How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin #6)(12)

“You were the one who killed her!” To this day Izzy still sometimes woke up in a cold sweat from the nightmare of seeing her mother sacrifice herself to Rhydderch Hael to save Izzy. A price Talaith had willingly paid—so how could Izzy do any different?

Yet Rhydderch Hael waved all that away with his claw. “Nitpicking. I restored your mother’s life.”

“You haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“Iseabail, I’m a god. I don’t have to change. For anyone. Ever. That’s the wondrous beauty that is being a god.”

“And you can take your wondrous beauty and shove it up your godly as—”

“Iseabail.”

“She’s been gone a long time, eh?”

Éibhear, who hadn’t stopped staring at the man, grunted in reply.

“Maybe she went to track down ogres with the others.”

Another grunt.

“Maybe I should come back later.”

Minor grunt.

The man’s gaze moved around the tent in an attempt not to look at Éibhear. “Soooo . . . you’re a friend of Izzy’s?”

No grunt, instead Éibhear narrowed his eyes and the human male took a step back.

“How could you think I would not one day call in this debt?” Rhydderch Hael asked, appearing truly perplexed. “You still wear my mark on your shoulder.”

She glanced at the dragon brand that he’d burned into the flesh of her upper bicep all those years ago. “I just assumed it was there permanently whether you planned to use me or not. Besides”—she shrugged—“it’s a nice-looking thing if you like dragons. I like dragons. Just don’t like you.”

He let out a breath, slowly shaking his mighty head. “You’ve always played a dangerous game, Iseabail, Daughter of Talaith.”

“Hence the name. And I don’t like to be betrayed. I don’t like those I love to be hurt for some god’s amusement. Sorry if that bothers you. My disloyalty.”

“You are hardly my only concern, Iseabail.”

“Then what do you want from me?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play this game with—”

But before she could finish, he flicked his claw at her and she was flying.

“Why don’t I go?” the human male said, trying to keep the tremor from his voice.

“Why don’t you?”

“Yeah. I’ll . . . uh . . . yeah . . .” He quickly walked out of the tent and Éibhear grinned.

After all these years, he shouldn’t enjoy doing that sort of thing . . . but he did.

Still . . . where the hells was Izzy?

Thinking he should go track down his cousin, Éibhear was reaching for the tent flap when he heard from behind him “. . . game with me . . . arrrggghhhh!” He spun around at the scream.

“I bloody hate when you do that!” Izzy yelled up at the tent ceiling.

“Where the hells did you come from?” Éibhear demanded, knowing he would have heard the woman come back in if she’d snuck in under another part of the tent.

But he must have startled her because Izzy snatched the small blade she had holstered to her thigh, spun, and threw it at Éibhear’s head. He jerked to the side in time to avoid the damn thing impaling his nose, but the blade tore across his cheek instead, leaving a healthy-sized gash.

Fed up and bleeding, Éibhear barked, “Izzy! It’s me!”

And Izzy barked back, “Yeah. I know!”

Brannie rushed in to the tent, dark brown eyes blinking wide. “Izzy? Where did you come from?”

“Out, Branwen,” Éibhear ordered his cousin, and Izzy looked at Brannie, watched the dragoness begin to get irritated with her kin.

“I don’t take orders from you, Éibhear the Blue.”

“And I”—Éibhear placed his huge hand over Brannie’s face and forced her back out the tent—“take orders from no one!”

“That was just rude, you big bastard!” Brannie yelled from outside the tent.

Éibhear faced Izzy. “Why do you keep throwing things at my head?”

“It’s such a large target—”

“Izzy.”

“Why are you here, Éibhear?” she asked, frustrated. The conversation with Rhydderch Hael . . . it annoyed her. It had been more than a decade since she’d heard from him. It used to bother her. For years, when she was a child, Rhydderch Hael had been with her. She’d been taken from her mother at birth by a bitch goddess and it was Rhydderch Hael who’d protected her. He’d sent three loyal human soldiers to save her, to watch out for her. For years Izzy and her three Protectors had traveled around the Southlands, the god’s voice in her head, sometimes in her dreams, promising that one day she’d be with her mother again. And he’d kept that promise. Izzy had loved him then. Not just as a god, but as someone who cared for her. But her mother had tried to warn her. Tried to tell her that the gods were never to be trusted. Izzy hadn’t listened, though, and now Rhydderch Hael wanted something from her. What that was . . . she had no idea. But she wasn’t looking forward to it, she knew that much.

So having Éibhear here when she was already irritated, looking annoyingly adorable with those damn warrior braids in his blue hair, but acting pushy and demanding, did nothing but piss her off.