The Jade Dragon by Rowena May O'Sullivan

Author:Rowena May O'Sullivan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, paranormal
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2013-05-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Of all the images she expected, it certainly wasn’t this. This was why he had asked about the accident yesterday. It was the strangest feeling and yet his presence in her mind was not invasive. He did as promised and showed her images only. Tears erupted in her eyes and rained unchecked down her cheeks. She scooted to the far end of the couch, curling up into herself, once again hugging the pillow to her chest. Her sorrow, she knew, leaked in waves from her body, convulsing into heart-wrenching sobs she didn’t seem to have any control over.

Gregori reached out to her. She backed up as far as she could and when that wasn’t far enough, she shot from the seat like a dark voluminous eruption from a volcano and placed herself in the doorway to her bedroom. He’d promised not to enter her room. She would be safe there.

“It was you,” she whimpered.

His anguish was written in his features. There was a great sadness in his eyes. He paced towards her, stopping scarcely an inch away from her. She forced herself to remain where she was, determined not to be bowed by this revelation when she had so much more to reveal than he.

“I didn’t cause the accident.” He towered over her. “It’s imperative you believe me.”

“It’s imperative you keep your distance,” she managed between shuddering sobs.

He went silent and waited, like an avenging dragon whose wings had been broken and could no longer fly. She felt his pain along their connection. He spoke the truth, but the shock, the emotions she’d repressed for so long, the images of that time when her life had changed so dramatically came rushing back, breaking through the barriers she’d erected to keep her from remembering. Could she forgive him for that, when she’d been so successful in ignoring the truth for so long?

“The bells tolled for you when I was fourteen,” she rubbed away the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. “How can you still be here, alive, with magic?”

“Marylebone ensorcelled me.”

It all made sense now. “Until I was old enough to bind with you?”

Gregori nodded. “Yes. Otherwise I would have had to sacrifice everything. I’m born immortal. Not made. The consequences of ignoring the bells are far greater for someone like me. I’m old. Very old. With so much power at my fingertips, to deny the bells would ultimately spell disaster for everyone and to sacrifice all the knowledge I possess drove them to desperation. Marylebone did not want to lose that knowledge so they risked ensorcelling me. Against my will, I might add. I was intent on searching for the cause of your parents’ death and I was doing so when they entrapped me. If you don’t believe me, ask Zelda. She knows.”

His image blurred as new tears filled her eyes. “Zelda!” Alanna felt the blood drain from her cheeks. She shook her head from side to side, her eyes closed, her mouth twisted in pain.

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