Chapter One
Shivers tormented me. My teeth clattered, limbs curling against the last person I wanted near.
Ronan.
Fear of what Gyrak and my brother would do if ordered to remain in Reem—as if I could even force such a thing—had dulled to a bone-deep numbness. Helplessness rooted in my marrow.
Hours passed with my breath timed to Gyrak’s wingbeats, trying to stay warm. Ronan’s leather-clad arms cinched tighter around me. I stiffened, resisting the urge to shove him off. Rage burned low. He tore me from Radaan.
And I despised him for it.
But more than that, I hated myself.
This was my fault. Kallias was ruined. And me?
No man would dare touch me now, not after I’d warmed the hands of a king.
Worse still, Ronan radiated fury. His rage clung to the air, thick and brittle.
He didn’t understand. Never tried. He built his truth and sealed it shut, too wrapped up in his own conclusions.
If he had the power, he would’ve declared war the moment he saw me on that desk. But breaking a blood oath was only an act of war.
And only our father held the authority to declare it.
The dread in my gut hadn’t moved in hours, its burden familiar and heavy.
Father.
Fresh fury surged as I tugged at my torn dress. No breeches. My bare thighs scraped raw against the saddle’s leather. He dragged me from Reem without warning. No time to change, to breathe.
Humiliation threatened to drown me as I remembered Kallias’ mouth on mine, the sound of tearing fabric when he finally tossed caution to the wind, surrendering to his hunger. Gods, the way he’d held me against the wall, letting me feel his need… how my touch slipped beneath his belt…
And then—shame. That filthy shame rippled through me as I struggled out of tangled trousers while my brother dragged me down the hall, my screams trailing behind us.
He would, no doubt, spit every graphic detail of how he found me once we landed on Draconis’ shores.
I had to find my mother first. Father couldn’t hear this from Ronan. It had to be her. She might—might—understand.
Hours wore on, leaving only my worries for company. Tallon planned this. Every piece. He knew I would find him with Fyrn, that I’d run to Kallias. He set me up, and I fell into his trap headfirst.
But how much did he know? How had he learned of my brother’s arrival while I was kept in the dark? I never received word that my letters survived the storms. Did he send for Ronan?
Bile surged, burning my throat as I thought of Kallias facing Tallon’s poison. He was nothing like his son. The king faced his problems, didn’t stalk from the shadows. He fought.
Tallon just waited… lurking, picking bones clean. A vulture.
All this time, I toyed with Kallias, teased him, stole moments I never earned. I pushed him against his gods, against his people—and for what?
Guilt caved in. Tears stung, and I ducked my head against Ronan’s shoulder.
Kallias was a good king. Loyal. Unyielding. Honest.
He once promised he’d ruin me, but I ruined him, shattered his future. I dragged Radaan toward another war with Vellos… Because of me, there would be no dragons sent to aid them.
I couldn’t let my father retaliate.
Shame burned hot, swallowing me whole. Without help, Radaan might fall.
I sagged, all strength sapped from my bones, and I dozed, finding pockets of sleep between stabs of guilt. My ribs ached with emptiness.
I’d left my heart behind.
In Radaan.
Gyrak keened, wings twitching as he dipped, then surged upward on a fresh updraft.
“You’ll kill him!” I screamed, slamming my shoulder into Ronan’s chest. The massive black dragon had faltered twice since dawn. We still soared leagues above the ocean, no hint of land in sight.
Gyrak was young, but the flight across the sea dragged on for days without sleep or rest. The poor beast was spent by the time they arrived in Reem. He’d needed a chance to recover before returning to Draconia, but my brother hadn’t granted him that mercy.
“He can make it!”
Ronan braced himself as Gyrak huffed and lifted his neck, shielding us from the wind. He gripped my shoulder and shoved to his feet, then staggered forward, balancing across Gyrak’s midnight spine.
The sun beat down, warmer now, but the absence of Ronan’s body heat hit me at once. I wrapped my arms around myself, a shiver crawling down my back.
He scowled, stumbling toward the edge where the dragon’s scales sloped to the open sea.
“Not shy anymore, are you?!” he shouted, fiddling with his belt to relieve himself. “See one, then you’ve seen them–”
“One more word, Ronan! Say it, and I’ll toss you to the jellyfish!” I screamed into the gale, twisting back toward Gyrak’s spiny neck.
