The Timekeeper by Jordana Barber

can’t forget the night we conceived Amelia, or when you gave birth to her. Remember how happy we used to be, when we were close? You shared everything with me, and I gave you everything I had to give. All I pray for is for us to be like that again. I want my family and my home back. I made mistakes, but there has to be someway to make up for my shortcomings. I’ll do anything to get you to forgive me, merely tell me.” I glanced at Drake and he flashed me the five-minute sign.
    Excellent, the big scary Dragon would be here in no time. I just had to hold out until his arrival .
    “Please leave me alone. I recall everything Zev, the good and the bad. I remember giving you chance after chance to change. I committed to memory the tears and the pain you caused me then , and now. I’ve kept in mind the shame of begging my father for your life, knowing I was stupid to let you live . I have a strong recollection of when you doing everything wrong on one of the most important nights of my marriage to Azul.
    “There’s zero you can do that’s going to make me forgive you. Absolutely nothing. I don’t hate you, I never will, but if you keep coming after me, I’ll have you killed, Zev. Your death is not something I would enjoy, so please don’t force my hand.” The pain became evident in his eyes. I didn’t know what he expected to me say or do .
    Stop my life and run into his arms? Leave the husband who’d stood by my side for more than a millennium and had never done me wrong? None of those options were anything I was willing to do . We couldn’t be one big happy family again . Zev had destroyed the chances of that when he killed our marriage and my trust.
    Even our daughter wouldn’t speak to him, pretending she didn’t recall who the former Duke of her homeland had been, just who the current Duke was. If you asked her about her father , she would simply tell you my Dragon husband raised her and he’s the only father she’d ever known. Zev shamed his family, and now he had to live with the consequences for the rest of his life.
    When I heard the door to the bar open and close I glanced at Drake, who appeared nervous, which meant my husband had finally arrived. I slid my eyes back to Zev, who didn’t seem to notice he was seconds away from being pounced on. I smiled and I saw the hope return to his face, as if everything I had just said to him was wasted breath. He kept that expression right up until Darius landed a huge hand on his shoulder.
    “Zev, I could’ve sworn we already had this conversation. You claimed you were going to leave my wife alone, and I promised I’d refrain from castrating you. It seemed like we had an understanding, but it appears you may have misunderstood me after all. Allow me to reiterate.” Zev quickly stood up and backed away from him.
    Fear crossed his face. I guess pursuing my forgiveness wasn’t important when faced with mortal peril.
    “Sorry, Azul. I don’t want any problems, I needed to talk to her, she’s my wife too, and not that it counts for anything anymore . You and Azazel have seen to that quite well, my own daughter won’t acknowledge I exist more often than not . I remember our agreement, Dragon, thanks for reminding me.” Zev spun on his heels and took off out of the bar as quickly as his legs would carry him.
    “About time.” I said. I was at a loss for words. Zev had that kind of power over me. I didn’t want to tell Darius what Zev wanted. It would only make him angry and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a broody Dragon.
    “No problem love, Drake said he followed you in. I’m glad he called me, and ecstatic you asked him to. It’s a pleasant change to feel needed.” I rolled my eyes, but was secretly grateful he hadn’t started pestering me for details.
    He was unlikely to push me about what was said. This wasn’t the first time that my pesky premier husband had done something to upset me, and even before Azul and I started our relationship, Zev