Touch of Flame

Ares turned pages to read about breedmates. He wasn’t surprised by the detailed information knowing that the king involved professor Ward in their mission. That would only mean that the man was very competent.

The more Ares read the more he felt like this had nothing to do with Corinna. The breedmate information was about female dragons, not humans so it couldn’t apply to her sister but as he read about the male part, which also seemed the pages Ravina focused on from the places she marked, he felt a strange way.

He continued to turn pages to see if he could find anything on human breedmates. Only a few of the interviewed dragons knew about human breedmates. They described having a human breedmate as a disadvantage to them except for the fact that they could reproduce faster.

The disadvantage they named was that human breedmates didn’t feel nor were they affected by the breedmate pull like they did. They didn’t have those emotions that possessed a dragon once they found their breedmate. The dragon would therefore have to work harder to win his or her human breedmate.

Not being affected by the pull also puts the human breedmate in a power position. Therefore another name for human breedmates is dragon tamers.

Ares nodded. Dragon tamers? Maybe he was getting to something but the power dynamic would certainly be balanced if a human and a dragon were mating.

He proceeded.

Human breedmates are rare. Because dragons find their breedmates through scent, the humans who happen to be breedmates often have certain characteristics. They are often described as strong, fearless, and determined. People with a powerful presence to match their dragon partners.

Interesting. He closed the book and reached under the bed for her bag. He pulled out her own notebook. She was indeed studying male breedmates.

Malachi.

He looked through her notes. Scent. Red dress. Fury and spitefulness. Touch.

He paused. What on earth was she doing? He panicked.

Jealousy. Possessiveness. Protectiveness.

Ares shut the notebook knowing very well what was going on. This woman was just like her father. How did she reach this point that she made herself the experiment and wanted to use herself as a weapon?

He panicked. That already destroyed her father. And him. He couldn’t let that happen to her.

Suddenly her hand grabbed the book and snatched it out of his. He turned to her as she sat up.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“What are YOU doing?” He said standing up.

She looked at him afraid for a moment and he knew she was trying to come up with a lie.

“You said you would be my shield.” She began.

Oh, so this was how she wanted to do it.

“Yes, and I meant it.” He got himself almost burned to death.

She searched his eyes for a moment. “Are you going to tell uncle?”

His jaw clenched. “No, because I won’t have to. You are not going to do whatever you are planning.”

“What do you think about my plan?” She asked to his surprise.

He frowned. “It is stupid.”

“Think of it objectively.”

He couldn’t. He would not accept this. She had already been through enough.

She got up on her knees on the bed. “Ares. You said we have the same goals. Do you understand what I could do with this information?”

He did. He understood very well. “It is dangerous and you don’t know if it will work.”

“The chance is very high. I have seen it with my own eyes.” She said convinced.

What did she see?

“You don’t have to die. Or my uncle. I can do this. Think of how many lives could be saved. How long will we keep him and allow more people to die?” She asked.

God. He clenched his hands. He wanted to save his people too, but he couldn’t sacrifice her. Besides no matter what she did, she could not save him. He had already gone through with the experiment. It was not something he could turn away from no matter how much he tried. Death awaited him.

“I said I would protect you. Not sacrifice you.”

She moved closer to stand right in front of him. “How about trusting me? I am trusting you right now and I rarely trust people.”

“It is not you that I don’t trust.”

“It will be fine. You read the notes.” She assured him.

“Yes. That is why you fainted.”

She stiffened and then shivered. “It does frighten me.” She admitted. “But I don’t want to live in fear anymore. I don’t want to live like this. I am… tired.” Her shoulders fell. “Help me!” She said pleadingly.

Ares felt like someone tore at his heart.

“I will pretend we didn’t talk about this.” He said and turned around to leave but she grasped his hand.

“Please!” She begged. “Look at me!”

He fought the urge to turn back yet he did.

“Look. Do I look like I am alive? I can’t even find peace in sleep. I can escape nowhere. This existence is killing me alive. Slowly. Painfully. I have to do something.”

He looked into her tearful eyes.

“What will I do when you and uncle are gone? There is no way out for me anyway. Let me do the same. Let me try.” She told him. “I might achieve success. I believe I can.” She pulled him closer. “Please.”

How did he get into this? He should never have cared for her. Why? Just to let her die? Or just to leave her?

He sighed, fighting the burning in his eyes. Someone would laugh if they saw him in this state. People knew him as someone else entirely. The ruthless and feared Lord Steele was actually a man sacrificing himself and his future bride. He wanted to laugh.

“I need to think Ravina.”

She squeezed his hand pleadingly. “You said you were going to be on my side.”

“I am on your side.”

“Then saying no won’t stop me. It will force me to do things alone and it will be more dangerous and I will have less chance of being successful. Help me instead. Be my partner. This is a one-time chance.”

Oh, she was good but if he wasn’t dying he would never consider this. He would immediately take her away from here and make her forget all of this. He would even abandon his mission and make them both happy. But now, he couldn’t even stop her because he wasn’t really offering a better option and she would take the dangerous road. There would be more self-harm or harm. Oh God, he wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was.

“We need to discuss the plan in depth first, before I agree.”

“Well, I don’t have a very clear plan. I could use help. I know you know the castle better than I do.”

He nodded. “It won’t be easy. Getting out without getting harmed is even harder than getting in.”

“I am sure together we can figure out something.”