A Soul Like Glass (Kingdom of Betrayal #4)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I can’t fight the shiver raging down my spine.

I take a step back, but this time, Thaden follows me, his arms finally rising as he reaches for me.

His scaled arm slides easily around my back while his left hand slips across my cheek and to the side of my neck.

I’m frozen in his arms, fighting the push and pull of my feelings, the need to stay where I am, colliding with the knowledge that I’m most certainly in terrible danger.

Despite the ferocity of his admission, he speaks softly now. “Only days ago, you told me that I am not a beast. You said you understood the battle I fight with the dragon whose soul I carry. You told me that since I came into your life, you have hope.”

His expression softens further. “I knew you were lying. I could tell from your heartbeat. You simply wanted your sister to understand your reasons for refusing to heal the Vandawolf.”

I’m stiff as I wait for him to continue, aware of the medallions sitting on my arm and the hammer resting in my pocket.

His thumb brushes my cheek. “But even in your lie, you gave me hope.”

“Hope of what?” I whisper, my voice a bare rasp.

“Come with me to the Shadow Beneath the Mountain,” he says. “Let me show you why the dragon died. Let me show you why I came to the Cursed City. Once you’ve seen, then you can pass judgement on me. I will welcome whatever justice you deem necessary. All I ask is that you give me this chance.”

I told him I wouldn’t go any farther with him, but the reality is that the alternative is death.

I have no water left.

I won’t survive the trek back along the mountain range.

I suppose I could scream at the sky in case there are still thunderbirds following us… even though I doubt they’d descend to scoop me up. It would be dangerous for them to do so, and they have no reason to help me.

As if he reads my thoughts, Thaden glances upward. “If I could pull a thunderbird down for you, I would.”

His eyes lower to mine as he continues. “I will carry you if you need me to, Tamra. I will do anything to get you to my village. I will fight whatever battles I have to fight and embrace any darkness I need to embrace so that you can see what I’ve been protecting.”

“What about my sister?” I ask. “You sent her in Milena’s direction. Where did you really send her?”

When he hesitates, I harden my voice. “Do not utter another lie, Thaden Kane Ironmeld. No matter how difficult it is to speak the truth, you will speak it, or I will choose to walk into that darkness rather than stay at the side of a liar.”

He exhales quietly and gives me the barest nod. “I have sent Asha into a trap designed to protect her from the wrath of the dragon king.”

My throat is tight, and my eyes narrowed. A helpful trap? Is there such a thing?

“Explain,” I command him.

He takes a deep breath. “It isn’t a short explanation. You’re thirsty. You need hydration?—”

“ Explain ,” I repeat, grinding the word between my teeth.

“Okay,” he says softly, his hands raised, placating. “First, you need to understand what I can do. I’m not left-handed like my father. I can’t wrap a medallion around my hand, touch a living thing, and command it to change its shape or nature.

“But when it comes to working metal and creating metallic objects of extreme intricacy, I excel.” His voice is matter-of-fact, not a hint of boastfulness in it, which surprises me. “I long ago surpassed Milena in metalworking skill. She said that I may have even surpassed my father in that regard. But even with that level of skill, I couldn’t do what he did. I couldn’t use my power to transfer the soul of a creature into metal and then transplant that metal into another living being.”

My thoughts are whirling. “But then… how did you take on the soul of the dragon?”

His expression becomes blank, wiped clean. “Dark magic.”

I try not to recoil, but it isn’t any use. I’ve flinched away from him, and he won’t have missed my reaction.

His voice becomes a deep growl, and it’s as if I were listening to the dragon himself when Thaden says, “When the fire dragon died, I had a heartbeat to make a choice. I knew that the dragons would come for me, and they would kill what I was protecting. The only way I could protect what I love was to turn to the darkness. To call on malice and cruelty and embrace Lysander’s death. With a single piece of twisted metal, I captured his soul.

“Then I used my hammer to fashion that metal into the shape of a dragon, and I hammered it into my own chest.”

My eyes are wide, my breath still.

Thaden’s jaw is so tight that I’m surprised he hasn’t cracked his teeth.

“I forced myself to stay awake for long enough to drive the device deep into my heart before I passed out.”

He lifts his right hand. “This hand… It is no longer peaceful.”

He closes his fingers into a fist.

“I knew that Graviter would sense his son’s death and come looking for me, so I left the village as quickly as I could. I went straight to the clifftop where I used to meet Milena, and there she was, waiting for me.

“I tried to explain how Lysander died. I tried to tell her I had no choice, but she wouldn’t listen. I tried to ask for her help, but she refused. I told her she should have made Asha a hammer, and that was when she flew into a rage and cut off her own hand. She was the last hammer-maker. She did it just to fucking spite me.”

His voice becomes a snarl. “She believed that I had chosen to become like my father, and indeed, by then, it was true. I used one of the devices I’d created on the lone tree that grows on that clifftop. It trapped Milena within a spiderweb of branches. It would trap any Blacksmith who stepped close enough to it. So that is where I sent Asha.”

I draw back a little, horrified. “How would caging her like that protect her?”

“Because I know Graviter Rex. His fury knows no end. He will seek justice by killing every living Blacksmith, no matter how innocent they are. That includes Asha. And you. And Gallium.”

I gasp. “Gallium!”

“Will be safe with the fae. But Asha isn’t. As soon as she promised Queen Karasi that she would go west, she was in grave danger. If I could have gone with her—” His jaw clenches. “But I couldn’t. So I sent her, not straight into the heart of danger, but to the only location where she might be safe.”

“But… what will stop Graviter Rex from burning down that tree with Asha trapped inside?” I ask, horrified.

“Because Milena is also inside it,” he says.

My forehead creases. “Why would that make a difference?”

“Because the dragon Milena rides—a forest dragon named Torva Viridia—witnessed our battle. She loves Milena and will not leave her. She’s bound to try to free Milena, but she won’t succeed. The dark magic in that tree will keep her at bay. Most importantly, however, she won’t allow Milena to be burned alive.”

I shake my head. “That is a terrible gamble.”

“Which is why I need to get back to Asha as soon as I can.” He searches my eyes, a painful desperation entering his expression. “But I won’t abandon my promise to her, either. She will never help me if anything happens to you. Please , will you come with me?”

He drags in a breath, his chest pressing to mine as he inhales deeply, and his voice softens. “You will be safe in Myrkur Fjall, and maybe, once you see what I’m protecting, you’ll stop looking at me as if I’m your enemy.”

I can’t breathe. Can barely think. But even if I could think clearly, I doubt it would help me right now.

No matter how much I wish I had a choice, I don’t.

“I’ll come with you.” I fight a sudden and unexpected sense of anticipation as I continue. “I will see what you want me to see.”

The tension in his body vanishes.

His thumb brushes my jaw, and a smile touches his lips.

“I promise you, Tamra Silverspun,” he whispers. “It will explain everything.”