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Kyron didn’t really want to know about Rowan’s love life. He had shown up for another reason, and they both knew it.

Ever since the first Cursed incident, her father had been with her through them all. He was the one who had convinced her she was helping them by ending their pain and suffering. When she was younger, he had often held the sword with her as she dealt the last strike until she grew old enough to keep the weight on her own shoulders.

Cakes had once upon a time helped the bitter tears that fell into her mouth; she wondered where he had learned that and if maybe he did it by himself when he had been on the battlefield. Now, she seldom cried when it happened, but it still tore at her. Until she swung her sword, the Cursed still lived.

Sure, if the curse took them over, they would eventually disintegrate into something her godfather called worse than death, waiting to be released when the next soul fell victim to the object. That could take days or centuries depending on where the body fell. Even knowing that had never helped her feel better.

“She was a dragon.” She whispered. “And she was beautiful. She had these dark blue eyes and really shiny hair. Her name was Elaine.” She smiled bitterly.

“You’ve never known their names.” He was concerned. “Was she a friend?”

Rowan shook her head. “No. The Dragon King saw me do it. He told me.”

“Dragon King?” Kyron sat up straighter. Concern darkened his baby blue eyes as they landed on the poster across her room. “He didn’t hassle you over the girl’s death, did he?”

She shook her head. “No. He understood.”

“It was your first time meeting a loved one. It must’ve been hard.”

Had it been? Is that why she had done what she had done with him? Given herself so completely. He had lost a lover, so she became one?

No. Their first night together had been just as raw and uncontrolled as their second.

“It was different.” She murmured, “I always envisioned the families of the loved ones to be angry with me. But he felt... grateful.”

Kyron took a deep gulp from the pouch and asked, “How did you feel after experiencing that?”

“Less shitty. I’m glad he was there.”

Kyron sighed. “So there’s no way that he missed the fact that you’re a Blessed?”

Dread curled into her mind. “No. There isn’t.” Especially not after she’d completely spilled her guts out to him about everything.

“Do you trust him?”

“I don’t know yet.” She admitted, her eyes catching on the poster across the room.

The first time she’d heard his name, it had been from Chloe that day the troll took them captive.

Before Master Japhet adopted her, the orphaned witch lived in an orphanage that Dragon King was a patron of.

Not only did he dole out money for them, but he went above and beyond by stopping by personally at least once a month. He ensured the kids had every resource available to them: food, education, safety, and even birthday parties.

“One day, you’ll be more powerful than even him. I’m sure of it!”Chloe’s words rang through Rowan’s mind.

Before she’d seen the poster on a trip through the market with her godmother, she’d imagined the Dragon King to be an aging old man with silver hair and a soft smile.

When Lilith caught sight of it, she’d bought it, proclaiming she wanted it as a dartboard. Rowan had asked who it was and after a long breath of curses, her godmother finally told her it was Alessandro, the Dragon King, but that Dirty Worm King would’ve been a more apt name.

At fifteen years old, Rowan found her first ever crush, and her godmother wanted to call him a worm.

Safe to say, Rowan seized the suggestive picture as her own and pinned up the same night.

When she first felt his magic in Black Cove, the power gap between where she stood against him floored her. But she had also been thrilled.

Did she trust him?

The answer was that she didn’t know. But she really wanted to.