The Dragon's Promise (Six Crimson Cranes, #2)

by Elizabeth Lim

Seryu smirked as I drank in the view. “I told you you’d be dazzled.”

He’d barely greeted my brothers, had ignored Takkan entirely.

He scoffed at the lie. “At least your human lordling didn’t jump into the sea after us. The way he was making fish eyes at you for leaving, I half thought he might. He wouldn’t have made it past the reefs before the sharks got to him.”

“That’s what you said when we first met—that inviting me to Ai’long would be like bringing a pig to meet your family. I thought you were joking.” “I never expected to bring you here, Shiori,” he said, his voice so low I almost didn’t hear. We were nearly at the gates. “I want you to know that.”

“Never play games with a dragon,” she whispered. “You cannot win.”

Over my chest dangled the necklace with Seryu’s pearl—as if I had never lost it.

“My grandson has informed me that he gave you that piece of his heart.”

“Fortune smiles upon you, Princess. In accordance with dragon law, you are under his protection.”

the first Kiatan companion in nearly a thousand years.” Companion . . . binding ceremony.

“Prepare your final farewells. After the binding rites, you will be reborn as the companion of a dragon prince. All that you knew in your past life will cease to exist, and you will never again return to Kiata.” He paused dramatically. “Ai’long will be your home from now on.”

“I’m already betrothed.” “To that pathetic lordling?” Seryu snorted.

“Yet you act as though he’s the one who gave you a piece of his heart. As if he saved you from drowning in the Sacred Lake.”

It was the last thing I’d expected him to say. My heart pinched with an ache I’d never felt before. “Seryu . . .”

It was a beautiful solution, and I hated Seryu for it.

“So,” Seryu spoke, more quietly than I’d ever heard him before. “Do you think you could try . . . to carve a place in your heart for me?”

“I thought you were my friend, Seryu. I trusted you.”

“You wouldn’t be a concubine, you know. You’d be my bride. My equal.”

“I didn’t want mine to be that way,” he confessed. “I was hoping, if it turned out to be you, that you would want to be here. Because you cared for me.”

“I do care for you.”

“Would it be so bad, staying with me?” he said quietly. “I’d make sure you were safe. I could do that for you. I’ve always done that for you. I deserve a fair chance, don’t I?”

At my silence, Seryu reached for my hand. I let him rest his palm on mine. His skin was cold, but not in an unpleasant way, and I felt the tiniest spark as his green nails curled gently around my fingers.

Maybe even in love with me.

“Kiss me,” I murmured to Seryu.

His hand was still on mine, and his lips were just a breath away. My heart hammered in my chest.

With a thump, I landed on top of Seryu.

It was Seryu’s idea, said Kiki. I’m better at keeping secrets than you think.

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” I said. “A mistake you won’t make again,” he replied. “I know.”

I laughed. I’d forgotten how much I missed him, our easy banter, our mutual love for food.

“My offer still stands, you know,” said Seryu seriously. “You could stay with me.”

“Seryu . . .”

“You’d do well to remember this: your heart is your home. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere.”

“I have to know,” he said quietly. “If not for him, did I ever have a chance?”

“Then I’ll have to find you when you’re reborn—before your strands have time to knot with his again.” His red eyes twinkled.

“Even still. With all the trouble you get into, Shiori . . . all the trouble you’re going to get into . . . you need whatever help you can get. Make sure he knows that.” After a pause, he said, “Make sure he deserves you.”

There came a twinge in my heart, and my hands fell to my sides. Not long ago, I could have imagined falling in love with Seryu.

“It would never have worked between us, being companions and all. We’re both far too proud—and I’m far too magnificent.”

When you look into the sea, think of me sometimes.”

I had eyes only for Takkan.

“I wasn’t alone. I had—” “Seryu.” Takkan flinched. “I know.”

“Don’t tell me you were jealous of Seryu.”

“Anyone could see he cared for you. Your brothers certainly did.”