7. Talon
Chapter 7
Talon
I stood in the clearing outside the royal palace and looked at the visible tree line. The tops were burned, exposing the dead branches where the leaves had withered to ash. The elves were still burying the fallen. The sensation of knives against my skin was still present, but not as sharp.
Calista left the palace and came to my side. “Let me get my things, and we’ll walk to the border.”
I stared at the trees for another moment before I looked at her.
She must have felt the unease in my stare because she addressed it. “What?”
“I wish to go alone.”
“Oh.” The hurt washed over her face like an incoming tide.
“Not because I don’t want you there.”
“Then…why?”
“Khazmuda is upset with me. Ever since you and I have been reunited, he feels abandoned.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyes looked slightly less pained.
She’d just told me how much our separation had hurt her, how much she needed me always, so I felt like an asshole saying all this. I saw past her tears to the trauma carved into her heart. She accepted me into her heart fully, without an ounce of doubt, and she allowed herself to need me. “I don’t want to be apart from you.”
“I know.” She composed herself, hid the hurt my words provoked.
“It’s been just Khazmuda and me for so long.”
“I didn’t mean to steal you,” she said. “I don’t want him to be angry at me.”
“I wanted you to steal me, baby.” Truth be told, I wanted to stay. I wanted to return to that tree house and spend the remainder of our time together in bed making love, feeling each other’s heartbeat. Soon, we would leave the forest, and it would be all business from that moment forward. These quiet moments would be gone. And then I would die trying to avenge my family…or I would die after I avenged them.
Her eyes softened.
“And he’s not angry at you. His ire is reserved for me.”
“You don’t deserve it either.”
I moved into her and cupped her face, my fingers reaching into her hair. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
Her fingers gripped my wrist. “Okay.”
I hugged her tightly and kissed her hard.
She melted at my touch, like she always did. I could feel the way she’d given herself to me, fully open and vulnerable, forgiving me for every horrible thing I’d done. The slate had been wiped clean, and I was fully redeemed in her eyes.
I pulled away and let her go.
She couldn’t hide the sadness in her eyes, couldn’t pretend she was okay, not even to make me feel better.
I turned around and walked away, knowing I couldn’t take it.
It was nightfall when I reached the border. None of the elves stationed there intervened with my progress or tried to detain me. As far as I could tell, I was free to come and go as I pleased.
Khazmuda wasn’t there. I’m here .
Nothing.
I could feel his mind, so I knew he was nearby, just choosing to ignore me.
I built a fire out of fallen branches and set it ablaze with matches. The heat immediately drove off the chill. I pulled out my tent and constructed it while I waited for Khazmuda to stop the cold shoulder.
He didn’t.
Khazmuda, come on.
Silence.
I’m here to see you.
His voice erupted in my mind, full of his callused anger. Only because I asked—not because your heart desired it.
There’d only been two serious women in my life, and neither one of them ever acted like this. My heart always desires you, Khazmuda.
Silence.
I got distracted with Calista, and I’m sorry for that. Due to the intimate relationship I have with her, it’s hard for all three of us to be together. I think we would all be uncomfortable.
No man has that kind of stamina, Talon.
It took me an entire day to get here, Khazmuda. Going back and forth is not convenient. But we’re about to leave the forest, so this problem will soon be solved.
A moment later, I heard his wings in the dark sky. Then I saw the glow of his scales in the fire as he descended and landed across the campfire. He folded his wings and lowered his head so his face was visible in the campfire. What do you speak of?
Queen Eldinar has agreed to escort us to the dragons.
When?
Whenever she’s recuperated. She suffered grave injuries in the battle.
She lives because of you.
I stared at the campfire.
Looks like she was wrong about Talon Rothschild. They all were.
Not Calista. She’s always believed in me.
Because she knows your heart—as do I.
I continued to stare at the fire.
You’re on the verge of claiming everything you’ve worked for. It’s in your grasp like the pommel of your sword. Yet I can feel your sadness…
My eyes watched the flames dance.
But I can’t determine the source.
It was cruel to tell him. It was cruel not to tell him. But what would be crueler?
Talon?
My eyes raised to his. “Queen Eldinar may take us to the dragons, but that’s not a guarantee they’ll fight for us.”
