The Dragon Princess

Chapter 8

"You knew they would come after you?" He calls, and I can hear him try to catch up to me. There is anger in his tone, but he has no right to be angry. Only I have that right in this situation.

"Of course I knew." I let out a vile laugh, refusing to look back at him. "No one leaves that place and lives. It was only a matter of time." I continue walking, mumbling to myself in my anger, my feet digging into the sand. The adrenaline is starting to wear off, and in the hot sun, I can start to feel my injuries. They can wait. If it can't wait, then I guess I will just die, and it will be a relief.

"Don't you think I had a right to know?" He yells while grabbing my arm and pulling me back to look at him. His pale blue eyes staring down at me in his foolish anger.

"Right to know what?" I bit back, my glare remaining strong and fierce. "That you won't get your precious happily ever after with your beloved wife?" I shout, pulling my arm free from his grasp. His glare remains unchanged, and his jaw set. "Whatever made you think that I could leave that place, and be free live out my life?" I question with a hiss.

"You gave up that life, Iris." He argues, shaking his head. "They know you did. Why are they coming after you now? Why kill you now?"

I shrug. Did I really matter why now? "Because my father is not alive anymore to protect me from them." I reveal. "I guess I finally got in Theo's way."

"Who is Theo?" He asks, his eyes settling into a stare of almost jealousy.

"The mastermind. The Architect." I reach into my bag, feeling the blood now draining from the dagger that had nicked my arm in the first stages of this fight. "Theo runs the Islander's now. They follow his every order. They are loyal to him, and so was I once."

"How so?" He probes, watching as I tie a cloth around my upper shoulder. I smack away his hand when he tries to help. I don't need his help. I never needed his help. Does he not see that I don't need his help?

I pull the ends of the cloth tight, tying them in a knot and then look up at Lucas. I pull the hood of my cloak back up, shielding my head from the sun, despite the dark fabric nearly baking me on the inside. "Theo is a genius. He plans out every detail of every attack down to the length of every wound, or any bone broken in any way. He saved my life more times than I could ever dare admit."

He is silent for a moment, and I dig into my bag again, wondering how much water I have left. "You love him?" His tone is soft and deep, and for a moment, I stand completely still, blood boiling within my veins. He really is as foolish as I always believed. I almost want to laugh at how much of a joke this is.

My eyes snap up to his with a glare, but his face remains emotionless and calm. "No." I hiss. "I never loved Theo. I never loved anyone." I close my bag, not wanting anything anymore from it. His eyes only show that he doesn't believe me. "Love is weakness." I turn and start walking away again, wanting to be rid of him.

As I walk, I hear his deep voice cut through the silence I am begging to keep. "You are wrong?"

I only made it a few steps from him. "Am I?" I question, suddenly turn around again, knowing he would make some dumb statement just to contradict me. I let out another vile laugh. "Answer me this, Lucas. Why did you come after me?" I stalk up to him, pushing him back a step, easily. "Why now? Why after all these years? After all I did?" I push him again, wanting him to answer that question, but he wouldn't. I could see it in his eyes. "It isn't because we are still married, Lucas. It is because after everything I did, you still believed that somewhere, deep down, I had actually meant at least something I said when we were together. When I was pretending to love you and be your wife. Deep down, you are trying to discover if that old me is still there." I glare up at him, knowing I am reading him like the open book that he is. "Because you love me." I say, revealing that last detail. No other excuse makes since, than that. "You have tracked me down, of your own free will, in your own selfishness after all these years, after everything I did to hurt you, because you love me. In doing so, you have signed your own death warrant. If that isn't weakness, then I don't know what is." With one last glare, I turn and walk away, ignoring the small flicker of emotion that flashes across his eyes as I do so. I know I am right. I always knew how Lucas felt. It was easy. It was too easy for him to believe me. Too easy to get him to do exactly what I wanted.