Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Purple Dragon Clan doesn’t live in one city.
Or even a handful of cities. Instead, their homeland seems to span this entire forest. Beautiful wooden houses are nestled between the trees in what feels like an entirely random pattern, and some have even been built on the branches above.
The only places where there are never any buildings are the open glens that are scattered across the woods.
That surprises me, since they would seem like ideal locations, until I realize that those are probably left open intentionally so that they can use them when they shift into dragons.
A low snarl rumbles from my left. I glance down at the panther that is prowling there.
Other jaguars have joined as well, though they’re sticking more to the edges.
Their yellow eyes watch us intently, but after that first lunge at Orion, they haven’t done anything to attack us.
I assume it’s on Diana’s orders, since her clan magic is the ability to control animals.
I study her where she walks ahead of us.
She carries herself with effortless pride, her spine straight and her chin raised, and she moves through the woods like a predator.
Since she rarely visited the Seelie Court, I’ve had very few opportunities to study her before now.
But based on this limited interaction, and the fact that she sent twelve people to assassinate Draven on the mountainside outside the Ice Palace last year, I get a feeling that Diana Artemisia is an incredibly dangerous person.
Taking a right, she strides towards a building that has become visible between the trees. It’s a long one-story building with warm firelight dancing in the windows. Smoke rises up from a chimney on one end. It drifts up towards the canopy in swirling rivulets.
The jaguars and panthers trail to a halt.
I glance at them over my shoulder, but Diana just walks up to the door of the long building and pulls it open. The sounds of chatter and laughter spill out from the room inside.
Holding the door open, she at last turns back to us. “I have things I need to finish first. You can wait in here.”
Draven gives her a nod. “Alright.”
Without hesitation, he strides across the threshold and into the building. I hurry after him, in case there is some kind of trap waiting inside. Isera and Orion saunter in after me.
The moment we enter the room, all conversations stop and all laughter dies out. Clothes rustle as forty-odd people turn around to stare at us. Anger darkens their features the moment they lay eyes on Draven.
We appear to have entered some kind of tavern.
Even though it’s only midday, the canopy of the forest outside makes the light dim enough that candles have been lit on the tables.
The flickering candlelight dances over the dark wooden walls, making the polished surfaces shine.
Tables are spread out across the large rectangular space.
The ones on the sides are made for two, or four, or six people.
But along the very middle of the room, two massive tables run the length of almost the entire room.
There is a bar to our right, and a door that appears to lead into a kitchen.
The scent of cooking food drifts out of it.
Draven sweeps his gaze over the room before he finds an empty table for four. We start towards it in silence while the tavern’s patrons stare daggers at us. Conversations start back up again, but they’re whispered and full of anger now.
Wood scrapes against wood as the four of us pull out chairs and sit down. To my surprise, Draven chooses one of the seats where his back is against the rest of the room. I sit down opposite him so that I can see what is happening behind his back.
Isera eyes the other unsafe seat that has its back against the glaring dragon shifters, but Orion casually plops down on it before she can make a decision.
She gives him a questioning look that he either doesn’t notice or pretends not to notice, so she just rounds the table and sits down in the final chair without commenting.
Tension crackles through the room like lightning bolts. It’s so intense that I can almost hear it vibrating in the air.
“So,” I begin, drawing out the word, as I meet Draven’s gaze. “How long before someone tries to stab you in the back?”
For a fraction of a second, I swear I can see amusement tug at his lips. But all he says is, “I’d give it five minutes.”
Orion casts a sideways glance at the tables to his right. “I bet a night in my castle on two.”
“I say less than one,” Isera adds, her sharp gaze gliding across the room.
“When it happens, don’t hurt anyone,” Draven says.
Orion arches an eyebrow in silent question.
“She’s testing us,” Draven explains. “And remember what I said. The two of you can’t use your magic or she’ll—”
A knife shoots towards the back of Draven’s neck.
Whirling around, Draven yanks his arm through the air and manages to slam his forearm into the wrist of the man holding the knife. The guy lets out a grunt of pain at the impact, and the blade goes flying from his fingers. It clatters to the floor a short distance away.
Isera lets out a smug huff of laughter. “Called it.”
Half of the tavern lurches towards us.
Shooting to our feet, we spread out side by side as the shifters from the Purple Clan attack us with a mix of proper knives and simple dinner utensils. I duck as a blond guy swipes a blade at my face and then twist out of reach when he tries to hit me on the way back.
My pulse thrums in my ears. How am I supposed to fight when I can’t use my magic? And since we’re not supposed to hurt anyone, I can’t use my dagger either. So what the hell am I supposed to do? I’m not a brawler.
I flick a glance at Draven.
My heart leaps into my throat when I see that he is surrounded by five people who are all attacking him at the same time. I gasp as one of them rams a knife right into Draven’s shoulder.
Thankfully, it only gets stuck in his dragon scale armor.
But just the thought of it makes that furious rage that is always burning inside me now rip free.
Summoning my magic, I shove it at the purple sparks of worry that I hope are present in their chests.
After all, they’re fighting the Shadow of Death.
They have to be at least a little worried.
To my relief, almost all of our attackers feel at least a flicker of worry.
I pour my magic into them.
The sudden massive flames of worry in their chests make them hesitant and clumsy. Around Draven, three of the attackers stumble and the remaining two pull back instead of striking.
Draven cuts a look in my direction.
I just shoot him an unapologetic look back, knowing that he can see my glowing eyes.
Clenching his jaw in annoyance, he whirls back to our attackers and summons his own magic.
A storm wind speeds through the room and slams into the now incredibly worried and uncoordinated group of dragon shifters.
The force of the wind, and their slower reflexes, completely bowls them over and they hit the floor like a heap of sticks.
Ice shoots through the air.
And suddenly everything is silent.
Quickly releasing my grip on my magic, I turn to look at our attackers. All of them are on the floor. Some managed to get to their knees while others are still on their backs. But all of them have a lethal shard of ice positioned against their throat.
Draven yanks out the knife that was still stuck in the shoulder plate of his armor.
Fear suddenly washes through the room.
After giving Isera a look, Draven tosses the knife on the floor. The shards of ice vanish as well a moment later.
“We are not your enemies!” Draven growls at the now thoroughly stunned crowd.
They all just stare back at him, apparently shocked that he just let them go instead of taking revenge.
“The Icehearts controlled me with dragon steel for two hundred years,” he continues. “And they’re doing the same to Rin Tanaka and god knows how many others.” His golden eyes blaze with fire as he sweeps his gaze over them. “I hate them more than you do. We need each other to break free.”
Only stunned silence answers him. It’s so loud that it almost echoes between the smooth wooden walls. Dancing candlelight flickers over the surprised faces all around us.
Then the door opens.
And Diana strides in.
“Smart choice,” she says, her shrewd eyes on Draven.
Turning to face her, he narrows his eyes at her with an incredibly impressive look of suspicion on his face. “This was a test?”
It takes great effort not to smirk. As if he didn’t already know that.
He really is a great actor.
A sharp smile plays over Diana’s lips as she shrugs.
“And?” Draven arches an eyebrow at her. “Did I pass?”
Everyone glances between the two of them while they continue watching each other. Then Diana lets out a breath of amusement and flashes him a smile. Sweeping her arm out, she motions towards a table closer to the back of the tavern.
“Have a seat.”