Wild Honor

DRAGON ROYALS
BOOK FOUR

OceanofPDF.com
MAY DAWSON

OceanofPDF.com
 Contents

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69

A Note From May

OceanofPDF.com
 Prologue

E arlier

T eris landed lightly on Gorion’s rooftop, then paused. Gorion had a

hundred spells enchanting his castle to keep out intruders.
Gorion came out to escort him himself, instead of sending servants.
Teris loved all his fellow royals, in their own way, but he liked Gorion the
most. They all did.
“What is it?” Gorion demanded.
“Good to see you too,” Teris said, never bothered by Gorion’s brusque
moods just like their sons didn’t mind each other. “I need a favor.”
“Why else would you come?” Gorion asked, gesturing him inside.
As the two of them walked through the dark paneled hallways with their
flickering torches to Gorion’s private suites, Teris said, “I came to borrow
your piece of the Scourge stone.”
Gorion gave him a skeptical look. “Why? Lysander wanted us to keep
them far apart.”
“Lysander is dead.” Teris chewed his lip. “Do you think maybe it’s time
to undo the curse? To stop the Scourge?”
Gorion shook his head. Pend would never agree, and he wasn’t
interested in ever experiencing another coup like when they killed
Lysander…and Amily. The memory of the hurt in her eyes before she fell,
the last breath she exhaled begging for her daughter’s life… it all haunted
him, even though he’d never tell the others.
“I have magic to do,” Teris said. “Pend wants Honor erased from their
memories, or our sons dead… Honor has to go. She seems like a sweet
enough girl, but they’re not going to die for her.”
Teris spoke so blandly and dismissively of Honor’s sweetness, but
Gorion wondered if he too saw Amily in her smile.
“How many memories do you think we can take from our sons before
their brains stop working?” Gorion asked Teris.
“People don’t see it, my friend, but you are a perpetual optimist,” Teris
said, and clapped Gorion on the shoulder.
Gorion shot him a quizzical look, and Teris added, “I would have said
their brains stopped working long ago.”
Gorion snorted. “Perhaps.”
Teris went on. “You know I need to carry my stone in case of
emergency. It’s saved our boys’ lives when the Scourge bit them. It saved
Arren’s life. A bite of the curse to cure the curse.”
They’d taken the boys’ memories then, too. They couldn’t know about
the Scourge stones that healed them when they were bitten. Gorion had
watched dragon knights he’d served with be decapitated when they were
bitten to keep their secret.
Teris licked his lips in a way that might’ve been avoidance of the truth
or of his own emotions. Gorion couldn’t always read him.
“I need the stone to take their memories,” Teris said quietly. “To bind
them to something. This is going to take a lot of magic, taking Honor from
them.”
“It might be a mistake,” Gorion said.
“It might be,” Teris admitted. “I know what it’s going to do to Tal, and I
can’t… I can’t carry those stolen memories around with me every day.”
“It’s one thing to fuck up his mind, and another thing to carry a constant
reminder you did?” Gorion couldn’t hide his skepticism.
Teris started to say something more, but Gorion was already walking
back into his treasury. Gorion came back carrying his own piece of the
milky-white curse stone, which looked similar to Teris’s well-worn piece
but hadn’t been rubbed and polished by Teris’s nervous fingers over two
hundred years.
 “Don’t lose it,” Gorion said, flipping it to Teris. “If those Scourge stones
are ever reassembled…”
“I’ll give it back to you as soon as I’m done,” Teris promised. Gorion
believed him; he would never have loaned his stone to Joachim or Pend,
who would both hang onto any bit of power they could.
“Have a drink with me,” Gorion said, going to the bar in the corner of
his room. “We might be the only two to mourn what we’re taking from our
sons.”
“The other two won’t admit what they lost when Amily chose
Lysander.” Teris stopped in front of the fire, admiring the dancing flames.
“Fire really is the most beautiful element. We’re lucky it belongs to us.”
The flames were reflected in Teris’s dark eyes. “They never should have
mocked us for being monsters. They always should have seen what we
were.”
“It’s been a long time,” Gorion reminded him.
“True,” Teris agreed. “Everyone who ever thought dragons were
monsters is dead now. They hailed us as heroes when the Scourge almost
destroyed them. But are we heroes? We made the kingdom a thousand times
better for shifters, for our sons. No more running, no more cruelty. But we
found new ways to make the kingdom cruel.”
“Don’t wax philosophical.” Gorion joined him, handing him a drink.
“I’ll take away the whiskey if it’s going to make you maudlin.”
“Deep down, my friend, nothing can stop me from being maudlin,”
Teris said, thinking of all they’d gained when they put Lysander on the
throne and all they’d lost.
Gorion clinked his glass with his, perhaps unthinkingly or perhaps
because deep down, he’d had everything—power, wealth, misery—for the
past two hundred years too.
All yet, he had left to love was his son. Gorion knew he could only do a
poor job of that too, as long as he was a dragon royal.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

One

H onor

Z ehr locked eyes with me , his fangs still dripping with Arren’s blood.
Arren’s face had gone pale, his eyes wide with shock. His knees buckled,
but Zehr gripped him tightly.
“The Lord of the Scourge,” I whispered. “It was you all along.”
“Yes. It was always me. You were looking for me, to betray me,” he
snarled those words. “But I will always come for you.”
His words seemed to hang in the air, and then he admitted, “I made it
easy for you to betray me. But this part, Honor? This won’t be easy for
you.”
He drove his fangs into Arren’s throat again. When he raised his head,
droplets of blood flew across me.
“Why?” I screamed, darting forward toward Arren and Zehr. Strong
arms locked around me, holding me back. Somehow Caldren had gotten
through all the Scourge between him and me.
“You hurt me.” Zehr released Arren’s body. Arren crumpled and fell at
his feet. “I hurt your toys.”
The sense of something driving down from the sky made us both look
up.
 Jaik, in the form of a dragon, dove toward Zehr. Zehr just glanced at me
with a bloody smile.
Shadows washed over Zehr. Then Zehr was gone. Jaik slammed into the
ground
The Scourge attacked.
“Here.” Caldren pressed the cold metal hilt of his sword into my hand.
Then he transformed into the wolf, a massive, sleek presence beside me.
I chopped my way through the Scourge, desperate to get to Arren’s
fallen body. Snarling Scourge fell to either side of me, only for Caldren to
finish them off.
Jaik flew overhead, blasting fire and destroying dozens of Scourge.
Together, the three of us fought until we reached Arren. Then Jaik circled
overhead and Caldren padded around me, forming a circle of quiet in the
chaos as Caldren’s rebels and the other Dragon Royals battled the Scourge.
Arren was alive. Barely. But unconscious. His throat was ripped open. I
wasn’t sure if he’d passed out from the shock and pain or… I thought of the
Scourge, of Zehr’s zombie army, and fear pulsed through my body. Had
Zehr poisoned Arren?
No matter how my mind was spinning, my body moved mechanically,
accustomed to patching up people I loved. I used the healing magic we’d
learned in the gladiator pits to heal the worst of the damage to his throat, to
close the ragged gouges. Focusing on that healing gave me something to do,
something besides the terrible pulsing fear of losing him, besides listening
to the voice in my head that screamed every wound was my fault.
But as I healed the wounds, they re-opened as soon as I turned away; a
place healed to pink skin burst open again, oozing blood. Healing him was a
ceaseless struggle, as if other, different magic fought me.
I was exhausted by the time he was healed to red gashes that no longer
showed the white bone and windpipe. I watched him carefully, afraid the
wounds would break open again, but they held. I exhaled in relief.
Arren was watching. His blue eyes were open and fixed on me.
“Arren,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
He made a faint rasping sound, as if his vocal words still didn’t quite
work after I’d tried to knit him back together. His hand settled on mine,
then his fingers slid down and wrapped my wrist. Arren held me tightly as
he passed back out again.
 I felt the presence of others behind me and looked up to find the
Scourge had all run or been killed. Bodies sprawled everywhere; the dark
ground was rapidly drinking up the blood. My men stood over me, casting
Arren and I both in their shadows.
Jaik fell to his knees beside me heavily. “Arren…”
Words seemed to fail him. Then he gathered him into his arms and lifted
him up. Jaik staggered for a second under Arren’s weight, then carried him
toward the castle.
“Get Damyn,” Caldren told one of his people. “And get the healer.”
Jaik carried Arren through the now-empty ballroom, where drinks were
spilled across the floor, dropped when the battle started. We followed him
up the stairs and into one of the rooms, where he lay Arren on the bed.
“He’s just wounded,” Branok said roughly. “We’ve all come back from
worse. We’ll get the healer.”
“The healer is here,” Damyn said quietly from behind us as the healer
pushed through my men, moving toward Arren steadily. “But the healer
can’t do anything if Arren’s been turned.”
“What do you mean, turned?” Branok demanded, his voice caustic. His
anger echoed in my too-fast heartbeat, as if he were speaking for me.
The healer examined Arren then looked up, shaking his head. “I can
heal his wounds, but I can’t heal…this.”
“What do you mean?” My voice sounded like it came from far away.
Jaik grimaced, before he steeled himself and met my eyes.
“He means Arren is becoming one of the Scourge.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Two

J aik

“W e ’ ll find a way to stop the Scourge from taking him over,” Honor said.
Arren gritted his teeth; he might have been trying to manage a smile,
but it didn’t quite take. “No one’s managed that in two hundred years, but
sure.”
“We didn’t have all the magic then,” Honor disagreed. “We have far
more power than we used to.”
“Can I talk to Jaik alone?” Arren asked.
Talisyn’s lips thinned, as if he could guess the contents of that
conversation. But he ushered everyone else out, resting a hand lightly on
Honor’s lower back to guide her out ahead of him. There was a quick,
startled flash of her eyes toward him—and it made my heart stumble,
realizing the hope she felt.
Honor must hope that with Teris dead, Talisyn’s love was restored.
I hoped for her sake that it was true. But my conversations with Tal in
the Black Mountains didn’t leave me feeling optimistic.
I closed the door firmly behind the last of them, then walked to Arren’s
bedside. “What is it, my friend?”
He snorted, closing his eyes as if he were exhausted. “Oh, now I can tell
I’m fucked. You’re being nice.”
“You’ll be fine.”
 “Oh?” His eyelashes fluttered open and he turned his head with effort to
look at the door. He must not want Honor to hear. “How long do you think I
have?”
“I don’t know.” That was the truth. We had never seen anyone who was
in the process of turning; we saw the remnants of villages attached by
Scourge and we saw endless waves of new Scourge, but we never saw the
in-between. Our scholars thought the transition must be almost
instantaneous. But Arren hadn’t yet begun to change, had he?
At any rate, as soon as this conversation was over, I was going to have
my old friend bound in iron. I kept my hand on the pommel of my sword.
He would understand.
“You have to promise you’ll kill me,” he said.
The words jolted at my heart. “Arren…”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. Well,” he amended, realizing those words
were out of character for him, “If you happen to find wherever my asshole
father went, feel free to arrange a family reunion. Meeting me as Scourge
seems like a fitting end to one of the Royals who gifted us this curse.”
He sounded so confident when he talked about murder, but he hesitated
before he admitted, “I don’t want to risk hurting Honor or any of you.”
“I won’t let you.”
“You’ll kill me first?”
“If it comes to that,” I promised. “We’re going to try to find an answer.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “You know how unlikely that is.”
“I do.” The words came out barely audible. I cleared my throat. “I’ll kill
you if you become a monster, Arren. I swear it. But don’t give up quite
yet.”
There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Branok and Lynx
standing there with chains dripping from their shoulders and stoic
expressions on their faces. I hadn’t asked; they’d understood what I needed.
“Arren,” I turned toward him.
“I understand.”
That didn’t make it any easier to bind my best friend in chains.
When I left them behind, I found Honor waiting in my room. She stood
at the window, looking out over the garden, and I wondered what she was
thinking. That was the garden where Zehr had turned Arren.
Then she turned to me, and I caught a glimpse of her unhappy face
before she was a blur running across the room and throwing her arms
around me. I held her tightly, burying my face in her bright red hair.
“It’s going to be alright, Honor.”
“It’s all my fault.”
“No, it’s not. It’s the Scourge’s fault. Zehr’s fault.” I gripped her tightly.
“He doesn’t feel optimistic, does he? About finding a cure?”
“No,” I admitted.
“What about you?” She turned her face up to mine. “Do you feel
optimistic?”
“As a personality trait, I’m pretty much always a pessimist, Honor.”
She took my hand and pulled me gently over to the bed. The two of us
lay down together, and I rested my head in her lap as she gently stroked her
hand through my hair. “He’s your best friend. You can’t lose him.”
“I’m keenly aware.” I closed my eyes. The fear I felt for Arren had led
to a pulsing need to do something, a sense of rage and fury. But now that
flooded away, leaving me empty. “You can be optimistic for us both,
alright? You know we’ll do anything we can for you.”
“I know,” she said softly. She brushed my hair back to kiss my forehead,
her lips tender. “You’re both the best men I can imagine.”
She sounded so earnest. New warmth blossomed in my chest, but I
scoffed. “Not at all.”
The possibility I might need to kill my best friend made me want to find
the Lord of the Scourge and force that ugly bone crown down his throat.
But laying there with Honor holding me, some of her optimism crept in.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Three

H onor

W hen J aik had fallen asleep , I lay awake for a long time. The
moonlight slanting in from the windows fell across his handsome face and
tousled dark hair.
Meanwhile, Arren was alone and afraid. The memory of Zehr sinking
his teeth into his throat, of the way he’d looked at me with his eyes glinting
malevolently… I tossed and turned, trying to get away from the image, but I
couldn’t escape him.
Would he try to strip my men away from me, one by one? Was my
mistake the enchanted kiss, or every time I’d felt a second’s tenderness or–
gods help me–attraction to the monster?
I was afraid if I slept, I’d find myself face-to-face with Zehr in my
dreams. I scooted toward the edge of the bed, but Jaik rolled toward me,
seeking me in his sleep. I paused, stroking his hair back until his sleep
deepened again, and then slipped out of bed.
None of his subjects would have believed that the terrifying leader of
the Dragon Royals had this tender side. It felt like a gift that was only for
me.
I paused at the window again. The moonlight illuminated a garden that
seemed too empty now without Zehr waiting below.
 God, I’d gone out to that garden to trick Zehr, to save Jaik. I didn’t want
Jaik to know how I was responsible for Arren’s downfall when I was trying
to protect him. And then Zehr had found me in that garden to take his
revenge.
If Zehr could turn Arren into the Scourge, then perhaps he knew how to
fix it. He was our best bet to save Arren. Even if that hope felt as tenuous as
slippery rocks underfoot.
But I needed time before I faced him. Right now, every time I pictured
Zehr’s face, I saw the malicious light in his eyes as he looked at me over
Arren’s bloody, gouged shoulder.
I’d tricked Zehr once. He’d expect it. I’d have to be in fine form to trick
him again.
But this time, I wouldn’t feel guilty about it. I’d see that asshole dead
for what he did to Arren.
I pulled one of Jaik’s tunics over my head and padded out into the
hallway. Talisyn hadn’t come to our room tonight, and that almost felt like a
relief. I didn’t want him near me after all when he was so kind and distant,
as if he were being polite to someone’s sister.
I turned a corner, and Talisyn was walking toward me. His head was
down as he looked through a book, and my heart jumped in my chest. Even
without seeing his face, his hair and broad shoulders were unmistakable.
The next second, my heart plummeted. What if he didn’t regain his
memories? What if he didn’t even care anymore? I wanted our relationship
restored so badly I was sure it was painfully obvious.
Too nervous to talk to him, I took an abrupt step back, around the corner
again.
And I collided with a warm, hard mass of muscle.
Branok’s hands came down on my shoulder. “I’d love to understand
why you’re only sure-footed at terrifying heights. Otherwise, you have a
tendency to stumble.” His hands squeezed my shoulders. “Not that I
entirely mind when you stumble into me.”
Talisyn’s head snapped up, his eyes widening. When he saw me, he
tried a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was as unhappy to see me as I
was to see him.
I’d hoped Talisyn’s memories had come back when Teris died, but that
look in his eyes burned my hopes to embers.
 I took a step forward out of Branok’s grip, although without his touch,
the world felt a little colder. “Branok, you have the ingredients to try to
reverse the spell now, right?”
Branok looked troubled. “Well… Teris didn’t use a potion as he usually
did. He used some other kind of magic to take Talisyn’s memories. Even
Kallus didn’t know how to reverse his magic. Teris is…was…a powerful
magician.”
Talisyn’s lips thinned subtly at the mention of his father.
I frowned at Branok-the-spymaster-who-had-his-nose-in-everything,
because I’d had that conversation with Kallus privately.
Branok met my gaze as if he knew just what I was thinking. “Yes, I
asked him, and amazingly he didn’t put me back in chains. I don’t like your
uncle much though, Honor.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Kallus. “He didn’t think too highly of you
either.”
“Terrible judgment.”
“He does think I should be queen,” I blurted out. I couldn’t stop
replaying the moment when Teris’s head exploded, when my magic had felt
wild and uncontrolled and unbound, as if I might be capable of destroying
the whole world.
Talisyn’s gaze found mine suddenly, his eyes widening. I tried to smile.
I’d made plenty of self-deprecating jokes before, these two men didn’t need
to know how uncertain I really felt at the moment. Talisyn’s gaze slid away
like butter in a hot pan. Every time I looked at him, I found myself feeling
stabbed all over again.
“Well.” Branok said. “Who’s really suited to rule? Not us, certainly.”
His words were light, floating on the tension in the room like a flower
blossom in deep water. I wasn’t sure if he was including me in that us or
not.
“You could be a good queen,” Talisyn said slowly, and my heart
lurched. My gaze rose to his, but he had his head down, shoving his hands
into his pockets. The movement hunched his broad shoulders.
Just like that, those last glowing embers of hope flared. “Could we try?
The potion reversal? There’s no harm in trying. We have… time.”
But that wasn’t entirely true. While we’d been at sea and in the
kingdoms of shadow and poison, I’d had to push my fears for Talisyn aside.
Now we were back on the Isle where Teris’s magic was rooted. Now we
had time to heal Talisyn… but I was afraid we had no time to heal Arren.
None of us knew exactly what the timeline looked like for his degradation.
I had to find Zehr and wrench those answers from him. I hated waiting,
but I couldn’t face the slippery bastard without a plan.
It would be nice to have some part of my life restored from this carriage
wreck before I faced Zehr. If I had Talisyn at my side, I could face what had
just happened to Arren with some hope. Right now, it felt as if everything
were crumbling.
Talisyn’s gaze was on my face, and I felt my cheeks flush as I raised my
eyes to his. He looked at me as if he could see right through me, and pain
was written across his face. “All right. Let’s try it. Branok, will you make
us the potion?”
“You know how.” Branok said, a touch of question in his voice.
“I don’t want to wonder if I fucked it up, if it doesn’t work. You’re the
expert.”
Branok arched his eyebrows but for once in his life, the man said
nothing. “I’ll see how far Caldren’s hospitality extends. I assume he’ll meet
any request if I ask in Honor’s name. Meet me in my quarters.”
He headed down the hallway, looking for someone to torment besides
us for once. Talisyn jerked his head down the hallway, leading me toward
Branok’s room.
Then he paused, glancing back at me. “Are you alright, Honor?”
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t think I’ll feel alright until I see Arren safe.”
“I feel the same,” he agreed. “I can’t lose him. He’s my family… my
real family. Not like Teris.”
Delicately, I said, “Are you—”
“I don’t want to talk about Teris,” Talisyn cut me off, and then tried to
smile. “You have amazing powers, Honor.”
He tried to make it sound as if those powers were a gift, but he didn’t
sound certain.
A weight settled into my stomach.
It must bother him on some level that I’d exploded his father’s head. I
supposed that wasn’t surprising.
“Hopefully this works,” Tal said lightly. “I’d hate to lose my family.”
I stared at him, my lips parting in surprise. “Tal, you wouldn’t… not
ever.”
 He managed the smile this time, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “They all
adore you, Honor. They’re going to be happy with you… and you’ll be
happy with them, I hope, although probably annoyed quite often, because
they’re idiots.”
“There will always be a place for you. No matter what.”
“Maybe,” he said, clearly just trying to appease me.
Just then, Branok came in, carrying a basket. “Caldren’s got a pretty
impressive collection of magical ingredients at the ready for a shifter with
limited raw magic. Any ideas about that, Honor?”
“No,” I said. “And if I did, I wouldn’t tell Caldren’s secrets.”
Branok shrugged and set the basket down on the table. “Fine. It’s more
fun this way, anyhow; I wouldn’t want you to take away the challenge.”
He glanced at the empty stone fireplace. “It’s chilly in here. Why didn’t
you start the fire? Or…” He glanced between the two of us, as if we were
the ones responsible for the temperature in the room.
“Light the damn fire then,” Talisyn said impatiently. “You are such an
ass, Bran.”
“I’ve got it,” I said quickly, and walked over to the fireplace. The rain
had begun to pound on the etched windows at the other end of the room; the
sudden rainstorm had made the room cold. I knelt to stack wood and
kindling from the bronze bin in the fireplace, taking far more care than I
needed to. It was easier than facing Talisyn.
I’d thought I was the one who had the most to lose, since I was afraid
I’d lost him forever. He didn’t even remember me, so that seemed a small
loss for him.
But Talisyn was afraid he’d lose all of us. That we would go on to a
happy ending, and leave him behind. The thought clawed at my chest in a
whole new way.
A frantic need to fix everything scratched at my skin. Talisyn. Arren.
Zehr.
I wasn’t sure why I was even thinking about Zehr, and the way he’d
looked at me so affectionately with those dark eyes, the second before I
kissed him with my poisoned lips. He almost killed Arren. He’d kill me for
betraying him. Any tender feeling toward him was a hazard.
Behind me, Branok was grinding herbs with the mortar and pestle,
rattling bottles, mixing his potion. He kept up a steady stream of banter too,
which was entirely one-sided. Talisyn was as quiet as I was.
 I snapped my fingers, and the fire blazed, yellow flames leaping up to
kiss the black-marked stones at the top of the fireplace. I sat back on my
heels knowing I’d have felt a keen sense of satisfaction for that power just a
few months before. Now I felt hollow. The gift of my fire had already faded
into nothing. It was overshadowed by other, more treacherous, more
impressive gifts.
I stood and turned back to the table. Talisyn had sunk onto the edge of
Branok’s bed, rumpling the dark maroon coverlet. The lamps flickering on
the table and in the niches in the wall cast eerie light across the room,
throwing my men into shadow.
Branok swirled his potion in the bottle; it looked thick and heavy and
difficult to swallow. Just the same as being forgotten. “Done.”
“Thank you.” Talisyn stood and held out his hand for the bottle, but
Branok hesitated, as if he were reluctant to hand it over. “What?”
“It just feels like so little fanfare,” Branok said.
“You wanted more than a thank-you? I guess that’s no surprise.” But
there was no heart in Tal’s teasing. He still held out his palm.
Branok put the bottle into his hand. “I just want it to work.”
He sounded, from his tone, as if he found it a foregone conclusion, and
my heart lurched.
“I have faith in you, Branok,” I said lightly.
“As you should,” he answered just as easily, but his posture stiffened
slightly. He was so good at acting and yet even Branok had his tells.
Talisyn muttered a curse word, then gulped the potion in two quick
pulses of his throat, his Adam’s apple moving up and down. He lowered the
bottle, his face hard as stone, no trace of emotion. But that expression was a
lie.
“How long does it take to work?” I asked Branok. “Jaik and I both
remembered later, it took time for our memories to return. It took…
prompting.”
Talisyn said, “I don’t remember anything.”
I already knew that from his face. “I know.”
My voice came out softer than I’d intended, thin and brittle as stretched
taffy, and Branok and Talisyn shared a sudden, wide-eyed, desperate look.
My stomach bottomed out at the thought I was so transparent to them.
“Well, what’s someplace we went?” Talisyn soldiered on. “I can try to
prompt myself to remember.”
 “There’s my house. The coral house. We had sex in the garden.” I was
trying to sound practical, but I couldn’t quite manage it. He probably didn’t
remember the damned house either. Unless he remembered Lucien…. “Do
you remember going there the night you all trapped Lucien in the
dungeon?”
Talisyn shook his head. “All lost. It was you all the time… I knew it by
the time Teris took the memories.”
I’d been so thankful to have my men finally know my secrets. Now
Talisyn didn’t even remember Lucien.
“The academy,” I said dully. “You taught me how to fly there. The
library… the ballroom.”
The high arched doors to the academy’s ballroom was almost always
closed and locked, but I guessed that didn’t matter now. Not with Pend
gone. The entirety of the Isle was ours.
Mine.
Even the academy where I used to mop.
“We should go,” Talisyn said. “Once we’ve figured out Arren.”
“That’s most important,” I agreed. I felt as if I were about to fall apart,
but I tried to keep thinking clearly.
I could kiss Talisyn and try to prompt his memories that way. But the
thought of pressing my lips to his again, only for him to stay cool and
lifeless and so damned distantly kind—I couldn’t bear it.
“I can fix this,” I said. “I was always meant to be queen, right?”
I still hadn’t quite reckoned with what that meant, not truly. But now
Pend was dead and someone would have to rule.
And I didn’t want to. I felt like chaos bound together with loose knots
and fraying thread.
Talisyn bobbed his head in a tight nod, and no matter what he said, I
wasn’t sure he believed it.
After all, one of his memories was of me making his father’s head
splatter all over the temple.
“Good night,” Talisyn and I said abruptly, at almost the same time.
“Thank you,” he said to Branok, then nodded goodbye to me and
headed for the door. I followed him, my eyes aching with exhaustion.
“Don’t go yet, Honor,” Branok called, and I turned back at the door.
“I don’t know if I can handle your snide remarks after everything else
tonight, Bran.” I glanced down the hall. It was dark and shadowed; the
castle was sleeping.
When I left Branok, I’d be alone. With nothing left to do but sleep and
face Zehr, if our connection still ignited. I wasn’t sure if he sought me out in
my dreams or if I sought him out; the thought that maybe I went looking for
Zehr disturbed me.
Maybe Branok would help me make sense of things. Maybe he would
just mock me.
I stepped back into the room and let the door close behind me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Four

H onor

“A fraid to sleep ?” Branok had his back to me as he worked on some new

concoction at his potions table.
“No.” I moved two green bottles aside to make sure they would be safe
from my ass, then hopped up onto one corner of his potions table. I liked
watching Branok work. For all his faults, he was a quick, confident
magician, his long, slender fingers flying deftly across the ingredients to
make his potion.
There was no reason to lie to him. “I’m afraid to see Zehr before I have
a plan. He’s been in my…dreams…before.”
He nodded as if he weren’t surprised, and I frowned, wondering if Jaik
had told him. But he asked, “A plan to fix Arren?”
“And end Zehr.”
Branok leaned against the table top, working a cork into the top of a
small purple potion jar. “I see.”
“Will you help me figure out what to do?” I asked. “I don’t know
anyone else as treacherous as you, and I need a little treachery on my side at
the moment.”
“Oh, Honor. You do love me!” He held the bottle toward me. “Listen. I
don’t know if dreamless sleep will do the trick, but if it does, then this will
knock you out.”
I frowned. “Thank you.”
“Your lips say thank you, but the pucker between your brows says
asshole, like usual when you look at me.” He ran his thumb lightly between
my eyebrows, and I pulled back.
Now I was definitely frowning.
“I just wondered how you knew.”
“We shared a bed in the poison kingdom.” He glanced toward the bed.
“We could again.”
“Jaik will kill me if he wakes up and I’m not there.”
“No, Jaik will kill me.” Branok corrected.
“Well,” I said. “Maybe I don’t mind sleeping over, then.”
“I don’t like this,” he said. “All of us sleeping in different rooms, in
Caldren’s kingdom.”
“I kind of want to sleep near Arren,” I admitted. “But I don’t think he
wants me there.”
“He has to be scared he might hurt you.”
“He’s chained.”
“But if he gets loose.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, I know. You don’t have to convince me, Honor.”
I crooked my finger at him. “Why are you the one who believes in me?”
“I don’t.” He stepped between my legs, coming closer anyway. “I don’t
care if he devours you.”
“You’re not as good of a liar as I expected,” I mocked him. I caught the
top of his tunic and pulled him in toward me.
His lips met mine, and his hands slid across my thighs, hiking the
material of my dress up until he caressed my skin. Just Branok’s firm hands
massaging up and down my thighs made me squirm with desire.
His head dropped to kiss my shoulder, and then he paused and breathed
against my skin, “You’d look good wearing my mark.”
“You’d look good wearing mine,” I shot back before I thought about it.
He tilted his head to one side. “Do you think you can mark us? I don’t
know anything about how female dragons work.”
“If you can mark me… it only makes sense I can mark you.”
“Maybe. The magic has seemed pretty misogynistic in the past.”
 “Or maybe it was never the magic. Maybe Pend destroyed all the female
dragons.”
Branok looked uncertain. “Well, then. If you can… why didn’t you
mark Jaik and Caldren back?”
“I don’t know.”
His fingers teased absently over his shoulder, and I wasn’t sure why
until he added, “You’ve bitten me. You didn’t mark me.”
“Were you hoping that I would?”
“I figure I’m stuck with you anyway.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead
—right on top of the frown lines he often put there—then stepped back.
“Do you want to plot Zehr’s death or do you want to go to bed? You look
exhausted.”
“Both.”
“Do you really want him dead?”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s not fair you saw me reacting to my dreams.”
“Please don’t hold your breath waiting for me to play fair when it comes
to you, princess.”
“I’m your queen, remember?”
“If you want to be,” he said.
I laughed, although it was a sharp sound. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Sure you do. Let Caldren keep his throne here. Send Jaik to reign in
the north. Keep them busy fucking you instead of making war.”
“Don’t be crass. They made up for their own sake, anyway.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.”
“And do you think they’d give me back my throne?” I asked. “If I’m
ready to be queen.”
I should have said when. Branok’s gaze sharpened, and I wanted to slap
his handsome face. It was irritating to know how much he saw through me
to my insecurities.
But since he already knew… I might as well talk about them.
“I made Teris’s head explode.”
“It was awesome,” he agreed. “Do you think Tal holds it against you?
Do you think he wanted to kill Teris himself?”
I inhaled sharply in shock and then exhaled in relief, my shoulders
sagging. It was a relief to speak about this situation openly. “Teris was his
father.”
 “Teris pulled you out of Talisyn’s mind like he was rooting out a flower
garden.” Branok said bluntly. “He didn’t just take one memory. He took
you. I’d want to torture Joachim even more than I already do if he stole you
from me.”
The thought made my heart bottom out.
Branok rubbed his thumb across my lower lip, before I even realized I
was pouting. My eyes were hot and aching.
I wasn’t sure that a kiss would cure Talisyn, even if we crawled
underneath the table in the library or he hiked up my skirt in the garden. All
those memories seemed tainted now that I was the only one who
remembered them.
“Stay in my bed tonight, Honor,” he said softly. “I’ll protect you from
your dreams.”
“From nightmares. And who can promise that?”
“I can,” Branok said so fiercely that I wanted to believe him. “We’ll
find a way to save Arren. In the morning. For now, you can rest.”
I hesitated, then uncorked the bottle and raised it to my lips. Maybe he
could. Maybe he couldn’t. His eyes lit, a faintly self-satisfied look coming
over his face.
He slid his hands down my thighs, molding my body to his, then lifted
me off the table and carried me to his bed. He paused, still holding me, to
pull back the covers, then lay me down on the bed.
“What are you going to do with me now?” I teased.
“I’m going to watch over you so you can sleep,” he said, leaning
forward to press a kiss to my forehead.
He undressed me with gentle hands, helping me out of the dress I’d
worn all day. In my underclothes, I nestled into the bed.
He lay down behind me, pulling my body into his. His arms were heavy
with muscle as they wrapped around me, a warm, comforting weight.
I fell asleep, into dreams full of Zehr’s whispers. I roused in the dim
light and turned, relieved to find Branok still holding me. His handsome
face was different in sleep, relaxed instead of his usual expression that was
cold and uncaring as stone. I studied the hard line of his jaw and
cheekbones, his long nose and the tenderness of his full lower lip,
memorizing those features as if they were the distraction that would save
me from Zehr’s hold.
 I slid my hand down his side, feeling the warm hard muscle beneath my
fingertips. He was real. I was here with him. Zehr’s whisper seemed to fade.
Branok caught my wrist as my hand moved down. “You’re half asleep,”
he said softly. “We can’t do anything.”
“I’m awake now,” I promised, climbing on top of him. My thighs
pressed his warm, hard abs, and his cock rubbed between my thighs as I
moved back and forth.
Branok looked up at me, pretending to be unaffected even as heat built
between my legs. I ran my hands over my breasts, kneading them, rolling
my nipples between my fingertips, and his gaze focused intensely on every
move I made. I hid a smile, enjoying the effect I had on him.
He let out a groan and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck,
tugging me down to kiss him. My lips teased against his as I reached for his
cock, brushing it through my folds.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered into my ear.
“For you.” Usually, I wouldn’t say a damned thing that would feed his
ego, but at the moment… “I want you, Bran.”
Suddenly his fingers overlapped mine. He rubbed my clit, finding the
spot that made my core turn to molten heat. I pushed down on his cock,
trying to slide him inside me. Then his fingers wrapped mine, the two of us
both holding his big cock as he drove up inside me.
He fell back on the bed, watching me as I began to move, riding up and
down him. My hair teased against my lower back, and the salty air that
filled the room from the ocean far below felt cool and refreshing. Every
sense seemed to sharpen in this moment, but none more than the sense of
always-cool Branok heating up.
He wrapped his arms around me and began to move, driving his hips up.
He had a way of rolling his hips that made the base of his cock press my
clit as his tip slammed against my button deep inside, and every time, I felt
my inner core turn to heat at his touch.
The two of us clung to each other as I lost myself to my orgasm.
And everything else faded away.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Five

J aik

T he hard knock at my door was so entitled that I knew it was my brother

even before I was fully awake. The covers were rumpled beside me, but the
sheets were cool. Honor was gone.
I got up, frowning. Had my asshole brother stolen her from my bed? But
if he had, he’d be savoring his stolen time with her; he wouldn’t come back
to wake me.
When I swung open the door, Caldren leaned in the doorway. “You
can’t do this forever, you know,” he said. “We all love her. You’re going to
have to learn to share.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You kept Honor in your bed even though she loved Talisyn just as
much, didn’t you? And then she lost him.” Caldren shook his head. “What a
dick.”
His words prickled. Had I taken time away from Talisyn and Honor? He
was lost to her anyway at the moment. More time together might’ve just
made the loss more painful.
“Are you drunk?” I glanced past him into the hallway. The hall was
empty, but I knew his rebel guards had been patrolling. After Zehr’s attack,
Caldren was on even higher alert than usual. “Why are you bothering me?”
 “No. I’m just saying—you should have shared Honor’s bed with
Talisyn.”
“Which you’re deeply concerned about because… why? You want me
to come cuddle with you two?” I found it hard to believe.
“She’s not with you.” Caldren’s face paled.
My blood instantly ran cold. “You know Honor is… wild. It doesn’t
mean Zehr managed to take her.”
“Yes, she could be anywhere, that makes me feel so much better,”
Caldren muttered. “Hopefully she didn’t already run off to bury a dagger in
Zehr’s chest.”
“She’s not going to do that.” She might want to, at the moment. But I’d
seen fragments of her dreams. There was a bond between them.
And those fragments made me question how much we truly knew about
the Scourge… or its Lord.
But Caldren didn’t pick up on what I thought about Honor’s secret
desire. “Yes, because she’s so very rational. She’s almost as calm as you are
when it comes to protecting the ones she considers her own.”
He raised his voice, calling his guards, and issued a few short orders to
them. Then he turned back to me. “The gates are sealed, not that it will stop
her. Nothing stops her.”
He sounded exasperated and admiring at the same time.
“Let’s check Arren’s room.” He didn’t want to see her, but she might
have bulled her way in to see him anyway.
He was afraid he’d become a monster. He’d already thought he wasn’t
worthy of her. The threat he’d become a monster would only increase his
stupidity.
I moved ahead of Caldren to the door to Arren’s room, where a pair of
shifters waited, looking uneasy and ready for a fight. They moved to block
me.
“Arren would be glad you have them here,” I admitted, turning back to
my brother.
“Let him through,” Caldren ordered. He hesitated, then said, “Call me if
he’s willing to let me see him like this.”
Arren wouldn’t want anyone to see him in a vulnerable state. And
although they’d once been good friends, Arren and Caldren weren’t close
anymore.
 Because of me, and Arren’s loyalty to me. Regret twisted through my
gut. I’d made everyone I cared about choose me, over and over again. I
made Honor choose me, and I’d made my friends choose.
I’d been too self-centered to see myself as a thief.
The guards moved aside, although that didn’t stop them from throwing
cutting looks my way. There was no way in hell I’d ever leave Honor alone
with the assholes in Caldren’s kingdom, given how they felt about dragon
royals.
I walked inside. Arren seemed to be asleep at first, but it must be a thin
sleep, because he jolted up as I walked in. At least, he jolted as far as the
chains allowed. Sweat beaded along his hairline.
He was alone. Honor’s absence was an ache in my chest. But now that I
was here and he was wild-eyed, I couldn’t just walk away.
“Are you alright with Caldren coming in?” I demanded.
He looked bewildered and angry in almost equal amounts,but he said,
“Fine. What do you want in the middle of the night?”
“Well, we lost Honor. What else is new?” I moved to the door, and as
soon as I swung it open, Caldren must’ve known what I meant by the look
on my face. He walked into the room and nodded to Arren.
“I need to move to a more secure location,” Arren said, without missing
a beat, as if he’d been thinking about this all night and was eager to have it
settled. “If you won’t just fucking kill me, Jaik, then keep me someplace I
can’t hurt anyone while you try whatever harebrained shit you need to try.”
“The rabbit shifters have requested we stop using the phrase
harebrained,” Caldren said, which earned him a glare from me. Ridiculous.
But Arren let out a short laugh. “Fair enough. Dragon brained.”
Caldren grinned at Arren, and an unexpected throb of jealousy tightened
my chest. Caldren had always been good at diffusing tension.
“Is there someplace in particular you had in mind?” I was sure Arren
already had a plan.
Arren nodded. “The academy. If we seal off the tunnels, the basement of
the academy is well-secured. If I get loose, I shouldn’t be able to breach the
academy. And in the meantime, the academy scientists can study me. Try to
make sense of the Scourge.”
“And try to heal you,” I said sharply.
“Sure,” Arren said. “But we’ve never observed Scourge in the process
of changing. We only see them when they’re fully…” he seemed to stumble
for the word. “Altered.”
“We’ll find a way to fix you,” I said.
Arren said, “Doubtful. But maybe you can find a way to stop the
Scourge. We should learn what we can from my…” He stumbled over the
word, trailed off.
“Let me get you something so you can sleep,” I told Arren. He looked
terrible, his eyes red and dark-shadowed. If I hadn’t known Arren better, I’d
have thought he might’ve been crying.
“I don’t want to sleep.” He shuddered. “But you need to know. I keep
seeing Scourge. A city… a whole city of them. A dark city built of bones
and shadows. I think I’m having visions.”
He swallowed. “I think they’re calling to me. And… part of me wants to
go there. I’m worried that if I lose myself, I’m going to try to break these.”
He rattled his chains.
“Well, stay with us instead,” Caldren said. “Have a little faith.”
Arren let out a bitter sound that was almost a laugh. “Faith? That I’m
going to magically survive the same thing that’s taken thousands? I’d rather
be dead than…one of them.”
“Faith in your friends,” Caldren said. “They’ve never let you down
before.”
“They annoy me all the time.” Arren grumbled. “Fine. Let me sleep. As
long as the chains are tight.”
“I’ll get Branok and Lynx to make a potion.”
“You’re going to wake them up too?” Arren said. “You’re really trying
to win some kind of popularity contest.”
“I’ve never cared about being popular,” I said.

