Chapter 29 Tobias
My knee was still warm where Arya’s hand had touched me only minutes ago. I wanted to call after her, to insist she abandon me and save herself. I didn’t care what the vampires did to me as long as she was safe, and if she did anything foolish trying to get me out, she wouldn’t be safe for long. Hadrian’s daughter or not, he’d throw her into this cell at the slightest hint of betrayal.
Why did she have to be so fucking stubborn? Why did she always put everyone else above herself? When she’s the only person who matters.
But she was already gone, her footsteps disappearing down the passages. And I didn’t want to risk snapping the guards out of whatever trance her siren song put them in.
Char shifted behind me, and a different sort of agony pierced through me. She shouldn’t be in this cell. Being Hadrian’s prisoner, half-starved and surrounded by poisonous lead, was made worse knowing Charlotte suffered too. And it was my fault.
If I had stuck to the plan, if I hadn’t gone rogue and infiltrated the castle in search of Arya, she wouldn’t have had to come looking for me. She could have gotten out like the rest of our unit.
Though, who knew how far they could’ve really gotten. Hennessee was the only dragon who wasn’t captured, and there was no way he would’ve been able to carry the other three soldiers himself. They would’ve had to run on foot, and the fact that they weren’t in this cell with us wasn’t proof they escaped with their lives.
Char’s teeth chattered, and I scooted toward her as quickly as my severely weakened body could, trying to pull her into my broken arms. The least I could do was try to keep her warm.
“How are you holding up?” I asked, feeling her stiffen but then relax against me. I felt warmer already and hoped she did too. “I–I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” My voice cracked.
Her shivering stopped, and I thought she might’ve fallen asleep because she didn’t answer right away. But then she cleared her throat. “She’s pretty.”
“What?” I asked.
“Arya,” she replied. “She’s pretty. I can see why you fell for her.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“But I don’t think you activated the curse,” she said, her voice breathless like she’d only spoken half a thought.
The edges of my torn heart burned painfully, and I stiffened, shaking my head. “Thanks, but I have to disagree with you. I saw the look in her eyes the instant the curse was triggered. I felt it, and then saw the change in her . So much hatred. All the potential of whatever we could’ve been, snuffed out just like that.”
“If she hated you, she wouldn’t be trying to get you out,” she said softly.
I snorted a sardonic laugh. “You don’t know Arya. She’s a persistent martyr, even for those who’ve wronged her. The fact that she’s risking her life for me doesn’t mean she likes me. It just means that she’s a good person.”
Charlotte twisted in my arms so she could look at me. I loosened my grip to give us both space. Dark rings circled her eyes, almost looking like bruises. Her blonde hair snarled and tangled in places.
I figured I looked similarly terrible and rubbed some of the dirt from her cheekbone without thinking. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you,” she said, suddenly motionless.
I dropped my hand.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, but ducked her head the second the words left her lips, like she wanted to take them back. “Sometimes I feel like I triggered the curse a long time ago.”
My mouth went dry, my posture going rigid like a statue, and suddenly our proximity felt all too intimate. I wanted to put distance between us, but we both needed the body heat to survive. I wasn’t prepared to have a conversation like this with her, wasn’t ready to hear that she felt anything more for me than brotherly love. Not here, in this dungeon where we were both likely going to die.
“I’ve always accepted it, you know?” Her eyes lifted to mine and she let out a shaky laugh. “And I know we’re young, but I’ve always accepted and looked forward to the eventuality that one day it would be you and me against the world.”
My heart squeezed with guilt. Because even though we were probably about to die, I couldn’t give her the comfort or reassurance she needed. “Char—”
“I’m glad we were so close at school before I left,” she interrupted. “I thought at least we’d always have that friendship foundation when either you or I...”
“What? Got married and triggered the curse?”
I dropped my arms and scooted a few inches away so we were no longer touching, but my temperature drop at the loss of contact was almost tangible. I knew she felt it too, and hoped we could get over this emotional hurdle before either of us froze to death. I had to talk some sense into her, shatter this romantic fantasy of hers in the nicest way.
“Have you seen my parents? Do you think my mom is happy to be crazy about my dad when he’s so indifferent to her?”
“He respects her,” she said, though her argument was weak. Still, she scooted closer to me again, moving quicker than I could have. “Which is a sort of love.”
“Char—”
She pressed a finger to my lips. “Do you respect me?” she asked.
I stared unblinkingly at her as confirmation that I did.
“Do you...” she choked. “ Love me?”
Of course I loved her, and too late I felt the expression on my face shout the truth of it.
She leaned forward and kissed me. I remained motionless until she finished and pulled away. I had been kissed by plenty of girls in the past, and I’ve never had an issue with kissing them back, even when I didn’t have any feelings for them.
But loving Arya had changed that.
Even though she had broken our imprint and rejected me in every way, I couldn’t kiss Char back. I didn’t want to. As much as I loved and respected Char, I could not kiss her back.
Rejection replaced whatever emotion Char had been wearing before the kiss, and she shrunk back to escape to her corner. I touched her arm, and she stopped. I wrapped her in my embrace again. We both needed the warmth. And she needed a friend.
“I do love you, Char,” I said softly. “I always have. But not in the way you want. I’m sorry. I love Arya.”
She shuddered against me, but I suspected it wasn’t from the cold.
“I hate to interrupt,” Hadrian’s booming tone filled the entire dungeon. “But you and I have some business to take care of, Tobias Dracul.”
I didn’t move, though Char gently tried to pry herself from my grasp.
Hadrian tsked. “Is this dragon whore the reason my daughter has a broken heart? Huh?”
My head snapped to Hadrian and I released Char. Broken heart? What did Arya tell him?
