Chapter 33
Reyla
“Dragons,” I whispered after Lore had taken Dorion to the window outside Laphira’s sitting area. They planned to wait there until they were sure the room was empty and after Dorion had climbed inside to grab the effigy, Lore would flit back to me.
“How did it go?” I asked a while later.
“She went to sleep. He…” He raked his hand through his hair. “He’s upset about it. I don’t blame him. The boy wasn’t there, or I think he would’ve been tempted to take her now. He will soon, though. He won’t allow them to hurt her any longer.”
We stripped and climbed into the tub, bathing quickly. After, I sat on his lap, facing him with my thighs spread around his and our exhausted bodies soaking in the heat.
“Dragons.” I lifted the borgon claw by its chain, watching it twist in the lamplight.
I was unsure why I’d brought it with me other than I didn’t want to let it out of my sight.
“The creature that saved you in the woods, the one in the labyrinth, the one below the throne room, and the tattoo that appeared on your arm. They're connected.”
His jaw tightened. Whatever connection he suspected between himself and dragons, I had the feeling he wasn't ready to voice it. “Maybe they are. Maybe they aren't.”
“Why won't you consider it?”
His fingers trailed up my spine. “I'm holding my naked wife, and that makes me interested in everything but dragons.”
“They’ve always fascinated you. You alluded to that more than once.”
Leaning close, he trailed his lips along my damp jawline, pattering kisses. My bones started melting. Everything inside me started melting. “What boy isn’t fascinated by monsters?”
“You're trying to distract me.” My breath hitched as his lips found that sensitive spot below my ear.
“Is it working?” His voice rumbled against my throat.
“Always.”
A flit, and we landed on the bed, me beneath him.
Dragons became the furthest thing from my mind.
We made love with desperation, as if we could chase away the curse through the force of our connection. But morning came anyway, bringing us one day closer to the end.
Dorion didn’t join us for breakfast in our room or in the foyer, where we gathered again to wait for the queen. I was itching to know what he’d discovered. Would his mother know what the effigy was? Any clue into what was happening here would be helpful.
I leaned into Lore’s side, studying the group mingling around us. Not as many today.
Losing the first competition may have soured some for the next.
Can’t win if you don’t play.
Which we will do.
It would be easy to get sucked into the dream that we won this next competition and could flit back at Evergorne with days left to discover how to fuse the three talismans. But I had a feeling this wouldn’t go any easier for us than everything else.
I’m surprised Prager hasn’t made an appearance, I said.
Me as well. I’d kill to have my hands wrapped around her throat right now. He scanned the room with a narrowed gaze. Would she blatantly stroll through the court or come in disguise like us?
Or would she take over someone’s body? Queen Naveer would be my first guess, I said. It fits.
She may have learned that being nasty gives her away.
Hard to be any nastier than Naveer.
If only we’d seen what was happening with Lore’s mother. Would we have been able to drive Prager out before she killed Erisandra?
The chatter around us abruptly ceased and all eyes lifted to the staircase where Queen Naveer descended, her violet sikeen gown flowing around her legs. Her expression revealed nothing, but her eyes swept over us with predatory gleam.
Guards braced near the walls watched her descent raptly.
When she reached the main level, she came to a stop.
I wonder where Laphira is. I’d feel better if I saw her. Saw the pendant even more.
Otherwise occupied, perhaps.
She and her mother appear to go everywhere together.
“We’ll get started.” Queen Naveer’s voice snapped through the room, and I returned my attention to her.
Her smirk told us she knew she held all the power and was eager to use it.
“Pay attention.” Her gaze pinned the group of whispering women like insects to cork and they visibly shrank.
“I will not repeat myself.” With utter silence around her, no one dared to flinch.
She gifted us a smile that was much too slick to hold warmth.
“Crystalline plants grow outside in a vast garden my family has carefully cultivated for many generations.”
“We get to enter that garden?” someone brave asked behind us.
Naveer blinked and a thud rang out. A glance over my shoulder showed a woman dressed in a pale green gown lying on the floor, her skin drained of all color. Not dead. Her chest still rose and fell. But something vital had been pulled from her.