W hen we stepped out , two new rebels waited outside. They bowed their
heads respectfully, their hands on the hilts of their swords, and it took me a
second to realize it was Caldren to whom they bowed.
“Lord Caldren, we were told you were looking for Honor. She went into
Branok’s rooms about an hour ago.” The shifter was small, almost certainly
a prey shifter, with a shock of red hair and freckles. He would’ve been eaten
alive at the academy.
 “Thank you,” Caldren said. He clapped one of their shoulders as he
walked past, and the shifter straightened, his posture straight as a blade.
They looked at him with admiration written across their faces, not that he
seemed to notice.
I knocked on Branok’s door. As soon as he opened it, I said, “I need
something for Arren.”
“All right.” Branok looked slightly confused. He’d have known to
expect my ire. I didn’t care—much—if she slept with Branok, but I wanted
to know she was safe.
He was still holding the door half closed, so I bulled it open and walked
in. I caught Caldren spreading his arms to shrug at Branok apologetically.
Honor was asleep in the bed. Relief flooded me at the sight of her. Her
lustrous red hair spilled over her pale shoulders, and her red lips were
parted in sleep. A thin trickle of drool slid out of the corner of her mouth,
and I still thought she was fucking gorgeous.
“Next time, tell me she’s here,” I said.
“I didn’t know she didn’t,” Branok said smoothly, even though we all
knew I would’ve been skulking behind her. I needed to know she was safe.
I cast a second glance at the bed, noticing that he’d slung a necklace
around the knobbed corner of the headboard and that there were pillows
tucked around Honor. Lynx had suggested to me there seemed to be a drive
to nest with Honor, something he’d observed as Branok decorated their
shared bed in the poison kingdom with trinkets. I didn’t know quite what to
make of that news.
“Are you nesting?” I demanded.
“What are you talking about?”
My mark was on Honor’s skin, and that pleased me. Caldren’s mark was
nestled next to it, and I was so self-satisfied to see my mark forever on her
that I didn’t mind his. Much.
“We all have to look out for her,” I said. “Make sure we know where
she is. Zehr might’ve bitten Arren to punish her for betraying him, but he
wanted her for himself. Sooner or later, he’ll come for her.”
I could feel his threat in my bones. My hands tightened into fists. I’d
never let him hurt her.
“I am,” Branok said sharply. “I knew she was safe. This is about your
need to control.”
“Is she drugged?” Caldren asked.
 Branok nodded sharply, still prickly at my displeasure. “She needed a
potion to sleep. Without…him.”
“Make some for Arren too. The Scourge are calling to him.”
“Lynx wanted to sit with him.” Branok said. “I’ll let him know Arren
needs him.”
“Just… don’t phrase it that way.”
“I know better.”
That was the dance all the dragon royals did, pretending we didn’t need
each other. But we did.
And we needed Honor most of all.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Six

A rren

I slept deeply , dimly aware of Lynx beside me, sitting at the foot of the
bed. I roused once from a heavy dreamless sleep that felt like a sickness to
see him with his sword drawn and resting on his lap.
“Don’t sleep,” I growled, and his eyes met mine suddenly as he jumped.
The words had come out in a growl that sounded inhuman, and I cleared my
throat. If he insisted on being here, he at least needed to stay watchful.
“Don’t sleep.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
I fell asleep again, and I woke in full bright light. Honor’s soft voice
reached my ears, and my cock stiffened under the blankets. I might be
losing myself, but my body remembered her.
“You should go,” Lynx told her.
“Let me take a turn watching him.”
“No.”
“You’re telling me no?” The smile was audible in her voice. “Lynx, I
didn’t think that was what we did.”
There was a faint whisper as he sheathed his sword, and if it hadn’t been
so hard to move, my bones heavy as lead, I would’ve yelled at him. How
dare he turn his back on me when it was his duty to protect Honor.
“Only for your own good,” he said softly.
 “What kind of queen would I be if everyone got to order me around?”
“Our queen. And safe.”
“To be your queen, I don’t think I can stay safe. I think my destiny has
always been in the fight.”
“Well, destiny can get fucked,” Lynx said, although his voice was still
light. There was a rustle, the sound of skin brushing skin; they were kissing,
and it made me furious. “I want you safe. You’re mine.”
I couldn't stand having her in the room. What was wrong with Lynx,
flirting with her when I was so close? None of us knew how long it would
take me to transform into an uncontrollable monster.
I could already feel something changing inside me though. My blood
had always burnt hot as a dragon. But now it felt like ice running through
my veins. Everything felt as if I were slowing down and yet accompanying
that slowness was a sense of savageness, an urge to hurt, if only I could peel
myself off the bed.
And I had a feeling that the cold that tormented me now would fade. My
heavy muscles would grow strong again, perhaps stronger than ever before,
and I dreaded what would unfold.
“Is he alright?” She asked quietly.
“He's fine.”
I did not agree with Lynx. I was not fine and I did not want either of
them in this room. Jaik should have known to order someone else into this
room to guard me, someone who wouldn't be reluctant to drive a sword
through me and wouldn't care about Honor’s pleading.
Lynx adored her. That had been written across his face every time he
saw her from the very first moment. Maybe he could hide it with other
people, but I knew him too well. She was the first thing that had captured
him away from his books and woken him into the real world.
I made a growl of disagreement.
Honor pulled away from Lynx.
“Is he in pain?” She asked, her voice growing louder. She was coming
closer.
No, no, that was the opposite of what I wanted. I wanted Lynx to get her
out of here. I didn't want to hurt her and I didn't want her to see me like this.
The memory of her resting her head on my shoulder, her kiss on my
cheek rose like ghosts, each memory accompanied with a jolt of pain. I
should’ve I told her sooner how I felt. I shouldn’t have let the chance slip
away. But now, I had to focus on what had to be done.
“Get away from me,” I tried to say but it just came out just another
growl, half feral.
She leaned over me, her eyes wide. She was scared of what I was
becoming, but she wasn't scared enough.
I tried to tell her to get away from me. The words came out a growl, and
she bent closer, her face troubled.
“Tell me again,” she said softly. “I’m here, Arren.”
She wouldn't listen. I had to scare her away.
I launched up baring my teeth.
She stepped backwards abruptly. Lynx’s sword flew to my throat so fast
I barely saw the steel whip through the air.
I couldn't stop the rage boiling inside me. I lunged toward Lynx, and the
tip of the sword scraped across my throat.
Blood soaked down my shirt to my chest.
She cried out. But instead of crying out in fear like she should have, she
grabbed Lynx’s blade and pushed it away from my throat before I could
impale myself on it.
Her gaze was fixed on mine. She didn't even seem to notice the bite of
the blade against her skin or the way her blood soaked my bed sheets. No. It
was what I had been afraid of. I hadn't wanted to hurt her.
I let out a howl of frustration before I could bite it off, humiliated at
how much of an animal I sounded like.
“Are you alright?” She hovered over me, looking as if she wanted to
touch me, even now.
One of the chains yanked loose from the wall. I hadn't even realized that
I was doing it.
I realized too late I was starting to transform, my dragon powers
breaking the chains that should have been yielding. I lunged at Lynx,
knocking him to the ground.
Why the hell wasn't he protecting her? His sword skittered across the
ground.
“Arren!” Honor’s desperate cry echoed through my whole body. Her
power flared around her, bright and hotter than I'd seen it before. The red-
gold circle of magic swirled around her like flames, before it exploded
toward me.
 Good girl, I thought at the same time as I saw her horrified face.
I flew back across the room and into the stone wall, hard enough to
knock me breathless. For a second, dazed with pain, I was myself again,
even as my head exploded with pain.
Then darkness claimed me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Seven

H onor

I stared at Arren in shock.

The magic rolling through me had felt like power, but now even though
it still tingled across my skin like racing energy, I no longer felt powerful.
The same magic now filled me with a sense of fear and powerlessness.
Who else might I hurt next when I was afraid?
I needed to be able to protect the people I loved…from myself.
Lynx’s back was to me as he bent over Arren. My blood thundered in
my ears, and I couldn’t think straight.
“Is he… is he alive?” I asked.
“Honor, it's alright.” Lynx’s tone was gentle. He was talking to me as if
I were an injured animal, the same soft tone he used with the hulking,
dangerous shadow beast that followed at his heels.
Lynx murmured the words of a healing spell, pressing his hand to
Arren’s forehead. I hesitated, torn between going to help and fleeing the
room before I could do any more damage.
“He was so afraid of hurting me,” I choked out.
“But look at us, Arren.” Not that he could; I was speaking to his
unconscious form. “I never had to be afraid of you. You have to be afraid of
me.”
 My voice came out choked.
Lynx twisted to look at me, his brow furrowing in concern. He should
be looking after Arren, not me, but I was stupid and impulsive and selfish
and taking away from Arren even after I’d hurt him. Lynx should be able to
focus on healing my damage.
I ran out. The very powers that had made me feel as if I could look after
the ones I loved were also powers that could destroy them. I was horrified
at what I had just done.
“Honor, wait!” Lynx called. Fangs, the beast on his heels, growled as if
he might spring after me to bring me back.
But Lynx just said, “No, Fangs. Easy.”
The monster settled again.
I ran out into the hallway. At that moment, I felt like I could run, run
and never stop running.
I hated the thought that I was a danger to my loved ones. Had we
survived so much only for my rogue powers to destroy everyone I wanted
to protect?
I couldn’t stop envisioning the way Arren had flown into the wall, the
sickening crunch of his body.
My stomach clenched as if I was about to puke, but I just kept running. I
caught a blur of faces as I passed, openly curious why I was sprinting
through the halls of Caldren’s castle.
Then I saw a familiar figure. Dark hair, blue eyes, tanned skin covered
with tattoos. Powerful shoulders and more than that, a powerful aura.
Damyn.
I wanted to slow down to look as if I were in control, and not a lunatic. I
slowed to a walk, but it only lasted a few steps. My heart was still
pounding. Someone else, nearer me, started to ask if I was alright, and
shame burned in my gut.
Damyn’s gaze found mine, and those icy eyes pinned me. I couldn’t
bear his disapproval when I was already a ragged nerve.
I broke back into a run.
“Honor,” he shouted, moving to intercept me. I ducked his arm and
sprinted past him.
I burst out of the castle and ran past some guards. They moved to bar
my way then hesitated when they saw who I was. Doubtless they didn't
want to risk Caldren’s protective wrath.
 “Honor, stop,” Damyn ordered.
I ignored him. I'd never been particularly obedient, and I didn't plan to
change now. I didn't want him to see me up close like this, out of control
and emotional.
I ran through the garden. Which wasn't exactly a place that made me
feel good about my life choices either.
I headed for the tree line. There were walls around Caldren’s castle, but
they covered a wide swath of territory. Shifters needed room to run safely.
Suddenly, Damyn was behind me. His arm wrapped around my waist.
Our momentum carried us into the grass where we landed hard. He
scrambled to pin me down, his hands wrapping around my wrists and
forcing them to the grass on either side of my head.
“Let go of me!” I didn't want to risk hurting him too. And I was worried
about what the magic might do.
“Don't run from me.” he ordered.
“Why not?” I wasn’t angry at Damyn, but all my frustration and rage
spilled out at him anyway. I couldn’t stop the ugly words that spilled out of
my lips, but I would’ve run away before I said them to him. “Who the fuck
are you to me? Why shouldn't I run?”
After all, I was running because I wanted so badly to protect the people
that I loved. And I was the danger.
“Who am I to you?” His eyebrows arched. His dark eyes smoldered
down at me, matching fury for fury as if those words had tipped him over
into some unexpected anger that I had never known he possessed. “You and
I go a long way back, Honor.”
“Let me go!”
“Where are you going? We don't know where Gorion and Joachim are.
The Lord of the Scourge has taken a very personal interest in you. I don't
think you should be stepping foot outside those walls, let alone making a
mad run gods-know-where.”
“You don't understand.”
“You're right. I don't.” He was still straddling me as he sat up, taking the
pressure off my wrists. His hard muscle pinned me down helplessly. “So
talk to me”.
“Let me up.”
“I don't trust you to have a conversation when you can run away. You
don't strike me as being much better talking about your feelings than those
men of yours.”
“What men? Tal isn't mine anymore. Arren is lost to the Scourge and it's
my fault.” I couldn’t stand to lose any more of them. Would Branok, Lynx,
Caldren and Jaik even look at me the same way?
Should they? Wasn’t it worse if they still wanted me, and I was selfish
and stayed close to them… and killed them? “My powers just keep getting
worse.”
“Do you want to be treated the same way I would treat one of those
dragon royals?” He asked me.
Something about the stern way he looked at me made me slow down,
some of my fury ebbing away.
He wasn’t the one I was angry at, anyway.
I hated myself.
“I deserve to be treated as their equal.” I regarded him suspiciously.
“Why?”
“Because I would smack one of them into next week for talking in such
a self pitying way,” he said. “You're not weak, Honor. You don't act like a
child, running away from your problems.”
“The problem isn't that I'm weak. The problem is that I'm too powerful.”
I shot back. “I just hurt Arren.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Do you promise not to smack me into next week?” My men had talked
about how Damyn was the strict teacher. And certainly he'd had no problem
seeing Lucien Finn beaten bloody every day. But he’d never struck me. The
thought felt deeply wrong.
“I can't promise that,” he said. “Do your best not to disappoint me.”
But he finally got up and moved off me.
“I can't believe you threatened to slap me,” I said as he offered me a
hand up
“It wasn't a threat,” he disagreed, still gripping my forearm with his
hard, calloused hands. “It was an offer. If you need it, it still stands.”
I glared at him but he did not seem impressed.
“Talk to me,” he said. “What is wrong with you?”
I told him about what had just happened. How I'd hurt Arren, and how
worried I was that we were losing him.
“We won't lose him.” He said confidently.
“And why is that?”
 “Because that's what you're here for,” he said. “If you'll stop being a
whiny little bitch you can undo what should never have been done.”
I stared at him, still shocked by the way he was talking to me, but
maybe that was for the best. He'd shocked me out of my flurry of feelings. I
didn't want him to see me upset.
There was no one I wanted to impress more.
But I found myself blurting out everything that had happened.
“And you think that makes you a monster?” He asked me. “With great
ability comes great failures, the two come hand in hand. You can't have one
without the other. But your Kingdom needs you.”
He went on more gently, tilting my chin to force my gaze to his. “Look
at me. I failed you when you were just a child. But I'm still here. I'm not
going to stop trying and believing that I can do better.”
His fingers on my skin lit tension sparking through every muscle.
When he mentioned that he'd known me as a child, it was such a
reminder of the gulf between us. It drenched cold water over the desire I felt
to kiss him, because he certainly didn’t want to kiss me.
“Do you still see me as a responsibility?”
“Yes,” he said. “And I'll train you, if you promise to keep the faith that
you will be ready to be queen one day.”
“And how do I get from here to there? That's what I don't see, Damyn. I
don't see the way forward.”
“Then let me see it for you. Trust me to be your teacher.”
“Are you always going to be so quick to threaten to backhand me?”
“I mean, the dragon Royals turned out more or less decently.”
“Mostly less.”
“We've been talking about moving Arren into the academy so that he
can be studied by the scientists. Maybe that’s the best place for you too. We
can have privacy there. And maybe most importantly, you can feel like a
student there again, instead of someone who's carrying the weight of the
world on their shoulders now. For right now, all you owe your kingdom is
your best effort. You just have to try. You don't have to be perfect.”
“How are you going to teach me? You don't have my powers.”
“No,” he admitted. “But I knew someone who did. Someone who asked
me to look after you.”
My eyes widened. “My parents?”
 “Lysander and Amily left me behind when they ran into the tunnels with
you,” he said. “I'd promised to protect you, but I barely managed to slow
down the ones who came after you.” He looked haunted.
“You were just a little boy yourself.” I said.
Fragments of memory danced at the edges of my mind but they weren't
concrete enough for me to grab hold of. A freckle-faced, handsome boy
who used to spar with me, who looked after my parents with worshipful
eyes. It might be wishful thinking that I seem to remember a boy from my
past who might have been Damyn. A knights’ apprentice who hadn’t been
that much older than me…
“Come on, Honor,” he said. “Let's go back to the academy. Your
Kingdom needs a Queen.”
“And a Queen needs a teacher.” I agreed. I wasn’t ready to rule until I
was sure I had control of my powers, so I wouldn’t hurt anyone like I’d just
accidentally hurt Arren. I added severely. “A nice teacher.”
“No promises.” His lips curled slightly at the edges.
The warmth and confidence he exuded made me long to press myself
against his chest and feel him wrap his arms around me. But that wasn’t our
relationship.
He held his hand out to me.
Even though I had the feeling I was going to regret this often in the days
to come, I put my hand in his.
I just wished he felt the same charge I did when our fingers touched.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Eight

C aldren

A s I was going down the hall to meet my brother and his men, I heard
some of my Rebels eating their breakfast at the end of their shift.
“I hope she’ll never be queen.”
I paused, rocking on my heels. They couldn’t see me from where I
stood.
“She’ll never be my queen, anyway. Even if he does marry her.”
“We don’t need a royal dragon to rule. Again.”
My anger started to boil over, and I was about to dash in and make them
regret saying any lewd words about Honor, when one of them added, “They
can never understand what we go through. Not like our king.”
And there was that reverent, almost worshipful tone. I knew I didn’t
deserve it. But I had to try to live up to it.
I stepped into view, and they all went quiet. I pretended I hadn’t heard
what they said. Honor would have understood.
The prey shifters had gone through enough, being quashed under the
heel of the predators.
I continued past them, to the courtyard where preparation had begun for
my brother and his entourage to travel back to the Academy. Most difficult
was transporting Arren. They couldn’t fly with his heavy cage.
 My brother and his knights thought they were untouchable. Zehr had
brought them down to the ground when he bit one of them.
“Abandoning the Academy forever?” Lynx asked me. He attempted a
genial tone, but Fangs growled at me, the shadow-beast lurking behind him,
so I didn’t exactly trust his friendliness.
“It seems I’m more needed here. And I know the Academy is in good
hands with you all.”
He did not look impressed.
“Are you going to stay here, keeping your rebellion intact, while we
pretend that this kingdom wasn’t torn in two?”
“This Kingdom isn’t ready to heal yet. Not until the people are
convinced the dragon Royals can lookout for someone other than dragon
Royals.”
“So until then, you’ll just be ready.”
“What are you trying to say? I’m loyal to Honor.”
“Are you?” Lynx demanded. “Then how come you had her kidnapped?”
Lynx was usually the nice one. I stared past him to his twin who
shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. Branok would always prefer
to be amused.
“I’ve never had her kidnapped.”
“So when your soldiers threw a net over her, was that some kind of wolf
mating ritual I’ve never read about?”
“Honestly, it could be some kind of ritual that you never read about
because you’ve never cared that much about anyone besides the Royals.
Your education has been sadly lacking given you were intended to rule the
entire Kingdom, so you should understand its people.” I snapped back at
him. It wasn’t entirely true; Lynx was interested in reading about anything,
but he was still ignorant when it came to the prey shifters.
No one could get on my last nerve like my oldest friends. I haven’t
talked to Lynx this much in years, since they followed my brother, and left
me in the cold.
But I went on. “I didn’t order my men to do that, and I didn’t appreciate
it. But she arrived in my Kingdom unharmed, and that was what mattered.”
Lynx seemed disbelieving. “That was the thing that mattered? Do you
have any idea what it was like for us? We were so scared for her. We didn’t
know if she was safe or not. In the middle of a war…”
 “Honestly, I don’t care very much about your feelings. Given how little
you’ve always cared about mine.”
“Enough,” Jaik interrupted. “None of this matters. We just need to talk
about what happens next.”
“Despite the fact that Lynx keeps talking about it as if I’m being a
traitor,” I said, “Honor asked me to remain in my position here in the
south.”
“And I will reign in the north,” Jaik said. “We’ll keep the thrones warm
for Honor. Keep the Kingdom together… as much as we can anyway, until
she’s ready.”
“No one else knows she’s queen besides Zehr, Joachim and Gorion,” I
said. And the magic. “We have to keep it that way… and neither of us can
complete the ceremony to take the throne.”
I didn’t entirely trust Jaik not to start the coronation ceremony. I wasn’t
sure what that would do to the magic—or Honor.
“Of course not,” Jaik said, his voice hard. “See that you don’t.”
I let out a laugh, then turned to find Nora. “How’s the hunt for Joachim
and Gorion?”
She shook her head. “Nothing yet.”
“Pity,” I said. I’d ordered their deaths, and I had no doubt Jaik’s spies
were working on the same.
When the nobles discovered that a female dragon had surfaced, that
Lysander’s heir was alive, and that she was going to take the throne…
Honor would throw the world into chaos.
“Honor will take the throne soon,” Jaik said, as if he were reminding
himself. “Formally. Then the magic will be bound again as it should be.”
I wasn’t sure preserving Honor’s throne would be that simple. Honor
would be a good queen, but Jaik’s people wouldn’t want to be ruled by a
woman. My people wouldn’t want to to be ruled by a dragon.
I couldn’t stand the thought of any more of my people dying at the hand
of the Royals or at the claws of the Scourge.
But for today, I would try to believe in a future where peace was the true
ruler.
Arren was taken out of the castle in chains. Beside me, Honor stiffened
when she saw him. Her hand rose involuntarily to her mouth, betraying how
upsetting she found the scene.
 “He wants it this way,” Jaik reminded her quietly. “It makes him feel
safer if he knows he can’t hurt anyone.”
Honor nodded, schooling her face but I could tell from the lines of
tension edged in her shoulders it was only an act for Arren’s sake. It hurt to
see him treated like a dangerous monster. It hurt to be reminded that he was
becoming one.
“What is she doing here?” Arren demanded, his eyes sliding from side
to side, taking in the horses. He must have guessed that one of them was
meant for her. “Tell me she’s only going as far as the border?”
“Arren…” Jaik began.
“I don’t want her anywhere around me.” Arren twisted to glance around
the crowd, seeking an ally. Honor had to know why he said that, but pain
still flashed across her face. “Keep her here!”
“There’s not a chance in hell that I would leave her in Cal's Kingdom.”
Jaik said tartly.
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
“It’s not safe here,” Jaik said dismissively.
I frowned at him. “Zehr could reach her anywhere.”
Honor’s voice cut through our argument. “I’m going to the Academy
because that’s where I’m most needed. You all can argue to your heart’s
content, but in the end, you know I’ll do what I must.”
I hated having her leave. But I managed an approving smile. “Well, she
certainly sounds like a queen.”
Jaik cut his eyes at me, clearly not trusting my kingdom not to have
spies everywhere. “My queen,” I added mildly, knowing it would annoy
him.
Arren lunged forward at Honor, and Jaik and I both drew our swords,
turning to face him. He roared at Honor, who raised her chin defiantly. A
dozen of Caldren’s guards helped maneuver Arren to the carriage.
Arren was loaded into a carriage that had been used to carry animals. It
had been reinforced and, after his earlier near-escape, a thin line of spun
dragon’s bane glowed brightly, wrapped through his chains.
Honor’s eyes shone with unshed tears. There was nothing to say. I
wrapped my arm around her, and she turned her face into my shoulder and
hugged me tightly.
For now, I rode with them as far as the border. Honor rode beside me,
and I stayed close to her, hoping my people would see how much she
mattered to me. I hoped they would come to trust her. I did. There was no
doubt in my mind that she wanted what was best for predator and prey
shifters alike.
But did that matter, if she couldn’t convince them of it?
As we were riding through one of the villages, people came out, lining
the streets to cheer. Jaik started to wave to them, accustomed to receiving
adulation from the crowds who were grateful to be protected from the
Scourge. But now that rebellion had come and the people hoped they’d be
free—from both the Scourge and the Royals—there was no more cheering
for them. Jaik stopped waving, dropped his hand back to the pommel of his
horse.
I saw the hard looks Honor received from some of the people that we
passed. I pulled my horse closer to hers, and her gaze flickered to mine then
swept out. I could see the moment that she registered the disapproving faces
among the cheering crowd that had lined the village streets. Not everyone
was happy to see me riding with my brother. Not everyone was happy to see
me riding with her.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I answered automatically, and then debated what to say next. I
wanted to protect her, and I knew it would hurt her feelings to know that
people didn’t trust her like they didn’t trust the dragon royals. But no one
but us had to know yet that she was a queen. The queen.
I debated what to say, and then realized that protecting her meant being
honest with her, even if it was uncomfortable. I had to trust her to deal with
the truth and make the best choices not of the messy Kingdom spread
before us.
“I’m going to be honest with you.”
“I should hope so.” She moved her horse closer to mine, so that our
knees brushed. “Always, Caldren.”
“Always.” I agreed. “Many of the shifters don’t want to be ruled by
dragons anymore. Dragons don’t understand the life of regular shifters.”
Honestly, that was hard to argue. Even the dragon knights who weren’t
part of the higher noble lineage were still considered lesser royalty. They’d
all grown up with servants caring for their clothes and preparing their
meals, with nothing to do but fight and train. And then they thought they
were superior because they were the best fighters, when that was all they’d
had to do while others worked.
 I should know. I used to be one of those arrogant assholes.
“And do they think you do?” She challenged me.
I shrugged. “No, they certainly didn’t think that at first. People thought
that I was working for my father. That my expulsion from the royal family
was all an act.”
That had hurt, people thinking the greatest pain in my life was fake.
“But you won them over.”
“Surprisingly enough, yes. And you’re much more charming than I am,
so I have no doubt you will win them over as well.”
“But until then… I should watch my back.”
“The fact that no one knows yet that you are supposed to be queen
should help.”
A faint expression of alarm came over her face, and I was glad to see it.
I’d rather she took the threats seriously. “Cal, are you telling me that you
think I should worry about an assassination attempt if people understand
what I am?”
“I’d like to think that I’m making things safer for this Kingdom, but the
truth is, Honor, right now I think people desperately want to see this
Kingdom remade a certain way. I worry about you and… them.”
I jerked my head toward my idiot brother and his friends. “Will you
look after them?”
“Have you told them this?”
I hesitated. “Honestly, I worry about what they would do. They care
about the people, yes, but they care about protecting you and protecting
each other more than anything else. And they are arrogant. I hope that the
attitude in the land will change in time. I don’t want them to make things
worse.”
She worried the reins between her long slender fingers. “This is all such
a mess, Cal. It’s not what I imagined.”
“I know. I thought that after the bloodshed was over, after the kings
were dead, we’d have peace. But what stretches in front of us is…
complicated.”
She smiled at me, though it was a more tentative smile than usual.
“We’ll figure it out together.”
“Together in a sense, since we won’t be together.”
“But we can visit each other.”
 I wondered how easy that would be, given Jaik’s protectiveness and
possessiveness. And I worried that those loyal to him would arrest me—or
murder me--on sight, just like I thought my people might not treat Jaik very
well if they ran into him in a dark alley.
“What about prey shifters?” Honor asked. “Shifters think that the
dragon royals can’t understand them, but do prey shifters think that a wolf
understands their problems?”
“Well, no. They don’t. This is a broken kingdom, Honor.”
“How do we fix it?”
“Perhaps the prey need some power.” I said it lightly, but the concept
itself was heavy. It was not an idea that would go over well with the
nobility. “Perhaps having a nobility comprised entirely of certain kinds of
shifters is never going to be successful. At least, not for those of a different
ilk.”
She looked troubled. “That seems like an unpopular idea.”
“Very. If I were you, I would focus on mastering those powers of yours.
It’s one thing to save the world from the Scourge, Honor. I have no doubt
that you can accomplish that. But fixing this Kingdom…” I shrugged.
“If you were anymore sunny and optimistic, Cal, I’d have to punch you
in the face.”
The two of us shared a smile. When we arrived at the border, we
dismounted. I said goodbye to each of my old friends, even though the
relationship with each of them felt strained. Arren looked grim. Lynx
obviously still hadn’t forgiven me.
I told Honor, “Don’t worry. I’ll sneak into Jaik’s territory to visit you.”
She glanced at Jaik, who stood at my shoulder. “ I don’t think you have
to sneak…”
“But that’s what makes it fun.”
“You’re as much trouble as I am, Lord Caldren.” She smiled in that way
that always melted my heart. “That’s why I like you so much.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and kissed her, trying to kiss her so
deeply and intensely that I would feel her lips for the time we were apart.
She let out a ragged breath when we finally separated, her hands still resting
on my chest. I caught her hand in mine and kissed its back. “Never doubt
that you are my queen, Honor. I will be loyal to you.”
I wanted her to understand that nothing could tempt me to take that
throne from her. I knew that was what people expected from me.
 It was hard to turn away from her luminous eyes, especially when I was
turning away from her to face my brother. I hadn’t said goodbye to him yet.
Jaik hugged me abruptly. It surprised me. It took me a second to hug
him back, and by that time, he was already pulling away. I clapped him on
the shoulder, belatedly.
“Be safe, brother.” Jaik muttered.
Behind his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of Honor’s smile across her red
lips before she ducked her head to hide it.
“You be safe as well, little brother.” I told him.
He was already moving away from me, settling the toe of his boot into
his stirrup and stepping up lightly onto his horse.
My brother’s unexpected hug left me feeling both moved and uncertain.
I watched them ride off, crossing the border, feeling as if I might not see
them again, or as if everything might change before I did.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Nine

H onor

W e arrived at the Academy by dark. As we traveled into the city, the night
seemed deeper knowing that Caldren and his rebels weren't tucked into the
Twisted Pines.
“Clear the courtyard.” Jaik barked as soon as we arrived, dismounting
from his horse. “I want all the students away from here. Staff, too. This is
royal business.”
I might have opened with a hello. Princes are so imperious. And now,
he was supposed to pretend to be king. He was going to be positively
unbearable.
There was no way to carry the cage itself into the castle, up all those
massive stairs. And there was no way to bring Arren’s cage through the
narrow tunnels, even if Jaik hadn’t sealed the tunnels to prevent another
attack on the academy.
The horses were led away into the stables down the street.
And we were left with the cage. My heart froze in my chest. Arren
didn't want anyone to see him like this.
“Perhaps we could fly the cage up.” Talisyn suggested.
Lynx shook his head. “Anything that can contain him is too heavy and
unwieldy for us to do that safely. And he's... a hazard himself.”
 As if to punctuate his words, Arren slammed into the side of the cage
over and over again. The sound he made was inhuman, splitting the night.
The heavy drapery around the cage shuddered. It seemed as if the thing
might tip over sideways. Even if we were all carrying it, his erratic behavior
would make it even harder to hold.
“It's too likely we would hurt him.” I said. “We didn't come this far only
for him to end up splattered on the ground.”
Jaik nodded, and his jaw was tense but he sounded sure when he said,
“Then we’ll walk him up the stairs.”
“Do you think he's farther gone than he was before?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Branok said, but none of us made a
motion toward the cage.
Lynx grimly handed out poles the men could use to keep Arren away
from us while guiding him up the steps.
Finally, Jaik stepped forward and, with one last glance up and down to
make sure that the area had been cleared in accordance with his wishes, he
drew off the drapery.
Arren lunged once more at the bars and let out that inhuman shriek
again. His big body slammed into the side and tilted the whole carriage
dangerously on its wheels for a second. His mouth was wide open, and I
wasn't sure if it was just my imagination or if his teeth were really growing
longer and sharper, like fangs.
Tal, Branok and Lynx rushed forwards and slammed themselves into the
cage, pushing the carriage back onto its wheels. Arren lunged, reaching
through the bars to hook one of his friends. If the dragonsbane threaded in
his chains ever broke, I didn't know what would happen to us. If he
transformed into a zombified dragon, we would have to kill him... if we
even could...
Branok just barely managed to dance back and avoid being caught in
Arren's grip. He adjusted his lapels, making a show of looking relaxed
although I had seen the flash of terror in his eyes.
The second worst thing any of us could imagine was killing Arren. The
first worst thing that any of us could imagine was joining him in his
sickness.
But then, Arren locked eyes with me, and he stilled. Now that I could
study him more closely, there was no doubt he was changing. He looked
more sinewy than he had before, already there were hollows under his
cheeks as if he were fading away. His eyes were changing color, the pupil
seeming to have burst into black bleeding into his irises. His skin seemed to
be changing color, graying, and horns prickled along the edge of his
forehead as if he were trapped half-dragon, half-man. That sight was
frightening.
He stared at me, and I promised, “It'll be alright.”
“No, it won't.” His voice sounded raspy, strange, unearthly.
Between all of us, we got the door of the cage opened and him safely
out of it.
“Whatever else happens, you'll help us by being studied. So we can
better understand the Scourge,” Jaik promised him.
I hated the thought of Arren being studied as a monster, but the thought
might reach Arren through this sickness. I knew how much he didn't believe
in any other possible happy ending.
We made slow progress up the stairs, everyone moving in tandem to
stay ready if Arren attacked. I was afraid he would lunge at me just to get
the others to kill him.
Every step up those long, endless stone flights felt like another chance
to fall all the way down to an end that I couldn't get up from. I couldn't
stand the thought of losing Arren. I couldn’t even protect him from the
humiliation he’d feel if anyone knew he'd been touched by the Scourge.
Two students suddenly rushed out of the stone outcropping to our right.
They had obviously climbed part of the outside of the school, because they
had bloody, scraped and red faces from exertion. They almost rushed right
into us, and then froze, looking horrified.
Their eyes went to Arren’s figure, and they gasped in horror.
“You don't need to look at him,” Lynx growled, suddenly stepping into
their path. Jaik was too busy handling Arren, who let out a growl when he
saw the two intruders and twisted in his chains, trying to break loose. “Look
at me. Worry about me.”
Lynx was never scary; he was too kind. But he sounded stern and
menacing now—propelled by how much he cared about Arren. “Do you see
your ruler? On your knees.”
The two of them immediately crouched. “My apologies, your majesty,”
they muttered in Jaik’s general direction, although Jaik was thoroughly
distracted muttering ineffective soothing words at Arren. Soothing had
never been Jaik’s strength.
 “He means you,” Branok whispered softly into my ear, the flutter of his
breath sending a rush to my heart. “He wants them to bow before you.”
Lynx went on, ”You just stumbled into the midst of the dragon royals
bringing a prisoner up to the Academy, in direct defiance of the rules and
orders of the acting king of the Isle. You disobeyed the king, the head of
this school.”
Branok, always eager to cause trouble even in a dire situation, said,
“But then, wouldn't even the king need to take a moment and come over
here?”
Arren lunged suddenly. Jaik almost lost his hold on the pole that bound
Arren's neck. There had to be a spell for this that would make our lives
simpler, a spell to make Arren pliable and obedient for a while. But we
didn’t know one or have time to experiment.
And maybe we’d all had enough of spells.
“No,” Lynx said smoothly, without even glaring at his brother which I
thought was pretty impressive. I found myself faced with irresistible
temptations to glare at Branok every single day. Lynx went on, “You see,
King Jaik appointed me as the academy’s new lord of discipline.”
From what I’d heard, our old lord of discipline had primarily expelled
students who turned out to be cowards and sent other misbehaving students
to working parties, where they usually did a poor job of waxing the floors
or otherwise caused more trouble for the staff. Head housekeeper was
always sighing over their incompetence.
Branok chuckled. Softly, to me, he breathed, “I don’t think there’s a
gentler soul than Lynx anywhere. I think the king should have made his
appointments a little more wisely.”
“I'm so sorry, Sir,” some of them stuttered.
“I'm sorry as well. The cost for such gross disobedience has historically
been the king’s cells, since this Academy is the special property of the king
himself. You have disobeyed His Majesty as well as the rules of this school
and brought shame on your families.” Lynx sounded stern, then hesitated.
“What was so important that you had to break curfew?”
He said those last words almost as if he were breaking his act. Lynx
probably worried they had some incredibly sympathetic reason, like
carrying medicine to a sick child or rescuing baby kittens.
“Don't lie to him,” Branok said lightly. “I'd hate to see what the lord of
discipline would do to you if you lied to him.”
 Then Jaik yelled for him, and Branok ran to help. So, Branok missed the
chance to see their faces change and grow even paler. It was a pity. The
bastard would have enjoyed it very much.
“We were drinking, Sir. And then we ran into some girls and... we lost
track of time.”
“And so you thought you would sneak in here in an unauthorized
manner, which could bring enemies following behind you? Do you want to
be responsible for leading an attack on this Academy through your own
foolishness?”
“No, we would never imagine doing that!” They suddenly realized who
they had just spoken to so boldly in their horror and they froze, bowing
their heads reverently.
“Well, historically speaking…” Lynx began, and I stifled an internal
groan. “Two students were found to be breaking into the Academy back in
the year 142. According to the histories of royal trials, the case of the crown
versus Khari and Luster, they were sentence to sixty days in the royal
prisons and then were sent home in disgrace.”
Lynx glared at them. “I intend to be far more merciful than that. The
two of you will spend the next two weeks in the royal prison. After that,
we’ll consider whether or not you’ll be allowed to return to the academy.”
I couldn't believe that Lynx actually sent them off to prison.
He realized that I was looking at him sideways, as we resumed climbing
after they'd left us.
“What is it?” he asked me.
“Isn't that harsh? Why did you do that?” I never would have imagined
Lynx being the harsh one. I wondered if he had known those two and had a
reason to punish them.
He checked to make sure there was no one else around us. “You know
that normally, I would just be intrigued in the path they took. That is quite
the climb. But in this case, I'm just trying to protect... Arren.”
He glanced toward the cage. “No one can see him like this.”
I stared at him, and then demanded, “Then why did you only say two
weeks?”
“Because if we don't figure out a way to save Arren, I'm pretty sure he'll
be… gone.”
I stared at him in horror, and he said quietly, “I’m sorry, Honor.”
 If I hadn’t betrayed Zehr, would Arren be walking beside us now,
instead of growling and fighting?
We finally reached the top of the stairs and the tall wooden doors that
led into the academy. We entered the massive foyer that branched off into
many hallways; it was eerie when it wasn’t thronging with shifters.
We passed down the hall toward the basement, and I glanced at the bells
for alarms that hung in each hallway. Would they be rung if Arren escaped?
What the hell would we do if Arren got loose here, on this sacred ground
where students were supposed to train and where Scourge sometimes
surged through the tunnels beneath?
We descended the stairs. The hulking space was as cavernous, as
echoing and cold, as it had ever been. Our voices seemed to echo. When we
reached the bottom of the stairs, all of us panting and exhausted, the ceiling
soared several stories above us, the arches of the doorway we entered a
dozen times higher than the top of Branok’s head.
A dozen scientists and doctors greeted us.
“The best in the land,” Jaik promised me quietly.
Branok was already busy threatening them into silence and their best
work.
It all made me feel hollow inside. I kissed Jaik goodbye, saw his
troubled look, and managed a smile. “I’m just going to check in with the
girls.”
I escaped the men and went down to the servants’ quarters.
The long hallway was dimly lit with just two lanterns. Familiar doors
lined the hall, each plain as could be, but I knew every room was lavishly
decorated by the girls who lived in the servants’ dormitory. I knocked on
the door to Calla’s room. I didn't want to surprise her awake and scare her.
The door swung open, and Calla stared at me for a moment. My friend’s
light brown hair was wild around her face, and I couldn't quite read her
expression at first. Then she grabbed me in a hug. “Honor! You never tell
me anything.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. I was eager to know, because I wasn't
sure what had reached the castles already. Trying to control the spread of
gossip–especially when the gossip was true--was turning out to be one of
many royal concerns.
“Where have you been?”
 June and Ellie came flying out of their room too. I soon found myself
sitting down to tea even though it was well after midnight. “Don't you all
have to get up soon?”
“And you too.”
I pulled a face. “I suppose so.”
Jaik and I had not discussed my role here yet, since we’d been focused
on Arren. Damyn expected me to play student, and I was sure he expected
me to follow all the academy's rules and play my role. Even though I was
the true queen of this place, everyone else still remembered me as a servant.
Which was I going to be? Maid or student, while I was queen in hiding?
Now that Elder Royals’ spell wasn't stealing my ability to share with my
friends, I told them everything about the last few months. Having to pretend
to be Lucian Finn. Falling in love with each of the Royals, seeing their
tender side at the same time as I saw their worst. Discovering I was the
hidden child of the murdered king and queen.
I wondered how my friends would feel about finding out I was a dragon
royal. They were all prey shifters, so they had every reason to resent me. I
wasn't sure how they would act.
“So it's true!” June jumped up and wrapped her arms around me,
surprising me. “I heard a wild rumor there was another dragon royal, long
lost!”
The rest of them dog piled me, jumping on top of me. I laughed and
tried to fight my way out as they pummeled me with pillows, complaining
I’d kept secrets.
“It's absolutely amazing,” Ellie sat down on the couch again with a
flounce, looking as if she’d never been so undignified as to have a pillow
fight. Too bad I was still choking on feathers and knew better. “Now how
does this change things for us?”
“Pardon me?” I felt a little dazed. Where had that question come from?
I wasn't even sure what she meant.
“What does that mean for us? If a woman can be a dragon royal, then
why can't prey be soldiers?”
I started her, frowning. “Do you... want to be soldiers?”
I had never gotten that vibe from my friends.
“Not particularly.” Calla said breezily. “But I don't want anyone to tell
me I can't be a soldier either.”
 I stared at them, and June said in a tone I couldn’t quite read, “I’m sure
your royals will want you upstairs.”
“Jaik can’t sleep without me.” I offered this tidbit of information as a
peace offering, knowing my sudden silence must have bothered them, and
they all oohed and laughed.
I was glad to have my friends back and to be on good terms. But that
question of whether this was going to change everything for them or not
stuck with me.
I headed up the flights of stairs to reach the dragons’ wing on the top
floor. Just like I had when I first became Lucien Finn, I stopped at the door
leading to the dragons’ hall. I ran my fingertips over the elegant dragon
chiseled into the polished wood. It was cool under my fingertips, but inside,
everything was always warm from the dragons’ heat.
As I started to push the door and go in, Jaik's voice rose behind me.
“Whose room do you want to sleep in tonight?”
I turned back to him, smiling. “I didn't realize I had a choice.”
“You do. You can sleep in my room, or your own. You can sleep with
Branok and Lynx, if you would rather.” He looked slightly pained at the
thought, and even more so as he managed, “You can do what you like.”
“Why?”
Jaik shrugged, sticking his hands into his pockets. “I realize that we all
need you. And, maybe you need all of us. I'm trying to fight some of my
possessive urges.” A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. I still
wasn't used to seeing Jaik smile and every time it felt like a rare gift. It
seemed his burden had lightened when Cal forgave him.
I stared him in disbelief. “You'll ask Branok and Lynx to come into our
room?”
Jaiks eyes glimmered with satisfaction. It took me a moment to realize
perhaps it was because I'd called it our room. “If you think you can handle
all three of us.”
“I think I'll survive.” I was so curious about Jaik’s change of heart.
“Please, go invite them.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Ten

