Chapter Forty-One
CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE
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T HE STAIRWELL IS CLEARLY ONLY USED BY GUARDS AND servants, given the lack of décor. We rip our masks off and toss them aside, beginning to do the same with our attire.
“I need you to untie my corset.”
“If you wish for me to ravish you, you should’ve spoken earlier.” He doesn’t waste time untying it, he rips it in half. “Fucking gods,” he mutters as footsteps quickly approach the top of the steps. I try to filter through the skirts surrounding my legs for a knife considering I have both mine and Cayden’s, but there’s so much damn fabric.
Cayden yanks me up, grasps my corset to keep it from falling, and backs me into the wall. “It’s showtime, princess.”
He slams his lips onto mine, and I shriek in surprise, hardly recovering by the time the door at the top of the steps creaks open. I give in to the madness of his plan, kissing him back and lacing my fingers through his hair. He slides his tongue into my mouth and shoves his knee between my parted legs when the familiar throbbing sensation arises.
“Get off each other. I don’t have time for this.” The guard quickly descends.
Cayden hikes my leg up, and a moan slips from my lips as I feel him slide a knife out of my holster. He strokes a thumb over my thigh, and I practically taste his praise.
“Do I have to pry you two off each other?” the guard asks, his voice right next to us.
But he doesn’t get the chance to touch us before Cayden flips the knife behind his back to transfer it to his other hand and stabs the guard’s throat without removing his lips from mine. He only pulls back when the guard hits the floor and then rips his doublet off to expose his leathers. I slide my arms through the sleeves of mine and don my weapons once I’m situated while Cayden plucks his knives from my legs.
We take the steps two at a time and slip through the door once we know the path is clear. I glance around to get my bearings, conjuring the memory of the snakes leading me through the castle. Our pace is swift, we only halt to peek around corners, but it seems all guards in the east tower haven’t figured out that the order was forged.
My skin heats, but it’s not from running or nerves. It tickles the back of my mind like a talon brushing against it, and the bond in my chest comes alive. I let it guide me without caution, and it’s not long before Cayden peeks around the final corner.
“Six guards stand at the chamber entrance. We’ll charge them together but take the first opportunity to get inside. I’ll follow you after I’ve killed them all.” He pulls the key and amulet out of his pocket and places them in my palm. The darkness that lurks within me rises to the surface at the prospect of killing. “Bloodthirsty angel.”
“You adore it.”
“More than I should. Take the one on the left.” He pulls a knife from his thigh and rounds the corner with a lazy, swaggered strut. We throw our blades together and kill two instantly. The blood of the one Cayden killed sprays the man beside him.
“You’re guarding something of mine,” I state as they rush forward, and Cayden draws a second sword. “I’ve returned for them.”
The merriment of the ball drowns out the sound of clashing steel. The decision to leave Garrick behind is easy. My dragons matter more than him, and they always will. Together we’ll become the spitting image of Garrick’s nightmares.
Cayden slices through a guard like warm butter, spilling guts onto the polished floor. I drag my sword from belly to chin and kick the guard backward before his blood shoots me in the face. Instead, it rains down on me like mist.
“Go!” Cayden barks, fighting the last two guards.
“You’re sure?”
“You’re forgetting something, angel,” Cayden begins while stabbing one of the guards in the leg. “I enjoy this.” A bloodstained smile spreads across his face, and the guard in front of him flinches before Cayden unleashes himself. I rush forward, jamming the key into the hole and shoving the now red, glowing door open. It falls shut behind me, and I’m encompassed in darkness.
A low, rumbling growl echoes throughout the chamber, and a mixture of agony and longing punctures my heart. I’ve dreamed about that sound. Sometimes I swore I heard it while I was in Aestilian, haunted by these beautiful creatures.
My eyes slowly adjust, and I’m met with a pair of glowing green eyes.
“Sorin,” I breathe. My heart shatters and mends all at once. He tilts his head as he regards me.
The only light comes from moonlight pooling through several windows facing the Seren Mountains. They’ve been chained and forced to gaze upon skies they couldn’t touch. How in the hells is an amulet going to unlock the shackles around their necks and ankles?
I raise my hands as I step forward, wanting to show them I mean no harm. All I want to do is throw my arms around them, and I don’t realize I’m crying until I taste salt. The chamber is vast, and made of black volcanic rock, but a dragon is limitless. They’re born to rule the skies, not be confined to a chamber.
