on?” Her words came out hard, taut.
    “You know everything I know. I hated lying to you, Elle.” He jammed his fingers through his hair. “Hated what Lyra did because it put me in a no-win situation. If I didn’t back her, she would have been arrested for tampering with evidence. I would never have done it if I thought my father was guilty.”
    She seemed to consider those words. “Or is it that sometimes we can’t see what we don’t want to see? Because everything inside me screams that my father would never use Shadow Magick to hurt someone. But the harsh truth is, it looks like he did. Everything inside me screams that we are meant to be together, but the truth is, we have too much hurt between us. I hurt you, you betrayed me, and now it looks like our fathers are involved in a deadly drama. How can we