J aik

W hen B ranok opened the door , Lynx was behind him. He looked behind
me as if Honor had followed me into the hall, and his gaze turned intense.
I pushed Branok into the room, then nodded hello to Lynx. I closed the
door before a curious Honor could follow us in.
I had some things to discuss with Branok and Lynx before I brought
them into Honor’s bedroom.
“Hey!” Branok complained. “Why are you pushing me around? And
don’t think that I missed that you were nice to my twin right before you
were mean to me.”
“You should be touched that I can tell you apart.”
“I’ll leave you to be impressed by yourself with that, you usually are
more impressed with yourself than the rest of us are.”
Typical Branok. Going on the offense as a defensive tactic, although
that never worked against me.
“I need to know some things about your relationship with Honor,” I
said.
“And what’s that?”
“Are you going to hurt her?”
He let out a short, sharp laugh. “She’d skin you alive if she heard this
conversation. We all know that she can take care of herself.”
 “She can take care of herself. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take care
of her.” I hesitated, worried I’d sound weak, before I admitted, “I don’t
want to see you hurt her.”
Branok frowned. “I wasn’t particularly planning on doing anything to
hurt her, although you know us. We’re a bunch of idiots. I suppose it’s
inevitable.”
“When did you begin having sex?”
He looked at me as if he wanted to tell me it was none of my business,
but wisely decided better of it. “When we were in the gladiatorial pits
together. It just felt like a way to let some aggression--”
I cut him off. “Don’t even try to bullshit me.”
Branok crossed his arms. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to stop being so fucking stupid and admit you love her. To
me. To her.”
Branok scoffed. “You know I’d die to protect you, and I’d die following
your orders, but there’s some shit you can’t order. You can’t make me into a
sentimental idiot.”
“I can’t,” I agreed. “Because you already are.”
Branok looked at me as if he wanted to punch me across the jaw, and I
looked at him as if I hoped he’d try.
Then he crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine. I love her. But Honor
doesn’t need to hear that from me. What’s between us is…”
“Stupid?” I cut in.
“Complicated.” Branok promised me. “You don’t need to save Honor
from my assholery. She knows who I am.”
“You are such an intelligent man sometimes,” I said. “And such a
moron other times.”
“She deserves better,” Branok agreed, giving me one of those looks that
encompassed me as well.
I couldn’t argue with that.
“If you’re going to continue being ridiculous,” I said, “at least give the
girl all the orgasms.”
I swept my arm toward the door.
“You really want Lynx and I to join you?” Branok asked skeptically.
“No. But I do want to make her happy.” And I don’t want to repeat the
mistake I made with Talisyn.
 I’d stolen time from both of them, and that felt like an ache like a
missing tooth now. I’d been possessive, stupid, self-centered. I could never
give them back what they lost.
Branok looked at me as if he wanted to ferret out those secrets, so I
strode in front of him toward my own room.
And Branok, who always wanted to go where things were most
interesting, followed. I knew he would.
As soon as we walked in, Honor looked between us, then demanded,
“What’s wrong?”
I shot Branok a warning look.
“Oh no.” Honor grabbed Branok’s shoulders and gazed into his face.
“Don't be scared of him. Be scared of me.”
“When you stare into my eyes that intensely,” Branok muttered, “you're
definitely the one that scares me.”
“Good.”
But it was Lynx who said, “Jaik and Branok are fighting because they
both want you, and they've both always been selfish assholes.”
“But Lynx,” Honor said without missing a beat, “I want you.”
She went to him and rose up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips against his.
Just watching the way her lithe, athletic form pressed against his had my
cock hardening, wishing I was the one with her warmth against mine. His
hands skimmed her body as the two of them deepened the kisses between
them, and his arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her even tighter
against him. She made a soft moaning sound against his lips that made my
cock ache.
This wasn’t how I’d imagined the evening. “I suppose I’ll just stand
here and watch, since you chose Lynx.”
“Always so jealous.” Honor said lightly. “But I’ve never liked the idea
of choosing.”
I struggled to be fine with the idea of Honor touching anyone else—and
failing—as Lynx and Honor licked into each other’s mouths. Branok
crossed behind her, the twins sandwiching her between them. She let her
head fall back on Branok’s shoulder, her red lips parting in pleasure. She
was the most beautiful, erotic picture I’d ever seen as the two of them
touched her with attentive hands and affectionate lips.
“Undress her,” I ordered, surprising myself. I’d said the words without
thinking about them.
 But they obeyed. She raised her arms over her head to help them,
exposing the perfect swell of her breasts when she stretched that way; her
skin was pale compared to the tan across her arms and face from all the
time we’d spent outside. There was something vulnerable and sweet seeing
the contrast from her sun-kissed skin. Lynx leaned down and teased her
nipple with his mouth, and her back arched against Branok.
Branok smiled, a whole-hearted smile I’d rarely seen from him, as his
hand dipped between her thighs. His fingers teased against her mound, his
hand held against that mass of reddish curls; another secret only we knew.
And suddenly I didn’t mind sharing that secret with them too.
She was all sweetness and submission here in the bedroom, wild as she
was everywhere else. Branok marched her toward the bed, covering her
neck with kisses, then tumbled onto it himself. Lynx helped Honor straddle
him, and she playfully undressed Branok, making a show of admiring his
body.
Lynx bent her forward over Branok, his fingers gliding through her
folds. I could smell her arousal, citrusy and sweet, and I realized I’d come
to the edge of the bed without realizing it, I was watching them all so
intently.
Branok, not able to see well with her breasts swinging in his face, kept
missing her entrance, his tip gliding roughly around her center.
I couldn’t stand to watch it.
“Lay back,” I ordered, pushing Branok down. I grabbed Bran’s cock
and lined him up, working his head against her sensitive folds. Honor bit
her lower lip as I thrust upward, driving Branok home, and she moaned
with pleasure.
Branok winked at her, a quick flicker of his eyelashes, and she ducked
her head to hide her smile. I wasn’t even put out by Branok’s trick at the
moment, or by how clever the two of them thought they were. Instead I
focused on using Branok to pleasure Honor.
“I want you all,” she murmured.
But she still gasped as Lynx teased around her center, then slowly slid
into her. I kissed her forehead, toyed with her hair, as her lips parted and her
skin flushed, trying to take him all in. Lynx watched her carefully, trying to
gauge her reaction, and I gave him a nod.
Once she had handled the two of them, she reached for my cock.
 “Watching you is enough,” I told her gruffly, wanting to see her enjoy
herself.
“Not for me,” she said mischievously, and then her pink tongue darted
out and licked the tip of my cock. It jumped in her hand, twitching, and she
looked up at me with a faint self-satisfied smile.
I couldn’t hide how much I wanted her. She pulled me closer by my
dick, and I walked forward, letting her take me into my mouth. Watching
her suck my cock was the most exquisite thing I’d ever seen. It amazed me
this incredible woman wanted to please me.
And she pleased me so well. As her warm mouth worked my cock, as
her tongue glided over my tip, as she moaned while Branok and Lynx began
to move, my legs went weak. I rested my fingers lightly in her red hair,
enjoying watching her face.
I tried to pull away when I was about to shatter, but she grabbed my
cock at the base and held onto me, sucking harder, milking every drop out
of my cock. I let out a groan that I couldn’t hold back as I came, and she
swallowed every bit greedily, as if I were delicious.
When she was done, my thighs were trembling from the power of that
orgasm. She looked up at me with a twinkle in her eye and a bit of my cum
still dribbling from the corner of her mouth, and I couldn’t help but lean
down and kiss her. She was so fucking perfect.
As Branok and Lynx pushed her over the crest of her own orgasm, she
moaned into my mouth, and then her head lashed back and forth, red hair
flying everywhere as they came together.
I’d been stupid to be jealous.
Sharing her with others who loved her? That was even better than
having her to myself.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Eleven

H onor

T he next morning , I had to drag myself up out of sleep. I desperately

wanted to stay in bed curled up between Branok, Lynx and Jaik, but I
wanted to see Arren.
Jaik blinked his eyes awake as I was still pulling my tunic on. “Where
do you think you’re going?”
He didn’t manage to be polite when he was groggy. Or anytime, really.
“I’m going to visit Arren before the day begins.”
He peered at the clock in the corner of the room. “There’s no time. The
day will begin soon, and there are too many students.”
We didn’t want anyone going down to the basement. For Arren’s sake,
and for theirs in case he got loose.
I heaved a sigh, but I had to admit that he might have a point.
By the time all three of them were awake, they were all annoying me; it
made the night before seem like a dream.
Lynx always remembered so much of what he read, but apparently his
abrupt self appointment to a fake position on staff had caused a rupture in
his brain that forced the knowledge to spray out. He’d learned the history of
the law, and he kept hucking facts at us like he was stoning us.
 Jaik, meanwhile, seemed to be a thousand miles away, now that we
were back in the city. “I need to talk to my father’s generals.”
“You don’t need them,” Branok said. “You have us.”
Jaik snorted. “You’ve never made my life easier. Meanwhile, my life
will be a lot easier if we can get the lower nobles who supported Pend to see
me as king.”
“For the time being,” I said lightly, and Jaik frowned at me.
“Yes, of course,” he said, in that tone that always seemed to say to me
that first of all, he thought I was being stupid and second of all, I should
never sleep with him. The first thought always led me to the second.
But I understood that all the pressure of being king made him short and
irritable, even by Jaik’s standards. And of course Branok… Branok didn’t
need any kind of trigger to be annoying.
“I’m going to slip down and check on the girls. Besides, servants’
breakfast is better than students.” I flashed a smile at them. They didn’t
protest, which really showed how lost the Royals can be about how
everyone else’s lives. Their breakfast was definitely the best in the
kingdom.
I settled down in the narrow, cozy room where the resident maids ate
their breakfast and dinner. We’d always carried our lunch with us because
we didn’t get much time to eat.
“Are you going to be a student now?” Calla asked me, propping her
chin in her hand. She still looked half-asleep, and I felt a twinge of guilt for
waking them up so late.
“I guess so.” I could still have my lessons with Damyn. Jaik wanted me
to keep my dragon-shifting a secret because he worried I’d become a target
—from both prey shifters who hated dragons and predators who hated
change. But I could stay by the dragon royals’ side, because there was no
hiding how they felt about me.
I sipped my tea and ate my oatmeal. There was a lot less bacon at the
servants’ breakfast table than at the students’, which might just make my
decision for me.
“Why do people think only males can be dragon shifters?” Ellie asked
me.
I didn’t want to discuss the prophecies that might be lies or Pend’s
murderous impulses. “Well, I expect it’s just that they’ve never met a
female dragon before. And everything unfamiliar feels wrong. People are
slow to accept new ideas.”
Ellie looked satisfied. Calla, on the other hand, looked worried.
As breakfast ended, I grabbed Calla’s hand and pulled her away from
the others. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes,” she promised. “I’ll have a surprise for you soon.”
“Is it cake?”I asked optimistically.
“You’ll be proud of us.”
“Did you steal the cake?”
Calla laughed. “I do adore you.” She threw her arm around my
shoulders and gave me a peck on the cheek.
I smiled. The way my friends loved me made the plain servants’
quarters feel bright and cozy.
But her reaction was strange. It wasn’t like her to be forgiving when I’d
kept secrets from her, even if evil magic had bound me to keep those lies.
Friendship was supposed to overcome dark magic, in Calla’s world.
But she’d acted light and charming, the way she did sometimes when
she was trying to butter me up. Normally, she made fun of me a lot.
Before I could ask, Head bustled in. “Ladies, we’ve got to get an early
start, we—”
Her gaze found mine and her mouth snapped shut in displeasure in a
tight little line, the wrinkles around her narrow lips reminding me of a cat’s
anus. Calla had pointed it out to me once and now I couldn’t unsee it.
“I thought I fired you,” she said.
“Hm, I don’t remember that.”
She gave me a long look and clearly judged me as desperate. “Well,
then, I’m putting you on toilet duty.”
It was the worst chore at the academy. Gifted warriors though they
might be, there were a lot of shifters at the academy that could not hit their
market in the toilet.
“Fine,” I said lightly, regretting not having hammered out the details of
my position with the guys. I could always appoint myself a student later; I
couldn’t regain my cover if I made it clear I was no longer a maid.
“Stay behind a moment,” she added as the others got up to leave.
Calla flashed me a confused but sympathetic look, as if she didn’t
understand why I was staying for Head’s abuse. I shrugged. It was almost
amusing to be scolded now that I knew just who I was. Before I became a
dragon royal, before I became queen, when someone treated me as if I were
nothing, I’d worried they were right.
But now my ego wouldn’t be bruised by the head housekeeper
complaining I was too stupid to properly clean grout. I’d been the same
person scrubbing as I was now that I could be queen. I wished I’d always
seen myself truly.
“I heard the most ridiculous rumor circulating among the girls,” she
said, and my heart sank; there might be a huge divide between the students
and the staff, but there was no divide when it came to gossip. If the maids
were talking about who I was, soon the students would be too.
She sniffed. “I heard you’re a dragon. Are you spreading these
ridiculous rumors?”
My heart sank. Had Calla, Ellie or June run off to tell my secrets as
soon as the door closed behind me?
“No,” I said honestly.
She stepped closer to me, as if she were trying to tower over me, but it
didn’t quite work since I was an inch taller…and uncowed.
“You don’t deserve to be here. You’re an undisciplined, dishonest brat
—”
“What did you do now, Honor?” Branok leaned in the doorway, looking
amused.
She froze in horror.
Branok stretched out his arm. “Come along. Jaik sent me to fetch you.”
“Why?”
“He needs his queen by his side for a special guest,” Branok said.
She had gone pale.
Branok offered her an unpleasant smile; he had a real knack for those.
She looked horrified by his sudden appearance.
“If you’ve heard so many rumors,” he said lightly, “you should have
heard that we love her.”
“I thought that was rid—” she cut herself off, curtsied. “I’m so sorry for
any offense.”
“To her,” Branok said coldly. “Not to me.”
Her horrified gaze met mine, and she stammered out an apology.
He was still smiling, but it was one of Branok’s terrifying smiles. He
looked as if he might just order her head chopped off.
“It doesn’t matter, Branok,” I promised.
 She was pale and worried as we left her, and the bright smile I sent her
way to try to make her feel better only made her look more drawn.
“Who’s the guest?” I demanded.
“Kallus.”
The name of my uncle sent a curl of warmth through my chest and at
the same time, a rush of nerves. Branok was watching me too closely, as if
he could tell how I felt.
“I’m aware he’s a danger,” I said.
“He’s also the one connection to your mother,” he said. “The only living
family you have.”
“I have more family than that,” I disagreed.
His lips quirked at the corners, and he offered me his arm. I wrapped my
hand around his muscular forearm, feeling his warmth close to me, as we
left the servants’ quarters behind.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twelve

H onor

J aik didn ’ t seem to enjoy receiving guests in his father’s castle, and he
rejected the servants’ offers to set up in various rooms, growing more tense
with every word.
In the end, he banished everyone from the enormous throne room, and
he and I sat on the steps to the dais as we waited for Kallus. He took my
hand in his and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. He didn’t say anything about
how I might feel seeing Kallus, but he was a warm, comforting presence.
Then my uncle swept in, clothed in purple and jewels and leaving
behind his entourage in the hall. The servants closed the grand doors behind
him, shutting a dozen curious faces outside.
Kallus barely glanced at Jaik as we rose from the steps; he only had
eyes for me. “My niece,” he said warmly. “I wanted to come pay my
respects to the new ruler of the Isle.”
I glanced at Jaik meaningfully. Kallus hugged me, and the scent of
coffee and cinnamon washed over me, reminding me of everything his
kingdom had that we did not. I wished I could get to know the streets and
gardens Amily knew before she came to the Isle forever, to one day be
buried.
 “I wish good health to the new king,” Kallus said to Jaik. “Please don’t
take offense. I do miss my niece.”
“Have Joachim or Gorion contacted you?” Jaik asked.
“Those two are alive?” he asked. “I hope you’ll fix that soon. They’ll
cause great trouble.”
“I’m aware,” Jaik said drily.
When they’d spoken, Kallus asked Jaik, “Could I have a moment with
my niece?”
Jaik looked at me, and Kallus said, “I see I misspoke. I should have
asked her.”
“She’s her own person,” Jaik said.
“But you are king,” Kallus said lightly. He offered me his arm. “Show
me the gardens, Honor.”
“Happily,” I said, trying to defuse the tension between them with a
smile though that hardly seemed like enough.
As we ambled through the garden that overlooked the bright blue sea
beyond, Kallus said quietly to me, “Have you really given up your power,
Honor? Or is this just a game?”
I didn’t want to tell him any of our secrets. They belonged to my men
and me, and I couldn’t give them to Kallus—as much as I longed to trust
my uncle.
“I would never give up my power,” I promised him, intent not to tell
him anymore, but I couldn’t stand the look of disappointment on his face.
“Good,” he said. “Gods, Amily would be so proud of you.”
“I’d like to see her again.”
“I can summon her for you. I carry her things with me almost
everywhere. I miss her.” He smiled at me, although his eyes were sad.
“Seeing you is like…seeing her. It hurts to be reminded she’s gone, and at
the same time, she’s never completely gone. Because you’re alive.”
“Why didn’t you ever come looking for me?” The question had nagged
at me since we met.
“I thought you were dead, like her.”
“She told you?” I asked. My parents had tried so hard to keep me a
secret from the world. Now Jaik and the others wanted to keep me a secret
in their own way.
But secrets never hold.
 “I know you don’t feel like you can trust me yet,” Kallus said, “and
that’s alright. I know I’ll need to earn your trust. But Amily did trust me.”
“Could I summon her?” I asked.
His face tightened. “No. I’m sorry. That takes a lot of magic…and her
things.”
I chewed my lower lip, longing for that box of items that he kept that
used to be hers.
“I can’t give them up,” he said, as if he read my mind. “They remind me
of her.”
“Of course,” I lied. “I understand.”
“Come visit me,” he said. “Don’t spend all your time with these royals.”
“I will,” I promised, and he hugged me tight again.
He seemed tense and sad, and it made nerves prickle along my skin,
wondering what the real purpose was behind this visit. Did Kallus intend to
invade our Isle? Amily had warned me about his ambitions.
“I know it will take time, niece,” he said quietly. “But I already love you
like I loved my sister.”
I didn’t trust him, but I wanted it to be true.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirteen

H onor

C alla had a psychic that she’d visited once, and I had a lot of questions.
We had more magic now, and I didn’t entirely believe my uncle when he
said only he could summon Amily.
I didn’t want to depend on his tender mercy to call on Amily’s ghost. I
wanted to hear the truth from my mother.
I just wanted to hear her voice again, period.
Calla insisted on going with me, so the two of us slipped out of the
castle—ducking both Head and the king himself—and ran down the
cobblestone streets to a little alley where the psychic lived. But the psychic
just wanted to talk about the multiple marks on my throat, so I gave up on
her.
Back in the castle, we parted in the hall.
“If you get fired, I’ll make sure you get a better place,” I promised
Calla.
She pulled a face. “Do you need a personal maid?”
I stumbled at the thought of having my best friend waiting on me. It was
a sudden, awful reminder of the gulf between us now, one that I didn’t quite
know how to bridge.
Then she added thoughtfully, “Because I’d be a terrible personal maid.”
 I laughed in relief, and she smiled at me.

D amyn intercepted me in the hall, his dark hair rumpled from training.
The beard across his jaw looked too damn good, even when he fixed me
with a stern look. “Honor. You missed our lesson.”
My heart sank. I’d lost track of time when I was trying to nail down the
psychic. “I’m sorry. I was helping Jaik, and I got distracted--”
“Get out to the arena,” he interrupted, frowning. “You’re late enough.”
But before I could go two steps, he added, “I thought nothing was as
important to you as mastering your powers. And taking your place as
queen.”
“It isn’t,” I said, but he was already striding away. His disappointment
chilled me, like cold air sweeping through the room.
It didn’t matter that I was supposed to be the real, hidden queen, being
late still made a knot form in my stomach just as it had when I was Lucien
Finn. And it was only made worse by the deep silence that seemed to settle
across the arena as I made my way up the seats towards the dragon Royals.
They sat in the same seats high in the bleachers they always did, although
normally they were sprawled across their seats, looking far less attentive
than they truly were.
Branok met my eyes and raised a finger, gesturing for me to spin around
and look. Because it was Branok, I didn’t exactly take him seriously. He
was always playing tricks.
Then Lynx made the same gesture, and I immediately stopped on my
heels and turned to face the arena. Calla, June and Ellie were standing at its
center, surrounded by the rows of predators.
My heart immediately stopped. What were my friends doing?
Jaik was already making his way down the steps toward me, with Lynx
—undoubtedly the smartest of us all--right behind him.
Calla’s chin lifted defiantly into the air. That was when I realized that
the hostility and tension threaded through the air had a target. My three
friends, who looked so small down on the pitch.
“The laws of shifter powers are all recorded in the Book of Hepsiba,
and the book opens by stating that the dragon Royals rule all and keep order
in the world. One of those very first rules is that the Dragon Royals are
male. From that same book, all the other laws flow like water, that Dragons
are above us all, the predatorial shifters are above prey.”
My heart sank. Had I just accidentally given my friends the courage to
tackle the monarchy?
“But if one part of this law is false, and Honor Hannaby proves that is
true–” my friend pointed at me. There was a glimmer of a smile on her lips
and color in her cheeks. My friends thought they had done something
humorous and rebellious, something I’d enjoy. I didn’t feel as light hearted
and mischievous as I once had anymore. “Then every part of the law has to
be taken into account a second time!” Calla said passionately.
The passion in her voice made me look at her twice. I hadn’t thought
Calla really cared. Being a soldier was hard. It hadn’t seemed like
something my friends wanted to take on.
But she wasn’t looking at me anymore as if she were trying to amuse
me. She looked bold in the face of the hostile crowd, her chin lifted and
face set. In their plain brown servants’ dresses, my three friends tried to
look like warriors.
“How do they know what you are?” Jaik demanded. His eyes blazed as
he looked at me.
I met his gaze evenly. “I told them.”
They’d heard a rumor from somewhere, and I wondered where it had
begun.
“Lynx.” Jaik’s angry gaze was still fixed on me, even as he spoke to
Lynx. “Find me a way to save these deluded little creatures from
themselves.”
I bristled. “The prey can serve just as well as we can.”
“No, they can’t.” Jaik said tightly.” They’ll get hurt.”
“We get hurt all the time. When you thought I was Lucien Finn, you
definitely hurt me all the time.”
It was a low blow, and Jaik’s eyes flared with fury, but his voice came
out cool.
“Yes, and I never would have treated you that way as a prey shifter.I
was gentle with you when we sparred together in the ring when I thought
you were just a servant.”
“Is that really what you call gentle?”
“I pulled my punches.” Jaik protested.
 “Far beyond what you deserved,” Branok suggested. I shot him a
withering glare, which he seemed to enjoy, since he smiled back at me.
“Jaik, you have to let them go,” I said. “Let them try.”
“Absolutely not.” Jaik said. “They’ll get hurt. Beyond what the
physician can fix. We all have our parts to play, Honor. It’s a shame that
anyone has to be a soldier to begin with.”
Lynx added, “Shifters become soldiers only because they think there’s
glory in it. And your friends aren’t built for stupid pursuits like seeking
glory.”
“They can do it!”
Jaik frowned, stepping into my space, dominating me. “You don’t know
everything you think you do about the world. “
I stared at Jaik, and Jaik stared back. I couldn’t believe he just said that.
He stared back at me, his arms crossed over his chest, fury written across
his impossibly handsome face.
He didn’t look as if he were sorry.
“She’s right,” Lynx said. “You’ll have to let them. Their argument is
solid and backed by the law.”
Jaik cursed. “This is absurd.”
“You’re absurd.” I snapped back. I turned to storm off.
“Sit down,” Jaik said. “You’re clearly a student here now, since you
decided to make sure everyone knows you’re a dragon.”
“I’m not just a student,” I reminded him.
He stepped close to me, so angry that a faint flush had settled across his
high cheekbones. The breeze fluttered his dark hair. “You are just a
student,” he said softly into my ear, his voice no less furious for being a
whisper. “You are going to be as safe as we can keep you, and until you’re
ready to take the throne, there’s no reason for every assassin on the Isle to
know who you are. You’re the one who wanted me to play king.”
I regretted telling Calla that I was a dragon. I’d hated keeping secrets
and lying to my friends, but I should have realized I didn’t owe anyone my
truth. Feeling foolish made me feel angry. “Just don’t forget you’re
playing.”
Jaik scoffed and pulled away from me, striding the rest of the way to my
nervous-looking friends.
“Very well,” he said to Calla and my friends. “You are welcome here as
students.”
 His voice rippled in my mind, through our shared dragon’s bond. His
voice was dark and as close as if he were at my elbow, stronger than I’d
ever heard his voice through the bond before.
And you’ll regret it.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fourteen

H onor

I took the stairs down to the basement. I made sure no one saw me slip
down them. I had to go through multiple locked doors, each of us had a
copy of all the keys in case we needed to get to Arren inside. Each time I
closed one of the heavy doors behind me, it clicked shut with an
unpleasantly definitive sound. I felt like I was descending into hell. That I
emerged into the enormous basement with the arched ceiling.
Arren let out a growl when he saw me. “What are you doing here?”
It was a relief that he sounded so human.
“I missed you.”
The thought didn't make him look any happier. He hesitated for a
second, then said, “Can you leave me alone please? This is bad enough to
deal with without having to deal with you too.”
“What is this?”
He let out a growl. “You know.”
“I want to be alone,” he snarled. “You annoy me.”
“Yes, I know.”
For a second, he seemed to pause, as if he'd expected those words to
hurt me. The big idiot. He was trying to drive me away.
 “I know I'm annoying sometimes, but that doesn't mean you don't love
me. I'm so much more than just annoying.”
“Go!” He roared at me.
It's always bothered me when people are angry at me or when they don't
like me, although you would think I'd have gotten used to that with my life.
A knot formed into my stomach, even before he slammed into the side of
the cage, his muscles rippling as if he were trying to transform, then failing.
The dragonsbane threaded through his cuffs was starting to tear. The
damage made no sense. How was the dragonsbane frayed?
I had to think quickly. I didn't want him to turn into a dragon-monster
and escape the cage. I grabbed more dragonsbane thread from the supplies
in the corner. Then I scrambled up and slipped through the narrow bars of
his cage.
Arren went from growling and shaking his fists at me to suddenly
slamming himself against the bars of his cage, flipping from aggressive to
afraid in an instant.
And then I understood. He was afraid that he would hurt me.
“I'm trying to help you,” I said. It was hard to read any emotion in those
dark eyes. It was hard to tell if he was looking at me with dangerous intent.
I slid in toward him quickly, starting forward and trying to get behind
him. He spun trying to catch me with his chained hands. I danced to the
side, ducked underneath his reach, and came up wrapping fresh
dragonsbane through his chains. Magic sizzled across the chains,
reinforcing them, preventing him from breaking them with the power of his
transformation.
But how had they frayed? Was he that powerful? Or had someone come
in here with a dragonsbane blade and begun to hack at the spun
dragonsbane? The thought to give me an eerie creeping feeling up my spine
as if I might not be alone.
“Was someone here?” I demanded.
But he stared at me as if he was a monster. He stared at me as if he
couldn't answer. And then suddenly, he lunged forward and grabbed me.
He slammed me against the bars. At first I thought he was attacking me.
As adrenaline flooded me, I put my hands on his chest to shove him away. I
wasn't sure if I could hold him. He was so strong.
The next thing I knew his lips slammed down on mine. He kissed me
hard like he was drinking me in, like he needed me. There was a bite to his
kiss, something vicious and demanding. Then he pushed me away, drawing
a gasp of breath like he had just surfaced from deep underwater. I was
breathless too, my chest heaving.
I stared up at him in wonder, trying to make sense of those dark eyes
now that his pupil crowded out his iris.
“It’s still you,” I said tenderly, reaching up to touch his changing face.
“You’re still in there, and you might not have wanted to admit it, but…
you’re still mine, Arren.”
Then he roared and shoved me out of his cage. I tumbled down. He
lunged after me, and I just barely managed to kick the door shut again. It
locked, keeping him away from me as he grabbed the bars and rattled them,
letting out another one of those inhuman noises. I couldn't tell if I made him
more human, or if I made him more wild.
I’d intended to stay down here until the Academy had grown quiet. The
corridor was out of the way, tucked out of sight so it could be used during
alarms when students crowded to course down those many flights of stairs.
But still, some people did use it, and it might be too crowded now.
Behind me, Arren roared again, and it was mixed with a scream, a
scream of rage and pain and suffering.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifteen

H onor

I listened at the door before accepting that there was no way to enter the
hallway without running the risk of running into someone. I decided the
best course of action was to move quickly, in the hope I’d appear to be
innocently walking down the hall as quickly as possible. I'd have to trust
my luck.
I almost ran into Talisyn. He steadied me with his hands on my
shoulders, and he looked into my face with a question already forming on
his lips. I didn’t want to answer it.
“Hey, where did you come from?” another voice barked ahead of me.
One of the upperclassmen. Tall, brown hair. It took me a second to place
him; a boring, sanctimonious bear shifter named Fullum. “You weren't
coming from the basement, were you?”
I turned and gave Fullum an innocent look. It was far easier to lie to this
random ass than it would be to lie to Talisyn; I didn’t think I could lie to
Tal. The possibility of falling any further in his eyes burned like fire across
my skin.
Fullum strode toward me, frowning. “No servants in the basement.
Didn't you hear the King's orders?”
“Oh right, the king gave orders. How very surprising.” I muttered.
 Talisyn said, “You're the one who isn't ready to rule over him.”
I stared at him, feeling slightly betrayed. Although I would never have
confessed, Tal was a huge part of why I wasn't ready to be queen. I had hurt
his father in front of him, worse than I'd intended to. Then I hurt Arren. I
hated the thought of being a danger to anyone else against my own will.
“Is that how we talk to royals now?” Talisyn said icily, and I thought
that tone, that ire was directed at me, and I was being treated like a servant
again. But then I looked at where his gaze was fixed, just over my shoulder.
He’d spoken to Fullum.
“I'm sorry, my lady,” Fullum stammered. “I didn't realize who you
were.”
I waved my hand airily. “That's fine. It's an interesting opportunity to
see who people truly are.”
The upperclassman headed off, his cheeks flaming.
I turned to face Talisyn.
Ordinarily, I would have teased him for being such an ass, but I
understood why he lambasted Fullum. Fullum was less likely to dwell in a
moment when he felt embarrassed.
Apparently I had been promoted to minor nobility, at least in the eyes of
everyone who knew I was a dragon now.
Given what Caldren had said about worrying that I would have enemies
about both the rebels and the nobles, my new status gave me pause.
Talisyn regarded me angrily. “What exactly were you doing?”
“And here I was about to thank you for saving me.”
“No, I'm only saving Arren. I thought we agreed we wouldn't go down
during daylight.”
At night, this area was deserted.
“I didn't mean to,” I said crisply. After all, I planned on staying down
there all day with Arren. I dreaded the thought of what it would be like for
him alone.
But now I felt shaken by the moment that we'd shared, for the way he
grabbed me, by the fear that flared in his eyes... Fear that he would hurt me.
Talisyn’s brow had furrowed in anger when I first said I didn't mean to,
and he was already asking, “What the hell do you mean, you didn't mean
to?” Then he hesitated, looking at me too closely. “Are you alright?”
“I meant to stay,” I admitted softly. “but I couldn't... I couldn't stay with
him like that. He's changing so fast...”
 Talisyn softened. “I know. I had to go down there and see him too, early
this morning. He’s…changing.”
The two of us shared a long look, full of shared pain that neither of us
felt we could voice to the other.
“I've been thinking,” he said. “Neither of us are where we are supposed
to be at the moment. Jaik will eventually track us down and make us sorry,
if for no other reason than because we both grow so bored when he goes on
and on yelling at us.”
My lips curled up in a smile. I couldn't help myself. Tal always made
me smile.
“We might as well go and see if we can break the spell. If we can
recreate enough moments that awaken something from the past.”
I stared at him in surprise. I didn't think he would offer that.
Together, the two of us went through the ballroom, which was empty
now. It seemed so much bigger without any of the people in it. Our boots
sounded too heavy in a room where we had danced in our slippers. The
walls were marble, hung with beautiful long drapes, and crystals dripped
from every corner. The room seemed colder without the flowers.
“When is the next ball?” I mused.
“A long time from now. They're always a bit insufferable. It's for the
best.”
“Do you remember anything from the ball the night we met?”
“I remember bits and pieces of that night. You are so woven into those
memories... it feels like I had some kind of concussion. Like losing you is a
brain injury.”
The way he stumbled over the words losing you made a new tender ache
open in my chest. “Branok would say that knowing me has caused brain
injuries for all of you.”
His lips twisted, but not quite into a smile.
We continued into the library. I traced my fingertips over the cool
polished surface of a table, and wished that we hadn't come in here. The
library had always been one of my favorite places in the castle. But I felt
awkward with Talisyn standing here, in this place thick with memories for
me, where he felt nothing.
“We played around in here?” he asked tentatively.
I nodded. “Under the table.”
 He crouched and looked underneath the table. There was something
devastatingly attractive to me about the way he looked with his handsome
face intent, his elbows resting on his knees. He looked at me, perplexed.
“How the hell did we end up under a table?”
“I was hiding like a very odd lost little prey shifter, because you had
embarrassed me in the ballroom. And you were trying to make a young lady
extremely happy. You don't remember her?”
He shook his head. “I think meeting you obliterated every other
woman.”
I stared at him, not quite sure what to make of that statement. He
hesitated, and I wasn't sure if he was going to crawl under the table or not. I
willed him not to.
I felt as if my heart would break. I couldn't handle one more rejection
from him, and just the way he looked at me was a rejection. It was worse
because he was trying to be so damned nice. His kindness meant that I
couldn't even raise a defense of hatred toward him. Instead, everything
between us felt raw and heavy.
He stood again, all lithe, easy grace. He took a step toward me, his eyes
bright, looking so familiar—as if he was mine, but he wasn’t.
“Honor,” he said quietly, and he looked at me as if he knew me.
I tilted my lips up to his, and he stepped in close, resting his hand lightly
on my waist. His palm against my skin through my dress felt like the best
thing in the world, and I swayed toward him.
He leaned toward me, his lips parting. He had the most perfect mouth
above that hard-angled jaw.
I wanted to kiss him so badly.
I shied away anyway. I couldn’t bring myself to ask one more time if he
remembered me or if I was just fooling myself when I saw that look in his
eyes, like love.
He paused, his hand still on my waist.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and that was my answer right there to the question
I didn’t dare ask. “I didn’t mean to… I thought it might bring something
back. I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” I lied with a smile. “You were right. It could bring
something back. It could take time.”
It could destroy me.
“I’m sorry I keep hurting you.” He was so gentlemanly, so sweet.
It would be easier if he wasn’t.
I was glad to escape from him.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixteen

J aik

D amyn caught me before I could leave the academy. “Come train with
me.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because if you’ve been hearing the same rumors about Honor I have,
you need to bash someone around?”
He was right, all day long I’d heard the rumors about how she was a
dragon shifter and worse, all the people who laughed about what a stupid,
ridiculous idea that was. The majority thought Calla’s claim was ridiculous.
I’d even heard some people claim the marks on Honor’s neck were fake,
that she’d put them there herself. Others insisted that they were no sign of
true love, but just an accident.
Branok had mercilessly repeated all the rumors to me all over again, in
the guise of keeping me abreast of the latest gossip around my kingdom. It
paired as well as rotten cheese and turned wine with the rumor that Caldren
had partnered with Zehr, the Lord of the Scourge.
But all I asked was, “How did I draw the short straw for being bashed?”
Damyn offered me a fierce grin. “Come on, it will be fun.”
“Oh, it always is. You’ve been beating me with a practice sword since I
was ten years old, isn’t it getting old now?”
 “It took me that long to worm close enough to your family or I’d have
been there sooner,” he said lightly, but those words carried a zing of truth
that made me frown.
“You should tell me about your childhood.”
“Oh, it was filled with innocence and magic. Apprenticed to kill from
the time I was a child, just like you. You know how it goes.”
“I do,” I admitted.
But when we got down to the arena, there were already people training
down there. Honor was trying to coach her friends, who barely seemed to
know how to hold the damn sword. I winced in a sympathetic rush of
embarrassment.
Other students had gathered to cheer them on—no, to jeer. The sound
caught my ears and I frowned.
It was always iffy if we could communicate like dragons in our human
form, but I tried anyway. Lynx.
Damyn glanced at me sharply, and I wondered if he’d overheard me.
Our bond had never been that strong before. When I was younger, my
thoughts had sometimes leaked to my friends, but that had just been to Tal
and Arren, Branok and Lynx.
That had been bad enough.
Yeah?
I need the Lord of Discipline to deal with some unruly students at the
arena.
He groaned. Again?
Again. It was merciless and it made me want to smile. I could’ve
marched down there and terrified the students, but Honor wouldn’t want me
coming to her rescue. It was Lynx’s job to terrorize ruffians now, though.
The academy was always going to breed arrogant assholes; it takes a certain
kind of person to dedicate their lives to war. But there was a limit on just
how much assholery I would tolerate.
And I liked seeing Lynx squirm. He’d always been the one who clung to
the shadows, that everyone liked in a vague way. He’d never had to make
himself into a villain for the sake of the greater cause. Honor clearly
thought he was the best of us, given the way she’d chosen him first.
“Jaik,” Damyn warned. “You need to talk to her.”
“Mm?”
“She thinks you insulted her friends.”
 “I did. They’re better off safe.”
“If what Branok and Lynx’s spies say is true… they don’t feel safe. The
prey shifters that didn’t have strong ties to the north… they’ve picked up
and moved into the south.”
“I thought we were going to bash each other with swords and I was
going to forget all of my current problems and become more engaged with a
bloody nose.”
“Does a bloody nose sound good to you right now?”
“Over a conversation about groveling to that girl, who incidentally kept
her dragon nature quiet for about fifteen minutes after I asked her to keep it
a secret?” I could see now why the Elder Royals had cursed her to keep her
mouth shut. “Yes, absolutely.”
Damyn suddenly elbowed me in the gut, and I let out my breath in a
rush. I moved sideways quickly, out of range, over the flagstones. We were
at the fenced area overlooking the rows of seats beneath us and the sandy
arena at the bottom, and I was very tempted to throw my old mentor down
to roll across every bit of it.
“No need to wait for the arena,” Damyn said pleasantly.
“Are you mad I insulted Honor?” The thought filled me with curiosity.
“No,” Damyn said swiftly. ”I’m angry that for once, you’ve come close
to happiness and you seem determined to ruin it by being a miserable
prick.”
He swung on me, and I sidestepped. The two of us paced around each
other, trying to find a place to strike a blow.
“Why the hell do you care?” I demanded. “It’s my life to ruin.”
Damyn struck out at me, and I blocked him. It was just a feint while he
went for my legs, but he’d knocked me on my ass thousands of time, so I
was expecting it. I was already out of his way; I tried to get behind him and
clipped his back leg with a kick that he almost escaped.
He whirled, an annoyed look on his face, and the two of us circled.
“Unless you’re in love with her,” I mused. “And you’re a teacher, too.
Honor’s mentor now. That would be… wrong.”
Damyn scoffed. “I am not. I’ve known her since she was a child.”
“When you were a kid too,” I reminded him.
He released a series of brutal hits on my torso, and I didn’t duck them
all; his fist slammed into my chest hard enough to leave me breathless as I
traded blows with him, and I danced back.
 Once I could breathe again, I demanded, “Why don’t you remind me
what happened back then?”
Damyn’s gaze narrowed. He’d always been the man I’d looked up to,
but at the moment, I wanted to hit him and I could tell he wanted to hit me.
There was a roar from the crowd. I didn’t dare look away from Damyn,
but Honor had to be in trouble.
She usually was.
“Truce?” I said. “I need to see what she’s doing now.”
“Same,” he muttered. “And of course, truce. We were just training.”
Here I’d thought Damyn never lied.
The two of us turned to look down at the arena.
Honor had given up training her friends and was facing down a hulking
bear shifter twice her size.
“She can handle this,” Damyn said, warning me off.
“She can,” I said. “but what are the odds she keeps her temper and her
secrets?”
He lunged at her, launching a sudden, brutal offensive. She parried each
hard stroke, but she had to back up, taking one step after another. He was
using his greater reach and heavy muscle to aim punishing blows at her that
would make it hard for her to keep her balance.
“Easy,” Damyn said, as if he could tell my every instinct was to dive
into the arena myself.
Lynx exited the academy doors that led to the halfway point of the
bleachers. He took in the scene in an instant and headed down the stairs.
Fangs was a sleek shadow behind him, and students melted out of the way.
But before Lynx could reach them, another bear shifter stepped out
behind Honor. As the first one forced her back, the second one stepped
behind her and tripped her. Calla let out a warning call, but Honor went
sprawling. The crowd laughed. The second bear shifter stepped on her
sword, and the first kicked her in the stomach.
“Why don’t you shift?” he demanded. “Let’s see if you’re a dragon.”
“I can’t imagine a dragon would be that easy to knock on their ass.”
Lynx stopped, almost to the arena. The students around him shrank
back, and no one was laughing at the two bear shifters’ antics now that
Lynx had arrived. The bear shifters glanced toward the crowd, grinning,
expecting they were playing to the crowd.
But Honor was on her feet.
 “You lost your sword,” one of the bear shifters said.
“I don’t need it,” she promised. She feinted, he blocked, and she rolled
under his arm and came up behind him, slamming her elbow into his
kidneys. He let out a grunt of pain and whirled.
The second bear shifter grabbed the wooden blade of the practice sword
from the ground and whipped it at her head, smashing the pommel at her
face as hard as he could. She ducked beneath it and came up smiling, that
cocky, beautiful smile. Then she kicked him in the ass.
The other shifter threw his practice sword over her head, gripping the
wooden blade with his hand and yanking it back against her throat. Her toes
jerked off the ground. Her smile died abruptly as she reached for the sword,
her feet kicking as she tried to find leverage to save herself.
“What the fuck do they think is going to happen?” I demanded, already
running for the arena. “They know who she is to me.”
“They don’t know who she is, though.” Damyn had somehow gotten
ahead of me and the two of us raced down the stairs, surrounded by
cheering shifters who made it difficult to hear anything but their cries.
Honor’s fingers scrambled along the wooden edge of the sword.
Stop trying to escape and make him hurt! I was going to hurt him once I
got to him.
Her fingers relaxed on the sword as if she were passing out, her body
suddenly going limp. He relaxed his grip slightly to get a look at her slack
face, his own mouth splitting in a grin.
And she came to life, driving her thumb into his eye. He howled with
pain.
And then suddenly, as the crowd was distracted, a shifter barreled into
me from nowhere. I caught the briefest glimpse of his face. Atikus, a wolf
shifter.
I reached a hand to steady his shoulder, thinking he was just clumsy and
in a rush. “Be care—”
Before I could say anything else, someone behind me slipped a loop
around my throat. My muscles immediately softened and I staggered.
Dragonsbane.
Honor looked up, her gaze meeting mine. Everyone else was focused on
her.
Caldren’s rebels were sending a message: they could reach anyone,
anywhere. Taking me from the academy would be quite a feat. I thought
that as I wrenched away, and he hip checked me, driving me toward the
wall that led down to the sea. The brilliant blue sea was a long way down
from here.
“You’re going to find new friends waiting for you in the water,” Atikus
snarled at me. “We’ll see if prey shifters are nothing when you meet those
who live in the ocean.”
I shoved back at him, feeling how weak my muscles felt in comparison.
Honor jerked upward, her wings sprouting from her back. The shifter
whipped the sword at her, and the pommel glanced harmlessly off her
shining copper scales. She roared at the shifter, who tripped on his ass in
fear.
Then she soared up, flying straight for me. The shifter slammed into me
again, trying to knock me over the wall into the sea.
He didn’t see what was behind him, and I clung to him, hitting as hard. I
reached to rip the dragonsbane off over my head, and he buried his fist in
my gut. I couldn’t get him to stop hitting me long enough to get the chance
to get it off.
He knocked me over the railing.
Honor soared in to catch me in mid-air. Her talons yanked at my
clothing, tearing at it, but then I was born upward, away from the sea. She
aimed a blast of fire at Atikus, and shifters screamed in the distance as he
went up in flames.
She set me lightly on my feet, then turned to face the crowd, roaring
again.
The crowd screamed their approval. A rush of pride swelled in my
chest, even more intense than the anxiety I felt at having her exposed.
She turned back, landing lightly on her feet as a girl again, her long red
hair streaming in the breeze.
She smiled, looking around at the crowd, but I was sure her next words
were meant for me. “The magic doesn’t belong to anyone. Male or female.
Predator or prey. The Isle needs all of us to protect it!”
The cheers of the crowd faded, then died. Honor kept smiling anyway,
her expression hardening as if she were forcing that bright look on her face.
Honor had said the Isle needed all of us to work together to protect it…
but was that true if the Scourge disappeared?
Maybe we needed the Scourge, just as Lysander and Pend once had.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Seventeen

