40. Chapter 40
40
Zara
M y shoes clacked as I stumbled away from the Shadow King. His fingernails had left indentations on my face that still burned.
“Touch her, and it will be the last thing you do,” Cas growled to his father.
In answer, the king drew his sword. The sound of it unsheathing lifted the hairs on my arms.
But then Cas had one too, as the weapon simply materialized in his lifted hand.
My heart stumbled. Time was running out. I glanced at the wide windows, wondering if my plan would work.
The clash of steel broke my hope to shards. My stomach knotted as Cas and his father dueled so fast I couldn’t track their movements. But Cas had said Rykar would use steel first. We weren’t out of time yet.
Hurrying toward the windows, I hurled a prayer to the First and Last, a god Ivy had said could hear prayers. If this god cared enough about the creatures he’d made to listen to them, he was better than any I’d ever heard of.
“Please let them come,” I said. “Please let this work.”
At the window, I braced against the casing and leaned out. I gave my hair a shake in the freezing air for good measure. Maybe, despite my dancing and twirling and waving about, there were too many smells in this room for the dragons to smell me .
Blades rang out faster than the snap of castanets. The fae were backed against the walls to allow room for the battle between the king and the heir. I’d thought Cas and Alba fought quickly, but this was like trying to watch hummingbirds in flight.
Then I saw blood.
Red dotted the floor and flashed on the hint of blurred gray steel. I couldn’t tell whose sword it was. I thought I might be sick, so I turned and held my head over the window ledge.
From this high, the surrounding peaks and the valley between them opened like a spread map before me, illuminated only by the light of the slim moon and host of stars. Above the howling wind, the drumbeat of dragon wings pounded in the air.
A smile broke across my face.
“There you are,” I said as the pale peach dragon arced down into view around the corner of the old castle walls. The creature shrieked as it saw me, its large nostrils flaring. “Come to finish what you started?”
I backed into the ballroom, shaking so hard with nerves I thought I might collapse. Ariana wove through the crowd and rushed to my side.
“What are you doing?” She stared at the dragon as it circled outside.
“Inviting the final guest.”
Ariana gasped as the dragon pinned its wings to its sides and shot through the open window over our heads.
The entire room broke into chaos.
Servants screamed. Tables flipped as fae launched themselves into the air to flee the one creature they feared. Shadows darted here and there, slipping out the windows like rising smoke. Above the din, I listened for the sound of clashing steel, but I couldn’t discern where the fight had moved.
“Down here!” I shoved Ariana forward and dove beneath a table.
A second later, a massive, clawed foot hooked the side of the table and ripped it away. I screamed and collapsed to my knees on the hard stone floor.
The dragon’s loud breathing threatened to throw me into a blind panic. But just as my body was giving way to fear, I caught sight of Cas. He stood on a table, sword in hand, shadowy wings outstretched behind him. He had blood splattered across his cheek and chest, but I couldn’t tell if it was his. I couldn’t see the king.
Cas launched himself into the air and landed with a thud between me and the dragon.
The dragon inhaled, the rattling sound an indication of the impending fire.
I scrambled to my feet, digging through the folds of my dress.
“Here!” I shouted, hurling the uncut stone into the air, away from Cas.
As predicted, the dragon’s attention followed the stone. It opened its mouth and caught the jewel with a snap of its jaws.
Cas’s frame shuddered slightly. “If it swallowed that stone, there is no surviving its flames.”
I nodded, but my feet were lifting off the floor as magic drew me toward the Shadow King, who flashed into view at the far end of the room. Then his magic flung me out the window.
“Cas!”
I landed on my back on a hard surface. The air blasted from my lungs, and for several seconds, I couldn’t draw a breath. My eyes stared up at the starry sky. Freezing cold air lapped over my body and whistled in my ears. I writhed back and forth, desperate for air to enter my lungs again.
With a jolt, I recognized the courtyard where the dragon trial had taken place.
Quickly, I rolled over and rose to my knees. My lungs finally expanded, and I sucked in a breath. The king had dropped me out here like an offering, clearly assuming the beast would follow me. The king must not have seen me repay the creature. It had no reason to be angry with me anymore.
Suddenly, Cas’s limp form slammed down on the stone beside me. A shriek tore from my lungs.
