Chapter 19
The room was full of light. Vallie blinked a few times, adjusting her sight to the new brightness. It was a grand circle, with a small tube that held the stairs in the center of the room. Every solid wall was covered in tapestry, and thick rugs covered the floors. Long rectangular windows broke up the woven murals every few feet so that candles wouldn’t be needed during daylight hours. Vallie darted her eyes around.
There.
A huge bed with drapes surrounding it, pulled back to let in the light. A decrepit dragon amongst the blankets, but more importantly, perched on the edge of the bed, was Verona.
She did it. Vallie had found Verona.
“Not long now,” Verona hummed. Her fingers danced over the golden hand she held, almost lovingly. “Peace will come soon. All the pain will melt away and you will be embraced by the sun.” Her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose braid. Her clothes looked clean and well-fitting. At least there was that.
“Don’t leave me,” Bedek begged, his voice thick with mucus.
“Leave you?” she soothed. “I am here with you, dear one. I will stay constant as you have to me.”
Vallie set her jaw. Had this dragon hypnotized her sister? Why the hell was Verona talking to him like a loved one. It reminded her of when their mom died and they sat bedside waiting for the worst to happen. She glanced around the room, making certain the three of them were the only occupants, then stepped out of the shadows.
“Verona!” she hissed, then waved her arm.
Verona looked up from her post, her eyes widening when she caught sight of Vallie. Her eyes darted between the dragon and Vallie.
“What are you doing here?” Verona whispered.
“Who’s here?” asked Bedek, his voice wavering.
“My sister,” she answered quickly.
“Your sister…the feisty one. I remember her. More trouble than a pet ever should have been worth. Cade should have sent her west years ago. They like their women fiery. No, no, it couldn’t be her. Didn’t…something happened to Cade…I can’t remember.”
“Vallie has brought Cade’s well wishes on your journey to the afterlife,” Verona fibbed. “He prays the sun holds you in his warmth until the end of time.”
“Ah. Send my thanks.”
Verona patted his hand. “I will be right back. I am going to walk her to the door.” She moved quickly across the floor and hugged Vallie tightly, then pushed her away. “What the hell are you doing here?” she whispered.
“I’ve come to take you to Luven. Let’s go.” Vallie wound her arm through Verona’s and pulled, but Verona didn’t move. “Verona. We need to leave now. Before anyone finds out we’re here. It’s quiet still. It won’t be for long.”
“I can’t leave him,” Verona hissed. “He’s dying.”
“Then he won’t have long to miss you. Time to move.” Vallie tried to pull her again.
“I’m not leaving a dying man,” Verona answered, shrugging out of her sister’s grasp.
“For fuck’s sake, Verona, he’s not a man. He’s a dragon. He’s your captor! He has held you prisoner for eight years. Come on, we have to go!” This was not how Vallie envisioned saving her sister. There had been a lot more thanks and a lot less wanting to stay in her hopes.
“Verona?” Bedek whimpered.
“I’m here,” she answered, and walked back to him.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Verona?” Vallie said, her voice at a normal volume. “We have to go. Every minute we stay, our chances of being caught get higher.”
“Your chances,” Verona corrected, settling back into her seat.
“No. Our. I brought my mate. It’s a wolf thing I don’t want to get into right now but he’s guarding the door and I’d feel like a real bitch if he gets murdered because you are dragging your heels. Whatever you think Bedek has done for you, he’s treated you like property. You need to leave him.”
“He’s fed and clothed me, given me a bed—”
“And have you been allowed to leave his tower? Were you allowed to come to me? Help your injured sister? When Cade broke my nose over and over? When I barely had a crumb to eat for weeks at a time?”
“He didn’t know how Cade was,” she started.
“Bullshit. He knew he had a dungeon. He knew we lived there. Everyone saw how I looked.”
“Bedek has always been kind. He isn’t like the other dragons. I’m sorry you were treated so poorly, but you…you aren’t docile. As long as you are sweet to the dragons, they are good to you.”
“Have you lost your mind? I could slap you right now. Think back. When they took us from Maidenhead. When they murdered Elias and didn’t let me go to him while he was dying.” She pointed to Bedek. “You would give him the comfort that Elias was denied?” Vallie shook her head. “Wake up, Verona. There are no good dragons. Bedek wasn’t good he just wasn’t as awful as Cade.”
Her sister looked between Vallie and the half-dead, golden-scaled dragon before her. His wings were lifeless, draped over the sides of the bed. Vallie looked him over.
He looked like shit. She’d never seen an old dragon in her life, and she knew why they squirrel themselves away in high towers to be doted on by pets and servants. They looked like hell. His golden lips were tarnished with black spittle and his scales peeled off in places revealing angry red welts. When his eyes fluttered open, they were cloudy and dotted with mucus. This was not a creature of power. It was a monster in its grotesqueness, only able to stir fear in children.
“Eight years,” she mumbled. “Eight years in this tower.” She looked at her surroundings, her eyes moving frantically. “I…I have my garden though. He lets me grow my herbs.”
“And how did they get there? Did he let you explore the woods and transplant them yourself?”
“No, the guards did. But…but I’m not hungry.” Verona looked back at him with pinched eyebrows. “You were good to me? Right? You loved me?”
“Darling Verona?” Bedek asked, his mouth bubbling as he did. “Fetch me a glass of wine.”
Verona stared at him, her face crumpling. She took his hand and squeezed it, then let it fall back upon the bed. She smoothed her skirts and ran her hands over her face.
“Of course,” she answered him, her voice steady. Then, she stood from his side, took Vallie’s hand, and whispered, “Get me out of here.”