Abandon You Choose Dragon Chapter 06
“Wait—wait a second…”
Ash lurched forward half a step and nearly tripped over the threshold.
Liam’s hand shot out and clamped down on his arm.
“What are you doing?” he hissed. “The ceremony isn’t finished. You can’t barge in and interrupt the Moon God’s blessing—”
“It’s Iris.” Ash’s voice was tight, almost strangled. “The one inside—it’s Iris.”
Liam froze for a beat.
His eyes followed Ash’s gaze to that hand. Something shifted in his face, but his grip didn’t loosen.
“Even if it is Iris, you can’t go in there now. Disrupting a ceremony in front of the Moon God’s statue—the entire tribe will never let you live it down. Whatever you have to say, it can wait until it’s over.”
Ash’s chest heaved.
He stared at that hand.
A chill crawled up his spine.
Liam dragged him back a few steps, softening his voice. “Just hold on. The ceremony’s almost done. We’ll sort it out after.”
James edged over and squinted at the kneeling figure inside the sanctuary.
“You’re seeing things, Ash. There’s no way that’s Iris.”
“You know how she is. Once she makes up her mind, that’s it. She already refused the contract—why would she be in there?”
Between the two of them, they managed to quiet the storm inside Ash’s chest.
Liam finally let go. “Come on, we’ve all been family for years. She’s not going to throw everything away over a little bit of hurt feelings.”
“A few days of sulking, tops. You go back, say something sweet, and it’s done. When has she ever truly turned on you?”
Ash thought about it.
When had I ever truly turned on him?
Last winter, Chloe got sick. He’d rushed out in the middle of the night to sit at her bedside, completely forgetting the movie he’d promised to see with me.
The next day, all I said was, “It’s fine. We can always watch it another time.”
The Christmas before that, he came back to the tribe with me for the holiday gathering. But Chloe’s mother called him away to help move some things, and he missed the time we’d set aside to watch the snow together.
I’d stood at the edge of the territory waiting for over an hour. When he finally showed up, I just smiled and said, “Come on, let’s go inside.”
That was who I’d always been.
No matter how deep the hurt, a night’s sleep would fix it.
No matter how heavy the disappointment, a few kind words would light me up again.
I was a door that never closed. He could push through whenever he wanted and walk away whenever he pleased.
He fished a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it between his lips.
“I’m going for a smoke. Keep an eye on things here.”