Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
72
IRENA
Valen’s Drake lands in the same secluded glade where everything began.
The familiar ring of trees closes around us, the mossy earth making now sound beneath his massive claws. For a moment, the world feels suspended—caught between what was and what might have been. The air smells the same…the birds sound the same. And yet nothing is the same at all.
It’s only been a handful of days—less than a week since I crept down into the dungeon to bargain with a chained beast.
And yet it feels like a lifetime ago.
I slide carefully from his back, my legs trembling as my feet hit the ground. My heart feels too big for my chest—too full and too hollow all at once. I can barely breathe around the ache lodged beneath my ribs.
Behind me, the Drake Shifts.
The familiar crackle of magic fills the glade—bone and sinew reshaping…wings folding away…scales melting into skin. When I turn, Valen is standing there once more, tall and naked and terrible in his intensity.
He doesn’t speak…neither do I.
The silence stretches between us, thick and heavy. His blazing eyes search my face as though he’s memorizing it—every line, every shadow. I want to reach for him. I want to tell him something—anything—but the words stick in my throat.
“Well…thank you,” I begin awkwardly at last, hating how small my voice sounds. “I guess our deal is over now, so let me take off the collar.”
I step closer, rising onto my toes, reaching for the silver band at his throat—only I can remove it while I wear the ring. My fingers tremble as they near the metal.
But he steps back.
“No,” he says shortly, shaking his head. “The collar stays on.”
I stare at him, wide-eyed.
“What? But that was our whole deal—you help me get the Healing Draught for my mother and I set you free of the collar.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that,” he growls. “I’m keeping it on.”
My heart lurches painfully.
“But…why?”
His jaw tightens and his voice goes low.
“Because I need to be sure you’re all right, Princess. At least while I’m wearing the collar and you’re wearing the ring, I can feel it if you’re in trouble. I makes a connection between us—I don’t want to fucking lose that.”
I shake my head, tears burning behind my eyes.
“Valen, don’t do this. You need to be free—I don’t want to send you away still bound.”
“I don’t want you to send me away at all.”
His voice is hoarse now—raw.
“I want you to go give your mother that Healing Draught and then come right back to me so we can fly away together,” he says.
The words strike me like a blow and my chest aches—so sharp it almost hurts to breathe.
“You don’t know how much I wish I could,” I whisper. “But I need to stay and be sure she recovers—she’ll be weak for a while, I’m sure. And anyway… I don’t think I’d fit into your world. I don’t have a Drake inside me.”
“Only males of my people have Drakes,” he counters immediately. “You’d fit in just fine. You could live free in my land. Nobody would make you conform and behave and obey all the time!” His voice rises with passion. “Or we could go back to the Sorceress—you heard what she said—you’ve got so much magic she wants to train you.”
“I guess as long as we avoided the bathing flowers, we would be all right,” I say, letting out a sad, broken little laugh. “I wish I could go with you, Valen—I truly do. But I just can’t leave my people. My family needs me.”
“Why—so they can use you in a political marriage to some idiotic prince of another kingdom?” he demands, his eyes flashing. “Godsdamnit, Irena—I can’t stand the thought of that! You’re MINE!”
The last word isn’t just his—the Drake’s voice surges through it—a deep, inhuman rumble that shakes the earth beneath our feet and sends the birds scattering from the trees.
I gasp, my heart hammering.
“Quiet! Someone will surely hear you!”
As if summoned by my fear, a voice echoes through the forest.
“Who goes there? Name yourself if you intend to approach the castle!”
Panic grips me.
“I have to go—we can’t be caught together!” I exclaim. “Now give me the collar and fly away!”
I reach for it again—but Valen catches my wrists, twisting my hands gently but firmly behind my back. His eyes blaze as he leans down and claims my mouth in a breathless, searing kiss.
It steals the air from my lungs. His lips are hot and desperate, tasting of smoke and sorrow. For a heartbeat, I want to cling to him—to beg him to stay.
But when he pulls back, his gaze is fierce and heartbreakingly tender.
“Remember me, Princess,” he says. “Because I know I’ll never forget you.”
And then he Shifts.
The Drake explodes into being—wings already unfurling as he leaps skyward. The rush of air knocks me back a step as he rises, powerful and terrible and beautiful into the sky.