Chapter 5
Iwake up in a mess and for a moment I think I’m home.
Tucked in my bed, with my piles of books and paintings of dragons on the wall.
I can almost hear my brother laughing as he runs away from father’s shadows and my mother humming as she walks past my room to the breakfast hall.
My heart is racing as the burning heat soon reminds me I am not at home.
I’m covered in a white blanket, and my arm is bandaged as I lift it above my head, wincing as a sharp pain shoots down it.
“It’s okay. Here, have some water.” Hunter’s voice is soothing, and I turn, seeing him leaning over me with a glass of water.
Hunter presses the water to my lips, his other hand gripping my chin, and I greedily drink some before he takes it away.
I practically growl at him, and he quirks an eyebrow.
“Little sips, Wren. You’ve been asleep for three days.
” He sits down on the bed and his shoulders drop.
“It’s good to see you awake. The venom can kill. ”
I look at him and I wonder whether he slept at all those three days.
He looks like he’s run his hands through his hair many a time, and dark circles linger under his eyes.
Yet he still looks ridiculously handsome, even tired.
Did he stay with me? Someone has clearly cared for me, and yet I never expected it to be Hunter.
Something warm flutters in my chest as he looks down at me, as if he is waiting for me to speak.
I clear my throat a few times before I croak out. “What were those snakes?”
“They’ve been native here a long time and too much of their venom can easily kill a fae.
” His eyes grow suspicious. “Usually, when they get wrapped around your throat, they don’t remove themselves until you’re dead and they eat your head first.” He places his hand on my good arm.
“I saw the mark on your chest when I helped clean you up. You threw up several times and coughed up blood. Changing you was needed, and I asked a female I am friends with to assist. She also saw the mark, but she is loyal to me and will not say anything.”
I go silent. I should be concerned he saw my mark, but something nastier pits in my stomach at the mention of a female friend who is loyal to him.
I mean, he is stunning and of royalty here, so of course he would have a girlfriend or partner.
I just hate that he does. The new feeling is bitter in my mouth, and I don’t respond. “You have magic, don’t you?”
“What if I do? I’m in the games, anyway.” I mutter. “So your girlfriend doesn’t have to keep the secret.”
His eyes lock onto mine and his lips twitch in amusement.
“I don’t have a girlfriend and I don’t date.
Dating is exclusive to my mate.” Before I can ask anything about that, he has moved on.
“What confuses me the most is why the dragons, or the one that looked in your mind, didn’t see your mark or magic.
Why would a dragon lie to its own kind?”
“He just did.” I admit. “I thought it was strange too. He told me not to say anything and to hide my magic. He said not all dragons want the change that I’m apparently meant to bring.”
Hunter sits with the knowledge for a long moment, and he doesn’t even seem to remember his hand is on my arm, or that his thumb is gently stroking me now.
“That mark on your chest, it’s spoken about in here.
This was written by my mother about how her family were destined to protect the marked.
” He taps a book on my bedside table. “You can read about it here. You’re called God Touched.
Essentially, when you’re God Touched, you’re given a destiny — a fate to save people or destroy people or something.
It’s a rare mark. I remember reading about it when I was only a kid, from my mother’s stories.
I’ve added to the back of the book — things she didn’t have time to write. ”
His eyes linger sadly on the book. “Thank you for the book. I will be careful with it and return it when I’ve read it.” Hunter nods once, still looking at the book. “When did you lose them? Your family.”
“When I won the game.” He admits, and I’m surprised he is telling me anything.
“I came back, and I found the dragons had burnt them all. They thought I was arrogant for winning, and they didn’t want a winner who wouldn’t bend to their whims. People cheered for me, for my family name, and it was clear they preferred me over the dragons who held them in fear for so long.
There’s always a price for winning these games, for being kept here alive with magic.
They like you broken, especially if you have powers.
” He lifts his hand in the air. Purple shadows swirl around his hand, his fingers and arm.
“I wasn’t given much choice but to bend, unless I wanted to see every other fae trapped here burn.
They are my people and they were all I had left.
My family would have wanted me to protect them. ”
“Maybe they don’t all feel that way. Dragons in my world just coexist with us. My parents were riders.” I softly explain.
“They rode dragons?” His lips part in surprise.
“They were allowed to, yes, but they had to do trials to show their worth. It’s complicated, but if they were seen as worthy, then they became riders.
My mother’s dragon was one of the biggest dragons left in the world.
Still is. My mother hears from her from time to time, checking in on her like a distant friend.
So does my father with his dragon. He actually had two.
His first dragon died in a war.” I tell him.
“If I told them of what is happening here, they would come and use their magic to fight. They fought for a free world once, and they got it.”
“Dragon riding is not happening here. I guarantee one of those bastards would bite your leg off for even attempting it.” He smiles at me.
“Maybe these tests they do are similar to the ones in our world. Something they copied before they came here.” I shrug a shoulder. “My parents only told me a little of the trials they did.”
“Perhaps. Are you hungry?” He changes the subject.
“Not really. I’m still feeling a bit sick.” I admit.
His eyes soften. “The next game is tomorrow.” He clears his throat when I sigh. “The dragons will only give you till then. I bartered with them for more days, or they would have dragged you out of your sickbed unconscious.”
“Bastards.” I mutter.
“Agreed.” He smiles at me, and his smile makes me feel warm in a way no sunlight could. “I want to invite you to something. After the game that I have no doubt you will win.”
“Ah, you’re starting to have belief in me now, Hunter? I must look terribly sick.” I chuckle.
He laughs. “No... I think I was a fool for not believing in you the moment we met.” A moment passes between us. “Do you have mate bonds in your world, Wrenley?”
“Is that what you wanted to invite me to, a conversation about mate bonds?” I quip, but my heart races. Why would he ask that?
“No, but it’s important. I want to know if you know about them.” He pushes.
“My parents are mates. At least, mate bonds are a bit complicated in our world, but yes, it’s a draw to someone and you trust them immediately.
My parents said that even though they were rivals at the start — enemies — my mum said she always felt a draw to my father.
My father said he was obsessed with my mother from the moment he saw her, and that never changed.
My mother was a bit more complicated. She went through a lot and was probably very confused by everything.
” I gnaw on my lip. “But their love? I grew up seeing it and wanting the same. The bond is beautiful.”
“It is.” He whispers, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Why did you ask about mate bonds, Hunter?” I whisper. I need him to say it, to confirm it.
“I wanted to invite you to something.” He changes the subject quickly, too quickly, and he looks away.
“After the games, it’s a special night tomorrow.
There’s a dance — a celebration. It’s when the moon goes so high in the sky that it almost looks like it hits the stars and the light reflects across them, making them look like they’re moving.
Every year we have a celebration. People dance and party to celebrate.
The dragons hate the light, so they hide and it’s safe. Come with me.”
“Okay.” I murmur, and he finally looks at me again. There is a light to his eyes that was never there before, and for a second, I let myself believe it was me that made his darkness fade.