H onor

J aik caught up with me later, jogging then slowing to a walk as he came

alongside me. “You weren't in your classes.”
“Am I supposed to pretend to be a good student?”
“I'd suggest it.” Teasing light came into his eyes. “I hear the new Master
of Discipline is terrifyingly and unexpectedly strict.”
I looked at him, crossing my arms. “But would you command it?”
He heaved a sigh. “We left things badly.”
“We did.”
“Except for the part where you saved my life anyway.” He aimed a
gorgeous smile my way, one that almost made me dizzy. Then he went on,
“Listen, I know you think I’m just being an asshole, but I need to explain
why I feel the way I do.”
He dragged me off to his room, and told me about how years ago, a
group of prey shifters had tried to set up their own army against the
Scourge. They felt as if the Dragons weren't reliable enough about
defending the villages. But Pend had been unimpressed by their fledgling
efforts to start their own army, concerned that if they were successful, they
might try to fight more than the Scourge one day.
 Talisyn and Jaik and their other friends had been paused near the village
on the King's orders. They realized that the king’s general was lying to
them. He was letting the prey army get routed by the Scourge, and he had
no intention of sending them in to help. Jaik and the others had flown off
abruptly trying to rescue them. But they had failed. There had been what
felt like endless bodies around them.
“So yes, I don't want to see them as soldiers. But it's partially because I
don't want to see them die.”
I didn't know what to say to him. I hesitated, struggling to decide, when
abruptly, there was a sharp knock on the door.
Jaik turned with an old look of iron on his face. “What the hell is it
now?” he muttered, almost under his breath.
Then he swung the door open. A servant stood there, who immediately
dropped into a bow. “Your Majesty. Some of the nobles are waiting for you
in your father’s hall .”
Jaik looks exasperated. I had the feeling he was about to say they could
wait all night, but he paused and asked, “How many of them are there?”
The servant hesitated. Then he said, “About one hundred, your
majesty.”
Jaik's expression darkened even further. “You may go,” he informed the
servant.
The servant kept hovering, obviously waiting for some kind of further
clarification, perhaps a message to take back to whoever was above him in
the castle, who had sent the message over here for the king. But Jaik was
not in the mood to offer that kind of help to the servants. He just closed the
door and turned to me, his face creased with concern.
“That's almost all of them,” Jaik muttered. “They've turned demanding
quickly.”
“What will they want?” I asked.
Jaik’s gaze found mine. “For me to take the crown and quash the
rebellion.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Eighteen

B ranok

J aik sat uncomfortably on the throne. His posture was always perfect.
No one else would have been able to notice--besides the other dragon
Royals--the lines of stress he gave away. He looked as confident and at ease
as always. But I knew better.
He had always done whatever was required of him as Prince, except for
when he’d felt compelled to disobey his father for the sake of the Kingdom.
But I knew that crown always weighed on him. If he hadn't felt responsible
for the Kingdom, he might have chosen to be simply a knight and not the
king.
But he would never shirk from what he perceived as his duty—even
when that meant he was stupid. I cast a glance at Lynx as we watched the
nobles enter Jaik's throne room.
Although technically Jaik had inherited his father's advisors until he
replaced them with his own court, Lynx and I were here as his true advisors.
We were also his eyes and ears. He wanted to make sure no one knew
Honor was queen yet because the court would be thrown into a chaos. We
didn't need to fight a war against the nobles at the same time as we dealt
with the Scourge. And he was still concerned about our father, still lurking
out there somewhere, as well as Gorion.
 Jaik sounded bored, even though I knew he felt anything but. “And
what exactly is your petition, Duke Ellsworth?”
“We request that your majesty hold his coronation ceremony
immediately. The magic is wild and unbounded without a king.” The duke
bowed his head, although I wasn’t convinced he was as respectful as he
sounded. “We need you, your majesty.”
The magic had been changing. That much was undeniable. Perhaps it
was for the best if the people thought that it was because the king was dead
and no new royal sat on the throne. Honor--and Honor’s secret--would be
best protected by them thinking that the changes in magic wasn’t the result
of our wild girl herself.
Jaik hesitated. If he crowned himself, the nobles would also expect an
immediate response to Caldren’s rebellion. Caldren’s grip on his rebels was
uncertain, no matter how they adored him. Prey shifters were unruly and
undisciplined by nature. And they were desperate to see him on the throne.
If Jaik crowned himself, the rebels would fight. And I doubted Caldren
could bring them to heel—if he even wanted to stop the bloodshed.
Even here, at the Academy, there were rumblings from the wolf shifters
who still remained about how there was a wolf king now. I'd heard some
students were calling him the true king. It was only natural for them to
assume that someone who was like them was the true hero. But every
rumbling made the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
Everything was changing. And it had to change, but there were many
ways the cards could be laid out that I wouldn’t much care for. I intended to
make sure Jaik and Honor ended up alright, whatever it cost anyone else.
The biggest problem of all was—as always—Honor herself. Jaik didn't
want to take Honor’s throne from her. An official coronation ceremony
might alter the magic. And the magic belonged to her. We all knew that.
“I will take the throne officially in time. For now, there is nothing I
cannot do as acting king.” Jaik added drily, “You can still call me your
majesty.”
Jaik had probably been trying to lighten the mood. But he was so cold
and arrogant by nature that it didn't sound like a joke.
“If the coronation is delayed, then perhaps it is a good time for a court
of inquiry.” the noble said.
Jaik's gaze flickered towards us. “A rather outdated custom.”
 No one had dared to request an inquiry under Pend. I could tell the
challenge grated at Jaik. He might be having a somewhat conflicted
relationship with his own authority at the moment when he wanted to be
loyal to Honor, but I didn't doubt Jaik had a natural tendency to rule. We all
followed him for a reason.
“Lynx, for those who are not aware of the law, would you share some
information with the court?”
I groaned under my breath. Lynx was always ready with information to
share. Jaik must be truly desperate to find a way to make the nobles go
away for him to invite Lynx to wax on. He would make this miserable
meeting even longer.
“Happily, your majesty.” Lynx bowed his head and pressed his hand to
his chest in salute. His expression when he looked up at Jaik was reverent.
It was an act--we knew Jaik too well for reverence--but I could see Lynx’s
purpose. He wanted to encourage the nobles to be loyal to Jaik.
And, there were doubtless rebel spies in the crowd. He wanted them to
know that we had no less respect and reverence for our dragon king than
they had for their wolf king.
Lynx went on to explain that the court of inquiry was a time when
nobility could challenge a king on various topics without reprisal prior to
his coronation. They could freely enumerate their concerns and demands
and attempt to negotiate with the king. Afterward, everything was supposed
to be put to rights and peace restored with a grand ball.
The old Fae ways had been more wild and uncontrolled. The ball
afterward allowed everyone to forget their animosity because it involved a
heavy dose of magical intoxication. By the time the night was over,
everyone would be soaked in a sense of goodwill for each other–no matter
how artificially manufactured--that allowed them to leave the past in the
past.
I was skeptical it would work. I didn't think there was any magic that
could keep me from holding a grudge.
As I was listening to what nobles in the audience had to say, Honor’s
name was whispered from one noble to another. I paused, listening intently.
Lynx and I appeared to be deep in conversation to anyone who didn't know
our tricks.
It was professional interest, of course. I didn't feel any flare of
protectiveness when I heard someone insult Honor. I had plenty of insults
for her myself.
The noble was going on, “Lord Jaik certainly seems to have an
obsession with commoners.”
The other noble, a young woman, scoffed. She was exceptionally pretty,
but the words coming out of her mouth ruined the impression. “He took it a
little far this time. She's just a common slut.”
Jaik summoned Lynx, and Lynx moved towards the throne. Fangs slunk
along behind him, and the girl who had just insulted Honor shrank back.
Now that I studied her a little longer, I recognized her as a student at the
Academy. What was her name--Haley? I'd have to remember it.
Although no one had been allowed to go in to talk to the students who
were now in a holding cell far below our feet, everyone was a little bit
terrified now of Lynx. News of their punishment had spread. Between
Fangs and his new position as Lord of discipline, students shied away from
him.
Lynx betrayed no reaction to the changing way he was treated. But I
was curious how he felt about it. My brother had always been so
tenderhearted. Did it bother him that people now reacted to him with fear?
No one in this room reacted to me with fear. But they really should. My
informants knew better.
I pulled one of my playing cards out of my pocket, then another, turning
them over and over in my fingers absently, looking as if I were doing
nothing but fidgeting, I breathed my magic into them to ignite the spell.
With quick sleight of hand, I slid the cards against the backs of the people
who had just insulted Honor. The cards dissolved instantly. Only Haley
noticed and turned around at my very faint touch, but by then I was already
gone a few steps beyond them. She twitched her skirt as if a fly had landed
on her, then went back to watching Jaik with a faint smug smile.
But the two pretty nobles would find they weren't nearly as pretty in the
morning. For a while, they would wear their ugliness on their faces.
Lynx was watching me disapprovingly. He never missed anything. He
could disapprove, but I felt distinctly unrepentant. Honor might be
headstrong and difficult, but she was one of us. She was ours. No one was
going to insult her.
Well, no one except me.
“Very well,” Jaik ordered. He must have accepted that there was no
getting around it according to Lynxy’s advice. “We will have a court of
inquiry next week and with it, the reconciliation ball.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Nineteen

H onor

I had wanted to be by Jaik's side for the meeting with the nobles, but I was
probably more of a liability to him than I was a help, given how many of
the nobles would feel about a female dragon shifter. My very existence
threatened to shake things up. That might be exciting for some shifters, but
change is never good for the aristocracy.
And besides, I'd wanted to stay near my friends during their first day at
the Academy.
“Look after them,” Jaik had told me when I was obviously debating.
He'd caught my chin and kissed me goodbye. “Both of us can have
different, interesting and terrible experiences today, and then we can vent
about them together tonight.”
“What an upbeat way of looking at things.”
“I'm pretty sure that's how relationships work,” Jaik said. He hadn't
been able to resist leaning in and kissing me again on the forehead.
“Because life remains terrible, even once you fall in love.”
His words lit a glow in my chest.
“You love me, you wicked royal?” I teased.
His lips quirked at the corners, and I couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss the
edge of his mouth. Gods, I loved to see him smile. “You know I do, you
wretched girl.”
Then he went to his hell, and I went to mine.
I headed down to the arena, sure that everyone and their brother would
want to fight me. That was just the Academy way. I could see the way
people were looking at me curiously. I'd gone from invisible servant to the
one that everyone watched. I couldn’t say I appreciated either attitude very
much.
However, the even more pressing interest everyone shared was the
arrival of these prey shifters who wanted to fight. Since they did not have
another group to train with, they'd been left on their own.
I saw them entering the arena, and my heart stopped.
Their battle training was just supposed to be against another three, an
even match. They'd paired them against fox shifters, who were considered
the lowest tier of fighters at the Academy. From the murmurings in the
crowd, I could tell that some were cheering on the prey shifters. Others
were excited to see the foxes put the prey back in their place.
And the fox shifters themselves seemed acutely aware of the position
they were in. Everyone was watching, even though they were supposed to
be fighting their own fights. If the foxes won, there was no glory in it,
they'd beaten up a couple of prey shifters. If they lost, there was deep
shame.
I’d bet they would do anything to win.
Damyn leaned against the railing, watching them. It was the same pose
he'd struck when he watched my men beat the sense out of Lucien Finn
over and over again. I joined him at the railing, my fingers squeezing it
hard. He cast a curious glance at me-- I wasn't exactly being polite to
approach an instructor so boldly--but he didn't send me away.
“What are you thinking?” I asked him. “Sending them in there now?”
“Might as well get it over with.” Damyn said. “They want to try.”
“I'm worried they'll get hurt.”
He was focused on them, and yet I had the sense he was managing to
watch me closely as well from the corner of his eye. “So talk your friends
out of it.”
“I don't think I could do that.”
“And I don't think you're going to try. Because you believe they can be
something more too.” Damyn always seemed to see right through me. “But
for that to happen, they're going to have to prove themselves.”
 I watched the fight, feeling more agonized than if I had been the one
taking the blows myself. They were untrained.
Calla had good instincts. She did some smart strategizing, using her
smaller size against one of the fox shifters to dive between his legs. She
tried to come up onto her knees, driving her practice sword toward his gut.
It was a move that she'd seen me do.
But she didn't have the experience yet to make the most of the opening
she’d just created. She stabbed at his torso, trying to strike him in the
kidney. His sword slammed down on hers and drove it into the dust,
shocking it out of her fingers. Then he hit her, and she flew halfway across
the arena and landed in the dust.
“Honor, no,” Damyn was already saying before I'd formed a plan.
Before I even decided I was doing anything for him to say no to. He must
know me so well.
My fingers tightened on the railing, and then I was jumping onto it, then
down into the arena. It was a long jump, but I caught myself, kneeling, my
hand braced against the dust. My friends, scattered around the arena and
bleeding, looked up at me in surprise. The fox shifters had been advancing
toward them but now they paused with their practice swords still drawn,
prepared to deliver a beating to my friends if Damyn didn't call them off.
“These are my girls. We all fight together.” I said. “Let's make this a fair
fight. Send out another fox shifter…or four.”
I had to be careful. I was afraid I would accidentally unleash some of
my powers. But that only ever happened in extreme situations. And my men
had kicked my ass in the arena plenty of times. There was no reason for the
magic to go wild.
The crowd mumbled, curious about how well I would fight.
The fox shifters came toward me, and my friends staggered to their feet
and joined me. Shoulder to shoulder, we formed a wall to fight against the
fox shifters.
Then they rushed toward us. My friends did their best, but really, they
merely held off the fox shifters while I moved between them. I blocked
blows that would have fallen on my friends, then knocked the foxes’ swords
loose and jabbed my own sword into their guts.
In the end, the foxes yielded. Damyn took his sweet time, but finally
called the end of the training exercise.
 I turned to my friends with a broad smile on my face. Calla stared back
at me in exasperation.
Feeling a little more subdued, I told them, “You should see the
physician for any major wounds. But I can teach you how to heal the minor
ones.”
I was eager to share the knowledge I'd gained in the gladiatorial pit. At
least something good had come from that awful experience.
“Good. Let's find some privacy.” Calla managed to sound fierce even
when she was limping. A sunset-colored bruise was rapidly forming around
her eye.
We retreated to an empty classroom. Ellie and June collapsed into seats,
rubbing sore muscles and cataloging cuts and bruises.
“There’s more raw magic in the world today than there used to be,” I
said, and then shut up, because I shouldn’t tell my friends too much. I’d
already learned how well they kept secrets.
I taught them the spell, and they thanked me but didn’t seem excited. I
went to heal June, but she just turned toward Ellie. “Practice on me,” June
told Ellie lightly.
“What's wrong?” I asked them. I had the feeling I'd done something
wrong, that they were annoyed with me. No, that wasn't quite right. The
way Calla looked at me was more like, affectionate exasperation. But it still
gave me an unsettled feeling. I’d just been trying to help them.
“If you fight our battles, how are we ever going to prove ourselves?”
Calla asked.
I was sad they were disappointed. “I just didn't want them to laugh at
you and hurt you.”
“That's just a part of being the first. And no, it shouldn't be like that. It's
bullshit. But you can't fix it for us.”
“I'm sorry.” I could feel the truth of what they were telling me. “I
promise I won't do it again.”
Now that I had promised to leave them to fight their own battles, the
tension in the room diffused.
But there was still one thing that bothered me.
“Why did you tell everyone that I’m a dragon?” I was clinging to the
hope someone had eavesdropped on us or on them, and that they hadn’t told
my secret to everyone as just cheap gossip. I hadn’t warned them
specifically not to tell anyone. But they were my friends. Did I have to?
 Calla cocked her head to one side. “People were talking about it
everywhere. I thought you’d announced it. That’s the only reason I said
anything in the ring.”
Relief loosened the tension in my muscles. New troubling thoughts
crowded in afterward, but I could handle that as long as I had my girls.
Were Joachim and Gorion trying to cause chaos?
“Alright. Well, someone’s intent on causing trouble for the royals, but
that’s not unusual. And I promise, I won’t cause trouble for you all.”
Calla hugged me. “Don't get me wrong, you were awesome. I loved
seeing the looks on their faces.”
“You were awesome!” June exclaimed. “I am so proud of you! How
come you didn't tell us what you could do?”
“You were so amazing too!” I told them. “Calla, you have a natural gift
for seeing where openings are and exploiting them. You just need to get a
little faster, and that will come with practice! And El, you are so naturally
gifted with a sword. You held your own against that enormous fox shifter
who thought he could just dominate you with his size. With training, you're
going to be unstoppable!”
They all grinned as if they really wanted to hear what I was saying to
them.
June had struggled. Even now, she bit her lip, trying to smile as if she
were excited for the others. I could sense her desperate need for me to find
something good in her while she was struggling to find it herself.
I grabbed her shoulders. “You had so much grit. They never managed to
keep you down on the ground. That's the only reason I learned how to fight.
Everything I can do now is based in that grit. It made them respect me, and
it will make them respect you too.”
She beamed back at me.
I felt warm and safe with them.
“You know you all deserve better than this, don't you?” I ask them.
“We know,” June said.
“But this is still where we want to be,” Ellie said.
Then Calla took my hand. “Right by your side. When you marry King
Jaik, you might need bodyguards.”
Given those men of mine I couldn't imagine I would ever need
bodyguards. But as they hugged me, I knew I would always need my girls.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty

H onor

B ranok , Lynx and Talisyn had gone to the old dragon classroom where
they'd once tormented Lucien Finn. But I had my own special class.
I headed to meet Damyn.
I found him at the end of teaching another class. Although his special
interest had always been the dragon shifters, he worked with each breed of
shifter, teaching them how to leverage their unique skills.
He seemed unruffled in his jacket and trousers even while everyone
around him was sweating through their tunics. It was the very end, and he
was fighting half a dozen of them, staying in his human form. Even as he
kicked their asses, sending them slamming into the ground or busting open
a nose, he called cheerful encouragement.
“You’re doing much better!” He called jovially. Right before he
slammed someone into the dust. He moved on as they lay there groaning.
It did not fill me with excitement for our upcoming training session.
But I had to admit, watching him was also sexy. He was incredible. The
way he moved, he was so quick on his feet, so graceful. I wondered what it
would be like to dance with him. I wondered what it would be like to kiss
him.
 He dispatched his students. He still seemed cheerful even though they
were bleeding. Before I could go to him and tell him that I was ready, a few
female shifters started his way. He adjusted his jacket and gave them a stern
look.
But it did not deter them. They besieged him with questions about
strategy and about specific moves. They were obviously angling for a
private training session with him. They were flirtatious, touching their hair
and smiling at him.
“While I am obviously very interested in your development, both as a
teacher here and as a knight who will one day serve with you,” he said
coolly, “I'm not available for impromptu training sessions. All of you are
supposed to be at battle training this afternoon, though. I'll make sure Lord
Ferris is aware of your interest.”
He gestured toward a particularly harsh bear shifter instructor. They all
paled a little bit as the two talked, and then they went off with Ferris,
looking slightly dejected.
He'd reminded them of who he was, of the separation between them,
and been so distant. I didn't want to look like a silly schoolgirl too.
Which was an embarrassing feeling, when as I faced him I felt
vulnerable and aroused.
He gave me a bright smile, the kind of smile that would have made
those girls jealous. My heart lurched. It didn't mean anything, it didn't mean
anything, I reminded myself. I didn't want to make myself look foolish like
they had.
“Ready?” he asked. “I won’t always be able to go with you. Sometimes
we will have to meet there.”
“I know.” I wouldn’t always get the chance to watch him with his other
classes. To feel self-conscious when it was just him and me, and his eyes
seemed too bright when they caught mine. I felt myself flush.
But for now, it was nice to be together. The two of us slipped down into
the basement and saying a brief hello to Arren. Arren just growled at us,
pacing in his cage. His horns seemed more pronounced than they had been
earlier. I came closer to his cage to check that the bright dragonsbane still
shone in the dim light as it should, and Arren hurled himself at the bars,
swiping at me.
Damyn’s hand rested lightly on my shoulder, drawing me back. “Let’s
go.”
 He seemed to find it as sobering as I did. The two of us completed our
journey in silence.
We traveled through the tunnel to reach the special secret training
ground where I had practiced with Cal. Then we emerged into the center of
the thicket of thorns, hidden in the city. I blinked in the sunshine, which
couldn’t chase away the chill of the tunnels.
“I seem to remember telling you not to interfere earlier when your
friends were fighting in the arena,” Damyn remarked mildly as we faced
each other in the sunshine.
“Did you? Because I didn't hear you.”
“Probably because you were already on your way into the arena,” he
noted.
“That's probably it. I can't be blamed.” I said brightly. “I simply didn't
hear you.”
His gaze on me felt weighted. “I am scolding you, Honor. Just to be
clear. You seem insistent on ignoring my disapproval.”
“If it makes you feel any better, they already scolded me. They want to
make their own way in the arena.” However, I had a plan to train with them
independently. If they still had strength in their arms to lift a sword after
today’s beating. I knew today would be grueling when they weren't used to
it.
When Damyn stood close to me like he was now, his expression stern, it
sent a completely inappropriate pulse of arousal through my core.
I hoped he couldn't smell it. His nostrils flared, but maybe it was just a
coincidence. Dragons didn't have a particularly strong sense of scent,
especially in their mortal form.
“Well, I'm glad to hear it.” he said. “You definitely deserved that
scolding.”
For some reason, his cool unresponsiveness combined with his caring
warmth made me want to get his attention so desperately. My core
clenched, involuntary thoughts playing through my head/ I would like to
strip off that jacket from his broad shoulders, muss his unruffled
appearance, and trace my fingernails underneath his shirt.
Gods, I hoped my inner thoughts weren't leaking through our dragon
bond.
“I have to tell you about something that I saw with Arren recently. The
dragonsbane around Arren’s chains was fraying.”
 He frowned. “Even Arren shouldn't be that strong, to be able to defeat
the Dragonsbane.”
“Perhaps we are underestimating the power of a dragon turning into
Scourge.” The thought was a frightening one. it made me worry what we
would have to do in the end to protect the Kingdom from Arren. I didn't
want to think about the possibility we might have to eventually give in to
his demand that we just kill him.
“The other possibility, of course--” he began.
“There could be a Scourge spy in the Academy.” The two of us finished
together. That thought was terrifying too. That Scourge spy must have a
dragonsbane knife to cut through Arren’s dragonsbane--which could kill
any one of us far more easily than a regular blade alone.
And if there was a spy, that meant there were shifters who were aligning
themselves with the Scourge. No Scourge had the intelligence to conceal
themselves. They were mindless killing machines.
“We're going to have to deal with Arren’s dragonsbane failing. We need
to make sure he can't break out of those chains by transforming.”
“I already took care of it,” I promised. “I threaded new dragonsbane
through his chains.”
He gave me a considering look, the one that I always felt like icy snow
melting down my spine. “And how did you do that?”
I smiled at him broadly. “I'm quick.”
I was quick, but that was still a lie of omission. My men would be
furious if they knew I'd put myself in danger by going into his cage. They
might cut me off from seeing Arren alone. And the memory of how the
humanity, the light had come back into his eyes, even while they were still
that monstrous black, wouldn't fade.
I didn't want to lie to any of them. But I knew I was doing something
foolish, and I would risk my life for Arren. I wasn't going to let them stop
me.
He gave me a look, though, that made me feel as if he knew I was lying
about something, and he was disappointed in me. The same trickle went
down my spine, but my thighs tightened. Apparently there was no way for
Damyn to look at me that didn’t ignite my arousal.
It felt unbearable that he never touched me except for when we were in
a training ring.
 “I see. Well, I have another use for dragonsbane myself.” He held up a
dragonsbane bracelet. “I want you to stay human today while we’re
training.”
“I don't need a bracelet to do that.” I was hurt. Did he think I had so
little control over my powers?
“You do today,” he promised, which filled me with a sense of dread and
foreboding. “We need to push you to your limits to see if your magic flares
out of control in an attempt to protect you. That's the only way you can get
practice controlling it. But don't worry, I'll heal you afterward. I’ve been
practicing that healing spell since you came back, I'm almost as good as the
physician.”
He sounded confident and unruffled. I felt the opposite after being
assured that at the end of the training session, I would need a physician.
He unhooked the chain and held out the bracelet. I felt a little tongue
tied and silly holding out my wrist to him. I worried he would notice how
when his fingers brushed across my skin, I had to hide a shiver.
He was looking at me closely. I‘d never want him to think I was a
coward.
“Wonderful,” I said brightly. “Sounds like it'll be an invigorating
training session.”
He let out a chuckle. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed
in a way that made my insides flip flop. “I like your attitude. Even though I
know you're just faking.”
I grinned, abashed, and the two of us moved across the training yard
from each other. I kept backing up even when he called, “That's far
enough!”
I couldn't resist just one more step backward. Then I drew my sword
and faced him.
He transformed into the dragon. He was enormous. He looked
terrifying. His eyes were the same color as ever, keen and intelligent in that
giant horned head. I could see why the sight of a dragon struck fear into the
hearts of even the brainless Scourge.
Then he charged at me, blasting fire my way. He attacked me
mercilessly, over and over trying to force my magic out of control. I fought
with my sword, jumping onto his back at one point and trying to stab him,
only to find myself slammed into the ground so hard I thought my spine
would crack.
 His intent was to convince my magic that I was really in mortal danger,
that he would kill me. He certainly was doing a convincing job of it.
I felt my magic begin to prickle across my skin, building like heat. It
felt like it would burn me alive if I didn't push it out at a target. I knew this
was my chance to figure out how to get control of it, but I couldn't think for
a second because he just kept coming at me.
“Stop!” I shouted at him as the magic built. “I don't want to hurt you!”
I tried to choke it all back. I staggered, bleeding, my head reeling. He’d
taken me so close to being wounded beyond repair. But I yanked back the
magic, drawing it all into myself until I felt as if I would burst. Then
suddenly, he shifted back. Damyn, in his mortal form, rushed to my side.
I swayed and collapsed. He caught me in his arms, holding me in his lap
to cushion my fall.
“You were close,” he murmured. “And you managed to stop it. Good
job, Honor.”
“Barely,” I muttered. I felt some of my teeth shift when I spoke from the
force of that fall and I tasted blood in my mouth. “You made me ugly. You
better fix me.”
“I will fix you,” he promised. “But you could never be ugly.”
His words struck me deeply. For a second, I thought that he might feel
as aroused as I did as his warm healing magic settled across my skin.
But then the moment was gone. He was just being kind. And I was just
another silly girl with a crush on the dragon knight.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-One

H onor

W hen I saw J aik again , we were supposed to be headed into dinner. He

looked more tired than I’d seen him before, as if battle didn't wear on him
nearly as deeply as having to talk to other human beings.
“How was it?” I asked.
He shook his head, words apparently failing him. “We're going to have
a ball next week. Lynx will tell you all the details, I'm sure. Exhaustively.”
“I'll have to break into the coral mansion and steal one of my old
dresses,” I said. My stepmother hadn't exactly been fond of me, and it
wasn't as if my little sister had the opportunity to rescind her orders before I
sent her off to her school. I needed to make some time to see my little sister.
Jaik frowned. “You don't need to wear an old gown. Let's get out of
here. We'll go shopping.”
I looked at him just as skeptically. “You must really be desperate for an
escape if you want to go shopping with me.”
He scoffed. “Do you think Tal is the only one who can buy things for
you?”
The mention of Tal--and the night we shared in the bookstore--battered
at my heart. “No, I know you are insanely rich as well, and I'm happy to
spend your money.”
 “Good. Then you agree, we’ll go shopping.” Jaik managed to sound
awfully adversarial for someone offering me one of my favorite things in
the universe.
I might enjoy swordsmanship and fighting, but I also still enjoyed a
good shopping session. Some people try to put men and women into little
boxes-- and shifter breeds too--but most of us are a little more complicated
than that.
We were traveling down the street when I wandered just a few steps
away from Jaik to look at that vendors’ wares. There was a little book shop
cart set up on a corner.
“Don't you have enough books?” Jaik sounded bemused behind me.
“You just cost yourself the spot as my favorite,” I said without looking
away from the covers.
“I think I'll manage to get it back,” he said confidently.
He lurked nearby, his arms crossed, obviously watching me more than
the paperbacks.
Suddenly a woman grabbed my wrist. I yanked back, and she clung to
me, her fingers tightening painful; she was unexpectedly strong.
She looked strangely gaunt, and fear spiked through my body, thinking
she was one of the Scourge.
Then her gaze locked onto mine, and she began to talk.
The Scourge could never speak.
“The Lord holds the answers to freeing everyone from the Scourge,” she
said.
“Get your fucking hands off her.” Jaik was already there, his eyes
flashing, but I caught his sleeve. The woman released me and took a step
back, looking terrified of him for a second, then regaining herself. She met
his gaze defiantly.
“The Lord of the Scourge?” I clarified skeptically. Zehr seemed to be
rather deeply entwined in creating more of the Scourge.
She nodded, her attention flickering back to me. “But you'll have to face
him. If you aren’t too much of a coward, Honor Hannaby.”
Those were his words, even though it was her voice. I knew it, deep in
my soul.
Jaik’s raised voice split open the quiet city street. Guards converged on
the street where we were, melting out of the shadows.
But somehow, she was already gone.
 Jaik cursed, his gaze searching the crowd, but he wouldn’t leave my
side. He grabbed my shoulder. “Are you alright?”
I nodded. She hadn't bitten me, and I could see from the terror in Jaik’s
gaze that that was what he had feared. As relief came over his face, he
became more analytical. “Could that have been a Scourge who could...
speak?”
He shouted more orders to his guards who were sweeping the area for
the woman and then looked back at me. I could tell his every impulse was
protective and possessive, but he managed to steel himself. “Can you tell
me everything that just happened? I know I was right here... not close
enough...”
“Please don't feel guilty. I need some degree of independence, Jaik. You
can't always be holding my hand.”
“I don't always want to be holding your hand. If my hands are busy,
then I can't draw my sword to slaughter anyone who's a threat to you.” he
said.
His words and self deprecating tone that made me smile. He didn't
smile; he was obviously still feeling pretty intense. But it was touching to
me he was fighting his natural impulses, and trying to treat me with respect
instead of like a delicate little flower.
“She looked like a Scourge. If she really was one... and yet she's still
talking...”
“Then it means that not every Scourge turns into a mindless monster,”
Jaik finished. “It means there's hope for Arren.”
The thought hung between the two of us. We would take any shred of
hope we could find for our friend.
Even if now we had to worry about Scourge spies.

A lthough I could tell Jaik desperately wanted to get me back to the

safety of the Academy--and to pick Lynx’s brain about this unexpected turn
of events–we went on to the dress shop. The two of us walked along fashion
row, stopping in whatever store looked interesting. I quickly learned that I
couldn’t linger too long over any dress, or Jaik would order it wrapped up
in my size. It was awkward.
 “You're being ridiculous,” I told him.
“Well, you often tell me I'm ridiculous. So it doesn't have much sting
anymore.”
I folded myself against his body, and his arms slid around my waist,
holding me close. He looked down at me with affection written across his
handsome features. It was touching to me that he looked down at me the
way he did, because Jaik was such a private person, and we were rapidly
picking up an entourage.
People were following us, trying to get a glimpse of their king. His
guards moved everyone out off the street, except for other nobility who
continued to shop.
“Although they're probably the ones I would rather avoid the most,”
Jaik muttered rebelliously as we stepped into another sumptuous shop. “But
I can't show any sign I don't trust them. Especially not at such a sensitive
time.”
A handful of noble girls entered the dress shop after us, their voices and
laughter ringing louder than the bells in the door. They threw lustful glances
at Prince Jaik and bitchy glances at me. At least one of them did. Some of
them were trying to be nice to me, which I didn't exactly find comfortable
given the vibes I had gotten in the past from the Prince’s retinue.
An exceptionally pretty girl named Haley said to me, “You're really
going to need a corset with that dress.”
She flashed me a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Corsets were in style,
but I liked to be able to run and fight at the drop of the hat. Corsets didn't
really suit my life, as much as I would have liked to have looked perfect
and gorgeous at the ball, we had no idea what might happen.
“I think we have different ideas of what constitutes a need,” I told her. It
didn't matter to me if they were bitchy toward me. After all, I was really the
queen... if I ever took the throne... so I didn't mind seeing the other side of
people when they thought I was nothing. I would remember.
“Your tiara is a little crooked.” Another girl, Lenora, said. She adjusted
my crown, her gaze intent at the metal resting in my hair. Apparently all the
noble girls would wear tiaras. The size and the jewels that they were
encrusted with was a major sign of power. I could have worn my biological
mother's crown, given that we had found her treasure. But that would tell
people who I really was. I could have worn my adoptive mother's crown,
and that thought felt right to me. But Jaik wanted me to wear something
else, something new. Something that reflected the unusual position I found
myself in.
“Don't mind her. She wears her corset so tight that it impedes the blood
flow to her brain.” Lenora gave me a bright smile.
Lenora seemed kind and funny, but I got an odd feeling about her, as if
she were stealing glances toward Jaik, making sure that he saw her being
sweet to me. Maybe I was just going crazy.
Then Haley said something else, something softly to some of her friends
that I couldn't quite hear. It felt directed toward me from the way their
glances slid my way and the nasty smiles.
Jaik’s eyes shuttered, his face tight and angry.
“I think I'll take this.” I slid my hands across a beautiful purple dress. I
had a feeling I had better get Jaik out of this store before he incinerated
some noble girls.
“It looks so pretty on you,” Lenora said. “It's a wonderful color.”
As much as some of these girls didn't like me, they were already sidling
toward the similar colored dresses that a few mannequins modeled. They
might despise me, but they would still imitate me.
“Get the tailor for her,” Jaik ordered. “Bring me the shopkeeper. And
the head of the dressmakers Guild.”
“I believe he's at dinner,” someone started to say, and then they stilled
like the dead at Jaik’s look. The next thing I knew, I was being rushed off to
a dressing room with the tailor, so I couldn’t hold Jaik back when I
overheard him talking to the owner of the dressmaker's guild and the
shopkeeper.
“You will not sell any dress in that color.” Jaik ordered. “No one will.
Only Honor wears purple.”
“This…this week?”
“This week, this season, this decade… however long I wish it to be.”
He was such a ridiculous man. I finished getting measured and pinned
as quickly as I could, then yanked on the training tunic and trousers.
Maybe we were both too hungry for sense, but I was starting to feel
irritated with him, and I was surprised to find a matching look of irritation
written across his face when I stepped outside.
“What is it?” I demanded in a whisper, knowing that the two of us
shouldn't start a scene.
“Nothing,” he said, in a whisper back that was just as annoyed as mine.
 The two of us were almost to the doors, and I knew once we stepped
outside, the street would be clear because of the guards but there would be
people gathered at the ends of the street craning their necks to see us.
So I fixed a smile on my face just like Jaik and the two of us stepped
into the street hand in hand, looking absolutely thrilled with each other.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Two

J aik

W henever I was pissed off at Honor, she immediately got pissed off at me.
It was obvious in the way she carried herself, a sudden tightness of her
posture. When she was pissed off at me, I always felt more annoyed with
her, so it was pretty much a fun endless cycle based on the two of us both
being insane to begin with.
Because we were being watched, I kept a tight grip on her hand. I was
done with people being rude to her because they thought she was nothing. It
frustrated me that she hadn’t bothered to respond to that aggression.
It bothered me when anyone underestimated her, but it especially
bothered me when she seemed to underestimate herself. She should take her
position as queen. I didn’t want to see her in danger of being assassinated,
and I certainly wasn’t eager to escape the throne myself--because the truth
was I wasn't sure I could handle anyone else being in charge—but I didn't
want to see her make herself small. And she seemed to be settling far too
comfortably into playing the role she was now.
“Keep everyone out of the garden,” she said brightly as she suddenly
caught my arm, and, having just issued orders to my royal guards, she
yanked me abruptly through the arched doorway into the courtyard garden.
It was empty. The guards would have cleared it too as a matter of
course, taking care of every possible entry and exit onto the street. My
father had never bothered with guards, it had been important to him to show
off the power of the dragon Royals to look after themselves and after the
Kingdom. But I wasn't feeling quite as arrogant with Honor by my side.
Protecting her mattered more than my ego.
She turned on me, her pretty face filled with exasperation.
“What is wrong with you?” I rushed to say, just because I knew that she
was going to say it first.
“That's what I have to say! What's wrong with you? Why are you being
so weird about the color purple?”
“Every girl is going to want to imitate you once they know what dress
you're wearing.” I said. “Those girls were rude to you. Now they will be
frustrated. I know how royal girls work.”
“So do I, Jaik. I grew up around them. I know that they’re bitches. And
I don't care!”
“Well I do!” I exploded. “I want people to see you the way I do. As a
queen. I can't stand for anyone to underestimate you, especially yourself.”
“Why do you think I'm underestimating myself? Just because I don't
take things personally?”
“You should take that kind of behavior personally. She was being rude
to you because she thinks she can get away with it. It angers me that people
think my attraction to you is so tenuous, our relationship is so fragile, that
they can be nasty to you right in front of me and I'm going to let that pass.
I'm going to give them a second glance. I think not.”
I’d just spoken angrily, so it was surprising to me that her gaze softened
a little bit.
“What?” I said, because she was beginning to smile as if she understood
something I didn't.
“You love me,” she said, a giant smile breaking across her face. “You're
angry because they think that I'm disposable to you. That is so sweet. You
are sweet.”
I stared at her, still feeling not in the mood for any nonsense, including
hers. “I could put you over my knee.”
“Oh, please do try.” But the next second, as she had pressed herself
against me, her hands sliding up my chest, her lips nuzzling my throat.
And I could not resist taking her right there in the garden.
My hands glided over her hips, and she pressed against me. Her lips
parted in desire, her pupils wide as she gazed up at me. She was so fucking
perfect, and when I kissed her, she responded eagerly, her mouth as wild as
she was.
I spun her around, pressing a hand on her lower back, and she bowed
before me. Her hands met the edge of the fountain, and I stroked my hands
over her thighs, ruching her dress up under my touch. I ripped her
underwear away. Then I groaned when my hand slid between her thighs and
found her core hot and wet to the touch.
“You are so fucking perfect,” I said.
“You only say that when we’re having sex.”
I thrust inside her, and the two of us began to move together. When she
came, her legs trembled, and I caught her around the waist. Together, the
two of us tumbled down to the soft grass.
“You are wrong about so many things,” I mused.
She lifted her head from my chest. “And you are terrible at making the
kind of small talk you're supposed to make when you snuggle.”
“It's just amazing that when you are wrong so often, and so confidently,
and so dramatically--”
As she was looking at me as if she were about to smack me.
“It's just amazing that you can realize that I do love you. “
A smile came over her face, and I couldn't resist smiling back, even
though my heart had just frozen in my chest, worrying that she wouldn't say
it back to me.
“Even though you are wrong about so many things,” she said, “I'm glad
you realized that. Because I happen to love you too.”
The smile that came over my face then was so big that it felt rusty and a
little bit strange.
She leaned forward and kissed the corner of my mouth. Her eyes had
gone soft and tender. “I don’t care what those worthless girls think of me,
Jaik. But being the one you look at that way, the one who makes you
smile… that makes me feel like a queen.”
I had no words to say in response. I just pulled her close, and kissed her.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Three

H onor

T hat night , I dreamt of Zehr.