To keep his head upright in flight strained him, but it was the only time riders could relieve themselves midair.
Another reminder that the system wasn’t built for women.
My options were to hold it, or disgrace myself.
Not that the beast would care, but my brother—and every Draconis alive—would never forgive me for such an insult.
“It’s your fault he’s in this state!” Ronan growled.
That broke the dam. I snarled, yanking my boots from the stirrups.
“Sit down!”
“No!” I shouted, clawing my way free of the saddle.
My boot slipped over a smooth scale. Wind tore my split dress open, fabric flaring.
My bare legs shone in the sunlight, but Ronan’s clear gaze remained on mine.
“You don’t get to order me! You never have!
” My voice cracked. “This is your fault! You never listen—you do what you want and damn the cost! You forgot your place!”
“I’m the heir! You’re just a–”
My fists slammed into his chest. His body pitched over the dragon’s side.
Ronan’s shout vanished into the roar of the wind. I stumbled forward. He caught a current, spinning into a free fall. His dragon bellowed, wings folding as he twisted midair. I screamed, nails scraping for purchase.
Gyrak surged upward, his head snapping my way, using his snout to shove me toward the saddle. I kicked against his back, boots slipping on his slick scales. He growled, teeth nipping at my feet.
“I’m trying!”
Motions frantic, I swung my leg over just as Gyrak rolled into a dive. Air punched from my lungs. My fingers flew over buckles, yanking the straps tight around my calves. I knew what came next. I wouldn’t hold on–
Everything went black.
I snapped awake with a jolt. My head slammed into a wall of dark scale. Pain burst across my tongue where my teeth bit down. I braced a hand against the dragon, scanning the sea below.
A deep growl rumbled from Gyrak’s throat as he beat his wings, climbing again. His tail skimmed the water.
Ronan hauled himself over the dragon’s shoulder, face livid.
“You wicked hag.” His breaths panted, harsh and strained as he slid in behind me. His chest crushed against my back. “You could’ve died!”
My heart twisted, heat knotting beneath my ribs. Gyrak would have saved Ronan first. He always would. His bonded, his rider—more important, more valuable. Even with Ronan’s freefall, I was the one hanging by a thread.
Something warm smeared across my lips. I wiped it away, scowling at the crimson staining my hand.
“Sea beneath, sister. You already looked bad enough!”
The urge to shove him off again nearly won. “You should have let me prepare!”
“You don’t get it.” He wrapped his legs over mine to steady us as Gyrak climbed. Each wingbeat shuddered through the dragon’s frame. “It wasn’t just me, Nienna.” He shrugged off his leather jacket. “You were… on display like a common whore.”
I snarled, throwing an elbow into his gut. I knew what happened. The memory was carved into me—no escaping it.
“Shut up and listen.”
He caught my arms, forcing them into his jacket. Heat bled into my bones, and I hated the comfort it gave. He didn’t let me speak.
“All of them saw you. Tallon. The Velli. Half the palace! The oath—he tore it apart. You both did.” His voice cracked, faltering. “Don’t pretend you understand how it felt. To see you that way—my sister–”
He hesitated. His breath hit the back of my neck. “Sea beneath, how could you?”
“How could I what, Ronan?” I turned my head, anger rising—but already retreating like the tide. “Fall in love? You weren’t there. You don’t know how it felt. He was the only one who cared about–”
“Our people are starving,” he spat. “And you think a man twice your age—willing to void a blood oath—loves you?!”
Helpless tears burned behind my eyes. That was all he would see—an aging king, dishonorable and treacherous enough to break a blood oath. A man who treated the threat of dragonfire like smoke in the wind. To Ronan, Kallias mocked Draconia’s warnings, taking advantage of me to do so.
No, my brother wouldn’t believe anything I said. I could only hope that my father might see reason.
By morning, Gyrak faltered. Ronan stayed silent, his face pale and drawn. He refused to speak to me. He offered a strip of dried meat from his pack, avoiding my eyes.
The black beast glided on updrafts, wings trembling in the breeze. A young dragon could make the four-day trip—but a return flight with no rest had never been done.
As the day wore on, we sank lower. Gyrak’s talons skimmed the water, cutting silver ripples across the waves.
