Chapter Forty-One
Dela
I struggled pointlessly against the bonds, my hair flying wildly behind me. The ropes were tied expertly, keeping me immobile but not cutting off circulation.
“It really is nothing personal,” Pyre said, the wind carrying his voice as he slowly angled us toward a squat, square structure set against a hillside.
It was much smaller than Fire Castle, and the landing pad atop the primary tower had space for perhaps two or three dragons at most. It was currently occupied by a single person in human form. Not much of a reception committee, though I wasn’t sure what I expected.
“It’s not?” I said with biting sarcasm. “Because I have to admit, it feels more than a little personal, Pyre. You lied to me. Said you would help. Then you kidnapped me and put my life in mortal danger. All because you hate Ember? Seems a little much.”
Pyre’s claws touched down on the roof, and we came to an abrupt stop, the motion jerking me forward until I nearly lost balance and fell to the stone roof below.
“I don’t hate Ember,” Pyre said bitterly. “In fact, I quite like him.”
“Dude, I got news for you,” I said, feeling like I was talking to a teenager. “You don’t betray people you like.”
“I’m doing what I feel is best for the Throne,” Pyre said, the line sounding scripted and rehearsed. Like he’d had to tell himself the words a thousand times until he started to believe them. It was an excuse, nothing more.
“Coward,” I spat as he changed, his body shrinking and bringing me closer to the ground.
He twisted, and I fell the last few feet, landing on my shoulder with a sharp jab of pain.
“Ow,” I snarled, my temper fired up. “You can ignore it, but you are a coward. Sneaking around behind his back. Can’t even accept what you are without dumping me on the roof just to get some petty revenge. You know you’re a piece of shit, Pyre. Just accept it.”
The dragon shifter whirled on me, his eyes burning. “If Ember had the courage to do what I’m doing, then we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!”
Hot breath hit me in the face as he yelled, and I winced away from the uncomfortable sensation.
I had all too many visions of fire exploding from his throat and burning my face off.
My face wasn’t perfect, but I was quite okay with it being unmelted.
Pyre didn’t strike me as willing to go that far, but then, I hadn’t seen him as betraying Ember either.
“Ember isn’t the right fit for the throne,” Pyre continued, hauling me to my feet by the ropes and locking my arms behind my back. “We need unity. It’s unfortunate what happened to Blaze, whom I supported fully. But Ember isn’t ready.”
I shuffled forward as Pyre gestured at the man waiting for us.
“Ember would be an excellent prince,” I countered.
“He actually cares about his people and is willing to sacrifice himself and his happiness, if necessary, to ensure things are done properly. Unlike your Albright, who wants nothing more than the power itself. He doesn’t give a shit about actually taking care of your realm. He just wants to be obeyed.”
“He wants to stop the fighting and make us stronger,” Pyre countered. “You’ll see. Just ask him yourself.”
The other man came forward now, his strides even and measured, as was the look of calm belief on his face. Belief that he was superior, that he would be obeyed. Like a monarch of sorts, he approached with a pace that wasn’t natural. It was created. Which also meant it was fake.
“Hello, human,” he said, his pitch perfectly modulated to be condescendingly polite, a reminder of who and what he was and how I related in comparison, which was, in a word, inferior.
“You must be Albright.”
“What gave it away?” he said, all but preening, his short hair run through with gray, giving him a salt and pepper look that was almost too perfect as well. Did he dye it that way to give himself more credibility, perhaps?
“Probably the fact that you walk like you’ve got a cactus up your ass and a pair of peanuts tangled up in a baby dill pickle in front.”
Silence greeted my response. I hadn’t realized I had it in me to be so creatively insulting. The truth was, he brought it out in me. I was so repulsed by the character-act that I couldn’t help but speak from my stomach.
The silence lingered while Albright struggled to control himself.
His face barely shifted, but the veins on his forehead popped wildly, a surefire sign that he was furious.
Not to mention the way his eyes glowed slightly yellow-orange—what I now knew was a warning sign about a dragon’s impending fury.
At last, he seemed to get a hold of himself, his broad, rugged face breaking out into a smile that died somewhere short of his eyes.
“She has spirit,” he said, addressing Pyre as if I weren’t there. “That is good. She’ll put up a fight.”
“A fight?” I said, looking back and forth. “What the fuck are you planning to do with me?”
“Use you as bait, of course,” Albright said, gesturing for Pyre to take me by the arm and follow him. “Though I doubt Ember will actually relinquish the castle just to save one puny human. Still, it will be worth it to watch him squirm as I slowly crush the life from your worthless body.”
Fear ran like ice through my veins at the abrupt transformation. Gone was Albright the asshole. In his place was Albright the ax murderer. The casual off-the-cuff way he’d talked about killing me just to torture Ember was terrifying.
It was also the real him. The real Albright, not the one disguised like he was some sort of savior.
His words were a promise of the dark times ahead, and I knew I would be the first to suffer.
There was no doubt in my mind it would go that way.
It had to. Ember couldn’t allow himself to surrender to Albright, not for my sake.
He would have to sacrifice me to keep his princedom from destroying itself under Albright.
“Take her below until he arrives,” Albright said, pawning me off to Pyre.
Then he strode away across the landing pad and down another set of stairs.
“What an asshole,” I muttered.
“He’s a strong leader,” Pyre said, sounding as much like he was trying to convince himself as he was me.
“Ember is a strong leader,” I countered.
“You are a human. You are not fit to sit on the throne,” Pyre said. “We need stability, and Albright can provide that.”
“Brainwashed moron,” I said under my breath.
Pyre growled and shoved me down the stairs. I went without further complaint. After all, what else could I do? I knew my fate. I couldn’t escape, not from dragons.
All I could do was hope that Ember could work a miracle and save not only his realm but also my life.