Queen Naveer looked more radiant than moments before, holding a subtle glow to her skin that hadn't been there when she descended the stairs. Another woman knelt beside the fallen one and fanned her face, but I suspected it might be too late.
She's feeding, Lore's voice carried disgust. Small sips when someone defies her, but she needs the competitions for the real feast. Willing deaths give her far more power than these forced drains.
Miserable creature.
Who must be put down like anything else that’s gone rabid. That dark edge had crept into his voice, the one I remember most from Lorant. Hearing it made heat flare through me.
Don’t do that, I said.
Do what in particular, wife?
Talk in a way that makes me want to drag you to our bedroom. How could I even be thinking of something like that when a woman lay near death not far away?
Because I might soon lose him, and I was eager to make as many memories as I could.
He frowned. If I want to drag you to our bedroom, I don’t need to speak in any particular way. Tell me what you mean.
Never mind.
When we’ve just gotten started? he drawled. “What if I back you into that wall and kiss you until you forget everything but my name?” His voice turned molten. “Would you still think about Naveer then?”
I almost wanted to dare him to do it.
The queen cleared her throat and every head in the room snapped in her direction.
“Seek a silver frostwilla blossom and harvest it. Remember, it must be brought to me intact and still gleaming. Broken stems and crushed petals will result in…” She heaved a dramatic sigh.
“I adore these plants. Do not harm them. When you bring it to me, I’ll give you the second token.
” Her gaze narrowed on us. “This challenge will not be as simple as the first, so do beware.”
With that, the queen pivoted and strode into the parlor behind her. The doors slammed shut hard enough to make the panels shudder.
People fled the foyer, some out the front door, others taking the two halls on either side of the staircase that led to the back of the building.
We were soon alone.
Should we look for Dorion or go after a frostwilla? I asked.
Why don’t you look for Dorion, and I’ll collect the frostwilla? He didn’t meet my eye.
What aren’t you telling me about this lovely sounding but likely dangerous plant?
I don’t know much.
I note you’re not sharing what you do know with me now.
He took my hands. Squeezed them. It won’t take me long to pluck one. Let me know when you find Dorion.
I’m going with you. We’ll collect the frostwilla together and once we have the token, we’ll find Dorion. And leave, though I was determined to eliminate Naveer and help Laphira first.
His lips thinned. Very well.
When something nudged my leg, I jumped, looking down to find Farris sitting by my side, his tongue lolling and his tail sweeping across the floor.
“How did you get out of the suite?” I crouched and held his furry face. “Do you know how to pluck a frostwilla?”
He huffed and peered down the hall where some of the competitors had sped off to.
Straightening, I shrugged. “He wants to come with us.”
Lore stared at the nyxin for a long moment before nodding.
Good thing I dressed for danger. I tapped the hilts of my twin blades and tweaked the collar of my leather tunic.
“It’ll be cold out there.” A sweep of Lore’s hand and a fur-lined cloak materialized around me, carrying his scent. I now wore matching gloves and fur-lined boots.
Even his magic wanted to wrap me in his protection.
“You need to teach me this trick,” I said, admiring how warm the fur felt against my neck.
There are many tricks I’d love to teach you, my pretty little bride.
I’m your eager student. Heat pooled low in my belly despite the approaching cold.
I'm counting on it.
If only we could remain in our bed forever.
“Two days left.” His thumb traced my lower lip. “I want to spend every moment I can touching you.”
“Same.”
He stepped back with obvious regret.
Another nudge of his finger and Lore wore a similar cloak, boots, and gloves. Even Farris didn’t miss out on winter gear. Lore dressed him in a thick sweater with a hood tied cutely beneath his chin. His ears poked out from the top, flickering back and forth.
Lore tilted his head toward the hall. “This way.”
We strode down it with Farris’s claws clicking on the floor. After weaving through so many halls I began to get lost, we came to a solid door that was cold to the touch.
What kind of garden is this? I asked Lore, a touch of trepidation skidding through me.
A cold one.
He swept the door open.
We stepped outside into winter that shouldn't exist. The garden stretched ahead of us, crystalline plants gleaming like frozen fire under an icy blue aurora. But it wasn't the unnatural cold that made my blood freeze.
It was the sound of distant cries of pain from our competitors that chilled me the most.
Naveer was already hunting.