Chapter 36
Sebastian
The morning air carries a chill as we step outside the cavern entrance. Terra is waiting for us; she is holding a small, wrapped package. The wind lifts strands of her dark hair and sends them dancing around her face.
“Safe travels.” She looks at me first, inclining her head. “I wish you well on your quest for the Lost Kings.”
“Thank you for everything.” The words are formal. But I mean them.
Then she turns to Isla.
Her entire demeanor changes. Her face softens, and she opens her arms, pulling Isla into an embrace. I don’t like how close they’ve become in such a short time. What I really don’t like is how she plans on coming back here. I don’t like where that action will lead.
“I really hope you come back to us,” Terra says, holding Isla at arm’s length. Her voice is warm, her eyes searching. “There is a place for you among the shifterfae.”
Isla nods. “Thank you, Terra. I appreciate it.”
“Here is more of the plant you asked me for.” She hands the tightly wrapped package to Isla, who takes it, slipping it into her pocket.
“Thank you. I’m sure I have plenty. I only need to drink the tea for seven days.”
“Just in case, you might need more. Remember what we discussed.” Terra squeezes her shoulders. “Meet us at the place we talked about in five nights. No matter what happens, be there. I’ll be waiting. We’ll give you a full day to come before we’ll be forced to leave.”
“I will do my very best to be there.”
What plan have they hatched between them? But I hold my tongue. I gave up the right to be involved in Isla’s decisions.
Terra releases her and steps back.
Behind us, a gathering of shifterfae has assembled at the cavern entrance.
Isla lifts her hand in a small wave.
They wave back. A few of them call out in the clicking language of the shifterfae. I don’t understand the words, but the sentiment is clear enough. They want her to return. They’ve claimed her as one of their own.
“We should go.” My voice is rough.
Isla doesn’t look at me. She just nods and walks toward the waiting dragons.
There are six of them. Enormous beasts crouched low to the ground, their leathery wings folded against their flanks. From time to time, smoke rises from their nostrils in twin plumes.
I approach the one designated to carry me. The dragon turns its great, horned head and regards me with one slitted eye.
I grip the leathery ridge at the base of its neck and haul myself up, finding the shallow groove between the shoulder blades.
A naked male regards Isla as she walks up.
“Are you sure you want to go to the Shadow Court?” he asks her.
“Very sure.” She nods.
“We’ll take you as close as we can,” he says, stepping back. His body starts to reform, growing larger. A tail and wings push from his skin, along with bony protrusions that quickly cover with scales. Moments later, a great dragon stands before her. He crouches low, like the others.
Isla mounts easily. She gets into position, her hands finding purchase on the bony ridges. She’s wearing form-fitting dark clothing and long boots. She pulls the hood low over her braided hair.
The dragons rise to their feet.
One of them makes a rumbling noise, and in the next moment, the ground falls away beneath us with a stomach-lurching drop, and then we are airborne.
Wind tears at my clothing, and my hair streams back from my face.
The Shifter Court shrinks to a collection of dark openings in the mountainside, and then it’s gone, swallowed by cloud and distance.
We fly in formation. The six dragons move as one, their wings beating in a rhythm that carries us south. Toward the deadlands. Toward the Shadow Court.
Toward the place where Isla intends to throw her life away.
I turn to her.
She sits low on her dragon’s neck, her body moving with the beast’s flight. Up here, she looks small and fragile, despite everything I know about her power.
She’s actually going to do this.
She’s going to walk straight into the heart of the Shadow Court, where guards will be waiting, where her face is known, where there’s a bounty on her head.
It’s madness.
Unless she’s hoping I’ll follow her.
The thought slides into my mind like a blade between ribs. Is that her game? Lead me to the castle, let me be captured?
Is this her way of delivering me to Snow, after all?
The thought feels wrong the moment I think it. It doesn’t fit.
It makes no difference either way because I can’t follow her. I won’t. I have a mission of my own, one that can’t be ignored.
The dragons begin their descent, and to my right, I can just make out the green of the court.
Directly below us lie the deadlands. A bleak, gray expanse of rotting vegetation and twisted trees.
We land ten or twelve clicks from the Shadow Court. Close enough that Isla can make her way on foot. Far enough that we won’t be spotted by patrols.
The dragon beneath me touches down, squelching in the mud. I swing my leg over and drop to the ground, my boots sinking slightly into the soft earth.
The other dragons land around us. All six remain in their beast forms, their great bodies coiled and watchful. Their eyes track every movement. Their breath fogs in the cold air.
I make my way toward Isla.
She’s already dismounted. She stands with her back to me, adjusting something at her waist. A small pack with supplies for her journey.
Isla turns, the hood slipping from her head. She looks beautiful, and I hate that I notice. I hate that, even now, even after everything, the sight of her makes something squeeze inside me.
