Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(56)
Bryn laughed. “Should I have Valmont take a picture of his face as I deliver the news?”
“Yes.” Her grandmother grinned. “On a serious note, I will meet you at your room, and we’ll go down to the car together Sunday at eleven.”
Good plan, since the last time she’d climbed into a car the driver had tried to murder her. And since he’d been killed during her rescue she still didn’t have a freaking clue why he’d done it. But, now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“I’ll see you Sunday.”
Bryn met up with her friends, and they headed back to her dorm.
“Did you find out anything you think is worth sharing?” Ivy asked from the corner of the couch where she sat with Clint.
Bryn couldn’t help but notice that Ivy had lost some of her enthusiasm, which was kind of sad but totally understandable. Best to keep the information she shared simple.
She told her about Sparks, where Adam and Eve lived and the confirmation that other hybrid communities existed. “So, not much to tell, really.”
“Let’s cut the crap,” Clint said.
“What do you mean?” Ivy asked.
“I know you’re scared. Hell, we all have a far better respect for the Directorate and the lengths they’ll go to in order to keep us in line, but that doesn’t mean I want to fall in line and be a good little soldier. If there is information out there about other hybrids, I want to know.”
“Are you sure?” Bryn asked. “I don’t want to be responsible for your marriage contract being voided.”
“If you start to share anything that makes us uncomfortable, we’ll stop you,” Clint said. “That way I get to decide how in the dark I am, not Ferrin.”
“Okay.” Bryn wasn’t sure Ivy felt the same way.
“Do you think Adam and Eve’s entire town of dragons is like them?” Clint asked.
“How would that even be possible?” Valmont added.
“I don’t know.” Bryn closed her eyes and tried to figure it out. “What if some of the mistresses managed to become pregnant?”
“Their benefactors would have to be okay with that,” Ivy said. “And I can’t picture a Blue being okay with that at all.”
“But we aren’t talking about Blues. We’re talking about Black and Reds, who seem far more…” Valmont frowned. “What’s the word I’m looking for?
“More reasonable, less volatile, far better looking,” Clint said.
Bryn laughed, happy to have the old Clint back. “Even though Reds and Blacks aren’t as anal as Blues, I can’t imagine they’d risk discovery.”
Ivy bit her lip, like she was thinking hard about something. “Maybe they’re dragons who have lived apart from the Directorate their entire lives. Maybe they snuck under the radar and lived in quiet communities. Adam and Eve told you about Sparks. Who’s to say there isn’t a bigger community of Reds and Blacks hidden someplace else.”
“Once you have one hybrid dragon, and they marry and have kids, their children will be hybrids, and when those kids marry, their kids will be hybrids, so this could have started with one hybrid a long time ago,” Valmont said.
“That sounds like one of those story problems from math.” Clint laughed. “If one hybrid dragon has two kids and they marry and each have two kids and the cycle continues, then one day there might be enough of them to populate a town, or take on the Directorate.”
“And the ones taking on the Directorate would be endangering the peaceful ones who attend school and try to blend in,” Bryn said.
“Which is why your grandfather and his cronies can never find out about Adam and Eve,” Clint said.
Chapter Seventeen
Sunday, Bryn was happy to find herself at Suzette’s without Jaxon, watching Lillith and the other Blue women ooh and ahh over baby clothes. It made the normally cold and standoffish Blues seem far more human and likable.
And the pie was awesome. Bryn dug into her third piece of cherry pie, while her grandmother handed another gift to Lillith. It seemed her grandmother and Lillith had become friends, which was nice and terrifying at the same time. Nice because Lillith seemed like she needed friends, and terrifying because it implied to all present that they were working at cementing an alliance between the two families, aka the nightmare marriage between her and Jaxon.
Valmont stood on guard off to the side, with a polite smile plastered on his face.
“Isn’t this adorable?” Lillith held out a tiny tuxedo.
A tuxedo for a baby? Seriously? There was even a tiny bow tie. Poor kid. If Clint thought penguin suits were uncomfortable now, what would they be like for a baby?
Bryn leaned over and spoke to the woman next to her. “Can you really get a baby to wear one of those?”
“Of course.” She seemed shocked by the question.
No wonder Jaxon and his friends acted so stiff and formal. It had been drummed into them since birth.
Lillith unwrapped Bryn’s present next.
“Oh, Bryn, I love it.” She held out the silver rattle with Westgate engraved down the side so everyone could see.
Warmth bloomed in Bryn’s chest, somewhat filling the gaping hole left by her parents death. If she had to marry Jaxon, at least she’d gain Lillith as a mother-in-law. Oh, holy hell, are there drugs in the cherry pie? How’d I think that without flinching?