He'd felt further away since I reached the city. Today had been a
startling revelation that he could reach me. Worse, he could reach my men.
No one but Jaik and I quite believed we’d seen a Scourge who spoke
and reasoned, who restrained the urge to bite and slaughter. The others were
trying to take us seriously but I could tell they thought we were mistaken. I
didn't have any doubt. I wished I did, because if Scourge could walk
through the city like that then I feared Scourge would eventually try to take
the rest of my men from me.
I had already been down to the basement, but I hadn't been able to share
a moment with Arren. All of the scientists were down there, all the best
mages from across the land trying to figure out how the Scourge worked
and how to change it. I was glad they were there even though I ached with
missing Arren.
And now, I found myself in my dreams back in that garden where I had
kissed Zehr.
Zehr’s back was to me, but that dark head, the bone crown, the
spreading shoulders above the impossibly lean waist... I would have known
him anywhere. I would have known him in the street here if he dared to
show his face.
“Why are you sending your messenger?” I taunted him. “Why don't you
come yourself?”
He didn't bother to turn. “Why would I bother to do that when I can
have you anytime in my dreams, traitor girl?”
The words jolted me, but I refused to let him manipulate me. “Why
would my loyalty have been to you and not to my friends? I obviously
made the right choice. Look at what you did to Arren. You're not a good
person.”
He chuckled. “No, I'm not a good person. Do you think you are?”
“I try to be,” I answered defensively.
“So no,” he said. The dream shifted, fading black for a second; then I
was at his side now, close enough to see his smug expression. “You know
you aren't.”
“I'm a better person than you are.”
“Doubtless. But I'm a monster, so that doesn't really speak much for
you.”
He seemed so amused tonight. It made me furious. I'd prefer him
seething with rage and bitterness. At least it would have made sense for
why he had caused so much pain.
“Can you fix him?”
He let out a laugh. “Do you think that I want to talk to you about the
men that you love while your betrayal is still fresh in my mind?”
“I'm not going to talk to you otherwise,” I shot back.
“Nonsense. You’re as driven by curiosity and ego as I am.” He raised
his hand as if he were going to stroke my face, and I tensed, my breath
quickening, but he didn’t follow through. “We’re quite alike, Honor.”
“You seem a little less desperate and angry tonight than you did the last
time I saw you.”
“And you seem very determined to bait me back to feeling that way.”
His dark eyes locked on mine. “You wouldn't like to see me angry, Honor.
You wouldn't like to see me pay you back for that betrayal.” His voice was
calm and all the more chilling for it.
A shiver ran down my spine. “I'm not sure it's the Scourge that makes
you a monster.”
 He let out a short sharp laugh. “That is a question. And yet... here you
are... drawn to the monster. Summoning me into your dreams.”
“I thought you summoned me.”
He towered over me. “No. The two of us are two halves of one whole.
One spell, broken into two shards. And so we have a claim on each other,
but I'm not the one who's called on that claim.”
“Am I supposed to believe that's true? When you try to use the magic to
bind me to be with you?”
He shrugged. “If I were you, I'm not sure I would try to dissuade me
from being bound by the magic of hospitality. Should you find yourself in
my clutches, I'm bound to keep you safe in my home for a season. And
sooner or later, you will find yourself in my hospitality.”
“Is that your fancy way of telling me you plan to chain me up in your
basement?”
Something wicked glittered in his eyes. “I suppose I would very much
like to chain you up.”
He was a monster. He had hurt Arren. I tried to remind myself of all
those things despite the way my thighs tightened and my core throbbed.
The dream shifted, and suddenly the two of us were laying together on a
cool flat of stone surrounded by a dark garden. Those dark wicked eyes
were still intent on my face, but this time he studied me between kisses, his
tongue licking deep into my mouth, his hand pressing my thighs open. I
opened to him, unfurling like one of the night blooming flowers that
swayed all around us, luminescent in the night.
He kissed me again, tenderly, then his lips tilted up as he studied me.
“Remember. You're the one who controls the dreams.”
I sat up, in my own bed, startling myself awake. Jaik was still sleeping
next to me, but the others were gone. Little trinkets that Branok had
collected hung from the posters of the bed. And by little trinkets I meant
gorgeous raw gems in gold cages hanging from chains and elaborate
jeweled treasures, all dangling as if they were nothing. His little offerings to
me.
I swung my legs out of the bed, because there was no way I could go on
sleeping after that, and my toes found one of the extra pillows that he liked
to pile around me.
Nothing about Branok during the daytime was adorable. He was all
sharp edges, even with the ones he loved. But his nighttime habits were
different. Tender.
I went looking for those strange men of mine.
I found the twins in the library, deep in their books. I knew what they
were doing even before I glanced at any of the titles. The two of them
couldn't sleep, and they were deeply engaged in searching for answers of
how to save Arren.
“Every story about the Scourge has been labeled a myth of course.”
Lynx said impatiently, slamming his hand down on a book. He looked
exhausted. Jaik had needed a lot from him lately. “But there has to be some
truth here. Because things are more complicated than we ever realized...”
“Isn't it always,” Branok muttered. He looked at me closely. “Had
another dream of the Lord of the Scourge?”
I hated the way he saw right through me. It was very rude.
“Yes. It should be a good thing. He might answer some of my questions
if I ask them in the right way.”
“And did he?”
“No.” I said simply, hoping that Branok would stop looking at me in the
insightful way he was, as if he could tell I was still aroused from my dream
of the Lord of the Scourge.
“He is the ultimate trickster, it seems.” Lynx said without looking up
from his books. He seemed too deep in the text to realize the weighted look
that Branok was giving me, or what it meant.
“You’re unsettled from your dreams.” Branok gestured me closer.
“It might just be a dream, but everyone is unsettled when they come
face to face with the Scourge.”
“True,” Branok said. “But not everyone unsettled by coming face to
face with the Scourge is meeting Scourge who are obsessed with them.”
“I'm not exactly finding it a compliment.”
“No, I wouldn't exactly say it's a compliment either. It's a danger, for
sure.” Branok said, but while his words all sounded flat and even and
logical, there was something wild in his eyes when he looked at me.
Something jagged and aroused.
And, while Lynx was still studying his books, Branok reached out and
drew me into his lap.
I drew in a sharp ragged breath, leaning into his touch, feeling the rush
of unresolved desire Zehr had left me with. Branok’s hand teased across my
thigh, and my knees parted to him. He looked at me as if he saw my need,
and his eyes flared with desire.
Lynx glanced over for the first time. At first, I thought Lynx was going
to scold us for being so irresponsible around his books.
And then Lynx cleared the table with a sweep of his arm. “Nothing in
here has worked for us anyway.” he said with a growl.
“We all have tension we need to burn off,” Branok said.
Lynx gave him a knowing look. “If that's what you have to tell yourself
to give into your desire.”
After all, all four of us knew about how Branok nested in our shared
bed.
“I don’t need an excuse.” Branok settled me onto the table, his lips
meeting mine in a passionate kiss.
Then the two of them laid me back on the table, swarming over me. I
lost myself to the feel of their hands stroking over my body.
Branok spread my legs, looking at my exposed sex as if I were a feast.
“You are so gorgeous.” His gaze twinkled down at me as his thumb found
my clit, rubbing slow circles that had my toes curling against the polished
wood of the table. “Almost as much as you are delicious.”
He lowered his mouth to taste me, sucking and licking with ardent
passion. As my hips bucked and he caught me, I distracted myself with
Lynx’s kisses. I drew Lynx out of his pants and, gripping his cock firmly,
drew him toward me. Lynx pulled himself out of my grip and moved to the
other end of the table, tilting my jaw back so my head hung off the other
side of the table. As Branok thrust his tongue energetically against my inner
spot, Lynx fucked my mouth.
As I orgasmed, I lost my ability to focus on my mouth around Lynx’s
cock, but it didn’t matter. He watched me thrive in my pleasure, his gaze
heated, and when I came, I felt him jerk in my mouth as he filled me with
his salty essence.
“Good girl,” he said roughly, dragging himself out of my mouth. Some
of his seed spilled from the corner of my mouth, and he wiped it off the
edge of my lip, his expression tender, before he pushed it against my
opening. His fingers thrummed against my sore and throbbing clit, pushing
his come inside me, and despite how my clit ached, my thighs spread open,
eager for more of him.
 “Get on top of Lynx,” Branok said. Into my ear, he murmured, “I own
your ass.”
The three of us changed positions, Lynx laying down on the table, and I
climbed on top of him. Lynx’s legs dangled off the edge of the table,
allowing Branok to crowd close behind and begin to play with my rosebud.
I rode Lynx, letting out a slow moan I couldn’t hold back, as Branok teased
me over and over again.
And the Lord of the Scourge felt like a distant dream.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Four

B ranok

T he next morning , as we were leaving our own battle training, Talisyn,

Lynx and I had hung back. Jaik might be busy with the nobles, but the rest
of us still had work to do.
Jaik disappeared to deal with royal nonsense, and Honor went with him.
As we were continuing our own training I wondered how Honor was
doing with Damyn. He’d always been a harsh teacher, and the more he liked
someone, the harsher he tended to be. So I certainly didn't envy Honor.
Damyn might not acknowledge his feelings, and Honor seemed like she
wasn't managing to pick up on them, but they were obvious to me. Tension
sizzled in the air between them every time they were close together.
It amused me that even our illustrious mentor wasn't immune to the
girl's charms. While many other people-- jealous girls and unworthy men--
seemed to find her annoying, we were all drawn to her.
Unfortunately, it seemed the Lord of the Scourge was drawn to her as
well. I hadn't felt entirely settled since she came to us the night before,
obviously dripping with arousal, after her dream of him. The bond between
them made me tight and anxious.
He would try to take her from us, if he could.
And some part of me wondered how much she would fight him.
 Once Honor was gone, a new crowd formed to watch us. It was some of
the same types who often attempted to flirt with us, who I had once used
without any sense of shame. But now I wasn't interested in any of them.
Perhaps I should have apologized, but I didn't always like the other nobles
very much.
Then, I saw Calla and the others making their way down, accompanied
by another teacher, not Damyn. So that explained where part of the crowd
was coming from, too. They were eager to see the prey shifters fail. They
were especially hopeful of what would happen when Damyn was busy
elsewhere and another instructor was taking over. The instructors had their
own biases, after all.
When the prey shifters slipped out into the arena, some of the other
shifters nearby began to call them.
Lynx looked as if he might intervene. Tal stopped him with a quick
shake of his head. “You know they have to deal with it themselves. As long
as it's not physical.”
None of us are going to stand by and watch them bully the prey shifters
with anything more than words. I wasn't sure anymore that sense of mercy
was just for Honor's sake or not. We all had to suffocate our sense of
empathy for most of our lives in order to do our father's bidding, until our
inner selves and our cold exteriors felt like two entirely separate beings. I
was still getting used to feeling as if my soul and my body had twined back
together.
But a very pretty dark haired shifter named Lenora darted into the arena,
turning to the hecklers. “None of us are as brave as they are. We've all held
swords since we were toddlers. And yet, here they are, inexperienced,
coming into an arena where they know everyone is watching and judging
and waiting for them to fail!”
“Is she supposed to be on our side?” Calla asked June, her voice
aggressively loud. “Because that was a terrible pep talk.”
“I'm not trying to cheer you on,” Lenora said to them. “I'm just pointing
out how awful and cowardly so many of my peers are being.” She lingered
over the word cowardly. There was nothing shifters hated being called more
than cowardly.
At least, there was nothing the predators hated more.
The crowd dissipated a little bit. Lenora watched them go, seeming as if
she had a protective eye on the prey shifters in the arena.
 Talisyn sidled over to her, and soon the two of them were deep in
conversation. I knew that he would never flirt with her if Honor were
nearby. He cared too much about making sure he didn't hurt her.
I didn't entirely understand Honor and Talisyn. Tal spoke as if Teris had
torn out not just the memories of Honor, but the way he felt about her. We
couldn't replace the memories, and we couldn't replace the emotions.
And yet, Tal still looked at her as if she’d been knit together from magic
and stardust and his favorite whiskey.
“I don't like her,” Lynx said.
“Oh, feeling so protective of Honor that you don't even like seeing less
competition when you know it's going to hurt her feelings?”
“I don't see it as a competition,” Lynx said. “were all meant to be
together. I'd rather we all share her.”
“You're a better man than me. I can happily imagine a future where the
rest of you poof out of existence.” I admitted, “but as long as I am stuck
with all of you assholes and don't get to rule the Isle alone, I'll admit that I
would rather share her with you all and attempt to form one big happy
family.”
The words sounded ridiculous, given who we were and our natural
election to be assholes.
Then I admitted,” “I don't like Lenora either. Something about her feels
fake. She says and does all the right things... And no one who's being
genuine ever says and does all the right things.”
It takes too much calculation to be pleasing to people all the time. She
seemed as if her responses were engineered to get Talisyn's attention. He'd
always had such a good heart, he was drawn to other people who tried to
save the hard cases too.
The shifters who'd been dicks went past. Honor would have wanted her
friends protected. So I played a little trick on them, slipping cards into their
pockets that dissolved... along with their fighting skills.
Now it was as if they had a similar level of experience as our prey
shifters. Their movements were slower, their fingers less deft. With nothing
but intelligence at play down in the arena and expertise burnt nothing, our
prey shifters had an unexpected victory.
I heard Honor cheering, and looked over to see her next to Damyn, who
was giving me a hard look. It was worth it for the look of the light on
Honor’s face, even though I was hardly surprised when Damyn walked past
and snapped at me, “My office. Both of you assholes. Now.”
I had heard a very similar variation of those words many times during
my days at the Academy.
Damyn dragged us into his office. As soon as the door was shut behind
us, he turned to address Lynx. “I know you usually get away with
everything because you're the quiet one, Lynx, but I know better. You’re as
much trouble as your brother. And you're supposed to be the Lord of
Discipline. You should set some kind of example.”
“I made up my place in that position,” Lynx protested. “I didn't want to
be the Lord of Discipline. I just needed it to make sure Arren was
protected... and we all know how useless we found the old Lord of
Discipline.”
“Well, you volunteered yourself into the position.” Damyn said, with his
signature lack of interest in any of our excuses. “So now I suppose you will
have to figure out how to be a good Lord of Discipline.”
“It seems more like that would be your sort of role,” Lynx muttered.
“Oh, would you like to see how I would perform that role?”
I winced. Lynx had invited that one.
“No, that's alright.” Lynx said. “After all, if I'm supposed to be on staff
now, then--”
“You've never gotten into half as much trouble as you deserve, Lynx.
Off to the pit with you. You can experience what some of the under
performing shifters do, and I'm sure that it will only make you a more
effective Lord of Discipline. After all, you're a good leader and every leader
is able to endure whatever they ask their people to do. Correct?”
“Correct,” Lynx muttered before he left the room and abandoned me to
my own fate with Damyn.
Damyn leaned against the door through which Lynx had just exited, in
case I didn't feel sufficiently trapped. I was well aware of all the mind
games he played, but that wasn't always a complete defense. I had looked
up to Damyn for a long time. I still did. It made me a little bit vulnerable to
his loving and well intended manipulation.
“You can't skulk in the shadows and destroy anyone who insults her.”
I put my feet up on the edge of Damyn's desk, knowing that it was a
near suicidal act. But sometimes, I had to make a point too. “Oh, but I can.
And it's so much fun.”
 Damyn kicked my chair out from underneath me.
I slammed into the hardwood floor.
He continued across the room to the windows where he stood with his
hands tucked behind his back, looking as if absolutely nothing had just
happened. “She is going to be so angry when she finds out.”
I sat up on the floor, righting the chair before I rubbed my elbow. I'd
slammed down on it hard.
I didn't bother to get up from the floor. I didn't particularly want to make
myself more of a target when I had plenty more to say. “She won't find
out.”
“Yes, she will.” He let the words hang between us before he added,
“because you are going to tell her.”
I let out a laugh. “Absolutely not.”
“I realize that you are such an emotionally constipated idiot that it hurts
you to reveal you’re trying to care for her,” Damyn said, “but your idiocy
no longer impacts just you, so it's becoming less fun to watch and laugh.”
I bristled. He always knew how to piss me off. Attacking my
intelligence certainly made the short list.
“You can't force me to have a conversation with her.”
I realized too late that I had just walked into a trap, just like Lynx.
Damyn was good.
“No, I can't force you to have a conversation with her, but I can start a
conversation with you present that you will enjoy far less than if you get the
chance to control the narrative,” Damyn said pleasantly.
Gods. I stared at him, feeling outplayed, which was the worst.
“You boys are all idiots, and I have watched you hurt Honor over and
over with your foolishness when it wasn't my place to say anything, but I'm
done with that now. I'm not going to let you hurt her-and in turn hurt
yourselves—with your obstinance and pride when you could simply learn
how to treat her well.”
I sighed and picked myself up off the floor. He didn’t need to pummel
me when he was calling me an idiot; one hurt my feelings far more than the
other.
“There is no lying by omission in a healthy relationship,” Damyn said.
He sounded so sure of himself, but then he seemed to pause, as if he were
thinking about something that troubled him. “And that is what you are
going to endeavor to have with that girl. Even if I have to hold your hand
through it all.”
Damyn smiled at me pleasantly, although it had to be one of the most
chilling looks I had ever seen. “Go to the girl and tell her the truth instead
of keeping secrets. Or I will make sure you regret it.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Five

H onor

T hat night , I ate with my friends instead of with my men. It was the first
night they were eating dinner in the students hall instead of down in the
servants quarters. The enormous room, that was always full of chatter and
the clink of silverware on plates, seemed to quiet as we entered.
Calla, who had been so fearless in the ring, paused uncertainly in front
of all those unfriendly faces.
“This place feels kind of miserable at first,” I said. “but the food is
amazing.”
I was working on teaching them how to fight. We’d snuck away for our
free hour to work on more tactics. I wanted to introduce them to the full and
exciting range of ways I'd learn to play dirty over the years. When you're
small, you always have to play dirty.
As we were leaving dinner, Calla gave me a long look. “Where are you
going?”
“Off to see my men,” I said, honestly enough.
“I just get the vibe that you are hiding something. Honor, if there's
anything we can do to help you... I know it might sound ridiculous given
that you’re... you. And we are... us. But we have your back.”
 The words warmed my soul. “I promise, I will always tell you if I need
you. I know there's no one I'd rather have watching my back.”
June said aw and smiled, but Calla rolled her eyes. “Well, that's stupid.
If I had a whole Royal Army and a group of Dragons that were quick to
defend me, those would be my first choices.”
She definitely wasn't trying to butter me up anymore.
“Really,” Ellie asked me, “are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Always,” I admitted.
Once curfew had begun, I slipped down to see Arren.
My stomach dropped when I saw him. He seemed to be growing, as if
his final form would settle somewhere between the size of the man he was
and his dragon form. He was enormous, hulking, almost too tall for his
cage. Horns were beginning to arch over his hair. And yet, even as he
became a monster, he was still beautiful in his own way.
He growled. I wasn't sure if he could only speak in growls now, or if he
was just trying to scare me into leaving.
He did scare me.
But I wasn't leaving.
I plopped myself down in front of his cage, folded my legs criss cross,
and propped my chin on my hands. “I'm going to tell you all about my day,”
I said in a peppy voice.
He let out an anguished cry at that, as if Arren was still there deep
inside the monster. And still a bit of an asshole, apparently.
But I went on, telling him about everything that had happened, cheerful
and animated. Because I feared a Scourge spy, I kept my sword unsheathed
in my lap.
At first, he was just staring at me with those hate soaked black eyes.
Then I looked up, and what looked like adoration written across his
face. My heart stumbled. Arren, in his human form, never would have let
his mask slip.
That was the moment I realized I had come to love him, quietly. For all
his courage and his unexpected moments of kindness and his quiet stoic
ways. And for the way he showed he loved me in his rare unguarded
moments.
My voice broke a little.
He stopped, his hands gripping the bars. He growled, and I caught the
human voice in it. Caught the cadence. Caught the way the growl at the end
sounded like the tail end of Honor.
“Yes, I'm here,” I promised him. “And so are you, aren't you?”
I told myself it was worth the risk, the way he seemed more human
when the two of us were close, to get an answer as to whether or not he’d
seen a spy who had tried to break the Dragonsbane in his chains. It was
worth the risk to figure out who was working against us here in the
Academy.
But the truth was, it was worth the risk to have Arren back for a few
moments.
I opened the door of his cage. Moved swiftly inside. Locked myself in.
After all, I couldn't risk him getting loose. For all we knew he was terribly
dangerous.
But I couldn't resist him anyway.
Once again, he pressed himself back against the bars, looking as if he
were afraid of me, but I knew he was really afraid of himself.
“It’s alright,” I said. “Come here. I won’t be scared of you if you won’t
be scared of me.”
He shook his head and growled, and I knew he was trying to tell me I
should be scared.
But I crossed to him anyway. He froze, a wicked rumble vibrating his
chest.
My fingers trembled as I reached out to touch him, but I stroked my
hands across that powerful chest, up to the shoulders that were even broader
than they’d been before. He’d grown; he was almost too tall to fit the cage
anymore.
“I’m here,” I whispered. “And I’ll always be here for you.”
He captured me in his arms. I let out the start of a scream and buried my
face in his chest to smother the sound. The two of us stumbled into the side
of the cage. He pressed me into the bars so hard I knew it would bruise, but
when his lips pressed mine, I didn’t care.
“I don't remember,” he said, his voice deeper than it had been before, so
deep it felt like a rumble through my chest. “I don't even remember the
dragonsbane fraying. I would have asked for help… if I could…maybe I
wouldn't have. Maybe I want to get out of here.”
He looked troubled. “Honor, as much as I want you here, you can't be
here. You can't do this again.”
“I know,” I promised him.
 But I had every intention of doing it again.
And no matter what he said, he kissed me again as if he couldn't stop
kissing me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Six

H onor

W hen I went upstairs , the hall should have been empty. I let myself out
into the eerie silence that was this floor of the Academy at night, when
every student was supposed to be upstairs in the wing for their type of
breed.
But instead, someone asked from behind me, “Where have you been?”
I whirled in horror to find my Calla, Ellie and June.
“You all should go back to the servants quarters. I don't want you to get
in trouble.”
“You're the one that I'm pretty sure is in trouble. What are you doing in
the basement? It’s off limits for us.”
“I can't tell you. I'll only make more trouble for you all.”
“And you're all in so very much trouble already,” came a nasal and
unwelcome voice. I turned to find Haley making her way down the hall.
She’d always had a very pretty face, but it was ruined by her smug
expression.
Actually… she didn’t look quite so pretty anymore; her face was marred
with swelling and splotches, visible even through whatever she’d tried, both
makeup and magic.
 “What do you want?” I asked her in exasperation. “You have to realize
that being a bitch is not actually making your life that much better in the
long run, is it?
She looked affronted. “I don't think I'm the one who's a bitch.”
That was no surprise. A lot of people lacked that kind of self-
knowledge. But I always think if you're going to be a bitch, you should just
own it. You'll still be dreadful, but at least you won't be dreadful and self-
righteous, which is the very worst combination.
“We don't have an official wing of our own,” Calla said loftily,” so we
can't be confined to it after curfew.”
Lynx had instituted some new rules regarding curfew to make sure the
halls were clear for anyone who wasn't authorized to know Arren’s secret.
“But the same can't be said for you,” June said, picking up Calla’s line
and offering Haley a very frosty smile. “You hardly seem like you should
be talking about breaking curfew.”
Haley waved an envelope in her hand. “I was sent on a special mission
by Tanek.”
My heart sank. I didn't want to see my friends get into any trouble.
As if to punctuate her words and indicate it really was the truth a
teacher sent her on official business, Haley bellowed to the royal guards. It
was surprising how much such a petite slip of a girl could sound like a
frantic cow.
Calla looked sick. It was a relief to me to see Lynx’s familiar face as he
walked into the hall. We might actually be in trouble if I weren't sleeping
with the so-called lord of discipline. They gave ridiculous names to
everything at the school.
As soon as he walked up, his face tense and curious, I blurted out, “It's
my fault. My friends knew I was sneaking out after curfew and were trying
to watch my back.”
“And what exactly were you doing out after curfew anyway?” Haley
demanded.
Lynx turned on her abruptly. “I'm not sure why you're speaking. I wasn't
aware I asked you for any assistance.”
Haley seemed to shrink back. She waved her envelope at him. “I was
sent on an official errand...”
The words seem to wither on her lips under Lynx’s cold glare. She cast
a nervous glance around, her cheeks flushing, before he said, “You can go.
But I don't need you to police other students. You are hardly competent to
police yourself, Haley.”
She started to protest, and he cut her off. “Another arrogant word from
you, and you'll find yourself stripping and waxing floors during the
holiday.”
Her lips snapped shut abruptly. She took her little envelope and scurried
off on her mission, looking far more like a stereotypical prey shifter than a
tough wolf.
Lynx studied my friends for a moment. They remained silent, still, and
wide eyed, looking themselves like stereotypical prey shifters.
“You are all new here and unfamiliar with the school’s many rules. I
would suggest you find your way into the Academy handbook. The next
time I meet you, I will have questions about its contents, and you do not
want to disappoint me.”
As if anyone could help but disappoint Lynx when it came to their book
knowledge.
He dismissed them and they scuttled off. But before everyone was out
of earshot, Lynx told me, “I'll see you in my office. Now.”
Haley was halfway down the hall, but she threw me a look over her
shoulder, a smile blooming across her lips. She was obviously thrilled. I
ducked my head to hide my smile. Lynx could pretend to be stern and scary,
and I could pretend to be convinced.
His hand settled on the nape of my neck, guiding me along ahead of him
as the two of us headed down the halls.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Seven

H onor

T o my surprise , Lynx did take me to his office. I supposed we were

putting on a good show for the guards.
When he closed the door behind us, I stared around at the cavernous
room. “You know, I've heard so much about this room, but I've never been
in here before.”
“That is surprising.” Lynx crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose
that anyone would have thought Lucian Finn was getting enough
punishment simply having to deal with us dragon Royals.”
“And that certainly would be true. You all are exhausting.”
“Honor, we asked you to only go down to see Arren with someone else
with you. It seems there is a rogue agent working against our purposes here
at the Academy. They could attack you.”
“They could attack any one of us.”
“Yes, and that's why none of the rest of us are sneaking down to the
basement alone in the middle of the night to visit Arren, who is dangerous
enough to you himself.”
I had to be logical so I didn't protest, but I couldn't help shaking my
head. Arren probably would never truly be dangerous to me, given the flair
of recognition and affection in his gaze when he looked at me.
 Lynx raked his hand through his hair. “Why are you the way that you
are? Why can't we get you to care about your own life as much as we do?”
“I'm very interested in my own life, Lynx. That's why I want to live it
myself. Not follow someone else’s orders.”
Has browsed arched. “Well perhaps you should follow someone else’s
orders, because you aren't making the best choices on your own.”
“You're insufferable,” I snapped.
“If that's true, I learned it from you,” he said mildly. He sounded as mild
as ever although he was genuinely rattled by his fear that I would be
vulnerable to the spy at the Academy.
There was a knock at the door, then Jaik entered. I threw a betrayed
look at Lynx. I hadn't realized that he'd summoned Jaik.
“And here I thought you could handle yelling at me on your own.” I told
Lynx.
“Oh, it's not the scolding part he needs helps with,” Jaik said, locking
the door behind him before he turned and leaned against it, his arms folded
over his chest.
I looked between the two of them, not entirely sure where this was
going. I was beginning to feel slightly concerned. “I hope you're not about
to ruin my image of you as the nice one, Lynx.”
“I think I'm about done with that image, here at the Academy and...
elsewhere.” Lynx stared at me with smoldering eyes, and heat seemed to
crackle between us. “I think you underestimate me, Honor. I thought we
knew each other better than that. I thought we saw each other clearly.”
The moment between us felt weighted.
Then Jaik said, quietly, “I understand why you want to see Arren. Why
you would try to see him inside the monster...”
I knew Jaik was trying to sound sympathetic, that he genuinely ached
over what he expected Arren’s fate to be, but I hated that he sounded as if
he were giving up hope.
My anger flared. “Arren is still human! I see it when I'm with him!”
Jaik looked as if he were choosing his words carefully, but Lynx’s gaze
zeroed in on mine intensely.
Lynx cocked his head to one side. Thoughtfully, he repeated, “When
you're with him?”
It felt as if the temperature of the air dropped ten degrees as Jaik
understood what he was implying.
 “No,” Jaik said. “There is no way you would be that foolish. Honor, tell
me that you haven't gone within his reach. Tell me you haven't gone into the
cage.”
“If you really want me to...” I said in a bright jaunty tone and with a
smile that I already knew neither of them would return. Now they were both
glaring at me. “I'm happy to tell you that.”
“Honor!” Jaik exploded.
He went into a long lecture then, and while I made sympathetic noises--
I wouldn't want to have to deal with me either--I couldn't stop studying
Lynx’s thoughtful face.
Lynx had settled behind the desk, pushing up the sleeves of his tunic to
reveal his corded forearms and fidgeting with the various boxes on his
desktop and the drawers in his desk. After all, they were all new to him.
The former Lord of discipline had been banished back to his own estate. I
wondered if he would be more useful there than he had been at the school,
from everything I'd heard.
“In the end,” Lynx said quietly, when Jaik’s lecture seemed to be
trailing off-- although we'd had three false starts for that--“All we want is to
see you be careful with yourself. To see you stop putting yourself into
danger.”
“Well, you have never been very good models for that,” I pointed out.
Lynx’s brows arched. “Asking me to act like a teacher, Honor?”
It wasn't as if teachers at the school ever gave out spankings. If they did,
I would have acted up in Damyn's class, that was for sure. So I wasn't sure
why his words sent a sudden throb through my lower belly. Yet there was
something about the way he said it and the way he looked at me that felt
somewhere between a delicious threat and a painful promise.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know how much you all complain behind my back about my bringing
up history. So I will spare you the details and just say rules for corporal
punishment were coded into the academy’s original handbook. I think that
overall, the Academy was wise to do away with those statutes. But I am
happy to bring some back, just for you.” He crooked his finger at me,
gesturing me closer.
“Be careful,” Jaik said dryly. “That's a good way to get yourself a
broken nose.”
 “Did I break your nose?” I asked idly, though I was focused on Lynx’s
intense gaze.
“No, Honor wouldn't do that with me.” Lynx said with a degree of
confidence that I did not think he had earned. His nostrils flared, as if he
could smell my arousal.
He knew, and this felt like a game between the two of us.
Lynx cocked his head to one side, still studying me. “Honor is going to
take her punishment like a good girl, aren't you? Because you know you
deserve it.”
He was right about that. I deserved it because I was awesome, and I
liked it.
Lynx crooked his finger at me again, and this time, I didn’t hesitate to
cross to him. He took my wrists in his strong hands and pulled me closer,
sitting abruptly on the edge of his desk so he could force me to straddle his
legs. His lips swept down the side of my throat, and I moved my head to
one side, feeling the way his kisses ignited my body.
Jaik came behind me, sliding my pants down around my thighs. Cool air
caressed my skin and I ground down against Lynx’s thighs, feeling the
rough material of his trousers press against my more sensitive places. Jaik’s
hands slid along the curve of my ass, tracing the currently unmarked skin,
and I bit my lower lip as desire blossomed.
“Take her shirt off, too,” Lynx ordered, and despite the strange role
reversal of Lynx giving orders to Jaik, Jaik obeyed, drawing my shirt over
my head. Lynx’s gaze lit as he took in my breasts, and then Jaik palmed
both my breasts. His hands were rough and calloused from carrying a sword
and they teased my nipples in a way that made me groan.
Jaik pulled away, his hand sliding between my thighs instead. As Lynx
gripped my wrists and kissed me, slow, thrusting kisses that I felt all
through my body, Jaik toyed through my folds, finding my clit with sure,
deft strokes.
I moaned again, louder, my core squeezing with desire. Jaik’s hand
withdrew abruptly, so quickly that I opened my eyes in annoyance.
“You definitely do not deserve an orgasm,” Lynx teased. “No orgasms
for you until you take your safety as seriously as we do.”
In lieu of complaining, I nipped Lynx’s shoulder, hard enough to sting. I
looked up at him with mischief in my eyes as he complained with an ow,
though he didn’t seem annoyed.
 But Jaik pushed my back, pressing me down on the table top, and set to
smacking my ass with great conviction. I wiggled across Lynx’s lap as heat
blossomed across my ass and along my core. Lynx gripped me tightly with
one hand on my thigh, keeping me in place, and the other sunk deep into
my hair. I let out another moan, my core squeezing, tighter and tighter.
“Bring her back from the edge,” Jaik ordered, and I suddenly found
myself back on my feet between the two of them. Jaik tweaked my nipple,
hard enough to hurt, and I growled at him. He looked distinctly
unapologetic.
“You don’t deserve an orgasm,” Jaik murmured into my ear. “But we do
for having to deal with you.”
He pressed me down onto the hard wooden desk, the tip of his cock
slipping against my wet core. I let out a sigh of satisfaction when he slid
deep inside me, and his thumb brushed against my rosebud, bringing me
even closer.
“Lynx, take her mouth,” Jaik ordered. Lynx moved to the other side of
the desk and pulled his cock out, and I went to work with it eagerly. I loved
to watch the way my proud, self-sufficient men gave into pleasure, the way
their hard abs tightened and their eyes closed with pleasure, their lips
parting as they lost themselves to me.
Jaik pulled out, and I shoved my ass toward him, wanting him buried
deep inside me. He answered my silent request with a stinging slap of my
ass, then began to tease the tip of his cock against my rosebud.
I pulled away from Lynx to whisper, “I want you inside me.”
Lynx captured my hair in his hand and guided me, gently but firmly,
back to his cock.
Jaik leaned close to me and whispered, “I know.”
He pressed the tip of his cock against my wet folds, working through
them over and over as I grew closer and closer to orgasm. He stopped
abruptly when my inner channel began to tighten, as Lynx’s cock throbbed
in my mouth.
“Pay attention to Lynx. Make it good for him.” Jaik ordered.
But Lynx barely seemed to need my help now, his hips thrusting as he
fucked my mouth without hesitation. He groaned as he came, exploding in
my mouth with a rush of salty cum. I swallowed him down, enjoying the
sense of power I felt over him.
 “Turn over.” Jaik didn’t wait to grab my hips and pull me upright, then
sit me hard on the edge of the table. I felt the phantom heat of his hands
against my ass and it just made me want him more. I caught his shoulders
and tugged him toward me, but he took my wrists just as Lynx had, then
pinned me down on the table. Lynx took over, covering my wrists with his
hard grip.
Jaik settled my calves on his shoulders, and my breath squeezed in my
chest, waiting for him to lower his head and lick against my clit as he had
so many times before. The constant denial every time I was close had built
my desire up to a fever pitch.
He aimed a few more smacks on my ass. Then he brushed his cock
against my opening, slid inside. He pounded into me mercilessly, and my
core squeezed around him, feeling his tip hit deep inside me in a place that
was a mix of pain and pleasure. Every thrust sent liquid heat spooling
through my whole body. My thighs began to shake, and I jerked against
Lynx’s grip as I thrashed across the table.
“No,” he said abruptly, and just as I was about to come, Jaik pulled out.
His cock jerked in his hand as his cum exploded across my stomach, and I
let out a groan of disappointment.
Jaik pulled me to my feet, despite how wobbly my legs were at the
moment. Into my ear, he said, “No orgasms for you until you’re willing to
keep yourself safe.”
Then Lynx added, “From any of us.”
I stared at them in shock, feeling empty and aching and sore and
furious. “You can’t order the others…”
“I can and I will,” Jaik said coolly.
“That’s going to be one awkward conversation,” I said.
“I don’t think so,” Jaik disagreed. “I don’t think any of us mind
discussing your antics and how to deal with them.”
“I hate you,” I told him as I jerked my clothes on. My clit was raw and
throbbing from being played with but denied. “You are such an arrogant
bastard.”
“I know.” Jaik smiled at me.
“I hate you too,” I told Lynx.
He didn’t look as if he believed me either.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Z ehr

I had sent one of my favorite spies, Kesselly, to contact Honor, but I

decided that I needed to do my next mission myself.
My spies had quietly surveyed plenty of students when they were
drinking and carousing, and they claimed all the dragon Royals were back
at the Academy. Somehow, those Royals had gotten the students not to
notice Arren's absence.
I wanted the people to know that one of the Royals had been struck by
the Scourge. It would spread fear and disillusionment and despair through
the people. They would finally realize their leaders were not untouchable.
Their leaders were not any better than they were, and they did not deserve
the throne. Maybe eventually, they would realize their leaders were the true
monsters.
And perhaps, I would catch another glimpse of her. The inquiry was
starting. There were lots of visiting noblemen and rich people who tried to
influence the nobleman in the city at the moment. It was even easier to
blend in on the crowded streets.
I'd hoped to catch a glimpse of her before the ball.
I would like to see her dressed in the Royals’ finery. And then I’d like to
ruin her. She was beautiful, glowing. I wanted to smudge her. I want to tear
her clothes. I wanted to see her looking as ragged and dangerous as I knew
she truly was.
They had a monstrous queen, and they were trying to soften her and
sweeten her and make her into their queen, not mine.

