Page 53 of Dragon Charmed

“Tell me…” He struggled with the words since the razorblades kept slicing at his throat.

“Tell you what?” she asked in a flat voice.

“Tell me about the man…dragon I killed.”

“What kind of game are you playing?” Her voice rose this time.

“I’m not playing any game. You said he was a clan leader? So dragons live in clans.”

She stared at him for a moment, and he didn’t think she was going to answer him. “Yes. You live in clans. Adam was the leader of the clan. He would do anything for his clan and family.”

Ben couldn’t breathe again at the word family. “Did he have a spouse? Kids?”

“No. He has a brother and sister who loved him and miss him every day. He practically raised his younger sister, Sienna. She took over running the clan. And his brother, Eric, blames himself for Adam’s death. He has spent the last year trying to find his killer and to protect the clan that Adam fought so hard for.”

There was no making amends, no redemption for him. Tessa’s mask slipped away, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“Were you close to him?”

She shook her head. “No. But people I love were, and I would do anything for them. Adam will never get to meet his amazing niece.”

He blinked the moisture from his own eyes. He didn’t have a right to cry. “The picture in your apartment.”

She didn’t answer, but her silence was response enough.

“Do you know who I am? My real name?”

Her mouth tightened before she spoke. “Nope. Can’t help you.”

He leaned back and closed his eyes. What else was there to say? He’d killed a paragon of virtue and left his family and clan devastated.

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t remember what happened, or that he would do anything to reverse it. He had to face his actions.

Chapter 21

How much longer? Tessa stood at the motel window waiting for Eric and Marcus to arrive. She glanced at Ben, who rested his head against the wall with his eyes closed as if he was accepting his fate.

She on the other hand was more than confused. He was a liar, right? How could he not be. She was supposed to believe that he didn’t remember who he was or that he was a dragon? Seriously? But if he was playing a game, why confess to killing Adam? By now the story of Adam’s death had to have reached all the dragon clans. Why would the one thing he said he remembers be something that would have him arrested, or worse? She wasn’t sure what dragon justice meant for someone who killed another dragon. Especially one as important as Adam.

Her stomach twisted in knots thinking about what she was going to say to Eric. Hell, Marcus loved Adam like a son too. They were both going to be devastated. Even though they had stopped the other dragons from taking over the clan after Adam’s death, they still hadn’t found his killer. And now he sat calm as can be in a bed he’d willingly handcuffed himself to?

His face was pale, never getting the color back after she’d told him about Adam. And he had been so adamant about staying away from Lily. Afraid he would turn her into an angel when he should have sensed her dragon. If this was an act, it was a good one. God, what a cluster.

And to make things worse (as if they could be) she had really liked Ben. Thought he was a decent man. He had treated her with respect, as if she had a brain and could contribute. She could be Tessa and not what everyone expected Tessa to be. She hated to admit to herself that she’d started to think, What if? when it came to him. And now there was no future with him.

Her heartbeat picked up when she heard cars approaching and looked out the window. Two SUVs pulled up and stopped. Eric and Marcus climbed out of the first one, and two guards got out of the second.

“They’re here. I’ll be right back.”

She took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked over to the SUV.

“What the hell is going on, Tessa? Why are you here alone?” Marcus barked in lieu of a greeting.

“He finally responded to my texts and agreed to meet me, and I didn’t want him to change his mind so I came here from work. You can yell at me later.”

Eric stepped closer. “You said he’s a dragon?”

“Yes.” She swallowed. “He’s claiming that he doesn’t remember anything. He even claimed not to remember he was a dragon.”