I ground my jaw tight. We were too far from Radaan to turn back, too distant from Draconia to push ahead. No land between us—only sea. We had no choice but to fly.
When night fell, cold pressed into my skull until my head throbbed. Ronan’s water supply had dwindled to its last few drops. His reckless flight from home was catching up. Gyrak panted, steam gusting from his nostrils, each breath ragged as he fought to stay aloft.
“Brace yourself!”
I blinked, headache blurring my thoughts as I grabbed the saddle’s edge. The stars flickered on a still, glassy surface. No storm churned above. What would impede our flight?
Gyrak dropped like a stone, crashing into the sea. I screamed, nails biting into leather. Ronan yanked me tight against him as seawater surged up our legs. The dragon flailed, wings sprawled, struggling to stay afloat.
Cold punched through my dress and soaked into my boots. Panic scraped its claws across my throat. Gyrak huffed, curling his wings, dipping his head to the black water.
Never in our known history had a dragon landed in the sea. Fear of the dark abyss was as much a part of them as their scales or flames. Gyrak shuddered beneath us, and Ronan slumped forward, his forehead resting against my shoulder.
“He needs to rest.”
Heat prickled across my skin, feverish. I ignored it. The water below my boot looked endless and cold. Resting his wings wouldn’t help if he couldn’t take off again.
Would we die here? Stranded with a waterlogged dragon?
Ronan sagged into me, his breath warm and shallow. I bit my cheek. I would keep watch. They had to rest. Even if I hated them for it—right now, they needed me.
A distant wail pierced the silence. I jerked upright, rubbing my eyes. My brother’s chest weighed against my back. The sound had cut through the dark—sharp, eerie, not wind, not waves.
Another cry followed—high and thin. My heart stuttered.
I slapped Ronan’s thigh. “Wake up!”
He jolted, gripping my shoulder. I twisted, scouring each direction. The sea was empty. The sky untouched. Dawn barely kissed the horizon. There was nothing.
“We need to go! Now!” I slammed my fist into Gyrak’s side. The dragon groaned, shifting, weariness making him sluggish. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the water.
The call rose again—closer. Beneath us.
My heart lurched to my throat, panic flooding my veins with icy terror. I pounded my fist into Gyrak once more. His massive wings snapped open, slapping the sea. Too heavy. Not enough lift.
The shriek shattered the air, deafening. I clutched onto Gyrak, fingers scrabbling across damp scales. Ronan cursed, fire sparking along his palms. His flames lit the water in flickers, but the inky depths below stayed black, endless.
Gyrak thrashed. His wings pounded. His neck stretched, desperate to take to the sky.
This was why dragons avoided the open ocean.
A swell rose around us. The sea heaved in a towering wave. My scream choked in my throat, dead before it could break free. The beast blocked out the stars—colossal, white-fanged. Moonlight glinted off jagged teeth.
Ronan shouted. Fire burst from his hands, flaring into the beast’s cavernous maw as it closed in.
“Fly, Gyrak! Now!”
I slammed my palm against his scales. A jolt of raw power surged through my arm. The dragon shrieked, twisted, claws ripping through briny spray. His talons found the monster’s face, raked toward a black, glistening eye.
A shark? Or whale? No. Something worse. Bigger than anything I’d seen.
I clung to the saddle as the creature snapped sideways, its ivory teeth snaring Gyrak’s rear claw.
Ronan threw more fire, light blazing off barnacle-crusted skin. Gyrak bellowed as the monster bit down. With a wrenching cry, he tore free—sacrificing a toe—and scrambled atop the creature’s head.
The beast recoiled into the depths.
Gyrak seized the moment. His wings struck the air with deep, jarring force. We rose.
I gasped, clutching the dark scales as we took flight. Ronan pressed against me, arms locked tight around my waist. His chest was stone—rigid, tense.
He demanded the dragon fly without rest.
Now Gyrak bore the cost.
We rode in silence as the sun ascended. Gyrak’s low whimpers filled the space between each labored wingbeat. Ache settled in my bones. Heat blistered beneath my skin. Sleep pulled at me, dragging me under in fits. Ronan shook me, his voice cutting through the fog—but not far enough.
I only wanted to rest.
The deeper I sank into its embrace, the harder it became to rise.
Eventually, I stopped trying.