It reeks of dragon droppings and rancid meat from leftover carcasses that haven’t been removed. The only small mercy is the pool of running water for them to drink from. They track my breath and steps; all vibrant irises are glued to me, but their scales remain black.
Venatrix growls when I reach for my pocket, her red eyes blazing like a fire.
“I’ll never hurt you.” My voice is surprisingly calm despite my tears and nerves. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
Venatrix ceases growling, and I pull the amulet free, holding it up to the moonlight and causing the dragons to shriek in unison. I drop to my knees from the sheer magnitude of the volume. They fight and struggle against their chains, scratching their claws on the ground to get closer. The amulet begins burning my palm, and in my soul I know it’s not meant for me, just as it wasn’t meant for Cayden when it burned him.
I toss it into the space between the five of them, and together, they breathe fire, illuminating the chamber and causing my already tearful eyes to water further. I can’t believe this is real. It feels as if I’ll wake up at any moment and be miles away again. I’m mesmerized by the way their flames dance together, and even more so by their wings that I’m now able to see.
The last time we were together, they were tiny enough to perch on my shoulders, and now they’re magnificent beasts larger than I ever imagined. I’ve missed so much . . . it’s time I’ll never get back. Memories that will never be made. I shove my sadness aside as best as I can and focus on the task at hand.
Sparks drift up from the flames and band together, forming red sparkling streaks that wrap around their chains. The more fire they blow, the stronger the streaks become. I choke on the smoke flooding through the room, and just when I think I can’t take it anymore, the shackles snap and clatter on the ground. They toss their heads back, roaring in their own ways. The sound is heartbreaking and breathtaking.
They deserve so much better from this world, and I’m going to make sure they get it.
I find my footing, but the dragons whirl on me in an instant. I stand my ground, unsure of what to do next. They keep their wings tucked close as they circle me, their black, scaled bodies blending effortlessly. Panic rises in me. There’s a new set of eyes everywhere I turn. A crack echoes through the chamber as a brutal hit rattles my ribs. I double over, falling to my knees as a tail slithers away.
I get over the initial shock and rise.
If this is what they need, I’ll take it.
Another tail hits the other side of my ribs, but I grit my teeth and stand my ground. If they wanted to kill me, I’d be dead within seconds.
“I tried to come back for you.”
A tail connects with my left thigh and is accompanied by a shriek that makes my ears ring.
“I never wanted to leave you.”
The smoke from the fire makes my throat feel raw and scratchy, but I don’t move. I deserve their anger, their pain, and the hits they’ve dealt me. For so long, I hated myself for being unable to get back to them. Kingdoms, armies, and assassins stood between us, and I tried to face the world alone, to take it all on for them, but I failed so many times. Every plan I concocted had too many flaws from my lack of knowledge.
The visions fooled me, or perhaps I was na?ve to believe they might hold the same love for me as I do for them.
Another tail collides with the right side of my ribs, and I crumple again. I stay down for a few moments and settle on kneeling.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, my voice breaking on the last word. “But you can’t hate me more than I hate myself.”
My body throbs and every breath I inhale feels like someone is stabbing me. My head is dizzy from the smoke and pain, and I have the overwhelming urge to lie down. I long to reach out to them, but their hitting has ceased, and I don’t want to spark their anger again.
Their heads inch closer, hovering above me, and their scales briefly flash to vibrant colors before reverting to black again. It happens a few more times as they look at me, almost like they don’t believe I’m real. Sorin nudges my boot with his nose and sniffs up my leg.
There’s a sharp bang behind me, and I get to my feet as Calithea lets out another deafening roar. I reach up to cover my ears, but Delmira notices my quick movement and swipes her tail under me. The back of my head slams into the stone floor, and the spots in my vision worsen as I sit up again.
“ELOWEN!” Cayden shouts my name as if he’s cursing every inch that separates us. My senses are dulled, but I turn my head in time to see him barreling toward me, throwing his body over mine as an arrow whizzes over him, so close that it brushes a few strands of his hair. He softens my fall by placing his hand behind my head, and a blazing fire flows over us like a river. I try to shove Cayden off me, urging him to stay against the wall and away from the dragons, but he shoves my face into his neck and tightens his hold.