We’ve searched these lands for the dragons for decades, and we’ve finally found them. Regardless of what they say, that’s still progress. Because dragons are brave and mighty, I’m sure they’ll pledge their scales to our fight.
“I think you’re being optimistic.”
And I think you’re being pessimistic. You’ve turned the elves to friend from foe. No reason we can’t do the same with these dragons.
“Perhaps…”
He stared at me for a while, the flames reflecting off the scales around his snout. I’ve missed you, Talon Rothschild.
“You don’t have to say my whole name, but I missed you too.”
It killed me to stand by and do nothing while you fought alone.
“You would have destroyed the whole forest.”
The forest can burn to the ground. You’re all I care about. And Pretty.
I was hungry, but it was too dark to hunt now. I’d have to wait until morning.
You’re different since we’ve come here.
“Different, how?”
Before we left the castle, you detested Calista so deeply you wanted to abandon her. But the moment you set your eyes upon her again, you’ve become a different man. You water her like she’s a flower. You carry her like she has no legs. You show her a tenderness that a gardener shows his roses. It’s a version of you I’ve never known before. And even when she’s not with you, I can still see it.
I leaned against the log, one knee propped while I crossed my arms over my chest.
I feel replaced.
“Khazmuda, you’re irreplaceable.”
His eyes shifted to the flames. I understand how things are. Dragons are no different from humans. We find a mate, and that mate becomes our nest mate, our best friend. When we first met, you were so broken you didn’t want to live, but all these years later, you’ve found someone to live for. Instead of being selfish, I should be happy for you…and I’m sorry I wasn’t.
It’d been easy to carry this lie for so long because success always seemed out of reach. Decades had been spent going in circles, but now we were closer than we’d ever been. The lie felt heavier. “Don’t apologize, Khazmuda. Having a woman in my life is no excuse to ignore you.”
Perhaps I’ll find a mate when we free my kin.
The thought gave me a pain of sadness, because I wouldn’t be around to see that happen. “I’m sure you will.”
I’ve always wanted to have hatchlings. Teach them to fly and breathe fire.
My hands squeezed my arms as I waited for the pain to leave my heart. As I fought back the tears I didn’t expect to shed.
His eyes locked on mine, probably because he felt my surge of unexpected anguish. Why does that hurt you?
I tried to find the words but failed. It took Vivian and me a couple months to get pregnant, and the discovery was one of our greatest joys. I pictured my life with a son or a daughter, all the things I would show them and teach them. Knowing I had a little girl in the Realm of Caelum, a daughter I would never know, would always kill me. “I hope you experience the joys of fatherhood, Khazmuda.” And I wished I could see it. Little dragons with his black scales. Dragons that grew up strong and fast, hatchlings that became fierce predators.
I didn’t mean to be insensitive.
“You weren’t.” My hands relaxed on my arms.
Your dream can still come true, Talon. Calista will be a great mother to your hatchlings.
I couldn’t take any more of this conversation. I hadn’t had these dreams when I’d sold my soul to Bahamut. I hadn’t thought I would ever feel anything for another woman as long as I lived. But then I saw Calista on a starry night…and I was lost. It was a slow burn, from a lit match to a fire in the hearth to an inferno that engulfed the land. And now it burned me alive, burned me from the inside out.
You’re still in pain.
“I care for Calista deeply, but she’s not my mate.”
Then what is she?
“I—I don’t know.”
He stared at me with his dark eyes, blinking every few seconds. It’s okay to have another mate if your previous one passes away ? —
“Let’s not do this.”
Did you tell her about Vivian?
“What did I just say?”
Why don’t you want her to know?
“It’s not that I don’t want her to know. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
Then, would you like me to tell her?
“No.”
I think she should ? —
“Drop it.”
Talon, I know you love her ? —
“If you don’t want me to return to the forest, you’ll drop this. I mean it.” I’d come out here to be with my companion, my closest friend, but now I wished I’d never left the forest. I could be in Calista’s bed right now, not saying a word.
Khazmuda would normally press his argument, but he didn’t dare risk losing me. He’d been out here alone for a long time, feeling my mind close off from him whenever I was intimate with Calista…which was most of the time.