I lunged toward Cas, but wingbeats overhead made me freeze in place. More dragons than I could count circled in the dark night sky. I dropped to my ankles, instinct prevailing, and raised my arms over my head. My dancing shoes clapped loudly against the stone.
The nearest dragon extended its talons toward Cas, but then it flapped its massive wings and rose higher, curling its claws back in. Its narrow face and terrifying eyes watched me intently, as if waiting for something. It was the largest dragon I’d ever seen, its massive blue shape barely discernable in the dark.
“Cas,” I sputtered, studying his unmoving frame. The arms splayed before him were entirely black. “Cas!”
I took one step forward, but a growl from the large dragon stopped me.
There was no sign of the Shadow King. Our plan to distract him with the dragon had failed.
I’d led Cas astray, and now he was dead. My heart constricted until I thought it might stop beating.
I jumped as the honey-colored dragon blasted from the windows of the great hall and swooped out into the night, quickly circling back toward the open courtyard.
Remembering the way the pale dragon had taken an interest in my noisy shoes, I curled my fingers over my head into the starting position of a dance. Maybe it would work a second time. The blue dragon’s nostrils flared. It beat its wings two more times before settling down onto the stone.
Without knowing what else to do, I stomped my heels in quick succession and launched into the moves of the dance I knew best. It was the dance I’d performed the night Cas had stolen me away. When I thought he was no more than a murderer with no heart at all.
My breaths came faster and faster, but somehow my muscles relaxed as I moved through the steps, stomping and twirling with singular determination to reach Cas where he lay. I added in claps where I usually clicked my castanets. At each stomp of my heel, the dragons settled, one after another, until a dozen of them were perched on the stones around me. Not one of them attacked. I spun, the massive skirt of my red dress flaring out into the night, mimicking flames. With one final spin, I would reach Cas, but I had to move right past the golden dragon that had burned me. I swallowed my fear and pushed toward Cas.
The dragon scooted backward out of my way as I spun across the open space.
My blood pulsed in my veins in time with the stomping of my feet and the clapping of my shaking hands. The fear rushing through my body counteracted the cold air biting at my skin, but after several more turns, I lost myself to a violent shiver. Instantly, the dragons lurched toward me as I broke from the dance. I sucked in a gulp of air and kicked my foot out to enhance the spinning of my dress.
The nearest dragon cocked its head back as if pleased. These dangerous creatures were entirely different than I had imagined. They wanted to be entertained, much like the fae. I wondered how long they would be entertained by my dancing. It seemed that the louder I stomped and the faster I twirled, the calmer they became. But if the king was watching he wouldn’t let me go on like this forever.
The end of the dance was drawing near, the final move only a spin away. I could immediately shift into another dance, but what if the dragons disliked my change in tempo? My arms were so cold, and my movements were slowing as my body fought against the frigid night air. I began the final spin, turning and turning, adding two more revolutions. The ruffles of my dress danced over Cas’s back and my foot came down right beside him, hands lifted overhead, as I threw myself backward into the final pose.
The dragon nearest me had crept closer as I’d spun across the space, and I flinched, preparing for his fire. But its serpentine head cocked sideways, as if waiting to see if I would keep dancing. Its eyes, those awful orange slits, peered down at me.
I fell to my knees, placing one hand on Cas’s chest. It was faintly rising and falling, and I could feel a slow heartbeat underneath his thin black shirt. The dragon’s long neck extended, until its head hovered before my chest, nostrils flaring as it sniffed me. I could barely take a breath.
Now that I was still, the cold air sunk into my skin and raced toward my heart. Cas’s arms were fully black up to where his sleeves bunched at his elbows.
I assumed I only had another breath or two before I would leave this world. I glanced down at Cas, wishing so badly that his eyes would open. But we were out of time. I bent over and pressed a kiss to his cold face. His mouth didn’t respond, and it felt like I was kissing a corpse. A tear dripped from my face onto his, and I smeared it away with my thumb.
The black lines from his curse crept slowly up his neck into his cheeks. I wished I could wipe them away with my fingers as I had my teardrop. As I frantically called to Cas, something scaly bumped my elbow and I screamed, toppling forward.
The dragon had nudged my elbow with its snout. Perhaps it was playing with its food, wanting more of a fight. Unable to control my rapid, ragged breathing, I shuffled over Cas and knelt at his other side, clutching his hand to my chest and staring into the face of the blue dragon. We would die together. Cas’s father was right—love would be our end.
