Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
A new laugh echoed, sharp and satisfied. “As the primordial, I took measures to protect my crown. Manipulated the blade’s mythology to ensure you and your man had an excuse to adventure together. To hasten what was already there and make it impossible to ignore. Lorik helped.”
He paused, waiting as my mind tried to comprehend the sheer cruelty of his plan.
“I sense your confusion. Let me help you understand,” he said, smooth satisfaction lacing every word. “The Chains of O only answer to your dragon. Your blood and your tears. Roland swiped them for me. So I can summon you when the time is right.”
Oh, ja, I’d begun to see. Revenge. Thirst for power. My father got both in a single swipe.
Still, I struggled to accept it all. Doomed from the start.
“The tonic didn’t sever a false bond,” he continued. “It broke the tie with your dragon. And because the dragon needed a host… it chose the only vessel available. You’re vulnerable now. Human.”
“Nein,” I shouted.
The sound of my own words woke me up. I was panting, sweating and sprawled across my bed. Taron was gone. Adelaide sat slumped in a chair beside me, the weight of fear and exhaustion carved deep into her features.
“How did this happen?” I croaked, voice as raw as the gash in my abdomen. But I already knew. The dream…it hadn’t been a dream but a mind-merge, courtesy of Nyla. Manticores didn’t just speak mind-to-mind. They could stitch thoughts together until you couldn’t tell whose were whose.
Adelaide’s lids snapped open. She leaned in quickly and clasped my hand, guilt flashing over her irises.
“Scratch that,” I muttered. “Nyla mind-merged me with father.” I explained what I’d learned and tried not to cry.
Human. Me. The word echoed in my thoughts, unfamiliar and wrong. All my life I’d known fire. Power. Flight. Fury. And now… nothing. Just flesh and breath and blood and pain. Never again would I feel the wind tear past my wings. Or feel the fire humming in my blood. Even now…
Even now I sought that which no longer lived inside me. The loss hollowed me. Everything I was…gone.
Tears burned, a shock in itself. I didn’t try to stop the hot droplets as they fell. My chin trembled with certainty, all doubt removed. There had been no fake bond with Taron. No illusions of love. Everything we felt—every look, every touch, every fight—had all been all too real. And we destroyed it with one stupid, irreversible choice.
Now I was dragonless. Mateless. Hopeless. “What if Taron and I drink the tonic again?” It could break the dragon’s attachment to Taron and return to me. Maybe. Unless the link was irreparable? What if we tried it, and the dragon left us both? Who would serve as the next host?
“The risks are massive,” she said, and chewed her bottom lip. “Plus, there’s more.”
My chin trembled. I wasn’t sure I could take anything more.
“Cedric and Lorik… they’re coming with an army. A big one. They’ll reach our borders by morning.”
Dread choked me. Here it was, the overall grand plan, and I’d rushed headlong into it. What a fool I’d been. Too consumed with my feelings for Taron to see the truth unfolding right before my sight.
A low, feral roar echoed through the castle walls, vibrating the floor beneath me. Taron. My chest clenched.
Adelaide cringed. “Your professor’s not taking his new hosting duties well.”
“Where is he?” I rasped, trying to sit up. Pain seared through me as if I were being cut with claws all over again. My body folded, flopping uselessly back onto the pillow.
Adelaide leaned forward, gently brushing damp hair from my forehead. “He’s chained in the dungeon. We didn’t know where else to put him. The further he got from you, the more he raged out, but you’re human now and we couldn’t risk…”
Yeah. “Take me to him.” I fought to sit up again, and this time, I ignored the pain and succeeded. I had countless bruises and multiple gashes, all sewn together.
“Olyssa—”
“I’m queen,” I interjected. “I may have lost my dragon, but I haven’t lost my title.” Not yet.
She sighed, exasperated, but she also complied, helping me to my feet after doing a little typing on her phone. My ruined clothing had been replaced with a nightgown that snapped in front.
“No one but us knows what happened,” she said. “I’ve instructed Lucinda to clear the path to the dungeon.”
Good. That was good. Better we keep the information secret until I figured out my next move. With war on the horizon, I needed my soldiers focused.
Slowly, we made our way through the castle. With every step, sweat broke out along my brow. But still I persisted, putting one foot in front of the other. Perhaps Taron sensed me. By the time we arrived at the dungeon, he’d worked himself into a lather, scorching the walls and floor, leaving streaks of soot.