Dragon Joined by Rebecca Royce Page A

over Zane’s heart.
    “You’re sorry,” Verve spat. “He’s dead and you’re sorry.”
    Dean supposed he could defend himself, explain how they
hadn’t known humans lived with the dragons, that their objective had been to save people from the dragons. All of it seemed ridiculous considering the fact that
Zane had died only seconds earlier.
    “There’s nothing I can say that is going to make any of this
any better.” Dean sighed. “I take full responsibility for what happened. This
was my fault. I should have known to ask about separate food supplies. There
can be no forgiveness. I’ll do my best to give him a fitting tribute when we
get out of here.”
    “Why should I believe you?”
    Dean had seen hysteria before. No one who spent time on the
battlefield could claim never to have encountered it. Verve’s pupils were huge
and his hands shook. The events of the last day, coupled now with Zane’s death,
had pushed him over some kind of proverbial ledge.
    “Verve. Let’s walk over to the side and not discuss this
standing right over Zane’s dead body.”
    “I’m not going anywhere with you.” He pointed right at
Dean’s face. “You get people killed.”
    Dean raised his hands as if he’d been threatened with a gun
instead of a finger. Verve needed to understand that Dean took him seriously. “Sometimes
I do. Leaders have to face that task. More than we would like. I wish I lived
in a perfect time when no one I cared about would ever have to perish because
of something I did or did not do. I can promise you, I never take these things
lightly.”
    “We all believed in you and you poisoned us.”
    His calm words didn’t seem to be making much of a dent. “I
tried to poison the dragons.”
    “That’s not a good enough excuse.”
    Dean lowered his arms. “I never said it was. When we lose
someone we care about, there are no adequate words to say.”
    “This isn’t over. You’re going to regret his death.”
    “I do.”
    But Verve didn’t hear his words because he had run from the
room. Dean sighed. The sad truth was that he never got to mourn the dead. Time
didn’t allow for it and today would prove to be no different. Something had to
be done with Zane’s body before a dragon stumbled onto it, and the poisoned
vegetables had to be destroyed.
    Ruby staggered into the room. “Is it true? Zane is dead and
you killed him?” Her voice trembled.
    “No.” He took a deep breath. What he wouldn’t give for
Amanda’s assistance at that moment. Just to have her with him would have gone a
long way toward making the ache in his chest less hollow. “Well, yes and no. Yes,
Zane is dead, but I didn’t kill him. Although I take responsibility for the
fact that it happened. It’s complicated. We need to throw out all our
vegetables. No one else can be allowed to eat them.”
    “Look.” Ruby swallowed, the muscles in her neck clenching. “I
don’t care. I really don’t. You’re getting us out of here. We can deal with who
was responsible for what then. I’m afraid we can’t wait for sundown. Verve is
going to Princess.”
    “He’s what?” Dean had barely uttered the question before he
charged out of the door. If the man told Princess what had happened, all would
be lost. He stopped abruptly in his tracks, turning to Ruby. “Tell everyone to
go now. Just as we discussed for tonight. Tell everyone I will explain about
Zane. I will make it clear what happened. They can judge me once we’re out if
they want to. It’s now .”
    She nodded. “Right.”
    He bolted down the corridor, banging into a joined human as
he did. The man stopped and stared at him. Dean recognized him right away
because of the swollen lip that had doubled in size. He was the one whom Dean
had experimented on earlier.
    “Do you plan to hit me again, human?”
    Dean shook his head. He could answer honestly. “No. I have
no intention of laying hands on you again.”
    That didn’t, however, mean that someone else wouldn’t