“It’s too late now, Tobias . I witnessed that little embrace you two shared.” Hadrian paced outside the bars. “There’s no need to hide it. The question is, should I tell Arya?”
I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted before my lips could move.
“I won’t. But for her sake, not yours.” Hadrian stopped pacing and crouched so he was at my eye level. “Now, for the reason I’ve come.” He snapped his fingers, and Hair Gel arrived with a couple of archaic gas masks that looked like they were stolen from the set of a World War I movie and what appeared to be a garden hose.
Hair Gel handed one of the masks to Hadrian before hoisting the hose underneath his arm, ready to put out...a fire, probably.
I gave them both a withering look. Whatever was put in my cell prevented even a spark inside me, let alone a blaze large enough that needed extinguishing. I made a point not to think about the purpose of the masks.
Hadrian ignored the look and paced again, his arms behind his back. “I wonder if you have any insight into that little shifter military and what they’re planning?”
I knew my expression was incredulous, but Hadrian didn’t seem to get the message. “You know I’m in here, right? How could I possibly know their plans?” I hoped a rescue mission to save me and Char was underway, but there was no way of knowing that either.
“You’re the son of Arthur Dracul. Certainly you must know something .” Hadrian gripped one of the bars, his mask still clutched in the other hand.
“You think my father doles out military secrets to me? Just like that?” I scoffed. “I assure you, the general is smarter than that.”
Hadrian’s carefully crafted expression slipped, but he instantly covered it with the mask. “This will hurt a little,” his muffled, inhuman voice warned.
Hair Gel lowered his mask too, before a nod from Hadrian prompted him to pull a lever on the hose.
A loud hiss sounded as yellow smoke poured from the nozzle.
I looked back at Char, whose eyes were wide and frightened. I wanted to reach back, to try to take her hand, but worried it would turn Hadrian’s attention to her instead. Still, neither of us were escaping the yellow gas.
My right leg cracked first, bending backward at the knee as it was forced to shift into my dragon leg. Then my left. More bones popped and cracked, both mine and Char’s, and she let out a yelp. It felt like the first shift, awkward and uncomfortable and painful. Actually more painful than my first shift, but that was most likely the intended result of the toxic gas.
Blue scales flipped like fingernails, bending back from my and Char’s skin, identical in color just as they’d been when we first flew to the towers. Tears streamed down Char’s face, but she only gave the occasional whimper. I bit my tongue hard enough to taste coppery blood as my spine stretched to form my tail, my shoulder blades breaking from my skin to stretch into enormous wings.
As our dragons grew to their full size, our cell became excruciatingly cramped, until we pressed against each other and the bars with equal force. The burning pain of the lead only slightly trumped the awful smell and sizzling of our scales. And it mercifully kept my weight off my broken arms.
Hadrian removed his mask after the gas vanished, a smile plastered to his face. “Now,” he said, allowing a painful pause to hover in the air. “What do you know about the shifter military?”
“I. Don’t. Know,” I clipped, more out of exasperation at the question rather than my current tight situation. “I thought you were smart.” And there went my mouth.
Hair Gel pulled out a set of very large pliers and handed them to Hadrian, who held them precariously, like they could hurt the vampire, too. I didn’t need to be told what they were for.
“Did you know that the scales of a dragon are not only impenetrable, but they don’t decay like the rest of the body?” Hadrian asked, his eyes on the pliers as he turned them in his hand. “It makes one wonder why a person wouldn’t happen upon dead dragons more often.”
Char stiffened.
“And why humans are so unaware of them.”
I didn’t feel the need to answer the question. Dragons kept track of each other. If one died in dragon form, the body was taken care of to avoid detection from humans.
“But if one lost only one scale, say in battle or an unfortunate accident...”
In one quick motion, Hadrian gripped one of my stony blue scales from my side and tore it free. The surprise and ripping of my flesh was too much, and I let out a roar. Unfortunately, there was still no fire within to retaliate against the bloodsucker.
Hadrian palmed the brilliant blue scale, though it was much bigger than his hand.
“It’s almost like a stone,” he said, testing the weight of it. “It’ll last forever. Unlike you and your friend.”
With a snarl, I willed my fire chamber to ignite as I pressed harder against the lead bars in an attempt to break free. But my insides were cold, and the bars didn’t even groan with the pressure.
Hadrian handed the scale to Hair Gel behind him before turning back to the dragons in the cage. “You might not know about shifter military plans,” he continued. “Your father is a smart man. But you’ve attended that fishbowl of a school for long enough that I’m sure you’re in the good graces of the director? Caesar Rex?”
“Caesar?” I blurted. “You want to know about Caesar?” I was feeling hysterical, probably the result of the stinging wound where my scale was torn from. “I highly doubt you would have any interest in what Caesar Rex is currently doing.”
This got Hadrian’s attention. “Oh?”
Char cleared her throat.
“He isn’t in charge of the school anymore, you asshole!” I said, feeling like my voice was too high-pitched, even in my dragon growl. “My father is.”
“Interesting.” Hadrian rubbed the stubble of his chin. “I’ll have to look into the gryphon’s whereabouts.”
Char shifted uncomfortably next to me before I finally realized what I’d done. What would Hadrian do with that information? Was Caesar in more danger? Was the school?
Hadrian snapped his fingers at Hair Gel, then handed over the pliers. “Take more from both of them. Then shift them back and cuff him.” Hadrian pointed at me before turning to walk away.
“Yes, sir.” Hair Gel muttered.
Hadrian paused. “Also, put the belt on him. The one that shoots out lead barbs whenever the wearer speaks. He’s too mouthy for my liking.”
“Yes, sir,” Hair Gel said, with more enthusiasm than I thought was necessary.
Hadrian hadn’t even reached the doorway before Char screamed.