I pressed a kiss to Cas’s cold, black hand and trembled as the dragon’s claws clicked the stone so close I could reach out and touch them. Three more dragons were creeping closer now. I smelled smoke on the wind, as one of them was gathering fire in its belly.
Maybe Cas wouldn’t feel a thing when the fire consumed us. I just wished I had been able to tell him how I felt before the end.
Staring up at the enormous blue dragon, I blinked away the tears blurring my vision and lifted my chin. From somewhere in the shadows, I heard the distinct ring of a sword being drawn from a scabbard. The king must be disappointed that we hadn’t already been torn apart by the dragons. He was prepared to finish the job.
The dragon heard the sound as well and snapped its long face toward the glint of steel in the darkness. The animal—whether male or female, I couldn’t tell—inhaled deeply, a rattle sounding in its massive chest. It released a quick burst of flame in the direction of the shadows, and Rykar’s face glowed orange from where he hid. The flames didn’t reach him, however, as if the dragon had merely been issuing a warning to say stay back. We were its meal, and it wasn’t planning to share. I yelped as the warmth from the flames washed over my body.
The dragon returned its attention to me and Cas.
But the Shadow King was not taking orders from a dragon. He shifted into his dark winged form and stepped across the stones toward us, sword in hand. Several dragons rose on their hind legs, their wings extending and their bellies expanding. The dragon that had been watching us extended one wing over us, its leathery membrane touching the top of my head and arcing down to rest against the stone on the other side of Cas’s feet. Was this dragon protecting us? Surely it was only protecting its food, the way a wolf might protect its kill from another predator.
I didn’t like the thought of becoming a dragon’s next meal. I figured being flamed to death would be a quicker way to die than being ripped to pieces by fangs.
The king’s guards followed their sovereign out into the night, loosing small arrows toward the dragons. The weapons must have stung as they found their marks, for the dragons attacked. One dragon emitted a stream of flames that stretched across the entire platform. In the light of its blue-white flames, shadowy fae darted away, several screaming in pain. It seemed that dragon fire could even harm a fae in shadow form.
I clutched Cas’s arm tighter to my chest, as if his presence could keep me safe from the flames and the battle raging around us. The dragon with its wing over us spun around, its tail knocking into my shoulder. I sailed backward and barely caught myself before my head hit the stone. I flattened myself on the ground next to Cas, pulling his head against my chest.
One shadow landed on the platform beside us. As he walked slowly toward us, I recognized Rykar, with his broad chest and dark sword, the point aimed at the ground.
I clung to Cas, pressing my eyes shut as the sword rose over my head. This was it. My plan had failed.
At the sound of the blade clattering to the ground, my eyes popped open. The blue dragon had snatched the Shadow King from the platform and tossed him in the air, catching him in her open jaws. I covered a gasp with the hand not wrapped around Cas.
Whatever magic the king was performing, the dragon must not have liked the taste, for it spit the king violently onto the stones. For a second, he lay there in a cursing heap. Then, his shadowy form solidified, and the king stood to his feet, fully corporeal once again.
I felt the air shift with a pulse that shook the ground. The king lifted a finger toward the dragon that had protected us, and with a single flick of his wrist, the dragon dropped to the stones and didn’t move again, one wing crushed beneath its massive body.
The other dragons grew restless and emitted terrifying shrieks, distressed at the loss of one of their own—one of the largest I’d seen. I knew next to nothing about the lives of dragons, but their rage was clear enough.
In a frenzy, two other dragons descended on the platform, flames engulfing the king.
When the flames died out, the king still stood, unharmed. His magic was so much stronger than I had ever imagined. I shook Cas, praying he would wake up and create a shield around us, but he didn’t wake up. I had to do something.
While the king was distracted by the dragons, I stood and hooked my arms under Cas’s shoulders. I leaned my weight into tugging him toward one of the gated archways where the fae had watched our trial.
I had only moved him a body length before the king spotted us. As the king turned to face us, the honey-colored dragon hissed and sparks flew from its open mouth. It spun in the air, its hind feet landing just in front of us, tail whipping out so close that I flinched. But its tail never hit me. The creature was blocking the king from us.
“Dragons are protective of their meals. But you will not be safe forever!” Rykar shouted.