I found a place in the back of the throne room, blending into the crowd. It
sounded, judging from the sharp voices of the nobles during the inquiry, as
if Jaik was in trouble.
Couldn't happen to a nicer king. His nobles were trying to get him to do
what suited their fancy.
Honor looked up sharply, her gaze sweeping the audience as if she knew
I was there, and I moved behind a hulking bear shifter. He was barely taller
than I was, but it was enough.
When I moved back, her gaze was focused on Jaik. Her hand stroked
the back of his shoulder absently, and she kept glancing up at his crown. I
tilted my head curiously, searching that crown for milky-colored stones.
The nobles complained about rumors one of the Royals himself had
been cut down by the Scourge. Jaik’s story that Arren had gone to hunt
down Joachim and Gorion and bring them to justice felt thin. The room
mumbled in dissatisfaction.
Honor obviously grew annoyed by how the nobles spoke to Jaik,
although he only ever grew icier and less affected when he was annoyed.
Her impulse to protect him was written across her face and in her posture. It
would have been sweet if it weren't wasted on such an asshole. I wondered
what it felt like for the Royals when she tried to protect them. I wondered
what that would feel like.
I didn't need anyone to protect me, but I think even the most dangerous
men want to have someone care enough to have the impulse. Even the
monsters want someone to stand guard in the night.
Honor leaned over and spoke to Jaik, and he nodded, barely glancing at
her. He was so focused on the proceedings. But she still rested her arm
lightly on his shoulder when she rose, as if she understood, and then made
her way out of the throne room.
“I will bring in the dragon knights,” Jaik said. “No harm will come to
the city from the Scourge.”
 The dragon knights would have one mission—to kill Arren. They
wouldn’t be sentimental about the Scourge. They never showed mercy.
Furious scarlet tinged the skin above her low cut gown. I liked seeing
her angry. It made her look more like her, even with her beautiful gown and
her hair elaborately styled.
I melted into the back of the crowd and, once I was sure no one was
looking at me, I fell apart to shadows. Shadow travel was difficult, but it
was one of the few good things about being the Lord of the Scourge, and I
was not going to pass up that lone joy.
And it was such an intense joy to materialize behind her.
She was standing in the castle garden, studying the glimmering blue
ocean beyond. She looked like a beautiful picture, with her long red hair
floating in the breeze. Even if she was muttering curse words to herself.
I slunk out of the shadows and into the sunlight, until I was right behind
her. She froze, as if she sensed me.
“Hello, Honor.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Twenty-Nine

H onor

I whirled to find the Lord of the Scourge right behind me. I cast a frantic
look at the arches leading back to the castle. They seemed so far away. I
could scream for a guard, but I didn't think they'd hear me. They'd
thoroughly searched the garden, then left me with the privacy that I
requested.
I lunged suddenly toward the entrance. Zehr lunged with me, blocking
me.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “No more running from me, Honor.”
“I'm not running from you. I just don't want to hear more of your
nonsense. You never answer any of my questions.”
“That's because you never ask any interesting ones. It's all selfish. How
do I save my friend.” He parodied my voice in a falsetto that sounded
nothing like me.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yes, how selfish. You can tell you're not familiar
with the concept of having friends.”
“No,” he agreed. “I thought I made one once, but she turned out to be a
traitor.”
I stared at him, baffled. “You and I were never really friends.”
“I risked my life to save you from Kallus’s dungeon.”
 “That was all a lie! You were working with Kallus!” I still had so many
questions. Were Kallus and Zehr still working together? “Do you know how
to save my friend or not?”
The Lord of the Scourge shrugged. “Convince me that he deserves to be
saved.”
I stared at him in fury. His lips tilted up at the corners. “I love when you
look at me like that. All heat.”
“All murder,” I corrected.
He shrugged. “I'll take what I can get. I find you cute when you're
murderous.”
He was so disdainful of Arren's life. I couldn't stand it.
I slapped him, the sound echoing through the quiet garden breaking the
burble of the fountain and the distant roar of the ocean.
He touched his lip, which had begun to bleed slightly. His long tongue
started out and licked across his lip, tasting the blood. His tongue was
supernaturally long. He wasn't wearing the bone crown today, as he tried to
blend in, but there were still traces of his monstrous appearance. Now that I
knew what I was looking for, I could see faint ridges of horns.
Had people known what he would grow into? Was that why they had
called him monster from the time he was a child?
“You were a dragon too.” I said softly.
“A monster,” he corrected. “It's only now that you all try to dress it up
as something different than what it truly is. But we are all monsters.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“No, I'll speak for you, too. Because I see you as you truly are, Honor.
Even though you are unwilling to see yourself. You're so desperate to
rewrite reality, and that is what makes your lips so poisoned.”
He ran his thumb over my lower lip.
I should have shied away, but I didn't. Heat seemed to crackle between
us as he studied me with those terrible dark eyes.
“Is this pretty mouth poisoned today?” he said, almost to himself. “I'm
sure it's always poisoned.”
I grabbed his wrist and yanked his fingers from my lips. “It doesn't
matter whether these lips are poisoned or not. They are not for you.”
“Then why do you want me so badly, Honor? I can smell your arousal.
Your juices are dripping down your leg. You always want me. It's obvious
in your dreams.”
 “It's obvious in your dreams. You're dreaming as much as I am. More
so, because you will never have me. That poison kiss is the only kiss you'll
ever get from me. I only kissed you because I had to.” The angry words
spilled out, lie after lie piling up rapidly between us. But he deserved them
all. He didn't deserve to know how much I desired him. And he certainly
didn't deserve to know how much it had hurt me to betray him.
“I'll have all the kisses I want from you.” His dark eyes smoldered.
“And you'll beg to give them to me.”
I went to transform, to stamp him into the ground, but as soon as I
started to shift, he wrapped his hands around my wrists and yanked me into
his body. Somehow my ability to shift died when he touched me.
He should have smelled like rot, like old bones in the crown he wore,
but he didn't. He smelled like cinnamon and earth.
His lips descended on mine, kissed me hard, stealing my breath.
I wanted to keep kissing him. I shoved him away. “I wish my lips were
poisoned!”
But when I tried to push him away, I had only bared my throat in this
plunging gown. Suddenly his hand wrapped my shoulder, and his lips
pressed against my throat. I thought he was biting me, and I let out a
scream. My magic tingled across my skin, pooling just under the surface,
until I felt tight and ready to explode.
But it was not pain that flowed through me. When his teeth met my
throat, it was sheer, sharp pleasure. My core throbbed with desire; my toes
curled in my slippers. I wanted to press myself to him.
For a split second, I was inside Zehr’s head, seeing the way he saw me.
The way my lips parted, the way my eyes half-closed as if I were lost in
sensation, the red curls falling down my neck. Emotions pulsed along with
the image.
Desire. Anger. Lust. Longing. Hurt.
Loneliness. That one was stark and dangerous and all consuming, and it
bit.
My magic blasted out of me in a flare of fiery sparks. Zehr flew halfway
across the garden, slamming onto his back. For a long second, he lay there
groaning.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rapid-beating heart. Then I
strode toward Zehr.
 He climbed to his feet and brushed himself off, smiling, looking self-
satisfied. Though when he took a step toward me, he limped.
“It isn't fair that everyone else gets to mark you, and yet you get to hide
how you feel for me. You pretend it's just my twisted dreams. Well, is that a
dream, love?”
I took a step forward, ready to tear him apart. My fingers tingled with
power.
He melted back into the shadows.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty

H onor

I t took me long seconds to realize he had marked me. His lips were burnt
onto my skin between Caldren’s mark and Jaik’s.
I was horrified. I’ve been marked by the Lord of the Scourge. I was due
back soon to train with Damyn.
But I had to find a way to hide this first. I couldn’t be seen like this.
Quickly, I debated how I could hide the marks I was wearing. I ended
up checking to make sure I was really alone in the garden—given Zehr’s
tendency to melt out of the shadows, I wasn’t sure I would ever feel like I
was truly safely alone again—and then I pulled off the inner lining of my
skirt, fashioning it into a slightly hideous Scarf. If Jaik were right, I
supposed if anyone did see, they’d soon be wearing my styles. The thought
of being seen by anyone filled me with dread, but at least it hid the marks.
Of course, if Branok and Lynx had gone with me, I had no doubt they
would have noticed my fashion and both mocked me and uncovered my
secret.
But it was Talisyn who had the unlucky–for him–duty of guiding me
back to the academy and making sure I didn’t get kidnapped.
Honestly, at the moment, being a hostage seems like the better option
compared to facing Jaik while I was wearing the Lord of the Scourge’s
mark.
He’d been trying so hard not to be possessive lately. This was definitely
going to be beyond his capacity.
I made it back to the Academy, then changed into my training tunic and
leggings. I normally wore one of the guys’ oversized tunics, but I picked up
my own, more fitted garment, because of the higher neckline.
When I glanced in the mirror, I couldn’t see the mark. But my face
looked horribly guilty.
How had he been able to mark me?
He had hurt Arren. What did his mark say about me? He claimed the
two of us were bound together. Was it true that I belonged to him, and he
belonged to me, in some strange way?
I could fight the magic…couldn’t I?
I felt as if I were getting a little bit undone. The last thing I wanted was
to draw more of Damyn’s attention by arriving late. I ran to meet him.
I hurried past other students and reached Damyn as he waited, leaning
against the railing around the arena. I pretended to watch the fighting, even
though the clashing of swords and shouts below barely penetrated my
racing thoughts.
Damyn asked, “So what new trouble from the monsters?”
His words shocked me.
“What?” My voice came out sharp.
Damyn turned to look at me, a frown puckering the skin between his
eyes. As I realized my mistake, his eyes seemed to capture far too much.
“The inquiry? What nonsense are the nobles up to?”
“Oh, they are the worst!” I exclaimed, and filled him in on every way
they had wronged Jaik. My initial anger and irritation flooded back in a
moment. I kept the conversation heated all the way to our secret training
area.
When the two of us were alone at the center of the thorns, he said
“Thank you for that exhaustive explanation of what happened at the
meeting. You’ve done Lynx proud.”
“Was I that boring?”
He shook his head. “I never find you boring, Honor. But I am curious
what you’re not telling me.”
I stared at him with wide abashed eyes. “I would be scared not to tell
you anything.”
 That was another, different truth, but I hadn’t meant to speak that one
either.
He let out a chuckle. “I like that.”
“You're not supposed to be proud of being scary.”
“Who says?” His gaze met mine evenly. “Now tell me what you're
hiding.”
“Maybe it's none of your business.”
“Oh, I doubt that very much. Keeping you and the other dragon Royals
as safe as possible, given who you are, is very much my business.”
“Damyn, I can have my own thoughts, my own life. Not everything ties
into some greater disaster.”
I'd found myself backing up, and now my shoulder blades bumped the
stone wall behind me.
“Last chance. I don't know what it is you're hiding, but I am starting to
have a very good idea of where you're hiding it.” His keen eyes seem to
take in my unusual choice of tunic.
He leapt forward, trapping me against the wall. I was highly tempted to
knee him in the dragon knight's most precious jewels. Then his hands were
on my throat, one of his big hands holding me there, and my breath seized.
The way he was touching me sent electricity skittering over my skin. I
hardly dared to breathe. I didn't want him to realize how I felt.
He ripped the neck of my tunic open, a few wayward buttons flying
away. I gritted my teeth, trying to quench the surge of lust that raced
through my core. Why couldn't he be ripping my clothing off in a fun way?
Why didn't Damyn see me like that?
He stared at the exposed mark and the handprint-shaped bruise Zehr had
left behind. Then his gaze rose to my face.
“The Lord of the Scourge marked you.” His tone was tight, furious.
The words fell like stones between us.
“Yes.” I admitted. “I don't know how.”
“Why the hell wouldn't you tell me? Why would you hide what he did
to you?” His hands dropped to my shoulders, tightened as if he wanted to
shake me. “Did Zehr hurt you?”
My chin lifted in the face of his shouting. “You’re hurting me.”
He pulled his hands away from my shoulders as if I’d burned him and
stepped back hastily. He didn’t apologize, though; he still looked furious.
 “You know damned well that this is indeed tied into some greater
disaster.”
I really didn't appreciate having my words of one minute ago thrown
back in my face.
“Because I'm ashamed,” I hadn't meant to say those words, and they
came out in a whisper.
Damyn stopped. All his stern fury melted away, leaving only the warm
eyed mentor in front of me. “Well, you don't have to be ashamed with me.
You can tell me anything.”
That was not true. I wanted to impress him, as impossible as it felt. I
definitely could not tell anyone all my inner thoughts and have them think I
was impressive at all.
“How can there be this bond between us? He hurt Arren. He’s a
monster... he says I'm a monster too.”
He seemed pensive. Then he said, “Because you're both Dragons.
Because when this curse was new, Dragons were considered monsters.”
I felt wounded. “How did you know? Why didn't you tell us?”
He shook his head. “I didn't know. It just fell into place now, looking at
you. Looking at this... bond.” He brushed his fingertips over the dark singed
mark on my skin. The handprint was fading, but Zehr’s mark on my skin
where he had bitten me still seemed intense, like a smudge of deep ash over
my skin.
“You are going to have to hide this. But... better than you did earlier
today.”
“You saw me in my gown?”
He nodded. “No one can know about this except the other dragon
Royals.”
I shook my head.
Damyn looked at me in exasperation, and I wished he would take two
steps back. Because even though he was looking at me as if I were a
ridiculous stubborn child, that charge between us felt intense to me when he
was in my personal space.

S ounding exasperated , he said, “You have a lot to learn about how

relationships work. I can't believe how often I find myself having to say this
lately. You have to be honest, even…especially…when you don't want to
be.”
I felt the summons thrum through my blood as he called to the other
Dragons. It seemed so much easier for him that it was for us.
Dread settled into my gut.
“If we're all supposed to be honest, then tell me something honest,
Damyn.”
He hesitated. “I can't think of anything to tell you that’s safe to say.”
“Do you trust me so little?”
“No, I don't trust myself. I should just see you as a student... a warrior.
A child I once failed to protect.”
“I'm not a child anymore.”
He seemed to freeze, his gaze locked on mine. It wasn't exactly an
invitation. He could have been freezing like prey.
But I couldn't resist. I stepped forward and brushed my lips tentatively
over his. I hoped to the gods that I hadn't misread the heat in his gaze.
For one terrible second, I thought I'd made a mistake.
Then suddenly his hands settled on my hips, and he kissed me back
hard.
He and I were still kissing when I heard voices and footsteps. The two
of us separated instantly.
I had so much I wanted to say. I had so much I wanted to ask him. But
we couldn't have time because the rest of the Royals joined us.
“Do I have to be honest with this many people at one time?” I asked
Damyn. “And are you sure you're obsessed with honesty at this particular
moment in time?”
Damyn shot me a severe look, so I obviously had a point. He wasn't
eager to discuss the way we just kissed with the dragon Royals. I yanked
the front of my tunic closed before they could reach us.
The dragon Royals were obviously curious about why they had been
summoned. Damyn turned to me and crossed his arms over his broad chest,
giving me a nod.
He was asking me to do something so difficult and all he did was nod at
me. I resisted the impulse to stick my tongue out at him. “Zehr was waiting
for me in the castle.”
In another room, with other occupants, the room probably would have
exploded into questions and shouting and emotion.
 Instead, the room went deep quiet, the quiet of predator and prey when
they spotted each other. They waited for me to explain, listening intently.
And so I did. It was bothering me now that I realized Zehr could have
targeted anyone, at anytime.
So why had he only targeted Arren?
“I don’t know how he could…” I floundered instead of being able to say
the words mark me. Instead, I drew the neck of my tunic open, revealing the
dark mark that burned on my skin.
Jaik’s and Caldren’s marks had glowed at first and still carried a faint
magical sheen. They had changed, over time, from wounds to looking like
vivid tattoos.
But Zehr’s mark was a dark blotch, like poison under my skin.
“He did that to you?” Jaik’s voice was tight.
“Yes.” My voice came out a whisper I could barely hear.
Jaik nodded. He looked as if he were trying to take it in, and then he
suddenly turned and stalked away, as if he were looking for something to
damage.
Branok stared at me, an unfriendly, questioning look on his face, the one
I imagined his enemies saw before an interrogation. Talisyn gave me a look
as if he wanted to comfort me, then gave up and went after Jaik. From the
distant sound, Jaik had found a wall to punish for my sins.
Then Lynx was at my side, pulling me into his arms. “Does it hurt?” he
asked softly.
“No.” The mark pulsed, and burned, and called. But it didn’t hurt.
“Don’t you have to want the mark?” Branok’s voice was caustic. “So
how does that work, Honor Hannaby?”
Lynx turned to face his brother, his big shoulders blocking me from
Branok. “Brother?”
“What?” Branok asked.
“Shut up.”
Lynx wrapped his arm around my shoulders protectively. To Damyn, he
said quietly, “I know you think you’re our teacher. But that wasn’t the right
way.”
Damyn gave me a look I couldn’t read, and I had a hundred questions I
longed to ask him.
But I let Lynx pull me away.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-One

H onor

T hat night , Lynx curled up with me, stroking my hair and being with me
quietly.
Jaik came into our room and undressed at the foot of the bed. He tossed
his tunic into the hamper–I had civilized my men in that regard–and turned
toward me, shirtless and irresistable as usual.
“I’m sorry,” he said abruptly.
The words startled me.
“I’m sorry too. I don’t understand…”
“We’ll figure it out together.” He sank onto the edge of the bed, giving
me a rueful look. “And I’ll figure out, eventually, how not to be such an
asshole.”
He leaned over and kissed me, his lips tender.
When I looked up, Branok stood in the doorway. “Can his apology
count for me too?”
“I think I need to hear it,” I said. “You can use the practice.”
Branok rolled his eyes and came over to me. He held out his hand,
which dripped with gold and jewels; an elaborate necklace was threaded
through his long fingers.
“My apology,” he said.
 “Branok,” Jaik warned.
“Fine. I’m sorry. But take the necklace, will you? I thought of you, and I
need to see you wearing it.”
I sat up, and Lynx curled up behind me, so I leaned into his arms. Bran
heaved a sigh and sat beside me. Lynx gathered my hair, raising it so
Branok could slide the necklace around my throat; Jaik leaned over to latch
it.
I did my best to hide my smile, but I didn’t think I succeeded.
“Ah, there it is,” Branok said, and leaned over to kiss the corner of my
mouth. “You do forgive me.”
“Far more often than you deserve,” I said loftily, as if I didn’t feel I
needed forgiveness just as much.
And as they lay around me, all three needing to touch me, I knew I too
had forgiveness… more than I deserved.
The next morning was day two of the inquiry. I was dying to talk to
Damyn, but he seemed to be ignoring me now or perhaps, actively avoiding
me. For someone who was all about being honest he seemed to be having
his own internal conflict about what to do after kissing me.
And he had kissed me back. I was sure of it.
Jaik wore his father’s crown again, his posture perfect even though he
cursed when he slid it over his dark hair.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s heavy,” he said, then glanced away and muttered, “And it’s his.”
“You and your father are nothing alike,” I said quietly.
“I wish that were true,” he answered.
I fixed his crown, although once I’d touched it, it felt warm in my hands
and I noticed how beautiful it was. Diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and a
milky-white jewel I’d never seen before were buried in the fine goldwork.
“What’s this?” I asked, touching the stone lightly. “Opal?”
“Mm? I don’t know.” He caught my wrist and tugged my hand to his
chest, looking down at me seriously. “Thank you for being by my side,
Honor. I know it’s all awful.”
“I’ll always be by your side,” I promised, and he kissed me tenderly.
I looked up at him hopefully, and he laughed. “Not a chance.”
T hat night , I dragged the girls up to my room, where a dozen new dresses
hung along the walls. “I think we can make these fit,” I said, spreading my
arms to show Calla, Ellie and June my new finery. “Pick whatever you
like.”
As new students at the academy, they were welcome to the ball too.
“We can’t take these,” Calla said, although her fingers traced lightly
over the pretty beading on the bodice of a red dress.
“I think you can,” I disagreed, slipping my own purple dress over my
head. “Take it as payment for lacing me into this thing.”
Calla cast a disapproving look. “I know corsets are awful, but that
dress…”
“Needs a corset. I know, I don’t care.”
“You’ll look beautiful anyway,” Calla said, even though we both knew
my waist would look far wider than any other eligible unmarried noble girl
tonight.
I shrugged. My men loved me anyway. I didn’t need to be perfect.
That empowered sentiment lasted about twenty minutes into the ball.
Talisyn stood at one end of the room, his smile brighter than the
sparkling lights. Girls clustered around him. Lenora said something quietly
to him, and he threw back his head and laughed, his grin gorgeous and
infectious. The dimples in his cheeks made me wish I could still kiss them.
Then Tal met my eyes, and a guilty look came over his face. I was
embarrassed I'd been caught staring at him, but I couldn't make sense of the
way he’d just looked at me.
I waved at him, casually, and smiled as if it were nothing. Just friends.
I should have worn the damn corset.
He cut through the girls, who tried to hook him back with smiles and
teasing words. But I was already slipping into the crowd. I couldn’t. I
couldn’t deal with the layers of pain between Tal and me tonight. I needed a
break.
I all but collided with Lynx. In a second, he’d wrapped his arms around
me and the two of us were dancing. I rested one hand lightly on his muscled
bicep and hid my face in his jacket, and he bent his head down to whisper in
my ear.
“I’m right here,” he said softly. “I’ll dance with you all night.”
The thought made tears rise to my eyes. “Thanks for coming to my
rescue.”
 “Almost as many times as you come to mine,” Lynx said, and I smiled,
although it felt fragile. He was looking at me fondly. “You look beautiful
tonight, by the way.”
“I don’t think purple is my color.”
“I think it better be now.”
Lynx and I danced, and he told me highly questionable gossip about all
the nobles at the party, until I was laughing.
Calla and Ellie were standing by a seven-tier tray of little cakes, doing
their best to put away an entire bakery’s worth of confections. They looked
miserable, which was not the way anyone should look with access to that
much cake.
“I’ll come find you again soon,” I promised Lynx.
“Already, you don’t need me anymore,” he said lightly, then kissed my
cheek and let me go.
I made my way toward the girls, but then I overheard, “—and I don’t
see why Joachim or Gorion couldn’t be king.”
I tried to look around as if I were trying to find someone, a faint smile
fixed on my lips as if I weren’t eavesdropping on an unpleasant
conversation. Calla saw me, though, and her face brightened. She made her
way toward me, and I smiled back even though I wanted to keep listening.
I’d heard there were loyalists to Joachim and Gorion about, but that was
different from hearing that anyone wanted to overthrow Jaik and see them
on the throne. Just as I knew Caldren had rebels who wanted to see him
take the entire north and deplace Jaik, but that was different than seeing one
of them try to murder him.
“Jaik is the right choice,” one of the speakers disagreed, and I finally
caught a glimpse of them, a knot of wolf shifters standing in one corner of
the room. It was a group of five, three men and two women, all lithely
muscled with shining hair.
“As long as it’s not Talisyn,” one of them said, and a few laughed.
“Would he even remember he was king?”
“Oh, that’s not what would worry me. But Teris was a thug no matter
how many people called him lord.”
“Teris only cared about power, though. Talisyn’s much more well-
rounded. He wants power and pussy.”
There was laughter.
 “Tal is different.” I hadn’t been invited to the conversation, but I
stepped into it anyway.
I spoke over a female shifter who had started to say something else
about Tal, but who suddenly snapped her mouth shut. “And how dare you
mock the dragon royals in their own house.”
“Not your house,” one of them said, raising a glass toward me. His
cheeks were pink and I realized they were already heavily under the
influence of the magical wine. “Nor will it ever be.”
“I didn’t realize the magical wine made people stupid,” I said
pleasantly. Then my voice hardened as I added, “Get out.”
“You can’t order us out,” he said with a laugh. “I’m the heir to the
dukedom of—”
I considered whether or not I could eviscerate someone at a party.
Probably bad manners.
Then a hand settled on my shoulder, and a familiar, spicy scent washed
over me. Tal.
“Heir? Heir to what?” Talisyn asked lightly. “Your family’s wealth has
been steadily turning from gold to drugs from the spice kingdom to nothing
but burnt-up brain cells in some pathetic reverse alchemy. I’m not sure how
exciting it is to inherit a dukedom when you’re also inheriting hand-me-
down suits from last season.”
Tal gestured lazily at the man’s suit, and the shifter sniffed.
“I believe the lady told you to leave,” Talisyn said, his tone just as
breezy as before. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, but he was
dangerous enough they all edged away.
Tal flickered them off with a wave of his fingers.
He looked at me, and I wasn’t sure what he would say.
“Punch?” he asked.
“I think you gave enough of those to Lucien Finn.”
He groaned. “You’re pretty, Honor, but I’m not sure you’re pretty
enough to make up for those bad jokes.”
“Hey,” I protested. Then I touched his arm—just to soften my departure,
to make sure we were on good terms, but when I touched him, I felt a glow
of warmth through my body, my stomach rising like when I flew. I
managed, “I’ve got to get back to Calla and June.”
“Stay out of trouble.”
 I shrugged one shoulder—no promises—and the dozen bangles on my
wrist clattered together. I wasn’t stealthy tonight. I left him behind and
headed to Calla.
“Are you alright?” she said quietly.
“Perfect,” I said. “Tal and I are friends.”
She gave me a knowing look, but she also knew enough not to say
anything.
As I sample a few cakes myself, Calla gave me a sideways glance. “It’s
easier without the corset, isn’t it?”
“Much.” I looked down at the chocolate cake in my hand, feeling more
than a little tempted to dab some frosting on Jaik if I got the chance. I was
feeling nostalgic, and he’d looked quite dashing even dressed in frosting on
the day we met.
Tal was making his way across the dance floor when Lenora stopped
him with a hand on his arm. I shouldn’t watch, and I turned my back to talk
to Calla. Before I turned, I saw his glaze flicker toward me, as if he wasn’t
sure what to do when the two of us were in the same room. Gods, this was
awkward.
Lenora seemed nice on the surface, but I could never shake the feeling it
was all a polished act. To Calla, I said, “I’m being completely irrational if I
hate her, aren’t I?”
Calla didn’t even pretend she wasn’t aware I was watching. “No,” she
lied loyally. “She’s not good enough for him, and he’ll always love you.”
I laughed, the sound hollow. “But he doesn’t.”
A few minutes later, the two of them had reached the wine. He handed
her a glass, and she bobbed up on her toes, as I had a thousand times, and
kissed him on the cheek. It felt like someone had ripped open my gut.
He looked uncertain, and then her gaze found mine. The full beaming
brightness of her smile felt aimed at me.
Tal's face changed. He caught Lenora’s hand and tugged her toward
him, and she turned that smile on him, looking delighted.
Then Tal demanded, “What did Honor do to you?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re being cruel to her on purpose.”
Tal had said exactly what I was thinking. It felt like a shock through my
system to have him see that. To have him defend me.
She frowned. “No.”
 She turned and caught me gawking openly. I tried to disappear behind
my glass as her gaze flickered to Tal’s. “I can’t help it that she’s always
watching you, mooning over you—”
“To be fair,” Tal interrupted with his usual easy smile, “I’m always
watching her, too. And I always will be.”
He sounded blasé, his usual self, but then he pushed past her.
Abruptly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me away down the hall. He
pulled me into the refuge of one of the curtained alcoves around the
ballroom.
He was looking at me strangely. “What?” I demanded. I was reeling
from the way he just reacted so protectively. “What do you want me to
say?”
I hoped like hell he would tell me because I had no idea what to say to
him right now.
“I need my memories back,” he said, his voice rough with emotion in a
way it would never be in a crowded ballroom.
“Why?” I started to ask, but he had already grabbed me and clutched me
tight.
His lips descended on mine. I was too stunned to respond at first as his
lips brushed mine. Then my lips parted, welcoming him in. I’d just begun to
kiss him back as he pulled back.
He tucked the hair back behind my ear, then smiled down at me.
Affection lit his gaze.
Tal was coming back to me.
My heart surged with relief. But I needed to hear the words. “Why
would you tell her off?”
“I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Honor. Not on purpose, anyway. I
know I hurt you the last few months.” His lips twisted.
“It doesn't matter,” I said. All that mattered now was that he was here
and he was mine.
The two of us kept trading kisses. He kissed me slowly, tenderly, his lips
nudging mine open. I kissed his full lower lip, traced the tip of my tongue
along the seam of his mouth. His knee slid between my thighs so he could
draw me even closer, and his lips nuzzled my throat.
His hands skimmed my body, sliding the satiny fabric of my dress down
my shoulders until he ran into the lacing on the bodice. “I’m not untying all
that,” he said.
 “You’d better not. I bet you’d tie it up wrong and I’d be a
laughingstock,” I said, because clearly I was so concerned with propriety
when I was kissing him in a closet.
We traded long, slow kisses, our tongues dancing against each others
until my body was on fire.
I pulled away, gasping. For a second, we stared at each other. I could
feel the stupid grin written across my face, so big it hurt, and I saw it
mirrored back to me on Tal’s handsome face.
“I wonder why that moment brought your memories back,” I mused.
“You put your hand on my shoulder just like that when I was a maid. When
people were mocking me.”
He looked at me in confusion. “Honor… I still don't remember.”
The floor reeled out from underneath my shoes.
“Ah,” I said, and managed a smile. “All right. It doesn’t matter.”
I’d said those words just a few minutes before, but it really did matter.
I took a step back toward the curtains, and he took a step forward too.
“Honor…” he began.
“It was lovely, Tal. Thank you for the…” I stumbled, trying to find a
word, then managed, “Memory.”
And then I fled.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Two

J aik

I tried to avoid dancing with any of the annoying girls constantly trying to
catch my attention. It was a relief to see Damyn making his way through the
crowd, although from the grim look on his face, he carried trouble.
“I’m sorry, I have to attend some business even now.” I put my hand on
the arm of one of the bright-eyed girls crowding me and gently pushed her
aside, moving to meet Damyn. She kept chattering plans and aiming smiles
at me until her voice faded into the crowd.
“You’re not drinking?” I asked him.
“I don’t need the wine. I don’t carry grudges,” he said. “I kill or I get
over it.”
“And is there anyone in need of killing at the moment?”
He beckoned me back away from the crowd. Quietly, he told me, “That
inquiry wasn’t the end of the rebellion amongst the nobles. There’s an awful
lot of muttering about Joachim taking the throne.”
“Of course,” I said. “Change feels dangerous to those in power.”
“I don’t care how it feels,” he said bluntly. “It’s still treason. Worst of
all, I question the loyalty of the other dragon knights.”
Fuck. We were pressed by Caldren’s rebels to the south and the
possibility of an outright coup here in the north. “The dragon knights are
the best chance of ending a coup–unless they side with Joachim.”
 “I’m going to the dragon knights’ Isle, and I’ll bring them to your side,
if they can be reasoned with,” Damyn promised. “And I’ll deal with them
otherwise.”
“You should bring backup,” I said.
He shook his head. “You need to keep your grip on the throne. You
can’t leave, and you can’t spare anyone.”
“I don’t like sending you alone,” I said.
“I’ve been alone for a long time,” Damyn said. “I’ll be fine.”
He clapped my shoulder and disappeared into the crowd before I could
argue. I stared after him, feeling that I might be king, but Damyn had just
given the orders.
Branok sauntered up to me, carrying crystal glasses. I thought he might
offer me one, but he took one last sip from one, then went to work draining
the other. Apparently his interest in looking after me didn't include making
sure I had a good time. It was still early and I knew eventually, we'd all be
losing our minds.
“Slow down,” I told him. “I know it's traditional for everyone to lose
their senses tonight, but I'd like it if you attempted to keep some of yours
around you. For once.”
He raised both now empty classes toward me. “Sorry, but I need
something to tolerate the morbid curiosity I feel about what Honor and
Talisyn are doing behind the curtains.” he nodded toward one of the few
alcoves where the curtains weren't pinned back, and a surge of jealousy shot
through me.
The next second, I tried to wrestle it under control. After all, they both
needed each other, and it would be a good thing if Tal and Honor had found
their way back to each other. “I’m happy for them.”
But did they have to do that finding in the middle of my ballroom, when
everyone knew how I felt about Honor? “I was beginning to think he'd
never get his memories back.”
Honor suddenly pushed her way out from behind the heavy curtains.
Her lips were pressed together, high color in her cheeks. She looked furious.
I was very familiar with that look.
“I don't think he did,” Branok said and my blood immediately ran cold.
All the jealousy faded away in an instant, replaced with worry for her and
for him.
 I headed to cut her off. When she made eye contact with me, I raised my
hand to gesture her to wait for me.
She immediately cut to the left and tried to disappear into the crowd. So
she was about as pliant as ever. It was a good thing obedience wasn't
something I needed in my queen, only in my subjects.
I caught up to Honor, but Talisyn was right on her heels too. She
stopped and swung around to face both of us, her face exasperated. “I don't
want to talk to either of you!”
“That's a pity, because I want to talk to you.” I caught her wrist, before
she could escape, my fingers sliding over all the bracelets she was wearing.
I was furious at Talisyn, and now at Honor too. “This is no conversation
to have publicly.”
“This is no conversation to have at all,” Honor corrected. “This is none
of your business, Jaik.”
“Nonsense,” Branok insisted as he arrived. “I think it's all of our
business. We all care about you too. Watching the two of you fall apart has
been painful.”
Honor threw up her hands. “It's not as if there's anything we can do
about it. Nothing brings his memories back.”
Tal looked guilt-stricken, and Branok clapped his shoulder and pushed
him toward the door, sweeping him along with us.
I shepherded all of them out of the ballroom and into a smaller room
behind the throne room for private meetings. Lynx joined us along the way.
“It's not a good look for the king and his... advisors... To be arguing in
front of everyone.” I had stumbled over the word advisors because at the
moment, I wouldn't take advice from any one of them.
“Would you just tell Tal that he doesn't have to keep trying so hard?”
Honor flung her arms toward Talisyn, who looked guilty and miserable.
“He's still going to be one of us even if he doesn't love me. He's not trying
to fall back in love with me because he wants me. He's doing it because he
doesn't want to lose you.”
“That's not true,” Talisyn protested. “I want both.” His voice softened.
“You’re my friend, Honor. I have enjoyed getting to know you again. I can
see why people find you lovable. I feel happy when you walk into the room,
because I know you'll make me laugh. I just hate the way when we're
together, it seems like everything I do hurts you.”
She stared up at him. “Tal...”
 “Of course Tal’s not going to lose us,” I said. “We’re all stuck together
anyway. Believe me, I've thought about how I could escape.”
“You can say that,” Tal said, “but the truth is, you all have your life with
her, and that's a good thing, but it doesn't leave any room for me.”
I shook my head. “We will find a way.”
Tal looked at me a little sadly. “You're usually the one who is all
practical, Jaik. But... this time you want a dream more than you want to face
reality.”
“Excuse me?” I demanded.
“It's time I go,” Talisyn offered us a pained martyr’s smile that made me
want to punch him. “It's not forever. There have to be other ways that we
could stop the Scourge. I'm going to go find them.”
Before we could argue, a servant knocked on the door. The door swung
open and Damyn shoved in from behind him.
“You can go,” Damyn said brusquely to the servant, which wasn't like
him. But I understood why the next moment, as he shut the door, turned to
us, and said, “Arren has escaped.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Three

H onor

W e made our way , smiling, through the crowd. Then we ran from the
castle back to the Academy, our hearts pounding.
“Honor, go change.” Jaik told me.
I shook my head. I was the one who was best able to calm Arren down.
I wasn't going to miss a second of their time down there. What if they
needed me? What if... The thought made my breath catch in my throat.
What if they killed Arren while I was upstairs changing?
He cursed and said, “Then stay behind me.”
All of us grabbed swords from the armory. As Jaik drew a long, bright
blade, he told Damyn, “You’re needed on the Isle. We can handle this.”
Damyn gave him a hard look. “Can you?”
Jaik nodded. “Send… send some of your knights.”
I didn’t like the look that passed between them. Then Damyn turned and
was gone.
We reached the basement, where Arren’s cage was broken open. He
must have been able to transform. Glittering shreds of dragonsbane lay on
the floor alongside his chains. The tunnels were vast. He could have gone
anywhere.
 “Do you think he remembers how to travel through the tunnels? Where
they all end up?” Lynx asked me.
“I don't know.” It was hard to tell what he remembered, and he also
seemed to change from hour to hour, in terms of how human he was…or
wasn't.
“I had them all sealed,” Jaik said. “He can't have gone that far. He'll run
into a barrier.”
As if to punctuate those words, a sudden roar reverberated through the
tunnels.
Jaik dispatched us hurriedly, all of us moving through the tunnels. We
couldn't fight in the tunnels as Dragons easily, and I think we were all
worried about what we might do to Arren with the slight loss of control we
all had when we were Dragons. Our protective impulses towards each other
might overwhelm the protectiveness we felt toward him, when he was such
a threat.
I found myself moving with Talisyn down a tunnel.
“We’ve been here before. None of this will feel familiar to you, I
guess.” I said.
“I don't think this is the time for this conversation,” Tal said. “I'm going
to get out of here. So you don't have to see me all the time… I can tell it
hurts.”
He sounded sorry about that. That was the worst part.
“Yeah, that's the kind of stuff that makes it hurt. The way you're such a
kind man, and yet you keep doing stupid things.”
His gaze snapped over to me, just for a second before it returned to the
hallway. The two of us moved through the narrow hall, so close that we had
to walk shoulder to shoulder. I couldn't imagine how Arren was moving
through here if he had transformed into a dragon.
“You know it's stupid to leave,” I said. “Everyone wants you here.”
“And I thought I could do the best by my friends by staying here. But
now I think... There's other things I could do. I could track down Gorion
and Joachim. I could find out what they know about the Scourge. They
created it. Maybe they know how to stop it from taking Arren.” He
squeezed his eyes shut.
A tic jumped in his jaw; it was so dark I almost missed it. Tal seemed as
upset as I felt. But why, when he didn’t feel anything for me? Was it just
that fear that we’d all move on without him?
 I’d have been terrified. The Royals were a mess, but they were an
alluring, intriguing mess. I couldn’t imagine life without them.
“Anyway,” he said. “You don't really want me here. Not without my
memories.”
The memories of going through this tunnel with Tal when I was
supposed to be Lucian Finn pressed in on me. And then I asked, “You said
you don’t remember Lucian, right?”
He shook his head. “I think I'm missing big gaps. I think...” he glanced
away, a faint blush heating his cheeks. “I think I was so in love with you, in
both your forms...”
The words seemed to be wrung from his soul. A familiar knot pressed
against my throat, making it hard for me to respond.. He was right that
seeing him every day was all pain for me.
Then, we caught a glimpse of movement at the end of the corridor. Tal
and I exchanged a quick glance then sprinted toward it. My heart hammered
in my chest.
It was one thing to face a monster. It was another thing to face a
monster that you couldn't kill, a monster that was bound up with the man
you love.
The monster was gone. But we almost stumbled over bones.
As the two halls converged, we found ourselves all reunited.
I stared down at the bones. “These are old. From when... I was trapped
down here with the hybrid.”
It felt as if these tunnels deep underneath the Academy, deep underneath
the city, were swallowing me up. My breath came a little shorter.
Jaik and Branok exchanged a look.
“I'm sorry for what we did to you when you were Lucien Finn,” Jaik
said carefully. I hated the thought that I was so obvious to them, that they
could all see I was fighting panic at being trapped down here with a
monster. The situation brought up too many memories pressing against me
like fingers in the darkness.
“I used to just feel badly about it because it was you inside, and I never
want to hurt you,” Jaik said, “but now I realized I was just being an asshole,
no matter who it was. Just because it was tradition, just because it was done
to me, didn't mean I had to do it to you.”
He looked so genuinely sorrowful in the flickering fire light that he held
in his palm, which cast shadows over his handsome face.
 “It's alright,” I said, and I meant it. For the first time, I felt like I could
really forgive them.
“And anyway,” Talisyn said, “you're not trapped down here with a
monster. The monster is trapped down here with us.”
Another growl went up, reverberating through the ground beneath our
feet, close.
I tried to give my friends the slip, thinking that if I could get to Arren
alone, I could calm him in ways that they would never let me attempt when
they were there to assess the risk for me. But there was no getting away
from my men. They were so determined to protect me.
We finally turned a corner, and the sound of breathing—alien, not quite
right—made us all startle. I dashed forward before any of them could stop
me, and found Arren almost lost to the shadows.
Arren’s enormous shoulders were hunched. His face was hidden by his
hands, which were covered in scales, which ended in talons—almost like
when he was a dragon.
“It’s alright,” I said, touching his shoulder gently. My hands always
shook when I touched him, but I smiled anyway. “We’re here. We love
you.”
His shoulders heaved.
Then suddenly, he was on his feet. He moved so quickly that I stumbled
back, unable to hide my fear, and he lunged toward me and roared in my
face.
“Get back,” Jaik shouted at all of us, stepping forward. Then he
transformed, filling the tunnel, his wings scraping against the stone. It must
hurt him, having so little room to maneuver, but he lurched forward.
I couldn’t see beyond Jaik, but I heard both of them growling and
roaring and the tunnel shook around us, bits of dust and debris falling
around us. Lynx reached out and gripped my hand.
When he transformed back and we could see again, Arren lay on the
ground. For a second I thought he was dead. I rushed forward and found his
pulse, saw his chest shudder with his breath.
Jaik looked grim-faced. As he turned away, a faint sheen of tears rose in
his eyes. He hadn't wanted to hurt his friend. He had taken the lead so that
none of us would be responsible if the dragon who brought Arren down lost
control and killed him.
 My heart ached. For Jaik, for Arren, for Tal. For all of us. For what it
cost to be a dragon royal, even though no one else saw the sacrifices.
By the time we'd carried him back to the main part of the basement, a
new cage had been erected, with new chains.
And it would certainly hold Arren for now, while he was unconscious.
But how long could we go on like this?

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Four

H onor

I t was horrible to have to go back to the glittering throne room and pretend
as if everything was fine, knowing Arren was still unconscious in the
basement far below the academy and knowing how upset Jaik and the
others were. But they immediately seemed to begin to try to blow off some
steam, drinking.
It was strange to watch my men move through the crowd, where every
woman seemed to watch them and every man seemed to want to be them. I
knew they had enemies among the court. After all, there had been an
attempt to assassinate Jaik, and an inquiry to try to force Jaik to act. But the
admiration or fear—whichever—when people looked at them seemed real.
The magical wine made us all increasingly lose our inhibitions and feel
forgiving toward each other. Quickly, I realized how many people were
slinking off to the alcoves. A lot of spouses apparently had things to forgive
each other for, and were very interested in celebrating that forgiveness.
I caught Tal looking at me strangely.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “I was just thinking about the way you leapt to
defend me.”
 “That's what friends do. You did it for me. You defended me when
Lenora was being a bitch.”
Tal inclined his head. “I guess friendships are complicated... I just
thought it was nice.”
The two of us shared a smile, and it felt like there was something secret
and intimate in that smile.
Then he moved on, and I pretended to as well, going to find my friends
again. But they rapidly begged off, saying they were going to go hide in the
servants’ quarters. They invited me along for spiked tea and cards and the
chance to give them my money, and I wished with everything I had that I
could go with them. I needed a rest.
But I stayed for my men.
Jaik, who was normally so stiff spined and perfect, was getting a little
bit drunk, and it was adorable.
Drunk is not a cute look for most nobles, who become even more
belligerent and entitled with a bit of alcohol. But Jaik was always so tightly
wired that I found his sillier side charming.
He was still regal, he just wasn't acting quite like normal Jaik. The two
of us danced around and around the ballroom, and he ignored anyone who
tried to cut in.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, staring down at my face.
“So are you,” I smiled up at him blurrily. His face was a little blurry,
handsome as it was. The alcoholic magic was working its magic on me too.
But I'd already seen Jaik make up with some of the same nobles that--
from what I'd heard-- he had humiliated earlier in the inquiry to squash their
little rebellion.
Then the doors opened, and half a dozen knights, all dressed in shining
armor, tall and muscled, strode in as if they owned the place.
The dragon Knights had arrived.
Suddenly I realized they were there to make sure Arren was dead before
morning. Before he could escape again.
And with a devastated heart, I realized that my men were just trying to
distract themselves before that dark sunrise.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Five

H onor

I hadto get to Arren and get him to safety.