“So, this is goodbye.” She takes a step back, putting distance between us. Her voice is light, but there’s something underneath it. Something that doesn’t quite match the casual words. “Good luck in finding the kings. Maybe I’ll see you on the battlefield. I’ll look out for you.”
Everything in me goes taut. My hands want to reach for her. My voice wants to call her back. I fight it. I fight all of it.
“For the last time, don’t do this.” The words rasp, filled with emotion. “Have the dragons drop you off near a settlement. It isn’t too late to change your mind about all of this.”
“I’m going.” She shakes her head. “There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind.
I have to do this.” She licks her lips, looking like she’s thinking through what she has to say next.
Her eyes meet mine. “We’ve always been destined to go our separate ways.
Well, this is it, Sebastian.” She straightens her shoulders. “Goodbye.”
She starts to turn away.
I reach out and take her hand, pulling her back. Then I kiss her.
It’s not gentle. It’s desperate and fierce and full of everything I can’t say.
Her lips are soft beneath mine, and for one endless moment, the world narrows down to just this.
Just her. Just the warmth of her body against mine and the way she melts into me despite everything.
She kisses me back, her hands gripping my biceps.
When I pull back, her eyes are wide. Her cheeks are flushed.
“Okay, then.” A small smile tugs at her mouth. It doesn’t reach her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting that. I guess we’re leaving as friends, after all.” She lets out a breath that sounds almost like a laugh. “Lucky me.”
“We’re not friends, Isla.”
Her smile falters for just a moment before she rebuilds it. “Of course not.” She pulls her hand free. “Because friends actually trust friends. All the best.” She turns again.
“We’re not friends because I wouldn’t kiss my friend.”
She nods, starting to turn again.
“Wait…please.”
She stops but doesn’t turn back. “What?” There’s an edge of annoyance in her voice, reminding me of her grit, of how much I like her.
“If you insist on breaking in…” I force the words out. “Please be careful. Promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks.”
She turns her head, looking at me over her shoulder. Her eyebrows lift. “That’s such great advice.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be careful. I’ll go and see my mother, and then I’ll leave. It will be easy.”
“Hardly.” I take a step toward her. “You can’t trust your mother. You shouldn’t trust her, even if you want to.”
“Don’t trust anyone, even myself. The words you live by. I’ve got it.” She pulls her hood lower over her face. “I’m going now, Sebastian. Have a good life.”
I open my mouth to say something else. Something that might make this better. Something that might bridge the distance between us.
“Isla.”
“What?” she yells, not turning back. Her voice echoes across the dead landscape.
“Goodbye.”
There’s a long pause. Then she lifts her hand in a small wave. Just like the day I first officially met her. The day she waved hello. So damned sweet and kind. So full of life. So full of sorrow, too, because she feels like she’s alone in the world. Like she doesn’t belong.
I wish I could change that, but I can’t.
I turn away and walk back to the dragon. The beast is still in a crouch, making it easier to climb. I take two bounding strides and swing myself up onto its neck, gripping the ridge with both hands.
I watch Isla for a few moments more as she hurries toward the Shadow Court.
The dragon makes a low rumbling noise. It vibrates through its entire body and into mine.
“I’m ready,” I tell him.
The dragon’s wings unfurl. The other five beasts rise with us, their bodies lifting into the air with powerful downbeats.
We fly for a while. The other dragons stay close, their formation tight and protective.
I can’t stop thinking about her.
She’s alone down there. Walking into danger without anyone at her back. She might possess magic, but she isn’t equipped for this. She has no idea what she’s walking into.
My broken soul recognized hers that day in the tent. I felt something shift between us when she freed me. Something that connected us in a way I didn’t understand and didn’t want.
I still don’t want it.
But that doesn’t make it any less real.
I’m letting her walk into danger, and I can’t do it.
“Go back,” I shout into the wind, sounding desperate, but I don’t care. “Please, I need you to go back.”
The dragon doesn’t respond. Its wings continue their steady rhythm, carrying us further from where I left her.
“Please,” I shout. “I have to help Isla.”
For a moment, I think the beast has chosen to ignore my request. Then it lets out a series of sharp clicks. A sound that rolls through its body and somehow communicates with the other dragons in the formation.
Slowly, impossibly, the beast begins to turn.
The other dragons follow, banking wide before circling back the way we came.
I need to help her. That’s all there is to it. I need to follow her into that castle and make sure she comes out alive. And then… Then I need to try to fix what I’ve broken between us.
I need to apologize.
We still can’t be together. There’s too much at stake, too many lives depending on my focus and my mission. But we can walk away from each other on better terms than this. We can at least say goodbye without all the hurt and anger and unspoken things festering between us.
I have to see this through. Even if it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Even if I’m risking everything for a woman I’ve accused of betrayal.
The wind bites at my face as we fly back toward the deadlands. Back toward the Shadow Court.
Back toward her.