The dragon opened its mouth, and a line of white-blue flames shot toward the Shadow King. These flames were brighter and hotter than the rest—it must have swallowed the stone. I dove on top of Cas, shielding his exposed skin as best I could. From the corner of my eye, I watched. The blinding light of the flames illuminated the king as he fell to his knees, arms lifted above him. As his protective spell deteriorated, his screams pierced the night over the sound of the crackling flames and the click of dragon claws.
In a single moment, Rykar lay still. After another moment, his form shriveled into ash, which carried away on the harsh, cold breeze that whipped across the platform.
I pressed a fist to my open mouth, hardly able to believe what I had witnessed. My heart beat madly against Cas’s chest as I stared in shock. Then I slid off of him and curled into a sitting position, rocking as I held Cas. Tears dripped down my face as the dragons turned toward us, and I knew that we would be next.
Cas was finally free of his father, but he would never know it.
Except, his arms were a warm color again. The black had drained away the moment his father vanished. Carefully, I laid him back on the stones and stroked the edge of his face. His eyes fluttered open, and one of his hands, now warmer than my own, pressed my palm to his cheek.
“Cas!”
The corners of his lips twitched, but he still seemed mostly unable to move. His eyes flickered around the courtyard. I helped him sit up, and then I kissed him violently.
“I love you,” I said through my tears.
His large, warm hand stroked my face and then curled into my hair as he kissed me again. I didn’t want to stop kissing him, knowing that I’d rather not see the flames coming, but he pulled my face away and stared at the dragons who were still watching us.
He examined his hands, turning them over, then locked eyes with me. “My father is dead, isn’t he?”
I nodded, indicating the space where the king’s body had disappeared.
“What did you do to them?” Cas asked, a smile tugging at his lips as he nodded toward the waiting dragons. They hadn’t torched us yet.
“I didn’t do anything. I only danced to keep them from eating you.”
Cas’s brows lifted, and he smiled at me. Then he stood, slowly, his eyes on the yellow dragon nearest us. The creature shuffled side to side a little, its wings partially extending then resettling. Cas laughed and offered me his hand. “It seems they liked the show.”
His arm wrapped around my waist and tucked me against him. I didn’t want to let him go, ever. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and then looked out at the night.
The dragons faced us expectantly, as if waiting for us to say or do something.
“It looks like we have a new matriarch,” Cas said. He bowed politely to the dragon. I followed suit, but Cas shook his head at me. “Not the dragon,” he whispered. “You.”
The dragon dipped its head, not toward Cas, but toward me.
Cas chuckled as we stood. “To Zara, a tamer of dragons.”
With his thumb and forefinger, he turned my jaw toward his and kissed me again. When he pulled away, he stayed close enough that his nose brushed my cheek. “Tell them, Zara. Tell your dragons what you would like them to do.”
“ My …?” The shock of the evening’s events was settling into my bones, and I started to shake uncontrollably.
“Dragon clans are ruled by a female, and it appears the blue one over there was the matriarch. Until she died, presumably protecting you. The rest of the dragons see you as their new leader.”
Once my head started to shake, I couldn’t make it stop. This couldn’t be possible.
Cas held me firmly. “In the thousands of years we’ve lived here, not one of us has ever attempted to entertain a dragon. Our ancient foes might be more like us than we realized, hungry for entertainment.” He smiled at me. “You’ve changed the world, little spark. No. I can’t call you that anymore.” His lips moved down to my ear and warmth poured down my spine. “Wildfire.”
My pulse roared in my ears as I looked out at the dragons waiting for a command. “Protect us,” I called out. “Protect the new king.” I glanced at Cas. His eyes widened.
“I thought you didn’t like the Shadow Court?” he said.
“I don’t love the cold, but I love you, and you’re here. You have a court to rule.”
“I can’t be the king of darkness,” he said, briefly resting his forehead against mine. “Not after loving you and your light.”
I stretched my hand up and laced my fingers through his hair. “Yes, you can. Only you can. Your power might come from darkness, but that doesn’t mean you have to love the darkness the way that your father did.”
He crushed me against him, tucking my head underneath his chin. I could feel his heart beating, and I was thankful for each beat as it tapped against my ears. He was alive and he was king.
“Come,” he said, “I must greet my court.”