He'd torn loose his chains for one reason I knew. He wanted to get to
Zehr. He had spoken of that longing. He'd been afraid of that longing.
But he would be safe there.
And we hadn't been successful in finding any way to stop the Scourge
from taking over Arren. If Zehr had the ability to help, I needed to go with
Arren. I needed to win over Zehr.
I might not be Zehr’s favorite person at the moment, but it was obvious
he wanted something from me too. I could negotiate with him.
I knew I couldn't breathe a word of any of that plan to my men. So I
slipped out to find my friends.
The three of them were in the servants quarters, having shed their
gowns like pretty snakeskins. They were wearing their soft cotton
nightgowns and drinking tea while they discussed the evening and-- quite
gleefully-- chattered about the various bad behavior they'd seen from
royalty.
I had no doubt that if I stayed and eavesdropped I would hear about my
own bad behavior.
“I need help,” I said as I stepped into the room.
 They cast one look over me, still with my hair dressed in that elaborate
style but half of it had fallen out romping with Talisyn, my makeup
smushed and my dress destroyed from fighting in the tunnels.
“What do you need?” Calla asked. “and... does it mean I have to put my
corset back on?”
“No. Please don't.” Corsets were terrible for fighters.
“What about a bra?” she asked, still skeptically.
Calla always made it clear exactly how she felt about her friendship.
She adored me, her first impulse was always to ride by my side, but she also
wanted to know how often I was going to require her to wear a bra.
“Is that really all you're concerned about? Because I'm worried I'm
going to get you guys in trouble with what I ask next.”
June laughed. “We know that you're going to get us in trouble. We're not
new here.”
But they went with me anyway.
The three girls and I slipped down the halls. The door to the basement
was guarded, but we didn’t go down that hall.
Instead, we unapologetically broke into Branok's room and went
searching through his potions.
The girls were a little bit distracted.
“I can't believe we're on the dragons’ floor for something besides
cleaning their rooms,” Calla whispered.
Ellie looked at the rows of potions in glass bottles and folded her hands
in front of her as if she were afraid she’d break something. “I think I'd
rather be cleaning.”
June turned to me. “How come there are no sketches or portraits of you
in here?”
“Because Branok is still debating how much he’ll admit he loves me,” I
answered lightly.
A deep male voice from the doorway made us all freeze. “Honor, the
only thing I ever debate about how I love you is this: is there some chance
of survival or if I should just hurl myself into a wall of Scourge now and
save us all the trouble?”
My gaze snapped to the doorway, which Branok leaned against, his
hands in his pockets.
“You disabled my herectus spell and my saevientes poena spell, but you
forgot?” he tilted his brows up at me.
 Gods, he looked smug.
Gods, he looked handsome.
Gods, why was I always so attracted to him he was always so very both.
“I didn’t know about the stultus spell.” I finished, taking a guess.
He smiled at me. “I'll never tell. I like feeling the tug on my magic that
lets me know you invaded my room. And you brought friends.” He swept
his predatorial gaze over my friends, who had frozen. We really needed to
work on their instinct to play dead in the face of the mildest danger.
“I realize tonight has been a night of lowered inhibitions. Honor, is this
your way of telling me you'd like to play with more than just my friends and
me?”
“Gods, no. I'm not sure I even want to play with you all.” My intent had
been to make a light, breezy joke, but I was so angry at the realization they
planned to kill Arren in the morning. I understood why. That did nothing to
cool my sense of betrayal.
I wasn't angry at Branok and Lynx and Jaik so much as I was angry at
this situation. I was terrified by the thought I might not manage to stop
them.
I still clung to optimism about Arren’s future, even if I understood why
they couldn't feel that way.
Branok pushed off the wall and sauntered over to where I was going
through his belongings. He had a lot of playing cards and dice in jars, all
labeled with the potion with which they've been treated.
“You've been quite industrious,” I said. “This hard work is more the
kind of thing I expect from Lynx.”
“Not at all,” he said. “You see, Lynx is always studying and learning
new things so he would want to try different potions all the time. But I like
to find some things that work and stick with them. Efficiency.”
He lifted a jar that must have had 30 playing cards in it, all with just the
faintest peachy glow to the cards, so subtle that one had to know they were
looking for the sheen of magic. “for instance. These make people
disoriented and forgetful. So if you were trying to get past someone--which
I very much have the feeling you are—these probably be more effective
than those.” He nodded at the jar in my hand.
He took the other jar out of my hand. “As for this one... The dice that
explode with quite a lot more force than you would expect from their size--
I think I'm going to keep those safe until this evening's fit of emotion has
passed.”
If Jaik had caught me, I would have known I'd be sleeping that night in
handcuffs to keep me from doing anything unwise. But Branok…
“Give me a chance to try to help him,” I said to him. “We can't just give
up.”
He shook his head. “I knew that was what this was going to be about,
but I was hoping you just wanted to rob a jewelry store. I should have
known you already had enough bangles on your wrist to open up your own
jewelry store.” His lips flickered with humor, but subtle lines had tightened
at the edges of his mouth, the ones that gave him away.
“We can't just let him die...”
“Don't you mean, we can't just kill him?” Branok asked sharply. “I think
we should do our friend the honor of being truthful.”
The words shocked me. “I know you hate it too.”
“So much,” he agreed. “but there's nothing else for us to do now. It's too
dangerous for you to try to rescue him, Honor. He'll kill you, and that would
destroy all of us. Or... He won't kill you. He'll kill other people you meet,
innocent villagers, and then you'll realize that you have to kill him yourself.
And we won’t be there to help you. More than that, we won't be there so
one of us can take the responsibility for it and make sure that you don't end
up with that trauma imprinted on your brain forever.”
He paused, then he said the words lightly as if they meant nothing, but I
had a feeling he’d thought about them a long time. “We've done enough to
you, Honor. We've left you with enough trauma. So let us carry this
murder.”
“I understand everything you're saying,” I said. “but he wants to go to
Zehr. He'll be safe there. That's where all the Scourge go, and if anyone can
help him, it's Zehr.”
“Zehr is not a big fan of yours, either.”
“Please, trust me Branok. I can get him to negotiate.”
“It bothers me that he marked you,” Branok admitted roughly. “I don't
know what he'd do to you. I don't know if you'd ever come back to us.
because you have to admit, you have a bond with him too...”
“Yes,” the word felt like it yanked out something in my chest when it
came out. I didn't want to say it, but I knew Branok would only consider
helping if I were completely honest with him and even worse, with myself.
“But that bond isn't stronger than the bond you and I share.”
His lips twisted and his gaze went to the mark on my skin, as if he could
see it through the magic. “Not yet.”
“If you think that it means that much that he marked me...” I shook my
head. “I didn't want it. With both Jaik and Caldren, I wanted their mark.
Maybe not in conscious thought, but I wanted to belong to them, to show
everyone that I belong to them... To have that bond.”
“What you have with the Lord of the Scourge... it scares you.”
“Very much.” I admitted softly. “I am terrified of him. Of…us.”
His mouth straightened in a flat, strained line, as if he were struggling
for words. “Then I can almost believe you might come back to me.”
Gratitude overwhelmed me. There was a part of me that said he must
not love me very much when he was willing to see me go off into so much
danger, but I liked his willingness to respect my abilities.
The girls went ahead. Branok and I paused in the hallway to say
goodbye.
“I'm going to pretend you stole from me.” Branok said. “Jaik might love
me like a brother, but that won't prevent him from stringing me up on the
wall if he finds out I helped you put yourself in terrible danger.”
I couldn't quite tell if he was joking.
Branok caught my chin between two of his fingers and raised my face to
his.
“If anyone can save Arren and come back to us, I believe it's you,
Princess.”
“That's queen to you.” I said.
Then his lips blistered onto mine, the two of us nipping back and forth,
kissing each other hard. I knew I needed to stop and go while I could. but I
couldn't stop kissing him. Electricity seemed to flow between his body and
mine, and I couldn't get enough of his kisses. We both knew it might be a
kiss goodbye.
There was a part of me that could imagine the dark future that he feared,
I could see myself in that field full of Scourge from my nightmares, I could
imagine myself and a black dress and a bone crown and Zehr’s wedding
ring. I could see the veil whipped by the wind, as I stood in that otherwise
eerie, still place full of Scourge who never spoke.
 But I didn't want that. I wanted Branok’s warm room, filled with books
and potions and plants and warmly lit. I wanted the crackle of the fire and
the heat of his hands on my skin. I wanted to keep running my fingers
through his rumpled, golden hair.
I wanted him to be mine. I kissed my way down his throat, licking my
tongue over the hard knob of his Adams apple. He groaned, tilting his head
back, his hand skating over my hips, and grinding me down against his
thigh. My whole body was turning to liquid heat for his touch.
And then this temptation to bite him was so strong it was unbearable. I
sunk my teeth into his throat.
He stiffened under my fingers. He let out a rasp of pain, his fingers
digging so deep into my hips that it bruised. He pushed me away, and stared
down at me with wild eyes, gasping.
I stared at him, hurt and confused about why he’d broken contact.
Then I saw the mark I’d left glowing on his skin.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Six

H onor

T here was no time to discuss the mark I’d left on Branok. We kissed again,
he muttered that we’d have much to discuss when I came back. He clung to
my wrist for a second, my bangles sliding under his fingertips, until he
finally released me. It was the only sign that it hurt for me to go.
The dragon Knights were camped out in front of the hallway to the
basement. They had spread through the castle at the Academy, supposedly
here to provide extra security after the attempted assassination. But I knew
the bitter truth.
Calla helpfully ran around the other side of the hall and let out a scream.
The two dragon knights on duty glanced toward her, then immediately
called in reinforcements. They weren’t stupid; they knew someone was
trying to distract them.
The two other guards came running a moment later, hands on the
pommels of their swords. I winced, worried Calla would be caught, but she
was already gone; maids knew how to disappear into the background.
And so the indistractible knights were all together when I rolled
Branok’s gas dice.
The gas quickly overtook them all, the guards exchanging confused
looks before they tumbled to the ground in heaps. The gas wouldn't kill
them.
I murmured the words of the spell to prevent us being affected by the
gas, and each of my friends did in turn as well, nodding. We slipped past the
sleeping knights. I turned back to my friends and told them, “I have it from
here.”
“Honor,” Calla’s face was etched with worry. Then she just grabbed me
and hugged me. “I know it’s pointless to argue with you. But for gods’ sake,
be careful.”
“Promise,” I said. “You too. This place is a hell hole.”
I ran down the stairs to the basement. Arren was still asleep, sprawled
across the floor of his cage; his snores seemed to shake the basement.
He startled awake as I came near, his eyes going wide and wild. I
reached through the bars to rest my hand on Arren’s head. My fingers were
shaking. I pressed them together hard, and hoped he didn't notice.
I didn't want him to feel my fear. I didn’t want the beast to sense
weakness. But most of all, I imagined how much it would hurt the man
inside to know that I was afraid of him.
He started to freak out, and I quieted him.
I'd been worried about how I would keep up with Arren. I tried to tell
him, “I can get you to the rest of the Scourge. But you have to let me stay
with you.”
I climbed onto his shoulders. I clung to him.
Together, the two of us rocketed off through the corridors.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Seven

D amyn

T he dragon knights ’ Isle looked the same as the first time I’d seen it. The
island was off the northern shore, perpetually chilly and hidden from first
sight by mists; treacherous rocks protected it from seafaring vessels, and as
I soared over the angry, roiling sea, it felt like dropping toward certain death
to enter the fog.
Then the green shores broken by sharp gray rock rushed up toward me.
I angled over the rocks and landed lightly in the grass, knowing I’d been
spotted by now.
The simple stone-and-wood buildings had been built by the dragon
knights themselves. There were no castles here, no spires or towers. My feet
crunched over the sand of the arena, which covered half the island; our feet
and talons had torn up the grass and ruined it with our constant training.
Would Honor have been happy if I’d brought her here to train? I’d
considered it, but dismissed it as selfish instead of wise. As much as she
needed a safe place to train, Jaik and Arren needed her.
I just wanted to have her to myself, and that was a dangerous impulse.
But still, I could imagine her here where I’d been so happy learning my
trade, despite oozing blisters on my hands from gripping a sword or fighting
staff. I could imagine her red braid flying and the smile across her face, and
I could imagine soaring across the mist-soaked sky with her beside me.
Despite the chill that perpetually clung to the island, the thought made me
warm for a moment.
Two dragon knights made their way down toward me. It took me a
second to recognize Aster and Pyrick, who had grown older while I
remained the same in my own head.
Aster had grown a fierce auburn beard that might compensate for his
lifelong lack of a chin, and Pyrick was heavily muscled and weathered; it
was hard to see the mischievous, fox-faced boy he’d once been when we’d
come to the Isle together, too young to be dragon knights yet but with
nowhere left to go.
“What are you doing here, asshole?” Pyrick demanded. “We know
you’re loyal to that princeling.”
Well, this was going well.
The next second, Pyrick had pulled me into a hug, clapping my
shoulder. “Don’t murder me,” he laughed. “You looked for a moment as if
you might murder me.”
As soon as Pyrick let go, Aster leaned in to hug me. He’d been older
than us, already known to be a dragon shifter, when we were training here;
he’d been an older brother to Pyrick and me. When I’d lost two families,
first my own parents, then Lysander and Amily, these boys had become my
family.
Of course, families aren’t perfect.
“Come up to the taphouse,” he said. “The young knights are in bed
getting ready for another day, or on watch, and can’t see us embarrass
ourselves.”
“When did we become the old knights?” I mused as I followed them up.
Pend, while he was alive, had an uncertain relationship with the Isle of
dragon knights. He liked keeping his knights, his school, close. But
Lysander had wanted a safe place for dragons.
Pyrick glanced at me over his shoulder. “I consider us lucky for the
chance to age.”
Certainly we’d had plenty of friends who had fallen. But the older
dragon knights who had survived were all in the taproom too, and they let
up a cheer when they saw me.
As soon as we’d served ourselves from the kegs that lined the room and
taken places in front of the fire, we toasted those lost friends; we always
did. Then I made the rounds as everyone wanted to greet me, before I made
my way back to the fire.
“Why’d you come?” Aster asked, leaning heavily into the leather
armchair as if he ached from old wounds. “You never leave your precious
academy.”
“It’s not the academy that’s precious to me,” I said. “I care about my
students.”
“Jaik,” Aster said knowingly.
“You know why I’m here,” I said, because they’d teased me at the
beginning to open this conversation. The three of us were never good at
hiding from each other, ever since we were kids creeping into the taphouse
and stealing ale behind the backs of the knights, then spilling our secrets to
each other as well as our liquor.
“Is he ever going to come here for training?” Pyrick asked. “Or is that
academy supposed to be enough?”
“Pend had wanted it to be enough. I’d argued with him about it, but
now…” I shrugged, encompassing our king’s death. “We’ll see.”
“Now Joachim is trying to take his place,” Pyrick said blandly. “That
would free Jaik to train.”
“Joachim is probably the worst of all five,” I said. “Why not Gorion?”
It was a hypothetical; I wouldn’t see either of them on the throne and
Jaik and Honor in danger.
“Joachim has always been ambitious,” Aster mused. “Gods, I hate him.”
“Still?” I asked in amusement. Joachim had been an unpopular visitor to
the Isle when we were kids; he liked to drag young knights into the ring to
face him and prove he still had the capacity to beat us into a pulp. I hadn’t
minded anything that sharpened my skill, but Joachim’s condescending
attitude had always grated on Aster.
“He never exactly improved with age,” Aster said drily.
“Unlike us.” Pyrick slapped me on the shoulder.
“I’m not sure Aster’s beard is an improvement,” I said.
Aster frowned at me. “I can still kick your ass.”
“You haven’t kicked my ass since I was fourteen.”
Aster tilted his head back and closed his eyes as if he were reminiscing.
“It was a good day. You deserved it far more often though.”
“We don’t have anything against King Jaik.” Pyrick cut in. “Aster, he
needs to know that before he wants to soak himself in nostalgia. He needs
to know if he is going to murder you or not.”
“You two speak a little too freely of murder,” I said drily.
“As if you didn’t kill for King Lysander while you were still just a
boy?” Pyrick asked.
Sometimes I regretted that they knew all my secrets.
“Is it true Honor is Lysander’s daughter? That girl that’s always by
Jaik’s side now?”
“Yes.”
“So are you as loyal to her as you were to him?”
I’d die for Jaik, and I would’ve died for Lysander, but I was a hundred
times more loyal to Honor. All I said, though, was, “Yes.”
My father had been a dragon knight, and he’d gotten my mother
pregnant and gone whistling on his way—or so she thought. She’d told him
she was going to have a child, and he’d made her great promises and then
disappeared forever.
When I was five, and she couldn’t work anymore, I’d daydreamed that
he would come back to us and save us. And I’d dreamt of that as I waited in
a line of far taller, rougher boys, queuing up for the chance to fight in the
city’s arena as an opening show.
Because I hadn’t eaten anything I hadn’t stolen in weeks, and my
mother was coughing up blood, and I had to save us. I couldn’t steal
medicine for my mother, and this was the only way I could think of getting
some coins honestly.
The man who ran the show walked down the line, sent a handful of the
best, strongest boys in, then stopped and frowned at me. “Go home. You’re
too little.”
“I’m not,” I said.
When he tried to push me out, I’d ducked under his arm and ran into the
arena, my heart pounding.
It seemed huge once I was out there, the crowd far distant. I’d never felt
so little in my life no matter what I’d just said.
He looked as if he were going to blunder out to grab me, then glanced
at the far bigger boys and shrugged. “Have fun, little man.”
I’d snatched up one of the wooden swords—it felt too heavy in my hands
—and faced off against them.
I’d gotten beaten into the absolute ground. Pluck only gets you so far.
I’d stumbled to my feet, spitting blood, my head dizzy and spinning, only to
realize everyone else was on their knees.
In that moment, in the haze, I saw the dragon knights’ broach, the
sword, the cloak, and I thought my father had finally come. I’d thrown my
arms around his legs, and a horrified gasp had gone up from the crowd.
King Lysander had lifted me up into his arms, and my heart plummeted
at the sight of the crown. This was not my father. I’d made a terrible
mistake.
“Lysander was a good man,” Pyrick mused. “Pend was fine. How do
you think Jaik will be?”
“He’s a good man,” I said. “One of the best.”
“Well, that carries a lot of weight coming from you,” Pyrick admitted.
Relief flooded me. I still had the rest of the knights to sound out, but I
was grateful my friends weren’t traitors.
And Lysander’s words, long ago, echoed in my ears, after he’d had one
of his knights follow me home to my mother’s house.
“Your father didn’t abandon you. He died—and these knights and I will
never abandon you either.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Eight

H onor

I clung to Arren’s back, getting the distinct impression he was trying to

throw me off every time he turned a corner.
But then we reached a door, and I unlocked it. I patted the top of Arren's
head, then realized I had just accidentally taken my life into my hands as he
turned into glared at me with those black eyes. I wasn't sure how much he
was in control. It turned out I annoyed him whether I was in whether he was
in a mortal form or whether he was a monster.
“Just pointing out that you need me,” I said, jangling the keys. “Your
hands aren't quite as adept these days.”
He had grown in size, including his hands, I wasn't sure he could handle
the delicate keys anymore. He growled at me but didn't fight me as I
climbed up onto his back.
We reached a barricaded door, and I had to use one of the playing cards
tucked into the corner of the door jamb to blow it. Once I had placed it, I
almost couldn't get Arren to follow me away from the door. He was
desperate to get through to Zehr. It took me a few long terrifying seconds to
get through to him, while he stared at me. And then he seemed upset as he
looked around the corner. I exhaled a shaky breath. His mind seemed to be
going too fast, for him to really hear me and understand me. I wasn't sure
how to keep us safe.
I grabbed his face in his hands as he tossed his head from side to side,
pulling him down to me. His mouth opened, his jaw stretching, revealing
longer fangs than I had ever seen before. I kissed his nose because I was too
scared of his mouth, but I hung close to him, running my hands up his fever
hot skin.
Something brushed against the back of my thighs, and I startled, before
I realized that it was his tail.
I dared to kiss him, and he kissed me back.
“Stay with me. We can do this together.”
As we left the city, he ran toward the mountains. We were headed
towards the least inhabited area of the Isle. We found ourselves increasingly
deep in the forest. It was not a place I would normally have come alone,
given how many terrible things lurked in this forest, but I had brought my
own terrible thing.
Then, something spooked him. He whirled to attack.
A hunter stood across a narrow valley from us, his eyes wide. He was
frozen, his bow slung over his shoulder.
We’d tried so hard to avoid being near anyone, and we traveled with the
expectation that we would hear dragonwings at any moment.
But it was a big Isle, and we'd been covering a lot of ground fast. I
wasn't sure how long it would take for them to reach me if they just tried to
track me.
“It’s alright, Arren,” I said as a growl started building in Arren’s chest.
“Are you alright?” The man called toward me. He nocked an arrow.
“Don’t do that,” I said. “I’m fine.”
Arren took a step in front of me.
The man fired the arrow.
It slammed into Arren’s shoulder, bounced off his scaled skin.
Arren bounded for the man.
“No,” I shouted. I ran after them both, already pulling Branok’s card
and throwing it at Arren’s back.
Arren stumbled and fell to his knees. He swiped out at the man,
knocking the bow from his hands.
“Get out of here!” I shouted at the man, desperate to protect Arren from
hurting anyone innocent.
 The man apparently gave me up as a lost, depraved soul who loved
monsters—well, I supposed he wasn’t entirely wrong—and he ran for his
life, leaving his weapons behind.
Arren staggered to his feet, and turned to me with a look on his face that
I would never forget. There was a mix of rage and horror, as if his two sides
were battling within.
He saw my face, and his own expression darkened. I wonder where he
had just seen it. “Arren, stop!” I called, feeling the shift in the air around
him.
He turned and sprinted away from me. After a few steps, he dropped to
all fours and raced on his hands and feet, winding through the trees.
I was left alone in the forest. He moved impossibly fast, and I
transformed and took to the air so I could chase him. When he realized what
I was doing, his gaze met mine over his shoulder. Then, as if he were driven
by instinct, he went into a stand of trees at the base of the mountain--
moving quickly as if he knew the path--and he never came out.
I'd lost him.
I landed lightly in the grass, transforming back into the girl. I felt safer
as a dragon, but Arren knew me best in my human form and he seemed to
respond best to that.
I searched through the forest, but there was no trace of him. And night
was falling.
The Fae forest was full of dangerous things at night, and the Scourge
might lurk with their claws and teeth around every dark tree.
Most frightening of all, I was afraid I'd lost Arren forever.

T he last strings of pink and purple sunset brushed over the horizon. I
cast a worried glance at the sun, already lost behind the trees as I faced the
entrance into the caves.
Now I knew where he had gone. He had gone into the mouth of this
cave that led into the mountains. Dread settled heavily on me.
I fingered the bangle that Branok had slipped onto my wrist. He thought
he was so clever with his sleight of hand and his enchantment.
 I wasn't sure if they would be able to track me inside the tunnels. I was
curious when Branok would reveal to the others that he had a way to track
me. After all, it would be a confession that he had known what I was up to.
Although I supposed Branok could lie. He was very good at that.
It was a worrisome skill, but it was still one that I appreciated from time
to time.
I desperately didn't want to squeeze myself into those caves. I still
struggled with my fear of enclosed spaces. That had been obvious to my
men when I tried to go with them to hunt Arren through the labyrinth.
But I would do anything for Arren. I steeled myself, and I stepped
inside.
For some reason, Damyn's words came back to me. It's only being brave
if you're scared in the first place, Honor.
And as I stepped into those terrifying slick tunnels, I remembered my
dad saying something similar. “You are so brave,” he had told me all the
time when I was a child, as if he could speak the words over me and make
them true. Whenever there was anything that I was nervous about, he would
tell me to listen to my instincts and judge for myself what I should do.
“That's what it will take for you to be the queen that you are.”
Damyn had said he knew my parents. Well, maybe he'd heard it from
my father, or maybe it was just a cliche term.
I blew out a breath and–feeling more terrified than brave, no matter
what anyone said–made my way through the tunnel. The floors were slick
and damp underfoot and sloped down, away from any trace of sunlight. I
raised my hand and lit my fire, which seemed to flicker as if the darkness
wanted to snuff it out.
I squeezed between two boulders that made me very nervous. Beyond
that, as I stepped into an enormous cavern, even the palmed firelight in my
hand didn't seem bright enough to illuminate the darkness. I looked up, but I
couldn’t see the ceiling, only stalacites to either side.
And then, beyond the circle of light that I had created, something
moved.
My whole body froze.
Prey response.
Because something old and deadly and more dangerous than any Fae
was moving in the shadows.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Thirty-Nine

T alisyn

H onor was gone .

I knew that in my bones as soon as I heard Jaik’s yell. Jaik had strode
ahead in front of the group of six dragon Knights. Jaik must want this awful
errand over and done as soon as possible. If he had to murder his best
friend, he wanted it to be quick.
But now he was faced with the empty cage.
Branok reached down and fingered something in the wreckage of the
cage. He slipped it into his pocket. He raised his gaze and met my eyes
evenly, finding me staring at him. Then he said, a beat too late, “We need to
spread out and search for them. Now.”
“Them?” I echoed. I had no doubts Honor had vanished with Arren, but
Branok knew something more, I was sure of it.
“You know our wayward queen is trying to save Arren,” Branok said.
Jaik turned back to the dragon knights. He hesitated, just for a second.
Then he said, “Search above. The academy, then the streets. We’ll take the
tunnels.”
“It’s foolish,” Branok said under his breath. “You’re hoping for a happy
ending now, and you know you won’t find one.”
The image of Honor, her head bashed open, her luminous eyes staring
forward as she laid in a pool of her own blood, flashed in my mind.
 Branok was always cynical, so why did his cynicism now feel false?
We plunged into the tunnels, though none of us drew our swords. Not
yet.
“Branok,” Jaik demanded harshly. “What do you know?”
Branok held up an envelope between two fingers. “Honor left us a
wreck to clean up as always. And she left us a note in the middle of it.”
Jaik snatched it from him. Branok put his hands in his pockets, not
looking particularly affronted; he knew Jaik too well to be surprised by his
reaction.
Jaik read aloud. “To all my men, I hope you won’t be angry but I don’t
harbor high hopes for that. I had to take a chance at saving Arren, but I
genuinely hate to leave you all. It’s been a grand adventure with you
everyday since the very first day that I met you—”
Lynx had gone pale. “She writes like she doesn’t expect she’s going to
make it back.”
“She might not,” Branok said quietly.
“Shut up,” Jaik said roughly, although we all knew his intense emotion
at the time wasn’t truly directed toward any of us.
He read on. “And I’m sure the adventure will continue but for now I
have to protect Arren. I understand why you have to try to destroy him. But
I can’t give up on him. I’m sure Zehr can help, and I can force him into it.
I’m the only one who can. Please let me go.”
Jaik’s hands formed fists. He was taut with anger in a way I hadn’t seen
him in a long time. Not even the attempt on his life had provoked such
strong emotion.
“We have to track them,” Lynx said. “She’s stupid to go to the Lord of
the Scourge. He wants her… and he won’t let her walk away.”
I cast another glance at Branok. There was something he wasn’t telling
anyone.
And I was sure that letter had come from his pocket, not actually from
the cage. He picked something else up, maybe a piece of trash. Branok was
up to something.
We used a spell to try to track them, but the tunnels were a labyrinth and
we had to spread out.
I made sure Branok and I ended up alone as we spread through the
tunnels.
 “I know you know what she was up to,” I told Branok. He gave me a
surprised, innocent look. I’d known him too long for that look to be at all
convincing.
“What are you talking about?” he asked. “If you want to accuse me of
something, at least do it clearly. Don’t be vague and insulting, you have to
pick one.”
“Oh, I’m being very clear. I think you knew where Honor was going.
And I think she gave you that note to give to Jaik.” An even more diabolic
thought struck me. “Unless you wrote it yourself.”
“What kind of asshole would I be if I knew she was plotting something
like that and didn’t tell anyone?” he said reasonably.
“The same asshole that you’ve always been!” I said. “You always think
you know better than anyone else.”
“Well, historically that has been born out.” But he cast a somewhat
nervous look over his shoulder, as if he realized just what Jaik would do to
him. “Please, keep your crazed conspiracy theories to yourself.”
“Jaik would demolish you.”
“I am keenly aware. He is not his best self right now to begin with.”
“Can you blame him? He loves her.”
“Love is supposed to make us our best selves. At least in theory. I
wouldn’t know.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t. You’re above it.”
Branok gave me a bland look, the one that he almost always took on
right before he said something that made me deeply want to punch him.
“And now you are too.”
The reminder of how I’d lost Honor stung. “And I wish I hadn’t.”
“Well, if you didn’t feel anything you probably wouldn’t be bothering to
run away.”
“I’m not running away. I’m not helping anyone by being here. I need
some… space. From this place. From her. From the memories I don’t have.”
Branok noted. “You’re still going to go live with the dragon Knights.”
“Yes. I don’t want to be here without her anymore than I want to be here
with her.”
“It certainly seems like you’re in an impossible situation, friend.”
“And it seems like you are as well, given you know what Honor’s up to
and you can’t risk Jaik finding out that you were involved in her abrupt
departure.”
 The two of us traded a hard look.
“Are you threatening me?” His voice was soft, emotionless. Branok, at
his most dangerous. I could see the shift, the moment he snapped from
being close as my brother to being the dangerous spymaster.
“No.”
“Such good news. I thought I might have to kill you and make it look
like a Scourge attack.” Branok flashed me a smile. It was not my favorite
smile of his, although I’d never minded that bloodthirsty look quite so much
when it wasn’t directed at me.
“Can you take this to Damyn?” Branok asked. “Jaik is going to need
me. We can’t leave the kingdom alone at the moment; we’ll come back to a
bloody coup and some total moron on the throne. We need to keep things
the way they are—only semi-morons in charge.”
He slid a bracelet off his wrist, a slender silver cuff that had gone
unnoticed. But I knew Branok. Everything he did was for a purpose, right
down to the jewelry he wore.
I took it with dread hardening in my stomach.
“Let me tell you everything Honor has done so far, and what I did to
her. Then we’ll both be in it together, because if Jaik finds out that you
knew and didn’t run straight to him, he’ll have both our heads.”
“Why do you want me to take this to Damyn?”
“Because Damyn will do whatever needs to be done. To either of them.”
His expression was hard to read. “I think that there is every possibility that
Honor can save Arren. Jaik holds her so tightly, he wouldn’t give her the
chance to be the hero we need. But that’s not the only possible outcome.
She could become a monster.”
“Then why did you let her go?”
“Because I love her, I love her for who she is, and I can’t change that.
Trying to keep her too safe…it would make her someone else. I love the
reckless girl with the head injury who tries to save everyone.”
Branok shrugged, as if he were embarrassed by his confession. “And if
you tell anyone I said that to you, you’ll wake up one night to a Scourge
sitting on your chest, smiling down at you.”
“You don’t have to threaten me,” I said mildly. “I think seeing you
lovesick is adorable.”
“Gods, slaughter me now,” Branok said, and he darted ahead of me into
the darkness.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty

A rren

I’ d finally escaped H onor . Surely she would realize that she was alone
in the forest and she would go back to the academy. I was relieved to be
free, and to be coming ever closer to the place that called to me.
I dove into the darkness and let it swallow me.
A picture in my mind drove me forward. Somewhere ahead of me, there
were hundreds of Scourge sleeping on the stone underneath the looming
bone throne. Brothers. Sisters. I’d join them, and then I’d be able to rest.
Then I heard her scream. It was distant, muffled.
I was so close to freedom, and the animalistic urge to keep going was so
powerful. But her scream cut right through my urges.
In my mind, the sleeping Scourge stirred. They reached for me.
But I was already running for Honor.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-One

H onor

T he monsters attacking me dove from above. I screamed as one of them

drove its beak into my shoulder then rose abruptly, blood flying from the
sudden gouge in my arm. My sword arm was weak now. I frantically
switched my blade to my left arm, slashing and fighting as hard as I could
as the monsters dove at me.
Two of them managed to grab me and yank me up from the ground.
Then Arren lurched into the cavern. One second, the monsters were
invisble in the darkness high overhead. The next, he swiped the monsters
out of the air…
Then he ate one.
He grabbed my leg and yanked me down to the earth, accidentally
hurting me in the process of saving me from the monsters. He slashed open
the two monsters that had been holding me.
I let out a scream when he turned to me with his mouth covered in
blood. For a second, his eyes were full of light and recognition when he saw
me. Then his eyes darkened as he registered my terror.
He turned his back to me, still slaying monsters. I limped forward to
stand by his side, the two of us fighting the monsters together. I wished I
hadn’t screamed. He’d just looked so strange in that moment, so unlike the
Arren I knew and loved. But I hoped the fact I was fighting by his side, just
like always, would count for something. I wanted him to know I saw him
inside.
“You came back for me,” I panted, still frantically swinging with my
sword at the murder-birds.
No response. He did yank a bird out of the sky and bit its neck in two,
though, blood spurting down his chin.
“Still better table manners than Branok,” I said to no one in particular. It
wasn’t true—Branok was as polished as the others—but Branok and I
insulted each other recreationally.
A bird dove at me from behind, and I ducked to one side. Its talons
ripped into my side as it passed, and Arren slashed at it, but it was already
gone. It looped around, letting out a caw that sounded distinctly like a curse
word in avian. I pressed my fingers to the wound, which was oozing blood,
and swore.
“I think we should run,” I said. “I never realized this before, but I hate
birds. I know I’ll change my mind later when I’m not being pecked at by
gigantic carnivorous creatures, but right now… fuck birds. Let’s run. But
you have to stay with me. I don’t want to lose you again.”
He didn’t answer. I was having a completely one sided conversation. I
glanced at him, then said, “I guess this isn’t that different from usual,
really.”
Then abruptly, a fresh wave of monsters dove down, like a concerted
attack, and as I ran forward slashing birds down, it was too late. They
yanked Arren up into the empty vastness of the cavern. He let out a roar, but
he couldn’t do anything to stop them.
I ran frantically through the caverns, and back to the clearing where
we’d met the hunter and grabbed the bow and arrows he’d dropped when he
ran, when Arren was chasing him. Frantically, I raced back, nocking an
arrow, hoping I wasn’t too late.
I’d never been great at archery. The first bolt I loosed went through one
monster’s wing—and into Arren’s enormous shoulder. He let out a howl of
pain. The monster flapped frantically and pulled away, and Arren lurched
dangerously sideways through the air.
“Sorry!” I shouted, nocking another arrow.
But in the end, they pulled him up to a lair I couldn’t reach. I ran to
climb the rocks, but Arren managed to escape them and reached a separate
cave in the cliff wall. From here, he could fight off the monsters one by one
as they tried to come in the narrow opening.
He let out a fierce roar. I could hear what he meant, even if he wasn’t
speaking clearly anymore: “Leave me alone, Honor!”
“I’m going to get you help!” I promised.
He was bleeding, breathing heavily as he tried to hold his wounded
chest closed. The monsters were still circling, and I had no way of reaching
him.
“No!” he screamed back. He roared at me again for emphasis, as if he’d
kill me himself if he could reach me.
But I’ve never been particularly obedient.
So I ran for Zehr.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Two

D amyn

P yrick and I prowled around each other, testing each other’s swords with
tentative blows. I spent far more time training young shifters who didn’t
have Pyrick’s years of experience, and I felt it today.
Then I burst forward in a quick series of moves. I disarmed him,
sending his sword flying across the arena to land in the sand.
I had a split-second of self-satisfaction before he punched me in the
face. I was going down, but I grabbed him, and the two of us scrabbled
across the ground. I slammed him with the pommel of my sword, trying to
loosen his grip, too close for the sword’s blade to do me any good.
In the end, the two of us laying groaning in the arena while Aster
observed, “You’re too old for this.”
“Who are you talking to?” Pyrick groaned.
“Both of you.”
“Too bad the knights have a terrible retirement plan,” I said, rolling to
my feet, then reaching to help Pyrick. The plan was pretty much fight until
you die for those like me who didn’t come from money, even if our blood
was considered noble. Some dragons had wives, kids. But unless they were
upper nobility, they usually came back here… often, or always.
The dragons understood each other.
 As we were limping out of the arena, younger knights behind us clashed
swords.
“That girl dragon,” Pyrick said. “Would she ever come here?”
“I don’t know. Jaik doesn’t like her to leave his side.” I had to give them
some information to get my own.
Pyrick frowned. My stomach fell with the sudden sense things were
about to turn.
“She’s got a grip on Jaik.”
“Yes.” There was no point in denying it. “If that’s the word you want to
use for a boy falling in love.”
He scoffed. “Did you know what she was?”
I’d lost Honor for a long time between when she was a girl and when
she resurfaced. I wasn’t even sure what the truth was to tell my friend, and I
wasn’t sure he deserved that truth. “No.”
Pyrick’s big shoulders relaxed.
Aster, who was older, who remembered meeting them, asked, “Is she
anything like Amily?”
No one had known what Amily was. But she’d grown from the
sheltered princess she’d been when she came to the Isle, and she’d been
legendarily fierce with a sword, a perfect companion to stand beside
Lysander.
“I think so,” I said, remembering for the first time Aster’s hopeless
teenage crush he’d had on Amily, though I hadn’t met Aster until she was
dead.
I’d come across her body and Lysander’s in the tunnel. She’d been
sprawled on her side, dark blood pooled and shining across the floor. I’d
knelt next to her hoping for last words, but she’d been empty in the eerie
way of the dead.
“It’s too bad the Scourge didn’t get her when they killed Amily and
Lysander,” Pyrick said, startling me out of my reverie.
He knew better, didn’t he? He knew it hadn’t been Scourge who killed
Amily and Lysander.
It took me a second to fully process that Pyrick wanted to see Honor
dead.
“She was a little girl,” I said.
“And now she’s a big threat,” Pyrick responded. “Everything’s
changing. Prey getting big ideas, thinking they can fight, that’s going to
cause a lot more deaths than just hers.”
The dragon knights had seen my mother buried, although I’d been alone
in the house with her when she breathed her last, when her breath went out
in a soft rush and she never breathed in again. I’d laid by her cold body
until morning, wishing it wasn’t true. That was the first, worst death I’d
seen.
The day after my mother was buried, a knight had taken me to Lysander,
who had asked to see me. I’d been his servant ever after that.
At first, I’d been jealous of Honor, who didn’t deserve to be the target of
such dark emotions. I was a servant who wished I could be a son. Lysander
was kind, but our relationship was what it was.
I’d felt unworthy of Lysander and Amily, larger-than-life figures who I
loved helplessly knowing they’d never love me—not like they loved Honor.
So I’d promised to protect her.
But she’d fled alone down the tunnels after her parents were slain—a
little girl running desperately for help she’d never reach. She’d disappeared
into the Elder Royals’ dungeons, then disappeared entirely.
And I was unworthy of her too.
I shook off the memories. “Not if we train the prey. King Jaik’s not
going to let them go into battle if they can’t handle it. It’ll be a failed
experiment then. There’s no risk.”
Aster laughed soundlessly, his beard twitching. “No risk? What are we
if everyone is like us?”
“Do we have to pretend they’re our equals now?” Pyrick asked.
“No one will ever be your equal, Pyrick,” I promised him lightly.
“The magic is changing,” Pyrick fretted. “What if the magic that makes
prey shifters and predators changes too? What if we cease to be dragons?”
“Joachim on the throne would protect us,” Aster said slowly, his eyes on
my face as if he were gauging my reaction. “He’s dangerous, but not as
dangerous as toppling over an entire society—a society that once tried to
crush us dragons under its boots.”
Dread settled into my chest.
And I saw it on their faces too, reflected back at me.
I couldn’t trust them, and they were disappointed to realize my loyalty
wasn’t to them, even after all our time together.
I’d chosen Honor’s side. Jaik’s side. I always would. No matter who I
had to kill.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Three

H onor

I’ d hesitated at the mouth of the cave before. The sense of something

wicked and dangerous within was palpable, a dour taste in the back of my
mouth and heavy air that prickled along my skin.
But this time, I dove into the darkness. For Arren. I palmed my light,
raising the glowing flames that flickered in the ever-changing air currents.
The cave was a labyrinth, ever-twisting, empty tunnels, and then I realized
it had been made that way. These were no natural caves. Had they been
made by magic? Scraped out by hand by the Scourge?
I didn’t try to be stealthy, as I would’ve otherwise.
I wanted to be caught.
The attack, when it came, was sudden.
Something dropped from the ceiling, a sudden flutter of shadows. I leapt
forward. The shadow landed behind me, raking its claws down my back,
shredding my cloak. Another fell on my other side. The shadows whirled
around my feet.
I clutched my sword tightly, ready to fight, but stayed still. The shadows
tightened, constricting, binding my legs. Then the longer I stood there, the
shadows calmed.
 A half-dozen Scourge rushed out from the corridors. They hemmed me
in, but I only had eyes for the creature gliding out of the darkness.
The bone crown glinted in the dim light. His eyes barely shone, as dark
as the shadows themselves. “Hello, love.”
“Hello, Zehr.”
The monsters backed away, making a corridor for him, still hissing with
their desire to tear me apart. They went to their knees before him, and each
of them stilled as he passed by, his cloak fluttering over their heads.
Zehr reached me in a few supernaturally quick strides, dematerializing
and then moving to the next shadow.
One second, he was still a few yards away; the next he was in front of
me, cupping my chin with his fingers and raising my face up to his. “I
didn’t expect you to run away from your princelings for me. Did they grow
too boring?”
“I came here to get your help.”
His eyebrows rose. “Delightful.”
“I need you to help Arren. Right now—he’s been taken by some kind of
horrifying bird-monsters and I need help getting him out.”
“Bird monsters,” he mused, then a slow smile spread across his
bloodless lips. “Ah. Honor’s harpies.”
Hearing my own name was chilling. “Excuse me?”
“Pend had been experimenting with various hybrids, but I was the one
who successfully created Scourge harpies. I named them after you.” He
shrugged. “I felt peevish after your betrayal.”
I cringed, rubbing my hand across the back of my neck as if I were
trying to massage a sudden kink in my spine. “Your obsession with me? It
makes me cringe with embarrassment on your behalf.”
“I love your spirit,” he said mildly. “I can’t wait to see how it fares in
my dungeon.”
He raised his hand in an elegant gesture. I could’ve appreciated his
swagger if he wasn’t about to order my capture.
“I came here for Arren. If you don’t help him, I have no reason to stay.”
“You do have another reason. I won’t let you leave.”
“If you hurt Arren… I’ll burn myself alive before I stay with you.”
I’d been palming a ball of fire for light. Now I called the fire between
my hands, and it grew, so hot it beat against my skin and hurt. My hair
wavered in the wind drawn from the tunnels. I let the fire grow, on the
verge of incinerating my hair, my clothes, Zehr and his minions.
His smile grew slowly. “I’ll help your monster. But you have to make a
promise to me.”
“What’s that?”
“This time you’ll keep your promises. This time, you’ll stay with me.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Four