The fire crackled between us. The crickets chirped loudly. A breeze rushed through our campfire and rustled my hair. Ashes scattered, and the smoke blew in my direction before it went elsewhere again.
Khazmuda’s mood was solemn, his eyes on the fire instead of me. What’s the plan?
Good, back to business. “When the queen has recuperated, we’ll travel to the dragons and make our plea.”
And how should we do that?
“I think you should do the talking. They aren’t going to care about my motives.”
But they’re going to need to know why a human is risking their life for this cause.
“Then we’ll tell them,” I said. “But I think you’re more likely to convince them than me.”
You’ve always been better with words.
“But no amount of words will make them forget I’m not one of them.”
You’re one of us, as far as I’m concerned. And I will make sure they see that. Even if your family was somehow returned to you this very moment, I know you would still fight with me.
I didn’t want to picture the hypothetical, speaking to my father again and rectifying the animosity from our final conversation, smirking at my brother and him smirking back at me. I would never have the audacity to look Vivian in the eye after I’d failed her. Anytime I thought of her, I was filled with a shame that was suffocating. “Yes, I would.”
I wonder how many dragons there are.
“I’ll ask Queen Eldinar.”
If there are only a handful, it won’t be enough. Not even with the forces you’ve acquired in Shadow Stone.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
And we’ll need a plan.
“We can’t have a plan without knowing the enemy. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. I’m sure much has changed.”
It has been many years. But they may expect us. They searched for us in the wild a long time. They know we got away. Your uncle may have received news that the Death King conquered Calista’s lands. He may suspect it’s you.
“Maybe.”
We have to assume he’s prepared—and be prepared in kind.
I returned to Riviana Star, walking through the patches of shade made by the tall trees, feeling the warmth through my armor and clothing when the sun hit me. The music was distant up ahead, but the birds sang their own song in the branches above me.
It was a long walk, but it was a peaceful one.
The elves who patrolled the border didn’t halt my passage. Didn’t ask me to abandon my sword and daggers. They just let me pass—like I was one of them.
Hours later, I arrived in Riviana Star, and the second I stepped in its vicinity, I could feel the sorrow. This place didn’t feel the same as when I’d arrived. It was no longer full of silent tranquility—but death.
I continued down the path and found Calista’s tree house. The springy vines were an odd staircase to have, and I worried she would fall over if she carried goods from the market to the top. But soon, we would be leaving, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
I let myself inside without knocking because this place felt like mine as much as it was hers. My eyes immediately went to the dining table where she sat, having dinner alone, probably a bowl of rabbit food with a green tea.
Her eyes widened at the sight of me, and a burst of affection exploded in her gaze.
I wished I could feel her emotions the way I felt Khazmuda’s, but I would have to settle for the sight of her heart on her sleeve. It was hard not to smirk at her joy, how visibly happy she was that I’d returned, how much she wanted me and was unafraid to show it.
She left the table and moved straight into me, her soft body hitting my armor, rising on her tiptoes as she hooked her arms around my neck to kiss me.
I gave her a boost, scooping my arm under her ass to bring her to eye level with me so I wouldn’t have to angle my neck down to kiss her. She felt light in my arms, feeling smaller than the two-handed sword I wielded in battle.
Her fingers dug into my hair as she kissed me, showing me how much she’d missed me in the brief time we’d been apart. It had been less than two days, but it felt a lot longer than that. Her hand cupped my face, and she looked at me as her thumb brushed over my cheek, regarding me with a love so powerful it was like looking straight into the sun. “I missed you.” Her words were barely above a whisper.
“And I you.”
“Did you eat?”
“Yes.” Khazmuda had hunted for us both, and we’d shared a meal like old times.
“Do you feel better?”
“I do, but I think it’s because of you.” A pain had weighed on my heart ever since I’d spoken with Khazmuda. The pain was always there, a permanent part of me like my beating heart, but whenever I was with her, it dimmed considerably. In our most peaceful moments, I didn’t notice it at all.
Her thumb rested in the corner of my mouth, and she paused to stare at me, her eyes descending into the depths of emotion. “Take me to bed.”
“What about your dinner?”
