Red streaked across his vision. Aaron took a step forward.
Caleb gripped his arm, "Don't do anything stupid," he hissed.
Aaron barely heard the words.
He shoved against the arms restraining him.
Caleb hung on and didn't let go. Throwing his arms around Aaron's shoulders, Caleb tried to stop him.
Hope raised her face to Jason.
That primitive part of his brain which he drew on in fights kicked in. The buzzing in Aaron's head rose till it drowned out all other thought.
Fear and rage fired up his nerve endings.
"Here's to Hope and Jase." Eve raised a glass of champagne to the crowd.
The skin over his heart throbbed.
Aaron heard the sound of someone snarling then realized the sound was coming from him.
She was leaving him.
30
Hope
At Eve's words, Hope's dragon shoved against her skin.
Hope was sure the beast was going to spring out. Just as she was sure she was about to go up in flames right there, that no way could the beast be leashed, it dropped back and did something worse. She went silent. Quiet.
So quiet, she couldn't sense the presence that had been a part of her since she had registered conscious thought.
Hope wanted to scream at the animal, to tell her dragon she was behaving like a stupid, spoiled little girl. Didn't she want what was best for her mate?
All around her, cheers rang out, and the live band in the corner of the courtyard struck up a noisy number.
Hope wanted nothing more than to curl up and fling her arms around herself to console her dragon, to console herself.
"Give us a moment." Eve touched Jason on his shoulder.
Jason's handsome face swiveled from Eve to Hope. "I'll be waiting for you." He kissed her cheek and walked away.
Feeling as if she'd explode with the effort of keeping all her feelings crammed inside, Hope held up a hand. "Don't," she said, and to her horror, her voice trembled. "Bloody hell, Eve, I did what you always wanted, what was best for the future of our species."
"Did you?"
"It's not like I had an option." Inside, rage and helplessness twisted as she tried to prod her dragon to react.
"It's clear how you feel about Aaron, and the way he looks at you…it's clear that man worships you."
Something in her sister's voice caught Hope's attention. "You're jealous?"
Eve folded her arms over her waist. "Let's just say, if any man looked at me that way, I'd probably—" She hesitated.
"You'd run a mile." Hope chuckled.
The sound broke the tension between the sisters.
"I am jealous," Eve conceded. "But not envious. To have found a mate only to realize he is not of the same species, it's not easy. You are very brave, Hope. I'm not sure if I could do the same in your shoes."
"And yet you are," Hope replied. "You haven't had a shortage of suitors since the day you became alpha. Every male dragon shifter has wanted to court you. Males of any other species would brave the psychic bond to be your consort and rule over this island, even if just for a day, even if it meant their dying in the process."
"Yeah, right." Eve cut the air with her hand. "And none as dominant as me. Until I find someone strong enough to take on my dragon, I am fated to be alone," she said with resignation. "But we are talking about you, darling Dragon Heart."
Eve's use of the nickname of their childhood finally undid Hope. "Evie, you're making me cry." Hope gripped her older sister's hand, drawing strength from that iron-clad resolve she'd always sensed in her.
To the world, Eve was a hard-assed alpha. But Hope knew that under that tough exterior was a woman who felt a lot. It was one reason Eve always hid behind the swagger needed of a woman in her position of power.
"I can't work with him anymore, Eve," she pleaded. "I've done my bit in teaming up with him to rescue Mira. I've shown we can work with the Council of Bombay. The rest is up to you."
Eve hugged her sister. "What are you going to do?"
"Now I dance." Hope made her way onto the dance floor and into Jason's waiting arms.
When she dared to lift her eyes to the corner of the floor where she had last seen Aaron, she found it empty.
31
Aaron
Adrenaline had pumped through his blood, beating against his temples, until he couldn't hear anything except Hope's laugh as she'd gazed up at the man next to her.
His heart thumped.
Hope was looking at another man as if he were her entire world.
Aaron knew that wasn't true.
His anger had broken through the last remaining shreds of control.
Feinting low enough to break Caleb's grip, Aaron had been about to run to where Hope and Jason stood, when Caleb snarled, "Do you want to embarrass Hope in front of all these people, immortal?"
Only then did the thinking part of Aaron take over.
The fact that Caleb had called him immortal had reminded Aaron why he was here. He was the official representative of the Council of Bombay and he couldn’t let down Leana.
He stopped struggling.
Caleb dragged him away from the crowd and into the shadow of the tree line.
All the time, his attention was on the woman who'd come to mean more to him than his own life.
Caleb didn't stop until he’d taken Aaron all the way across the sloping lawn, over the small brick wall that separated the garden from the beach, and onto the sand, where he shoved Aaron facedown to the ground.
The breath rushed out of Aaron as Caleb placed a knee on his back for good measure.
Rage still burned through all other rational thought in Aaron’s head.
Caleb punched his back.
"Get back in the game. You need to be more strategic here. If you let your emotions take over, you’re a goner." Caleb spoke the truth.
Gritting his teeth, Aaron gripped the sand under his fingers. The grains poured out of his fist as he tried to clamp down on the anger that threatened to override all other thought.
A deep breath, another, then Aaron raised his hands, still not trusting himself to speak but indicating to Caleb that he was fine.
"You okay?" Caleb's voice was grim.
Aaron nodded.
"You're not going to run off and kill Jason?"
A pause.
Then Aaron said, voice low, "Don't ask me to make promises I can't keep."
"I know exactly how to work this off." Caleb smashed his fist into Aaron's jaw, taking him by surprise.
"What the—?" Aaron swore, spitting out some of the blood. The adrenaline of a fight punched through his blood, and he circled Caleb.
When Caleb swung at him, Aaron hit out, connecting with Caleb's ribs with a satisfied thud.
Caleb landed on his back with a thump that vibrated through the sand.
Damn, but it did feel good to work off some of the frustration.
Adrenaline laced his veins. Aaron decided he may as well fight back and get his rage out.
"I really do owe you one, bro." Aaron held out his hand to help Caleb to his feet.