Warriors of Wind and Ash - Page 77

“And then what will his soldiers do to you? We keep going in circles, Ky—the same problems with no solution. But you’re out of time. You came here for me, and I know you’ll come back, but right now, you have to go. You have to turn into a dragon and fly away from here.”

“No.” The word comes out in my deepest growl.

Serylla’s fingers tighten on my arms, and her eyes blaze into mine. “Stop it, Kyreagan. You have to go. I absolutely refuse to watch you die. Don’t you understand—if I know you’re alive somewhere, I can bear anything. But your death would break me. It would destroy me completely.”

“And leaving you here alone would destroy me!” I burst out.

She narrows her eyes at my vehemence, but I’m beyond reason now. The bare thought of abandoning my mate again is revolting. It’s against my nature. How do I make her understand?

Taking a deep breath, I collect both her hands in mine and try to speak calmly. “I restrained myself when I saw you being whipped, when I watched others dancing with you, touching you. When Lord Harlowe won that key, I sent Meridian to save you because I knew he was a better fighter than I am. I let him carry out the plan because I couldn’t save you myself, and Serylla, it’s killing me that I can’t save you. A dragon isn’t supposed to assume a false identity and lurk in corners when his mate is in peril. He incinerates the threat, devours the enemy. I’ve been holding back every day, for you, but you cannot ask me to do this. I will not leave you here, with him.”

Her face is white, her eyes brimming with tears. “I understand how you feel. But you staying here is unutterably selfish, when I’ve told you I can’t survive if you’re dead.”

“If I may,” interjects Meridian. “Might I request that the two of you take my life into account while you’re making plans?”

I blink at him. For a moment, I truly forgot he existed. “Fuck… of course.”

“The only way to save Meridian and the others is for you to leave,” Serylla urges. “Leave now, before—”

The door to the suite bursts open with a violence that kills the words on Serylla’s tongue, and Rahzien strides into the room.

He looks at Serylla, no one else. His voice is low, his eyes like gray ice. “You ran straight to him, as I knew you would. Thank you, Spider, for providing the final proof I needed.”

“What do you mean?” she falters.

“I told you a falsehood about my plan to assassinate Prince Gildas, a man you supposedly had never met before yesterday. I gave the guards orders that if you attempted an escape, they should go along with it and permit you to leave. How else do you think you got away so easily? Do you think yourself so very clever, or do you assume all Vohrainians are fools?”

“Fuck…” whispers Serylla, her eyes wide with horror.

“Fuck, indeed. When you risked everything to come here and warn this man, my suspicions were confirmed.” Rahzien’s gaze swerves to mine. “Allow me to welcome you properly, Kyreagan, Prince of Dragons, heir to the Bone-King.”

Vohrainian soldiers file into the room around him and take up positions along the walls, each one holding a gun.

Serylla’s eyes dart from Rahzien to the open portrait, then back to me. Despair floods her gaze.

I’m already holding her hands. There’s no use denying the intimacy between us, no point in lies or pretense. Lightly I stroke the backs of her hands with my thumbs, a reassuring caress. She lifts her chin and gives me a brave little nod.

Rahzien paces in a slow half-circle, like a predator circling his next meal. “There was something strange about you from the moment you walked into my court as Prince Gildas. Something familiar, though I couldn’t place it. I brushed it off at first, but then you danced with her at the ball, and you had such an obvious connection. At first I thought it was a case of instant attraction, but my instinct told me you two had a prior history. And then there was that report of a dragon taking off from one of the palace towers—and the notable absence of your esquire afterward.”

Meridian grabs his staff, but the moment he does, three guns are aimed toward him. Rahzien chuckles. “Put the weapon down, boy. And tell your allies in the other room to come quietly, if they’d like you to live.”

“I am not at all sorry to report that they’ve left the premises,” Meridian says.

Rahzien jerks his head to one of the guards, who heads into the other bedroom to confirm the claim.

“As I was saying,” continues Rahzien. “Prince Gildas and my Spider had a connection. And she seemed ridiculously obsessed with the dragon who captured her.” He looks at Serylla. “Honestly, your affinity for an actual beast is your least attractive quality.” His gaze snaps back to me, gleaming with triumph and challenge. “Then you mentioned bone-tribute, and that clinched it for me. I didn’t know how you managed to gain human form, but I knew who you were.”

“Then you should be afraid,” I say evenly.

“I’m not. For so many reasons—among which is the link between Serylla and me. You can’t kill me without killing her.” Rahzien smiles. “But by all means, if you’d like to blow the place apart and scorch some of my men, take your true form, right now. I won’t lie—I’m curious to see how your transformation works. It’s a power I’d be very interested in exploring. So many possibilities.”

There’s relief in the knowledge that I don’t have to hold back anymore, that my only option is to shift, to kill as many Vohrainians as I can without destroying Rahzien, and then escape with Meridian and the Princess. Taking Serylla out of the city would kill her, but maybe I could carry her to another part of the Capital, give her some distance from Rahzien. She could go into hiding, keep out of his grasp until we can counteract the poison.

“Go on, then,” Rahzien taunts me. “Take dragon form, and do your worst, or yield the Princess to me.”

I murmur to Serylla, “Stand back, but be ready.”

She nods, stepping away from me into the hidden passage. She waits there, just inside the entrance, watching me. Everyone in the room is watching me, and the silence is like the heavy quiet before a clap of thunder.