“I told you it’s you and me, angel,” he says. I try to speak through my scratchy throat, but all I manage to do is cough. My body is weak from the lack of oxygen, and the more I fight, the tighter he presses me into him. “I suppose they realized the meeting was a setup.” His sharp jaw is clenched, and he looks toward the door with nothing short of a cold, unyielding promise of death as blood trickles from a cut under his eye and flames continue flowing.
The guards keep pushing forward, running into the chamber despite all logic. They act as Garrick’s obedient dogs, willingly running into the fire. Orders are shouted beyond the door, and soon the castle will be surrounded. Cayden briefly climbs off me and pulls something from his pocket and covers me again as a loud boom shakes the chamber and stones fly around us. The wall of windows shatters into smithereens. Once it’s over, he gets to his feet, grabs my hands, and pulls me up.
“We’ll have to run into the Seren Mountains and trek through Etril Forest,” Cayden says.
“That’s better than getting captured.”
No Imirath soldiers are stationed in the mountains, considering it’s practically a death wish to live there, especially in these months. My stomach swarms with butterflies as we drop to the ground and the dragons take to the skies.
We land in a snow pile and take off into the forest as wind whips down from the icy peaks. “Have you been carrying a bomb this entire time?”
Cayden smiles. “I don’t recommend going on a mission without one on hand.”
My steps falter when a booming roar echoes behind us, and flames shoot toward the tower the dragons escaped from. Another two sink their talons into the already gaping hole and rip it further apart. I feel a pull in my chest that travels its way up to my mind, but I don’t have time to analyze it before the ground begins rumbling. We whip forward and resume sprinting. The more I run, the stronger the pull grows.
I see a pair of green eyes when I blink.
I shut them again.
Green eyes.
Again.
Green eyes.
The rumbling grows, and I know the guards are gaining on us. An arrow slices through the air and jams into the tree trunk next to my head.
“ Fire. ” A smoky whisper forms when I force my mind to tug on the bond.
“ Fire. ” The thought gets louder.
“That’s the princess! Don’t let her get away!” someone shouts behind us. Cayden and I cut through a narrow set of trees while another set of arrows is shot our way. They bounce off thick trunks, skimming my bruised leg and the top of Cayden’s shoulder.
“Keep going,” I tell Cayden, but I slow my steps, turning to face the army as they charge.
The bond lives within me. My link to them is strong enough to withstand magic, time, exile, and torture. I can do the bond ceremony, but I don’t need it to forge what the dragons and I share.
“Elowen, I will throw you over my damn shoulder,” Cayden growls.
“Trust me.”
Cayden curses, shoving me behind him as he draws his sword, prepared to take on a cavalry charge for me. The bond is beating in my chest like a war drum. The lost dragon princess has returned, and I want them all to see exactly who I am.
“Sorin!” I shout, stepping in front of Cayden. “Burn them all.”
He’s there in an instant, decimating the battalion in mere seconds. The scent of burning flesh wafts through the forest, and soldiers cloaked in flames run screaming in all directions until they collapse. Sorin lands within the fire, roaring mere inches from my face as he steps out and approaches me. My hair is blown back as I stare into his mouth lined with fangs, but I don’t step back. To the world, perhaps they’ll always be monsters, but I see his soul shining through his eyes.
His emerald scales are on full display now that he’s in his element, and he quietly regards me. Not as he did in the chamber; there’s no malice in his eyes now.
He’s ethereal.
He’s hot from the flames, but I extend my hand, bowing my head as I wait for him to make the next move. A whimper rumbles deep in his throat as he presses his snout to my palm, and the sound of contentment that follows is like music to my ears.
I look up into his eyes. The color I searched for in every forest. “I’ve missed you, my sweet boy.”
He leans closer, pressing his forehead to mine, flapping his wings and stomping his feet. The bond is no longer pulling me anywhere; it’s content. It feels like lying in the grass after a battle, soaking in the sun and peace. I laugh at how playful Sorin quickly became, but I know he wishes to spread his wings.
“Fly all night, sweetling.” I step back to soak him in again. “Find me in the morning.”
He screeches once more, nudging my bruised leg softly as I drag my hand down his scales before he takes off into the night, joined by four other vibrantly colored dragons dancing in the stars. With the flames at my back, I turn to find Cayden staring at me with parted lips . . . looking at me as if he’s seen a goddess.