Her lips came back to mine. “You’re my dinner.”
A flush of heat ripped through me when I heard the desire in her voice. Women had always wanted me, but the longing felt different when it came from Calista. It hit me deeper, burned me hotter.
I carried her to the rumpled bed she hadn’t made and dropped all the pieces of my armor and my uniform, stripping down to my bare skin and hard dick.
She was naked on the bed underneath me, hard nipples aimed at the ceiling, her hair in a beautiful disarray behind her. Her sex was already glistening, like she was desperate for me the second I walked through the door.
I took her invitation and slid between her soft thighs, feeling the warmth of her flesh, and sank inside her as our eyes locked. It had taken a lifetime of patience to have this moment with her, to fix everything that asshole had broken, and now the connection between us was pure fire. It was both physical and emotional, no barriers between us at all, no walls around her heart.
I felt my breath escape when I felt how fucking slick she was, how her body responded to me with a flood of enthusiasm. My dick twitched inside the place I called home as I folded her legs underneath me. Her eyes were already dazed with pleasure, and her lips were already pursed for the moans she knew she would release.
I started to rock into her slowly, not for her benefit, but mine. Because…damn.
Her hands were all over me, sometimes on my chest, sometimes in my hair. She would cup the back of my neck and bring my lips to hers, kissing me as I continued to rock into her, showing me a confidence that was so fucking sexy.
I wouldn’t last, not when she was the sexiest damn thing in the world.
“Come inside me,” she whispered against my lips, her fingers still in my hair. “It feels so good.”
My entire body halted as I closed my eyes. It had taken a lifetime to earn her trust, and now she was a better lover than all my favorite courtesans. But it was also better because it was more than physical. It had the kind of depth I hadn’t known in a long time. It was beyond the flesh, deeper than a heated moment between two strangers in a pub. It was so real it fucking hurt. I filled her with a moan I couldn’t suppress, feeling the glow of the afterlife my cursed shadow couldn’t defeat. Everything turned golden, like sunshine on a summer morning, chasing away the winter weeds.
Her lips parted in the sexiest way, her nipples hardened, and her nails dragged down my chest. “Talon…”
My dick was rock hard like it hadn’t just fired, and I rocked into her once again, this time harder, making sure to push against her little clit and steal her breath away. I slid through my own come as I took her, lost in the heaven between her legs. “Baby…”
We slept on and off through the night. A single touch would light a spark between us, and then the flames caught on the sheets. She was beautiful in the moonlight, the beams striking her fair skin. She was more addictive than my scotch and cigars, both of which I hadn’t had in a long time and hadn’t even noticed until now.
She moved on to her hands and knees beside me then looked at me over her shoulder.
I lay against the headboard and stared.
“Finally had enough?”
No. I grabbed her hip and tried to roll her to her back.
She fought my touch. “Why do you always do that?”
I pulled my hand away and continued my stare.
“Why don’t you want me that way?” She pivoted her body to face me, taking away her beautiful ass that reminded me of the nectarines that ripened in the summer. “You can teach me.”
“That’s how you fuck a whore—and you aren’t a whore.”
She continued to stare at me. “What if I want you to fuck me like a whore?”
I was lucky my cock was hidden under the sheets because it swelled like a river in spring. “I don’t fuck you, baby. I make love to you, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.” I took my courtesans with their faces down and their asses up, fucking them mercilessly because they didn’t mean a damn thing to me. But Calista meant so much.
She looked at me in the dark, reading my gaze with her deep stare. “Why can’t we have both?”
“Because I don’t want to have both.”
She crawled toward me, coming close with her perky tits on display, so sexy without even trying. “I think you do.” She grabbed the top of the sheet and pulled it down, revealing the hard dick I couldn’t hide underneath the material. Her fingers went to my balls and gently caressed them like I’d taught her. “Come on…”
A beautiful woman was begging me to fuck her, but I continued to say no. “It’s a compliment, Calista. You actually mean something to me.” My breaths increased as her gentle fingers moved to my dick and stroked it with her soft skin.
“You don’t understand me.” She leaned toward me, her lips coming close to mine. “I want to be fucked like a whore— by you .”
