Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(109)

She nodded and started to run off, before she suddenly rushed back and hugged me.

Even though, at twelve, she seemed to think half the time that she was full grown, it reminded me how little she still was. Then she was gone, my arms closing on empty air as she ran back toward the stairs, threading between academy students.

As soon as she’d vanished down the stairs and I turned back to the academy, Caldren fell into step alongside me.

“What’s going on? That didn’t seem good.” He didn’t seem to notice he was walking with me into the servants’ quarters, someplace that was beneath him even now.

“It’s not great,” I answered. I gauged him, knowing how unhappy Jaik would be to see us talking, but Jaik’s happiness didn’t make my top-ten list of priorities at the moment. Maybe Cal could help. “My little sister’s in trouble and our creepy new stepfather seems far too excited to exert some discipline.”

“Does she deserve it?” Caldren asked.

The implication that I was overprotective made me instantly furious, but my voice came out level. “I don’t think she could do anything to deserve what he’s planning.”

“Are you in trouble yourself?” His light tone salved my irritation. Something about the way he asked implied he’d help if I were ever in trouble.

“Always.”

He stopped and turned to face me. “Do you need me to go with you?”

I desperately wanted him to come with me, but I knew it was irrational. This was a family matter, and Alis and Henrick would be furious if I brought a witness—especially a member of the royal family, even if he were a disgraced one. “I don’t think you’re going to make things better.”

“Well, what are you going to do?”

I finally stopped to face him. “Cal, I really do not have all the answers right now.”

“By all the answers, you mean you don’t have any answers, right? No plan?”

I wouldn’t have been so irritated if he weren’t correct. “That’s right. A new problem was presented to me forty-five seconds ago, and I don’t yet have a perfect fully formed plan.”

“You’re acting as if I’m the crazy one,” he said mildly, falling into step beside me again as I paced toward Calla’s room. “But if you don’t recall, you are usually the one that goes off all half-cocked and reckless.”

“I’m not being reckless today. I just don’t know what else to do but protect my little sister.”

He gave me a long look. “Promise me you’ll tell me if you need me, Honor.”

“You’ve been a good friend, Caldren,” I said.

“I think I could have been a better one,” he answered.

For some reason, I thought that I really wanted a hug. Just like Hanna had wanted one from me. I felt like I’d been able to loan her a little bit of my strength when I squeezed her tight.

And now I sure could use some strength. Because the truth was, something about my stepfather sent a shiver of nerves through my body.

Was it too late to go to Jaik and Talisyn and tell them to take me away, as long as they would take us both away? There was a creeping sense of something terrible coming that I couldn’t shake.

“I’ll come up with something,” I promised as I came to a stop outside Calla’s door. A startled serving girl stared at Caldren with her lips parted, then scurried away.

He didn’t seem to notice, his gaze fixed on me. “I don’t doubt you will. You are endlessly resourceful, Honor.” He sounded so confident, and I wished I shared that confidence in myself.

I smiled at him. Maybe something in my face showed just how hard it was for me to smile, because suddenly he folded his arms around me in a tight, warm hug.

“Promise me that you’ll come talk to me tonight and tell me about how it’s gone.” His breath was warm against my cheek, and I clung to him a little harder than I should.

“At the Twisted Pines again?” My voice came out breathless.

He nodded.

“I’ll probably need a drink after seeing those two.”

“I’ll buy you all the drinks,” he promised.

“Well, I’ll definitely have to survive tonight so I can run up your bar tab.”

Cal brushed his lips against my cheek in a soft, tender kiss. He squeezed my arms, gave me a wink as he backed away.

I stepped into Calla’s room feeling certain that I’d be able to manage Henrick and Alis. If I could manage the five dragon royals and the wolf shifter, then one nasty man and a grasping woman should be easily overcome.

But I couldn’t show them just how dangerous I was. Henrick and Alis didn’t know I was a dragon shifter.

The toughest part of the night would be protecting my secrets as well as my sister.





Honor



I quickly washed up at the sink in our room, since I’d dragged my dress over my sweaty skin when I was in a rush to get to Hanna, and changed into clean clothes. Then I headed off to face my stepmother and my new stepfather.

The trip along the cobblestone roads felt lonely, especially when the streets were full of people rushing home, children racing through the crowd causing chaos as they played tag, and vendors shouting their wares. I wished I’d let Caldren come with me, no matter how impractical.