I slide my hands from Vale’s grip, careful to keep the movent casual despite every cell in my body screaming to run. "You’re being awfully kind all of a sudden."
"Am I not allowed monts of compassion?" His lips curve, but the expression doesn’t reach his eyes. "After all, we share similar goals."
"And what goals would those be?"
"Your safety. Your education. Your... evolution." He leans back, crossing one leg over the other with fluid grace. "The Moons were likely crude in their thods, I’ll grant you that. But their basic premise isn’t entirely wrong."
My stomach lurches. "Kidnapping and torture seem pretty wrong to ." It’s also strange that he knows exactly who had . Maybe it isn’t strange; maybe they knew all along. But it just makes everything even weirder and hard to stomach.
I take a deep breath and fold my hands in my lap to stop their trembling. It feels like the purple lines are writhing beneath my skin, even though I can’t see them.
But I need to know.
"Are you a dragon, too?"
"Yes." Vale’s voice carries no inflection, as if comnting on the weather. "Does that frighten you?"
"No." My hands betray with a slight shake. "I’m not that easy to scare."
His lips quirk up at my obvious lie, and his nostrils flare. The gesture reminds of Xavier’s predatory assessnt, how he could sll my fear. Dragons and their heightened senses—I wonder what other tells I’m giving away.
Then he sighs and settles back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight. "Let be clear, Ms. d’Armand. I care very little about your well-being."
The blunt admission catches off guard. I narrow my eyes, studying his face for any hint of deception. "Really?"
"Does that hurt your feelings?"
"No." A laugh bubbles up, surprising even . "Actually, I’m relieved you’re finally being a little honest."
His deep laugh fills the room, rich and genuine—nothing like the calculated expressions from before. "I find myself appreciating your candor, Ms. d’Armand."
"Thank you."
His gaze rakes over before he finally nods. "You will be enrolled at Thornheights Academy. This is non-negotiable."
Thornheights? "Don’t you an Thornhaven?"
His lips tighten, and his words turn cold. "Does it matter?"
"I was just—I an, it could be a different academy entirely." How do you forget the na of your own magical academy?
A frown creases his forehead before smoothing away, apparently deciding there’s no point in continuing that thread of conversation. "What matters is that I have no interest in your ntal or physical well-being. My only concern is your magic."
The temperature in the room drops several degrees in an instant. Knowing he doesn’t care about is one thing; hearing it from his own mouth is another.
"Let be perfectly clear—if you cannot control yourself, you will be disposed of. You’re nothing but a liability if you continue killing people around you."
My hands shake in my lap. I don’t want to hurt anyone else either. Five people are more than enough. No one should ever have to die because of .
"However, due to your connection with one of my best soldiers, I’m willing to put forth the effort to train you."
"What’s the catch?" There’s obviously a big one.
"You’ll need to voluntarily enter a contract. One that protects both us and you."
Ah. The mysterious contract. I’m guessing it’s the sa kind Logan’s constrained by.
But part of his claim doesn’t ring true. "Does it really protect ?"
His lips twitch upward. "Well, you don’t seem fond of the alternative."
Oh.
Oh.
I get it. It’s not that the contract protects ; it’s that choosing the contract is the only way for to live. It’s about becoming one of them instead of being erased from existence entirely.
Dirty gas.
But even as I piece that together, another thing clicks.
Sothing’s strange about all of this.
Despite Logan’s inability to tell anything, I know he wouldn’t voluntarily put in danger. And throwing into the lap of people who don’t care if I live or die—that doesn’t seem like the kind of thing he would do.
I’m pretty sure this guy isn’t lying when he says he’ll dispose of if I can’t gain control, and that makes sense. I’d even say it doesn’t technically bother . Of course, I don’t want to die... But if I was so sort of terrible living death sentence for innocent people around , it makes sense. But there’s just sothing strange...
And Logan said he wouldn’t hurt .
Maybe it’s stupid to push this man. He’s a dragon, and dragons don’t—apparently—have human morals. Maybe pissing him off is signing my death sentence.
But sothing deep inside tells that I should push. That I shouldn’t take things at face value. Straightening my shoulders, I et his stare head-on, my fear lting away.
"If there’s a contract, my lawyer will look it over. I won’t sign anything that isn’t beneficial to ."
His brow quirks.
"And while I believe you don’t care about ..." My eyes narrow. "I don’t think that’s true of your superiors. Is it?"
Both brows wing up now, and he barks out another laugh. "I underestimated your spunk, Ms. d’Armand. Very well. Let kindly request your cooperation with enrollnt at Thornhaven," and he stresses the na with utmost politeness. "As for the contract, am I correct to assu that your lawyer would be Marcus Ashby?"
It doesn’t surprise that this man knows about the lawyer’s visit to my room. It’s a complete bluff, but I nod with confidence. "Yes."
He sighs. "I’ll look into the contract before providing it to your..." His grimace of distaste leaves curious. "Lawyer."
Sensing that I’ve won sothing, though I’m not sure what, I press a little harder. "This contract of yours isn’t strictly necessary. Is it, Chancellor Vale?"
Amusent flashes across his face. "No, Ms. d’Armand. It is, after all, completely voluntary."
"Am I to understand that I will be disposed of if I don’t sign it?"
"Of course not." Standing, he tucks his hands into his pockets. "We don’t do that kind of thing around here. After all, our contracts are purely voluntary."
His smooth-ass lie cos off his tongue like it’s nothing. This man has an agenda and doesn’t mind playing the bad guy to get it. Or a good guy. He’s a freaking chaleon-dragon.
But sothing in my gut tells I have the upper hand here. It might not seem that way at first, but these people really want to cooperate of my own free will. It seems to be important.
The not-panther cos to mind, breaking into Penelope’s place to tell sothing strange. That the dragons wanted at my lowest, with nowhere to go and nowhere to trust. There’s only one reason for that. They wanted to save . They wanted my loyalty.
It wasn’t until their plans were foiled that they kidnapped .
For so reason, my consent seems to be very important to these people.
I’m not stupid enough to think I’m safe from being eliminated if they think it’s necessary. But there’s definitely sothing here. Sothing I don’t quite have a grasp on yet.
Smiling brightly, I push one more ti. "Do you think I could get a cell phone? My best friend’s been worried to death about ."
Vale’s face stiffens. His eyes squint just a little as he studies . "Cell service around here is pretty spotty."
"Oh, I can just connect to your wi-fi then, I’m sure."
He hesitates. "We could always call her on your behalf. Tell her you’re doing okay."
"Or I can have my own phone. Show her I’m not being held sowhere against my will. That would be a fun news headline, don’t you think?" Dialing up the wattage of my smile, I even bat my eyes a little. "Please? As the Chancellor of, er, Security?"
A sigh. That’s definitely a sigh.
Victory.
"Of course, Ms. d’Armand. I’ll look into it."
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