Page 47 of Dragon My Crazy

“I am. I can still hear his words.” But her doubts were rubbing off on me. “Maybe I misinterpreted them?”

“Maybe. I’ll do some digging for you. But until we know for sure, it’s better for you to get somewhere safe. You can always come back when we clear things up.”

I nodded. It was the best option. I’d dealt with men like Leroy before and knew that one ounce of prevention was always betterthan a pound of cure. It would be infinitely easier to stay out of his grasp than it would be to get out once he’d sunk his nails in.

If I moved fast and got out while everyone was busy cleaning up and resetting the wards, no one would notice until I was gone. The goal was to make sure Leroy never saw my magic unhidden in all its glory. Resolve strong, I gave Melly one more big hug and all the kisses she could handle, then started toward my room to pack.

Chapter 21

Emmett

Dayslater,thecastlestill felt wrong without her, almost like its heart had been ripped out.

My dragon kept pacing back and forth, and back and forth, wearing a trench at the back of my mind.

I’d still been in my office, reviewing security reports from the goblin attack, when Dizzi appeared in the doorway. The look onher face told me everything before she even spoke. She held out a folded note.

“She’s gone,” was all she said.

I took the paper, somehow already knowing what it would say. The words blurred as I read them: I’m heading home. Goodbye.

Just those four words, cold and generic, like they could be written by anyone and not the woman who’d come into my life, into my home, and turned it upside-down in the best of ways.

She’d walked right past the castle’s wards, had her daughter open a portal to her location, and stepped through without looking back.

I resisted the urge to pick up the neatly folded note on my desk again. There was no point in rereading it. There wasn’t a goddamn thing more I could glean from it.

I’d sent her a message inviting her back and promising her that I’d tighten security and keep her safe. But she did not reply.

Of course, she’d left. The attack had shaken her. I’d failed to protect her, and she’d had to protect herself. She didn’t feel safe here anymore. I should’ve pushed that meeting with Leroy later. I should’ve spent the day with everyone else cleaning up the castle instead of trying to figure out the goblins’ motives.

It hadn’t just been Leroy I’d met. I’d talked to those ifrits of hers and Cassian too, trying to figure out what exactly had happened before I’d arrived on scene just in time to see the goblin mage explode. The strange thing was that it almost seemed likeCassian had trouble remembering details himself. But if one of the ifrits offered the info first, he could nod to agree or shake to refute.

This made me even more suspicious of Leroy, because who else would be able to influence him so insidiously?

Cassian was clearly upset. Who wouldn’t be when their memory and ability to communicate were being toyed with against their will?

And then there were the goblins we’d caught. None of them had been useful. How could they be when the first two combusted the moment Leroy touched them? He’d claimed it was a spell cast by someone else to make them not talk. But I didn’t believe it. So I’d kept quiet about the last and final goblin.

Perhaps Elana being gone was a good thing, especially if I had a duplicitous wizard in our midst. But my dragon refused to calm, and now I wondered if I was a danger to my own castle and the people in it. Especially when he kept chanting,Burn! Burn! Burn!In my head.

The worst part of all of this was the fact that my sheets still smelled of her, reminding me of how happy I’d been when I’d woken with her in my bed.

And then there was what to do with Melly. Dizzi and her children kept her entertained for the first day, but I was pretty sure she realized Elana was gone.

Leroy had suggested bringing Luella back, but I’d rejected it. He’d even dared question my decision. My dragon had reared itshead then, and he’d walked away, reminded that it was my castle and my decision was final.

I picked up my phone for the twelfth time in as many minutes, but Elana had not replied to my message. So I tried something else. I sent another, asking if she’d like to show Melly and me around Darlington. And then, because I couldn’t stand the four walls of my office anymore, I stepped outside for a walk.

I found Dizzi, her children, and Melly outside in the courtyard. Outside playtime was something Elana had added in the week she was here. She’d even recommended getting her a human-style playground when she got older. Monkey bars and swings, things that are best used with a human body.

I stood and watched them for a while before approaching Dizzi with the question I’d been trying not to ask her for days. “Did Elana say anything to you before she left?”

The goblin avoided my gaze, which was easy considering she was eye level with my belly. In the end, she said, “I can’t talk about it. But I’m disappointed in you, Emmett.” And then she turned back to the children.

Well, at least she was honest. And she seemed to have no problem calling me by my name.

“I, too, am disappointed in myself for not catching the attack on time. I should’ve known the attack at the front gate was a distraction.”