Calista and I entered the royal chambers and saw Queen Eldinar upon her throne, looking far less weary than in the days that had passed. She had a strength to her spine and a sharpness to her gaze that hadn’t been there before. She’d always been pale, but now there was a hint of rosiness to her cheeks.
Calista gave a slight bow. “How are you, Your Majesty?”
“My health has been greatly restored. I feel like myself again—can think like myself again.” She turned her attention to me. “How’s Khazmuda?”
I approached and gave her a slight bow. “Lonely.”
“You’ve been together for so long that doesn’t surprise me.”
“Will you be ready to make the journey soon?”
“That’s the very reason I called upon you,” she said. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning. It’s several days’ ride to the north.”
My greatest desire was finally in reach—and I’d never wanted it less. It was the very reason I’d remained alive all these decades, but now, that motivation had been snuffed out like a dying fire. The guilt slowly mounted in my chest, rising like a lake after the snow had melted from the top of the mountains. It made my heart beat harder.
“Is that agreeable to you, Death King?”
“Yes,” I said. “And Talon is fine.”
“You were so insistent on maintaining your dominance when you first arrived here, but now it seems to mean nothing to you.” She spoke her observation aloud like she didn’t expect an answer.
“A title means nothing among friends.”
Her shrewd eyes slowly softened at my words. “May we speak in private— friend ?”
I looked at Calista.
She gave a nod and didn’t seem wounded by the exclusion. She wordlessly left the chambers and went back into the forest.
When she was gone, I looked at the queen again.
“Come.” She rose from her throne then moved farther into the chambers, showing a grand table with high-backed chairs that could accommodate twelve guests with plenty of spacing. A slender trench-style vase constructed of wood ran down the table in the center, at least twelve feet across, and white flowers grew from the soil compacted within the container. She took a seat at the head of the table, wearing a white dress with a flower crown upon her head. “Sit.”
I pulled out the chair to her left and pivoted it to face her directly.
“This is where General Ezra and I have our meetings—as equals.”
Because we were also equals. “You honor me, Queen Eldinar.”
“I respect you, Death King.” She sat back in the chair, her legs crossed, her hands together on the table. “Calista and I have never connected because of the circumstances of our meeting. I wasn’t given the luxury of embracing her as an aunt because of my duty as queen. To make the attempt now would be forced and disingenuous.”
“Calista isn’t the type to hold grudges. She has a heart that forgives easily.”
She smiled. “Because she’s young. Despite her hardships, she has a zest for life that only exists in youth.”
“Perhaps.”
Her fingers stitched together. “Just because that relationship between us doesn’t exist doesn’t mean my affection also doesn’t exist.”
General Ezra had made his disdain for me clear. I’d hoped that had changed after the battle, but perhaps it hadn’t.
“As I said before, she’s young. And you’re a man who may seem the same age in appearance but is many decades older in spirit.”
“With all due respect, I find this hypocritical, considering the age gap between you and General Ezra is a century rather than a couple decades.”
She didn’t flinch at my comment, a soft smile on her lips. “And I think General Ezra would have benefited from a conversation similar to this. I did my best to deter his affection, but he was adamant the moment he saw me. It’s a selfish love, to use all of his youth, while I barely spill a drop of mine.”
I was surprised by her honesty but gave no indication of it.
“But there’s a major difference between us. I was able to return General Ezra’s affections and agree to a life together. The last conversation you and I had still troubles me because I sense you’re unable to give Calista the same—for reasons I’ll never know. We are new friends, and I won’t interrogate you about matters that don’t concern me. I only ask that you consider the devastation you’ll leave behind.”
I’d underestimated the queen’s intelligence and shrewdness and wouldn’t make that mistake again. “It weighs on me every day.”
Her eyes absorbed my stare along with that answer. “I warned Calista that this love would be brief. It’s hard to know if she took that warning seriously, based on the way she continues to look at you—the way my husband looks at me.”
A sword pierced me through the chest, the guilt carving into my heart like a sharp knife.
“Each of you is experiencing a different version of this relationship. While you dread its impending doom, she lives for the sunrise. Manage her expectations to protect her gentle heart. For you, this is another moment in your long life, but for her, this is her life—because you’re her life.”