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but it won’t save me like it saved me then. Cowardice has a shelf life.
Death isn’t the escape I was hoping for, but it will do.
For a second, I can almost pretend I was never taken. My blood wasn’t stolen and sold off to the highest bidder. Renatta wasn’t tortured and killed in the cell next to mine.
“She’s frustrated, reckless when cornered, savvy, and weaker than she wants any of us to know, but she’s not terrified.”
“I am not weak,”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant hurt. You’re hurting and you don’t want us to know.”
My answering chuckle is hollow. “Because that’s what The Horde does. You can pretend otherwise, but we all know if you can’t claim, control, or comprehend something, you kill it.” “And which category do you fall under?” he presses, his gaze glittering with ardent interest. Tired of this game already, I rest my head back against the seat and close my eyes with a smirk. “All of them.”
How did I not piece together who that big fucker Aeson was?
This is so funny
It’s a liberating thing to realize that I don’t have to watch my tongue or perform any mental gymnastics. Too bad that big helping of freedom comes with a side of completely fucked.
“You can shove your pardon up your regal ass, or the king’s, I don’t particularly care which. For the record, I don’t know anything about the duke or the Qualls or any plans they might have. I’m not working for them or any other members of The Horde. I doubt that means anything to you since I’m certain you’ve already made up your mind and aren’t going to believe me despite your Thrasher over there giving you the ol’ nod of approval. Save us all the trouble of a monotonous and useless back-and-forth and just kill me now. I too am tired of being here and would be happy to leave sooner rather
...more
Queen
“You don’t seem to like me very much. Why is that?” I tsk. “Come now, Lorn, I can’t be the first person you’ve run into that thinks you’re a prick.”
LOL
“You will address the scion with respect,” another male orders, a fulminating glare aimed at me. “If I respected him, I would,” I snap back, matching his glower.
Girl
“I’m Ever Tenebrae, daughter of the slaughtered King Merik Tenebrae, and the last surviving Syphon of my massacred line. Trust me, Spare, I’m not safe anywhere, least of all with you.”
“For lack of a better term, I’m the product of a breeding program,” I supply evenly.
He kneels in front of me, strong hands grabbing my hips, and before I know what he’s doing, the commander leans forward and licks the thin line of blood from the scratch on my thigh.
Thats crazy
“I have your blood now, Syphon, so don’t even think of trying to run, because I will find you.” He presses forward and I’m too stunned to do anything other than back up to make room for him. “I don’t care who you are or what you’re the last of—if you cost me any of my Wing, you’ll beg for death long before I grant it.”
“I can’t shift,” I snap, leaning over him, our positions now reversed. “I can’t reveal because the sorcai who helped massacre my kind stole the ability. Or did you think all the Syphons just laid down and let themselves be slaughtered?”
“Listen, Heir, the Tainted at least gave me some time to heal between my beatings. Can we reschedule this interrogation for tomorrow? I promise I’ll be more fun then.”
“I think you’re Source drunk, Princess,” Lorn tells me, flecks of amusement now dancing with the halo of lightning bugs.
“You think he was killed by wyverns,” I whisper, captivated by the goose bumps that abruptly rise on his dragon-marked neck. “But he wasn’t. I was there. I saw it. It was dragons. But don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret.”
I love her lol
Betrayal is a nasty beast; why should I be the only one to wear its scars?
“Your secrets aren’t going to be yours for much longer,” he warns as the group piles into a much bigger elevator car. “Maybe, but they’re mine for now,” I contend, ignoring the glimmer of challenge I see in his eyes.
I turn to face Aeson, not sure what to say, or how to even explain what just happened, but a different pair of blue eyes meet mine. Aeson isn’t the one offering me comfort and coaxing me back from the dark. The warm arms and gentle voice cradling me are Lorn’s.
Love
“In one night, almost everyone who knew I existed died. It saved my life. No one knew to look for me. No one knew I saw everything. No one knew I survived. I wish I could tell you who killed my father, but they were in full scale armor, their faces were covered. I didn’t grow up here and have no idea who they were. The Horde doesn’t have a database showing what each dragon looks like in full armor. That’s the only way I could try to find them.”
“Who.” Aeson takes another step. “Did.” And another. “This.” Tahir scrambles back, and several drakes shout orders for everyone to move out of the way. “To.” Blay charges. At first, I think he’s going to tackle Aeson, but he streaks past, diving for one of the massive archways instead. A mountain-sized purple dragon erupts out of him, the beast launching itself off the outer lip of the tower. An enraged roar reverberates through the dragon stone floors, walls, and ceiling as Blay’s dragon streaks away. “You.”
We stand, two enemies on a battlefield, neither willing to cede to the other, and somehow, I’ve never felt more alive than I do right now. I’ve never felt more seen.
It isn’t lost on me that the healers in the hospital were right to be wholly terrified of The Horde’s reaction to my scars. These dragons don’t know me. I’m nothing to them. And yet their response to what was done to me is undeniably visceral.
But there’s something about being in the presence of this primal, raw rage that calls to me. It’s as though basking in the physical manifestation of what I can only feel inside is exactly what I need to be whole again, even if it’s only for a little while.
Maybe I should continue to hoard all of my hurts, keep everything to myself, but the temptation to share the burden, to put it down for just a little while, is like a siren’s song rising through the haze of Aeson’s smoke.
I know I’m going to end up broken on the rocks for giving in, and yet, I just can’t stop myself.
“Wistan…Wistan Allaire.”
A rumble of approval rolls out of the commander, the bolstering sound wrapping around my tormentor’s name and carving Aeson’s dominion across his destiny like a dooming slash cutting through the tallies of Wistan’s future.
“Well then, Ever Tenebrae, last of the Syphons. On behalf of King Noctis and The Dragon Horde…welcome home.”
And now I’ll never stop seeing him when I look at me…just like he wanted.
This wyvern isn’t an enemy, she’s an ally…or at least she used to be. She’s Ren’s little sister.
“May the Source bless us with a miracle. You’re going to need one to survive the Noctis brothers.” I laugh and offer her a Cheshire grin. “Wrong, they’re going to need one to survive me.”
“I know you don’t believe that, that you don’t trust us yet,” he continues, “but we will protect you. I will protect you, Ever. No matter what.”
“You’re one of us, Claws, stop fighting it.”
“It says you breached a hard limit. You were disqualified when you…uh…bit the commander.”
LOLLLL
“Well.” I clear my throat, pulling my hair down and running my fingers through it until it’s somewhat tame. “Looks like you win, Commander.” I finally look up at him and instantly regret it. He looks angry, wholly unrepentant, and devastatingly beautiful. “Not yet, not completely, but I will.”
Loss is the price you pay for love. But as grief carves me open once again, I can’t decide if it’s worth it.
Death and I have an unspoken agreement. We like to flirt and toy with one another, but we keep it cutesy and never go all the
And I can never be Aeson Noctis’s mate, not when I’m here to become his reckoning.
I want to know a love where it’s safe to trust like that, where it’s okay to just be.
“And who claims Ever Tenebrae, the last Syphon, and the daughter of King Merik Tenebrae?” The king continues like he didn’t just drop a bomb and isn’t getting ready to drop another. “I do.”
Ohhhhh
“Stop saying what? Mate?” he asks incredulously. “But isn’t that what you are? My lying, deceiving, infuriating little mate?”
