Chapter 34
Chapter
Thirty-Four
Izzy kneeled where Dashiell had shoved her on the broken floor.
He’d tied her hands behind her back, winding the rope tightly over her wrists, tearing at skin and scales.
Then he’d bound a second rope around her throat and strung it down to loop around her ankles, until she was trussed and helpless.
As soon as she was secured, Dashiell lit a nearby wall lamp.
It threw a pool of light onto the surrounding area and illuminated an ancient steel portcullis that hung ready to drop.
A stone lever was built into the ground below and a little to the side of the portcullis—perhaps an operating mechanism.
Dashiell began winding a coil of rope around the lever, keeping an eye on the door as he worked.
“What are you doing?” Izzy whispered.
“Preparing to catch a drake,” Dashiell stated, as if it were obvious.
Mother of the Weave. “Please don’t do this,” Izzy begged, voice breaking.
Dashiell ignored her.
“Luka won’t be alone,” she insisted. “That won’t work.”
“Oh, I think he will,” Dashiell argued. “I’ve watched the knight commander for years as he’s pushed everyone away. He’ll come looking for you when he realizes you’re missing… and he’ll come alone.”
Izzy’s heart broke a little more. “The others will come. They won’t stop. Someone will realize the truth!”
“I’ve run Firebreather right under their noses for years without anyone realizing the truth.
” Dashiell chuckled. “Rayan died, and not one person even thought to look at me. That was the best thing about being a city guard—I could go anywhere, do almost anything—and it would’ve been even better to be a castle guard.
” His amusement turned bitter. “I thought I could restart the war and get myself into a better position at the same time.” He sighed.
“It didn’t work out, but I have a new plan.
And now I’m going to make more gold than you can even imagine.
I already sent a bird. The baron has a ship waiting around the headland, just over the horizon.
I’ll hand you both over, collect my prize, and be long gone before anyone notices. ”
“What baron?”
Dashiell tugged on the rope until the lever just started to move.
Then he walked back to Izzy, letting the rope unspool along the ground, but he didn’t bother to reply.
Instead, he pushed the temple door open a few inches, just enough to create a tempting entrance.
Then he blew out the lamp, leaving them in deep shadow.
Gods of fire. All he has to do is pull the rope, the lever will disengage, and the portcullis will drop.
Izzy hung her head. Dashiell was insane… but his plan could work. Her gaze fell on the gloomy pile of skeletons only just visible in the dark. “Who are they?” she asked roughly.
Dashiell settled himself on a piece of convenient marble, gripping the end of the rope. “They were already dead.”
She swallowed. “They didn’t die in a pile like that. What did you do?”
Her beast twisted and roiled, unsettled. He did something foul.
“It’s quite brilliant, actually,” Dashiell bragged. “When Benja first taught me the secret to Firebreather, I knew instantly that his production method was unsustainable. He was going to get caught killing old drakes, and that would have taken us both down.”
Izzy swallowed bile. Gods, Benja had been killing people, and Dashiell had helped.
“What secret?” she forced herself to ask.
“It’s so obvious, really. The drakes have magic. They take it from the air, from the mountain. They probably even take it from the rest of us. Someone long ago found a way to take it back.”
Izzy did not want to know, but she had to. “How do you take it back?” She glanced again at the ominous pile of skeletons. “Is it in the bones?”
“I wondered that myself.” Dashiell tilted his head.
“I think there probably is magic in the bones. I’m sure Benja could have distilled something from them.
He taught me poisons and anatomy, but he died before he could teach me the rest.” Dashiell sighed, as if Benja had failed him by dying when he still had work to do.
“I just burn them and use the ashes to mix in with the Firebreather and bulk it up.”
“And what is Firebreather?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“It’s the claws. They extend when a pair mates; they’re full of magic and heat and potency.” Dashiell chuckled darkly. “Just a taste, and even the oldest, most feeble and doddering ancient among us can get his cock up. And the rich and powerful can enjoy their festivities for days.”
Izabel froze. Oh gods. She swallowed and forced herself to speak. “You killed them for their claws? Those people who died, you and Benja—”
“Benja only killed a few, but I told him that was a good way to get caught. After that, we kept an eye on anyone who was sick and took them after they were dead. Bizarrely, the claws remain part of the skeleton, even if the person could never fully shift.”
“But why bring them here?” It didn’t make sense, and those bones looked far too old.
“I didn’t bring them here; that would be pointless.
After Benja died and your brother stole his shop, I needed a new way to get bodies.
” He waved a hand, gesturing toward the shadowy ruins around them.
“There have always been stories about the temple here. The Pyre believes you can walk into the fire in the mountain and come out purified. I grew up hearing those myths. I decided to take a look for myself, and I found exactly what I was hoping for: dozens of mated drake skeletons.”
“Rayan found you,” Izzy whispered. “He figured it out.”
Dashiell grunted. “When I saw him at the clinic in Naos—just a few feet from where my mother met with the Pyre in the Temple of the Twins—I knew he was close. He saw me there. He knew me from the apothecary…. He had to go.”
Tears slid down Izzy’s face, but she couldn’t reach them to wipe them away.
I’m going to kill him, her beast muttered. I’m going to destroy him.
“And now,” Dashiell continued smugly, “I’ll have my own mated pair to sell. I already have a buyer for Luka, but when I tell him that I’ve captured both of you….” His voice rose gleefully. “What will twenty claws and a live dragon get me? Just about anything.”
“We won’t….” Izzy fought to clear her head, to find the right words, to find some way to deflect Dashiell from the truth. “We’re not mated.”
“Maybe not yet, but I’m sure you will be soon.” He flashed a snide grin at her. “And in the meantime, Luka will do as I say to protect you, and you will do as I say to protect him.”
Izabel let her head bow as far as the rope around her neck allowed. Her knees throbbed and her thighs ached from the unnatural position on the hard stone, but her heart hurt more. This was worse than anything she’d ever imagined.
And she knew, without doubt or hesitation, that Luka would come for her.
Nothing would stop him. Dashiell was right; Luka would do anything to protect her.
He might have denied their mating, he might have even denied her, but when it came down to it, she knew he loved her.
And he was going to die—or live in a cage—because of it.
Unless we put an end to this nightmare first.
Izzy eased to one side, letting her knees fold beside her, trying to relieve the pain, and slowly extended her claws.
She slid one against the rope and gently sawed, but the air was so still that she could hear the crash of waves on the rocks outside, and her tiny movements sounded loud—and close—in the heavy quiet.
Dashiell turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised, and she stilled, slowly retracting her claws. She couldn’t risk him seeing her talons. She fell into silence and concentrated on listening for Luka, instead.
For now, there was nothing she could do but wait.