H onor

I led the way back to the harpies’ nest, not that it was needed. Zehr knew
where the harpies were. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had somehow
commanded them to attack us. But then, there weren’t many wicked things
Zehr could do that would surprise me.
“Time to call down the harpies,” Zehr said cheerfully. “I bet they won’t
like you one bit, Honor.”
“That seems odd, given they’re named after me. You’d think they
should worship me.”
“Everything under this mountain worships me already.”
I gave Zehr a smile that promised murder. “For now.”
He smiled right back. “Make yourself useful and be a dragon.”
“I might accidentally bite your head off.”
“And your lover up there might always be Scourge. Be a good girl,
Honor.”
I transformed into a dragon, and huffed orange flames as he gripped my
horned head and swung one leg over my back. In response to my fire, Zehr
patted me dismissively.
I soared up beside Arren. The harpies let out their shrill calls and dove
at me, but I caught a glimpse of him, weary and beleaguered and alive. He
swiped after the last of the harpies as it left him, his claws catching its tail
and plucking it from the sky.
I rolled, trying to avoid the harpies, and Zehr clutched my neck. His
weight shifted against my throat as one moment, he dangled through the air
with nothing keeping him from plummeting but his grip. The next, I turned
over and he slammed against my scaled back, letting out a grunt of pain. I
hoped I’d just taken out his little monsters.
“Steady now, wench,” he said as he drew his sword. I felt him shifting
his weight, gathering himself, until he stood on my back.
And I rolled, of course. Wench?
He leapt off my back. He was a flash of shadows in the air, moving in
and out of the darkness. The harpies fell out of the sky, one after another.
I landed on the edge of Arren’s rock where he’d found refuge. My claws
scrambled against the rock—I was too large to fit—and then I transformed.
I rocked back, my heels hanging over nothing.
Arren caught me and reeled me in. Then he looked down at me with a
face I couldn’t read, as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss me or destroy
me.
“I came back for you,” I said. “I always will. No matter what you look
like.”
I leaned toward him. He cringed back, but nothing could stop me from
planting a kiss on his nose, which had transformed too, growing thick,
ridged at the top. His lips parted in surprise, and I patted his cheek.
Zehr materialized at the edge, breathing hard. “You were supposed to
catch me.”
“You should really tell me what you want from me. When you aren’t
insulting, you’re cryptic.”
“Maybe I’m not cryptic. Maybe you’re just obtuse.”
Arren bared his teeth at Zehr.
Zehr dusted himself off, though the harpies’ blood was soaked into his
tunic.
“I thought they were yours,” I said. “Why did you kill them?”
“For you, of course, Honor. I’ll kill anyone for you.” He said the words
so carelessly it was hard to tell if it was empty patter or a psychopathic
promise.
“How romantic,” I said drily.
Arren leapt forward at Zehr.
 Zehr jerked back, raising his hands, and crackling silvery magic flowed
between the two of him.
Arren collapsed into a heap at my feet. Then Zehr laughed at him, but it
didn’t escape my notice he only laughed when Arren was unconscious..
“What did you do to him?”
“This time? I used a spell to put him to sleep so he can be transported
without wrecking anything.” He smiled at me. “But I can do whatever I
want to him, Honor. He is my creature. And he’ll tear you apart if I ask
nicely.”
“You don’t know Arren,” I promised him.
“Yes, I’m sure your magical…kisses…have bewitched him more than
my centuries-old curse ever could,” he said. “Now be a useful dragon for
once and fly him down.”
Once we were on the ground, several Scourge lumbered along dragging
a cart to take Arren back to the mountain. I watched, tense and ready, as the
Scourge and Zehr maneuvered his big form onto the back of the cart; I
didn’t trust them not to hurt him.
Then Zehr offered me his arm, oh so gallantly.
“When you promised me hospitality,” I began.
He sighed. “I’m not going to hurt your pet Scourge. Look around… I
care for the Scourge. I don’t harm them.”
“He’s not…” I snapped my lips shut, determined not to be baited into
playing Zehr’s games.
He raised his eyebrows wickedly. “He’s not what, Honor? Not
Scourge?”
I glanced away.
“If he weren’t Scourge, he wouldn’t belong here, he wouldn’t be safe
here,” Zehr finished. “Now take my arm and make it clear to all these
monsters who would like to eat you that you’re mine.”
He looked so self-satisfied that all I wanted to do was slap him. But I’d
suffer Zehr for Arren. Anything for Arren.
I tucked my hand over his arm. Together we strolled back through the
tunnels that led under the mountain. I started to raise my hand to palm a ball
of light, but Zehr pushed my hand back down, giving me a shake of his
head.
“We like the darkness,” he said.
“Logical,” I said lightly. “That way you don’t have to see each other.”
 The sound of the cart clattering along behind us seemed to echo through
the tunnel. I frowned, wishing I could get a better look around, because the
tunnels hadn’t been wide enough for the cart when I entered.
Was the mountain changing at Zehr’s command? The idea horrified me
and entranced me all at once. “Are we taking another route?”
I tripped in the darkness, and Zehr’s arms reeled me up, holding me
tight. For a second, I breathed in his scent of cinnamon and rich earth, and
then I yanked away. “You like keeping me in the dark. So I need you.”
“I thought that was obvious,” he said. “But you already need me. I’m
the only one who can keep Arren alive.”
He sounded positively cheerful.
The ground vibrated underfoot. I reached out to touch a rough wall, and
it receded, sliding out from under my fingertips. The mountain was re-
forming itself for Zehr.
“I didn’t know anyone had magic like this,” I said.
“No one does.”
We emerged out of the tunnels and into brighter light. A thin ceiling
hung a dozen stories above us, composed of some kind of tan material that
let in the sun but covered us, and I realized we were in a place in the
mountain that once opened to the sky.
But Zehr had destroyed every hint of sunshine.
Hundreds of faces turned toward us. The Scourge slept—or waited—in
front of us.
Beyond them was a castle, rock rising jagged from the rock. An
enormous throne jutted out from the rock, high above the heads of the
Scourge. Spires rose from the throne, decorated with skulls.
“Ah, a bone throne,” I said. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
We passed under the massive throne and into the doorway to a foyer, as
stony and cold and empty as the rest of Zehr’s hidden kingdom.
Zehr led me up the enormous flight of stairs, and the air seemed to only
grow colder, prickling on my skin. I caught glimpses of many Scourge
moving around to serve—they had to be Scourge, who else could live down
here under Zehr’s thumb—but they didn’t seem mindless and murderous
like the other Scourge I’d met.
We passed one who bared bloody teeth at me in an approximation of a
smile. Well, they weren’t mindless, anyway. They still might be serving
murder.
 We reached an enormous bedroom with a pair of cages inside. Here, for
the first time, was warmth; tapestries hung everywhere, and a low blood-red
velvet futon waited in front of the fire. The four-poster bed in the corner
seemed built for a small army—that should be myˆbed—and was piled with
cozy blankets.
Zehr dragged one of the cage doors open. “Nothing personal, love. I just
don’t trust you.”
“That seems personal.”
“Into the cage, Honor. Or your monster’s chance at a happy ending ends
now.” He nodded at guards who stepped forward, long blades in hand.
“After all, you’ve seen a lot of Scourge killed. What’s one more?”
“He’s not Scourge. He’s mine.”
Zehr winced just slightly—it was the barest flicker of his eyelashes—
and then smiled, that cold wicked smile.
He gestured me into the cage, and I went.
For Arren.
Zehr would let me out. I’d have to bide my time, soften him slowly. But
he’d be unable to resist.
And that would be his undoing. I’d kiss Zehr and flirt with him. And
then, once Arren was alright, I would eviscerate him. He deserved it for
what he’d done to Arren.
As I was plotting my revenge, my legs felt weak, my arms tired. My
head jerked up and I searched for the tell-tale shine of dragonsbane among
the metal.
Too late, I realized he’d caged me in Dragonsbane.
“Good luck murdering me now, Honor,” he called.
He tumbled into his bed. I paced, watching Arren sleep, wishing I could
touch him and make sure he was breathing well.
Then I turned to look at Zehr. He was already asleep, and sleeping
soundly while Arren and I were caged at his feet. Somehow.
I hoped now that he was just a dozen feet away, he’d stay out of my
dreams.
I didn’t want him to catch a glimpse of what I planned, or the painful
lurch of my heart when I dreamed of his murder.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Five

T alisyn

I thought I’d missed the knights’ Isle. I’d been there a handful of times,
but always with one of the knights or my father to lead me in. So now, as I
swooped back and forth over the dark sea that seemed to want to swallow
me, I worried I’d lost the land.
Although, given the way Honor had looked at me during that party,
when Lenora kissed me, the expression of devastation when she realized I
didn’t have my memories, the split-second of protective hatred that had
flashed over Jaik’s face… maybe being dragged under an ocean wave
wasn’t the worst fate.
The next second, I chastised myself for being so self-absorbed. Arren
was a goddamn Scourge now; that was a worse fate. And Honor was trying
to save him.
And, given that she was Honor, she was apt to need saving herself,
sooner or later.
I dove below the mist, close enough to the waves to feel salt spray on
my face, and the island spread in front of me.
Just after I landed, I was greeted by two knights.
“Lord Talisyn,” they greeted me, although I had no idea who they were.
“What are you—"
 “Take me to Damyn.” I didn’t know who else to talk to. I could hear
what an imperious asshole is sounded like, but I didn't have the emotional
capacity left to soften my tone. I was tired.
They frowned at me as if helping me was the last thing they wanted to
do, but the dragon knights had discipline.
They escorted me up to what looked like a Tavern, though there were no
servants on Dragons Isle. Unlike at the Academy, only Dragons were
allowed here, so younger dragon Knights cooked and served. All the
knights worked together to make the Isle a home. My father had found the
entire concept rather amusing, but said it wasn't worth fighting Lysander’s
ghost.
When I walked through the door, I paused inside the foyer, listening to
the crackle of the fire beyond and the sound of drinks being poured and
Damyn's voice cutting through the noise.
“The prey shifters can be taught. They have pluck and heart, maybe
more than most predators,” he said. “And at any rate, it's King Jaik's
choice.”
“It doesn't have to be.”
“You sound dangerously close to treason, Astor.”
“It's not treason.” A new voice. “Damyn, I always thought you'd stand
with us. The Isle’s been in your home, and the dragon Knights have been
your purpose, since you were just a boy.”
“I've been proud to be a knight,” Damyn sounded surprisingly
dangerous, “but it's never been my purpose.”
“Don't consider yourself beholden to a dead king who never gave a
damn about you, when we always watched out for you--”
The voice hadn't even finished speaking when I heard the sound of a fist
slamming into a jaw, and a grunt of pain, and then general chaos.
The young Knights who were with me stared me down. One of them
asked, “Are you going to keep hiding in the foyer?”
I'd been very curious about Damyn and the Isle. He was such an
impressive figure at the Academy, where despite his lowborn status,
everyone revered him as a favorite but feared teacher.
“What are you going to do?” I returned.
“When the old Knights get into their cups and beat the living hell out of
each other?” one of the young Knights said, raising his eyebrows and
looking amused for the first time. “I try to stay out of the way. but you're
welcome to find who you were looking for.”
He swept his arm toward the tavern.
“Thank you for your help,” I said, then the two of them went out,
snickering and let the door slam shut behind them.
I turned the corner, and found Damyn in the midst of a fight with half a
dozen dragon Knights. He was holding his own. No surprise there. As old
and grizzled and tough as the Knights looked, a few of them hung back
from the fight, staying out of Damyn’s reach even though they certainly had
the numbers.
Damyn spotted me and his eyes widened, the look of fury on his face
shifting in a second period he raised his hand. “Enough. We have a guest.”
A few minutes later, Damyn had gotten me a tankard of ale that I didn't
particularly want, but didn't argue about. He pressed a rag to the bleeding
cut at the side of his mouth. The two of us walked along the rocky beach.
Damyn seemed to have restless energy to burn.
We asked each other, almost at the same time, what was going on.
“You first,” Damyn said, in a tone that made me question whether there
would ever be a second.
I held out the bangle, then realized it was stupid as Damyn gave me a
confused look. “Branok asked me to bring this to you.”
“That's very kind of him, but gold has never been my color,” Damon
said.
“He enchanted it to track Honor.”
“And why does Honor need to be tracked?” Damyn’s voice had turned
far more dangerous than it had been in the tavern.
“She ran with Arren. To protect his life.”
Damyn went silent, as if he was processing that, his face expressionless.
After a pause, he said, “We all should have seen that coming.”
“Jaik didn't tell her what we were going to do.”
“It's Honor. Of course she figured it out.” Damyn raked his hand
through his hair.
“From what Branok said, she went to the Lord of the Scourge.”
“Better and better,” Damyn said. He looked lost in his own thoughts,
then suddenly those sharp blue eyes snapped to me. “Did you just come
here as a messenger?”
 “I've been planning to come anyway.” I didn't tell him it was too hard to
be at the Academy. Too hard to be around Honor, and too hard to be
someplace she should be safe, when she wasn't there.
“Why?” Damyn's voice was flat.
The temptation to lie to him was strong.
“It doesn't matter now. Are you going after her?”
“Of course.”
Damyn had come here for a reason, but the mission of protecting Honor
would come first.
“I'll go with you.”
Damyn tilted his head to one side thoughtfully, studying me, and I had
the feeling he was deciding whether he wanted me with him or not.
“And here I thought you were running away from her,” he said.
“I was.” There was no point in lying to Damyn. He always cut through
lies anyway. “But I need to know she's safe.”
Damyn gave me a look that seemed to cut straight to my soul.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Six

H onor

A rren woke in the night but refused to talk to me, if he could even talk. He
looked at me as if seeing me caged wounded his soul…or maybe it was just
looking at me that infuriated him.
When Zehr woke and ambled over, stretching, Arren growled, baring
his teeth. Zehr made a careless gesture, and Arren sank to his knees. I’d
been ignoring Zehr, but I scrambled to my feet.
“Leave him alone,” I warned.
“I thought you wanted me to save him,” Zehr said. “I am his king, after
all.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Did your two little kings give up their
thrones to you and convince you that you were the queen of all?”
“I don’t need to convince myself of anything. If you aren’t afraid of me,
Zehr, free me. Save Arren. I’ll show you I’m queen.”
“I might have a way to save your mongrel,” Zehr promised. “I have a
meeting to attend today.”
“Who would meet with you?” I asked, genuinely perplexed. He’d made
a deal with Kallus, but who else would negotiate with Zehr?
Zehr didn’t dignify that with an answer. “So do try to be good and stay
safely in your cage…I can’t promise you’d be safe outside my castle. It’s a
brutal world.” He turned dark, accusing eyes on me. “Your father made sure
it was brutal.”
He sauntered out of the room.
“Are you going to your meeting in your pajamas?” I shouted after him.
“Still more of a king than your boy play-things,” he promised, not
bothering to turn back toward me or raise his voice. Then he turned the
corner and was gone.
“I despise him,” I told Arren.
Arren growled and launched himself off his knees as if hurt, or as if he
could only do it now that some of Zehr’s power had faded with distance
between them.
“No one enters,” Zehr warned the guards, and the doors slammed shut
behind him.
We were engulfed in the quiet.
Hours passed. Apparently Zehr had decided he would like me better
hungry.
No one had ever liked me when I was hungry.
I tried to talk to Arren, but he ignored me except to throw himself into
the bars and try to destroy the cage.
“You should talk to me,” I said. “We only have each other.”
He growled at me.
“I don’t care if you’re a person anymore or not,” I said, deciding to
translate his growls, even though he might not appreciate my translations.
“You and I have belonged to each other for a long time, Arren. We’ve just
both been stupid and obnoxious.” I considered, then added, “Mostly you,
though.”
He growled at me again.
“It’s okay. I forgive you.”
He wacked his horned head into the bars.
Then the doors opened, and a handful of guards came in.
“Here she is,” the first one mocked. “The would-be queen.”
They looked human, except for the features that always identified to the
Scourge. Their skin was pallid and stretched thin over the sharp bones of
their faces. Without them being lost to bloody, babbling rage though, they
looked more like a regular people then Scourge.
“Are you at the beginning of your transformation?” I asked. A crazy
thought occurred to me. “Or... the end?”
 If they had control over themselves, if they weren't homicidal monsters,
then everything about the way we saw the world would have to change.
The three of them sauntered toward me. Arren rose to his feet and
turned to watch them, his eyes tracking them like a predator. Then those
black eyes flickered to meet mine. Arren and I shared a look for just a
second. He was looking at me as if he remembered everything, as if he were
firmly in the present with me now, and it made me want to linger.
But I had to turn my attention back to the Scourge
“You look curious.” the second said, as she studied me. I was surprised
for some reason to realize she was female. “None of you have ever been
very curious about us before, except curious about how to kill us. But it
seems that finding yourselves in cages changes your temperament.”
A fourth guard—female--lingered at the door. “We shouldn't be here,”
she said nervously. “Lord Zehr gave clear orders.”
“Lord Zehr wanted her protected from the madness of the lower
Scourge.” The girl stepped up in front of me, cocking her head to one side.
She smiled at me, a slow, gentle smile. Full of insanity. “And that's why
he'll believe they were the ones who got in here and tore her apart.”
“But only if he believes that she escaped.” The other guard reached over
and opened the lock. He swept an arm in invitation, inviting me to climb
out of my gilded cage.
“That's a bad idea,” the one by the door said urgently. “What if she
manages to hurt you? Then the Lord will know you're lying to him.”
“She raises a very valid point. What exactly did I do to all of you?” I
glanced around them.
“You murdered my little brother.” the girl said. “I was waiting for him
to come back to me...”
I frowned. I didn't remember her little brother. But I'd killed a lot of
Scourge since I met my men. I didn't think telling her I didn't remember her
brother was going to be endearing, either.
“So, now what? Do you want to kill me?”
“And here I heard you were stupid.” the girl snarled.
“Pedra,” the girl at the door called urgently. “Lord Zehr will kill you.
You know how he feels about her…”
“He’s using her.” Pedra said coldly. “Do you really think our king is so
stupid, Faia?”
 “Fine. He’s using her. He’s still going to kill you if he finds her smeared
across the carpet.” Faia, still standing at the door, glanced down. Then she
added, “He loves this rug.”
Wonderful. The one person cheering for my continued survival and they
were a complete smartass. Sounded about right.
“Fine.” Pedra bit off, sounding almost as furious at the girl at the door
as she was at me. Her furious gaze met mine. “We will meet again someday,
Honor.”
“I can't wait,” I promised her.
She shot me a nasty look. “If you couldn't wait, you'd come out of that
cage.”
My gaze dropped to the cage door.
“Are you idiots coming?” Pedra turned back as she walked toward the
door and stared at her friends.
“You took your turn to spit at her,” the lead guard said. “Give us a
second to do the same.”
I felt I was being stared at and met the eyes of the second guard, which
burned with hate.
I had never thought that the Scourge felt loyalty or love for each other.
That was something I'd have to process later. For right now, I didn't need to
feel sympathetic to the Scourge. I needed to get ready to kill some more of
them.
Because the lead Scourge had just reached out and swung open the door.
“Come on out. We'll get you some food.”
The second guard added, “Lord Zehr would want us to treat you well.”
Suspicious, to say the least. I hesitated, but my life wasn't getting any
better sitting inside the cage. I’d take my chances against two Scourge,
especially to get free of the Dragonsbane and have my powers again.
Arren charged against the bars, his horns scraping over them with a
metallic splintering sound. One of the guards jerked to the side as if he were
afraid before he recovered himself. Even the Scourge were afraid of Arren,
it seemed.
I pushed open the cage door and stepped out. My legs felt wobbly, and
at first I thought it was from sitting on the floor of the cage with my feet
curled beneath me, but then I realized it was the Dragonsbane. I breathed a
little easier as soon as my feet had touched down on the floor, leaving the
cage behind. My body felt weak.
 The door opened, and two more guards stepped in, just inside the door. I
waited for them to object to my freedom, but they merely leaned against the
wall.
“What is it that makes you so valuable to our king?” one of the guards
mused.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Everyone will blame Pedra. Lord Zehr will never know.”
The other looked nervous. “It's not worth it...”
“You're right,” I snarled. The two of them turned toward me, just before
I stepped in and planted a right hook on the first man. “It's not worth it.”
My punch seemed to glance off his jaw, which wasn't exactly the impact
I'd hoped for. I wasn't entirely sure if it was the Scourge being unusually
hard-headed or there was something wrong with me, because the feeling of
that punch had shocked its way up the bones through my right arm.
I twisted, already transforming into the dragon.
Except that I wasn't.
I couldn't shift. The thought made a sudden wave of panic wash over
me. The dragonsbane... I needed to get further away from it to heal. It was
still affecting me. I lurched toward the hall, and the two of them shot after
me. They caught me and forced me down to the ground.
“Stop struggling,” one guard said. His hands gripped the front of my
tunic, and his eyes glinted down at me malevolently. “Do you know how
many friends and family I've seen fall before the swords of your lovers?
Now he dares to bring you into our one safe place. Let's see what makes
you worth all these deaths. Let’s see why all these kings worship you…”
He yanked at my tunic, and the sound of ripping fabric filled the air.
The other guards came over, and the world became a blur as the four of
them held me down, tore at my clothes.
I couldn’t shift, and I struggled to fight them off as they pinned me
against the ground, their grips painfully tight on my ankles and wrists.
Arren thrashed against the bars of the cage.
“It's alright!” I yelled at Arren, trying to calm him down. I didn't exactly
mind if he escaped and rampaged and ripped apart these men, but I worried
what would happen if I wasn't able to stop him. I didn't want anyone to kill
him.
And if Zehr fought Arren, the two of them striking back at each other
with all their deadly fury until one of them fell...I hated that thought most of
all. “I've got this under control,” I promised Arren.
The man who had pinned me down, straddling my chest, stared down in
my face and smiled viciously. His friends gripped my legs and arms.
“You definitely do not have this under control,” he said mockingly,
before slapping me across the face. For a second, the world flashed black,
and then I blinked it back into its miserable existence.
I could hear the cage screeching and groaning as Arren slammed against
the bars. I tried to struggle with them, even though my arms felt as weak as
pancakes. I summoned the easiest magic I had-- fire—managed to jerk my
arm free, and slapped my palm to the side of the face of the man who
loomed over me.
The man on my chest yanked away, his hand going to his cheek. He
lifted his weight enough for me to sit up and aim a breath of air against my
fire, concentrating on sending it toward the man pinning down my other
wrist.
My Dragon's fire leapt to his hair, which went up in flames. He threw
himself away from me, trying to smack the flames out.
Arren flashed toward them, a feral blur. The men who’d been holding
me down stumbled frantically for the door. Arren grabbed the first one and
snapped his neck with brutal efficiency. He dropped the man to his feet and
caught the second. Arren slashed his throat open with his brutal talons; that
bought time for the other two to escape out the door. I realized, too late, I
should have chased them down.
The door had slammed shut behind the guard, but Arren charged into it.
His terrifying claws swiped against the doorknob that failed to open it.
“You still need me for my little opposable thumbs,” I said lightly,
holding up my thumbs for him to admire. He growled at me. “I know, it
wasn't a great joke.”
He stared at me, tilting his head to one side, before stalking closer.
Those eyes were dark and fathomless and I couldn't read if there was still
any memory or affection.
Before he could jump at me, and startle me into a fear reaction that
might hurt us both, I took a step toward him.
“It's just me,” I said. “You know I don't see you as any more monstrous
than the other Royals.”
My voice sounded affectionate, teasing. And I was able to get close to
him, and the second my palms touched his bare chest, he yanked back as if
he were afraid of my touch. Then his gaze dropped to my hands, and he
raised his enormous taloned hands. They hovered under my wrists, as if he
wanted to touch me.
“It's still me,” I said softly. “And I know it's still you.”
Maybe it was the most reckless thing I'd ever done in my life, but I
kissed the monster.
“I need you here with me,” I said to him softly. “I need you at your most
human. Zehr isn't being helpful. But he's gone now. We need to figure out
what we can do to help you.”
“Just go,” Arren grunted. “You shouldn't have come here. You're a
stupid, reckless brat.”
“I know you love me, but you don’t have to go on and on with the
adulation.” I kissed him again, and no matter how furious he might be at
me, his gaze smoldered down at me, his knee shoving between my thighs. I
wrapped my arms around his massive neck.
I needed him human. I needed him thinking. And I only knew one way
to remind him of who he still was.
My hands stroked down his body, which was recorded with muscle and
hot to the touch, familiar and foreign all at once. He looked down at me, his
eyes tracking every movement of my fingertips as if his life depended on it.
“You can't want me. I'm a monster.”
“Then I'm one too.” I kissed him, trying for soft and slow. But he
grabbed me and bent me backward with the force of his kisses.
The door swung open, and Arren’s gaze swung to the door with the
riveted focus of a predator.
Zehr stepped in, whistling. He was all smug arrogance with his hands in
his pockets, and then he saw Arren and me uncaged and his expression
shifted in a millisecond. He ran for the nearest patch of shadow, and Arren
moved to intercept him, not understanding what he was doing. Zehr reached
the shadows and disappeared, next second he was in another corner of the
room.
He whistled, long and high, like a command. Arren stumbled, but kept
going toward him. Zehr had to shadow hop again, and he let out a screech
of pain just before he blurred. He popped up in another corner, clutching his
bloodied arm.
I'd thought that he'd been commanding Arren with that whistle, but the
next second, the door burst into the room, splintering and flying off its
hinges. A dozen hybrids raced into the room.
Arren roared and whirled, attacking them with claws and fangs and
horns dangerous as he had ever been as a dragon. I ran to help him, and
there was a sudden flash in the shadows, and then Zehr was right beside me.
He flashed me a wink and shoved me hard, before I had the chance to
change my momentum and attack him. I landed hard on my ass in the
doorway of the cage. And he slammed the door shut.
“For your own safety,” he said mockingly.
I scrambled to my feet. “Don't you hurt him!”
“If that’s what you want, then you shouldn't have left your cage.”
He sauntered toward Arren. I didn't see any choice but to tell him the
truth, as much as I wanted to have him afraid of me. After all, that seemed
fair, given the pit of doubt that opened up in my stomach when I looked at
him. “I didn't leave the cage! Your men dragged me out of it.”
His hybrids had brought Arren down. He turned to me, his brows rising.
For just a split second, rage darkened his face, before his uncaring mask
slipped back into place. “Do tell. And here I thought you were an escape
artist.”
“I want to know he's safe first.”
“Safe in a cage?”
“I'll take what I can get.”
His hybrids dragged Arren back to his cage, which was quickly
reinforced. They thrust Arren inside, and Zehr murmured the words of a
spell as he waved his fingers toward the cage.
“Tell me what happened,” Zehr’s voice was ice.
“Some of your Scourge came in here to get their revenge on me.”
Zehr reached through the bars, his fingertips drifting towards my lips.
For the first time, I realized my lower lip felt swollen. The coppery tang of
blood was slick in my mouth. I’d been too flush with adrenaline to notice.
“They touched you.”
It was not a question.
“No shit,” I said, before grabbing his wrist. Zehr's forearm was corded
and hard. “It was a mistake on their part. Just like it's a mistake on yours.”
“You are very fierce for someone in a cage.”
“And you're very foolish for someone who sleeps, believing I’m caged.”
He gave me a look that I couldn't read. Then he fished a bracelet out of
his pocket. “Put this on. I don't feel like being eaten today by an angry
dragon.”
He held a beautiful silver and diamond cuff, laced with glittering
dragonsbane winding through the precious metal like a river. “For me? How
sweet. But I don't want any gifts from you, Zher.”
“Oh, it's not a gift. I know how much you value the lives of the Scourge.
I'm happy to value the life of your pet just as much.”
I looked at the hybrids that thronged around Arren, and the way he lay
groaning on the floor of his cell. When Zehr held the bracelet out to me
with a cocky smile and tilt of his head, I snatched it away from him and put
the damned cuff on.
“You can be so reasonable sometimes,” Zehr said pleasantly as he
swung the door of my cage open again.
He regarded Arren. “I would let him run loose like the other Scourge
but his desire for you makes him a threat.”
“No it doesn't, it makes him human.”
Zehr wrapped his hand around the nape of my neck, half pushing and
half pulling me down the hall. I gritted my teeth, annoyed at his rough
touch and just as annoyed at how his touch sent a molten trickle of desire
running down my spine.
Zehr dragged me out into the enormous field from my dreams.
Thousands of Scourge knelt, massed in front of us.
With a start, I realized he’d summoned them with his mind.
He hadn't given any orders while his hybrids brought Arren down.
“Tell me who,” Zehr demanded, then started forward.
We walked the lines of the Scourge. The sense of violence just barely
restrained was palpable in the air, crackling like the ozone before an electric
storm. All those eyes on me were filled with hatred. If Jaik had worried
about me in Caldren’s castle, this was a hundred times worse.
The thought gave me the impulse to touch the enchanted bangle around
my wrist, but I resisted. Zehr would be watching me far too intently. He
always was.
I passed Pedra, whose knee was bent, her elbow braced on her thigh.
“Raise your faces as she passes so she can see you,” Zehr instructed.
They all had their heads bowed before him, but I walked a few steps
behind, and they raised their faces as I passed. I studied Pedra. Her gaze
met mine, something twitching in her jaw. As full of bravado as she had
been when I was caged, she was scared now. Then I went on without saying
anything.
“That one.” I pointed. My palm print was still burned into his face. And
I pointed to the one who had helped hold me down. “And that one.”
“Are you sure?” Zehr demanded.
I met the terrified eyes of the man I had burned, he looked at me with
pleading written across his face. “Oh yes,” I said crisply, remembering his
hands scrambling against my tunic, the glimmer of joy in his eyes of my
pain and fear. To him directly, I promised, “it was memorable.”
One second, Zehr stood beside me, his face a mask of icy anger. The
next he was gone, phasing through the shadows. The man leapt to his feet,
breaking ranks, and started to run. The other one got to his feet but seemed
as if he didn't know what to do.
One minute, the first one was running.
The next, he stopped abruptly, his head snapping from his neck with a
horrifying, splintering sound. He was running away from me, and then
suddenly, his terrified, wide eyed face was looking toward me. I caught the
briefest glimpse of Zehr, and then he dropped him, and dashed forward a
few more steps into the next puddle of shadows.
Now the other man was running, frantically trying to escape through the
rows of Scourge that had assembled to worship. He wove back and forth
along his path, and it took me a second to realize he was trying to veer away
from the shadows.
But it didn't matter. Suddenly, Zehr caught him, his hand on his chin. As
he whispered something into the man's ear, Zehr’s eyes locked on mine. His
voice was soft and intimate as he spoke into the man's ear, but he looked at
me as if he meant those words for me.
Then he snapped his neck, quickly and mercilessly.
The man fell at his feet.
Zehr stepped on him, then stepped off. He was at my side in a few quick
paces. “Anyone else?”
Behind him, I caught a glimpse of the pale faced girl who had promised
to see me again.
“No.”
Zehr looked at me skeptically. “Do you really mean to tell me that two
of my little Scourge bested you? That doesn't sound right, Honor.”
 I raised my chin defiantly, and he laughed. “How intriguing. I guess the
dragonsbane weakened you more than I realized. “
“Are you going to talk to me about weakness, Lord Zehr?”
“I like it when you call me Lord.”
“You just murdered two of your own men for my sake,” I said softly.
“In front of all these people that are supposed to be loyal to you unto death.
And you want to talk to me about weakness?”
“You don't know the first thing about my army.”
“No, I don't know about them specifically. But I do know that people
are unreliable. And I imagine that includes the dead.”
I’d been referring to his Scourge, who were not quite alive anymore.
But for some reason, I thought of my mother, of Kallus waiting outside
while I spoke to her ghost. Something about that memory grated at me like
a discordant tune.
“They’re not dead,” he corrected. “They’re cursed.”
He grabbed the back of my neck again and dragged me toward the
throne that overlooked the gathered Scourge. Mist hung in the air. The
blood of the men he’d just killed, rancid like the Scourge always were, had
seeped into his sleeves, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Everyone needs to know you're mine,” he said, before dragging me
toward the throne. “Then you’ll be safe.”
“I’ll never be yours.”
“Then you’re already dead,” he gritted.
He dragged me on.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Seven

H onor

Z ehr dragged me up onto his throne platform with him. “I need you
dressed properly,” he grumbled. He pushed me toward one of the two
Scourge who stood on the platform with him. I was startled to recognize
one of them from the city, the one who had sent me a message.
Without comment, she led me to the curtain alcove behind the throne.
She helped me into a dress. I wasn't happy about the currently tattered
tunic I was wearing, so I accepted the dress she offered me without
comment.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I drawled.
“There's nothing surprising about it to me.” Her gaze met mine. “Our
Lord wants you here, so you're here.”
She moved to touch my hair, and I held up a hand. “I'm going to leave it
down.”
I couldn’t control much at the moment, but at least I could resist being
dressed like a doll for Zehr’s pleasure.
I turned my back on her and walked through the curtains. The Scourge
were moving around down on the field. I could see clearly now that the first
ranks were his soldiers that had full control of themselves--or at least as
much as anyone with some power--and at the back was filled with more
Scourge who were in their wild, animalistic state.
“So it takes time for them to regain themselves,” I said, turning my head
over my shoulder to check with Zehr that I understood.
He didn't answer. Instead, he took the throne that overhung the edge of
the platform, his feet dangling over the air above his subjects’ heads.
“Come sit with me, Honor.”
“No, thank you.”
He flashed into the shadows. I turned, already throwing up my arms to
block myself from him.
The girl stepped forward and kneecapped me. I stumbled, and Zehr
flashed out of the shadows to catch me.
“Don't hurt her, Kesselly,” he warned.
“Oh, but she seems so intent on getting herself hurt,” she returned. She
gave me a hard look that seemed to suggest that if I was a danger to him,
she would rip me apart.
I started to break Zehr’s grip, only to have the world flash black, then
find myself suddenly dangling over mid air. My feet hung over the sky
above the Scourge. Zehr had his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, and
he tried to settle me straddling one leg.
“You look much better in that dress,” he said into my ear. “I can see
where I marked you.”
His fingers brushed over my skin as he pulled my hair back, settling it
over one shoulder.
The thought of him marking me burned on my skin, but I forced all of
my emotions away for now. Priorities. I massaged my wounded knee,
finding the sore spots.
“So, you met Kesselly,” Zehr said cheerfully. “And over there is Taro.”
He pointed toward an enormous hulking zombie man who stared
sightlessly over our heads. It took me a second to realize that his eyes had
rotted out of his head, but he was somehow still up and moving. I
shuddered, and Zehr wrapped his arms around me even more tightly.
“I know my court of monsters is terrifying,” he said to me softly, “but I
can protect you from them.”
“Hilarious,” I said. “Because you are the greatest monster of all.”
“Thank you,” he said.
 “So what exactly does your court accomplish besides terrorizing
people?”
I had to keep him talking. And wanted to know everything about his
world.
“Not much. They have little to do besides worship me, and it's better for
the world when that is all they do.”
“Explain it all to me.”
His lips twisted. “Certainly. The second you're not just looking for a
chance to betray me.”
“If I wanted to betray you, would I have bothered to come all the way
here? If you meant nothing to me, I would have just sent Arren.”
“You came to try to save him.” Something dark flickered in his gaze.
Jealousy.
The sudden sense of power over him felt like a lurch upward, like the
first step when my wings caught the air.
I let out a genuine laugh of surprise. “Are you jealous?”
“I pity any man unlucky enough to join the Scourge, and any man
unlucky enough to love you, Honor, so I'm not jealous of him. He's twice
cursed.”
He was the reason Arren had joined the Scourge. He said the words so
blithely, as if Arren had a choice, as if the memory of Zehr’s bloody teeth
rising from Arren’s throat didn’t haunt me.
Rage hardened in my chest like a rock pressing against my lungs. “I
know you want me here. I came here for him, you're right. Can you help
him or not?”
“I haven't found a way to accelerate the process for the Scourge so that
they pass through their wild and regain their minds more quickly. I imagine
your lover is going to tear some schoolchildren apart to eat their hearts like
any other Scourge.” Zehr did not sound troubled by the idea. “and what are
you going to do about that, Honor? Are you going to kill him like you've
killed so many of my people?”
“If you can't help him, you're useless to me.”
His hand slid across my throat, pulling my cheek against his. His fingers
tightened on my throat, making dark stars dance at the edge of my vision.
His other hand swept up my thigh, hiking my skirt higher and higher. “If
I'm so useless to you, why is your body on fire for me?”
“I don't want you, Zher. I could never want you.”
 He chuckled darkly into my ear. “Is that so?”
I couldn't move away from him without lurching toward my doom
above the Scourge, and the Dragonsbane bracelet kept me from
transforming. His lieutenants, Kesselly and Taro, moved to either side of his
chair, blocking me from jumping easily from his lap to safety. The two of us
hung with our feet over the Scourge, as his hand traced up my thigh,
igniting sparks everywhere it went.
“How dare you touch me in front of your whole court,” I spat at him.
“How dare you touch me at all.”
“I'll do what I want to you.”
His nostrils flared, as if he were drinking in my scent of arousal.
“Though it seems you are more than ready for anything I could do to you.”
He ducked his head to my throat, to suckle the mark on my skin. I
yanked away from him, and he raised his face, his grip on my throat
tightening as he pressed his lips against mine.
The dragonsbane burned against my skin, and sudden agony raced
through my body as I fought to raise my fire. Zehr grabbed one of my
wrists, and Kesselly, realizing what I was doing, reached to grab another of
mine, jerking it up against the top of the his throne.
But it didn't matter. I sank my teeth into Zehr’s throat, summoning all
my fire. The scent of burning skin filled the air. Zehr let out a cry as flames
burst around us both.
He was up in a second and flashing through the shadows, clutching me
in his arms. The world went black, then flickered to bits of his castle,
always tinged with darkness.
Then we were back in his room. He pushed me into the cage, and
slammed the door shut as if he couldn't stand to touch me any longer.
My mark burned against his skin, still smoking.
“I'm trying to protect you!” he shouted. “My court sees you as an enemy
—and you are—but they will never harm what's mine.”
“You're a monster.”
He flinched back, as if those words had actually hurt him. He told me
that they had called him a monster when he was a boy, and now I knew that
they had called Dragons monsters once upon a time before they called us
saviors. And Zehr was something else now, but once he had been a dragon
too.
“At least I know it,” he snarled at me.
 He stepped forward and checked the lock on the cage, then paced out of
the room.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Eight

H onor

T hat night , Arren paced, growling, while Zehr slept on. I leaned against
the bars, wishing I could reach Arren. He was so close, but the space
between us was still a gulf.
I tried to get him to relax by speaking to him softly about our old
adventures, but he just grew more agitated. It stung like rejection, but I
managed a smile anyway that I was sure didn’t reach my eyes. “All right, I
know, I talk too much. Try to sleep.”
Even when he did finally sleep, he thrashed around as if he were lost to
nightmares, growling and snoring, startling awake breathless. I pressed the
heels of my hands into my eyes as I lay there in the dark, feeling as if I’d
explode out of my skin if I couldn’t help Arren.
I found myself dreaming of the lord of the Scourge again. In my
dreams, he came to me and the two of us embraced without words. He still
wore my mark, but now he wore it proudly, coming to me bared to the
waist. The dark tattoos across his lean frame glittered under the moonlight.
He still looked like a king, with his bone crown in his dark curls. His
powerful shoulders rippled under my palms as he pressed his lips to mine.
I was dreaming of his touch on my body. My core squeezed with the
power of my building orgasm, and then I slowly woke, realizing that I was
touching myself, setting the same pace against my clit that I had in my
dream.
Zehr leaned over me, his touch on my inner thigh. His tail coiled around
me. I was happy to see him at first, still lost in my dream. And then I
realized it was him.
“How dare you,” I said.
But Arren had been thrashing in a panic, unable to still during the night
no matter how I tried to calm him. I had only fallen into a fitful sleep after
he had. But now, I could see him focused on me and Zehr, a look of intense
focus written across his face. He’d become human again.
“Let me out of this cage,” I demanded.
“I don't trust you in the cage, Honor. I'm certainly not letting you out.”
Zehr melted away into the shadows before I could hurt him.
Then the room seemed eerily silent, without the annoying crackle of his
presence. There was no denying the effect he had on me, no matter how
much I hated him.
Most important of all, Arren seemed more human now. His dark gaze
watched me through the murk of Zehr’s room, irritating me when I already
felt unsettled around Zehr.
“What?” I demanded.
“He's never going to help you, Honor. You have to escape.”
I shook my head. “Zehr can help you. But I have to give him something
in return.” I cast a quick glance at the bed; Zehr’s breathing was slow and
even but that might be just another of his lies.
“You're not listening to me. You can escape without me. You can leave
me to kill the Scourge instead of killing innocents.” He ran his fingers
through his hair, tangling them there, and didn't seem to remember his horns
until he jerked his palms away,. “Maybe I can kill the Lord of the Scourge.
I'm the first royal to get close enough... and I'm still royal.”
Almost to himself, he added “At...at times.”
“I don't want you sacrificing yourself to take out Zehr,” I said.
“I'm losing myself!” he shouted at me. “What if I hurt you? Or what if I
hurt someone else, and you can never look at me the same way again...”
“Nothing will make me stop loving you,” I promise. “I'm on your side.”
“You can't love a monster. You're too good for that, Honor.”
“I'm not good. I have my moments, but I'm a lot more complicated than
I am good.”
 “I don't want you to give yourself to Zehr for me.”
“I don't intend to be some sweet maidenly sacrifice over here. It's Zehr
who's going to sacrifice if he wants me.”
Arren’s eyes locked on me through the darkness. “I don't think you
know what you're doing.”
Arren’s accusation was a little too close to home, so I ignored it.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Forty-Nine

H onor

T he next morning , Zehr strode into the room, his cloak fluttering behind
him. “Time to say goodbye to your little pet monster.”
“What do you want from me, Zehr?”
He sounded as casual as ever, but there was restless tension buzzing just
under his skin. Before he could answer, I added, “I'm not going anywhere
with you until we have a plan to save Arren.”
“You'll have to come with me today if you want to know my plan.”
I wasn't exactly enthused by the thought of going with him anywhere.
But reluctantly I went with him, since I didn't exactly have a choice.
“Absolutely thrilled that you're feeling so reasonable today.” he said
cheerfully.
“You're scared of something,” I told him. “What is it?”
“The only thing I'm afraid of is letting you out of your cage,” he said.
He gave me a more considering look. “Do you think we are on terms of
telling each other our secrets? Are you telling me yours?”
I didn't answer him.
“That's what I thought,” he said.
Arren growled as if he were distraught that I was leaving. I ducked
away from Zehr and ran back to Arren. Zehr turned around, following my
gaze with a dismissive look.
“And here I thought you didn't want me around anymore,” I said quietly
to Arren. “Don't worry. I'll be back. And I'm going to find a way to make
you better.”
Zehr scoffed. “There's nothing wrong with him now. Being a monster is
not the worst thing.”
“Oh? What's worse?”
“Being a royal,” he said acidly. “They're the ones with blood caked
under their talons.”
“I’m a royal too.”
“And every Scourge here sees you as soaked in blood.”
“I’ve only ever tried to protect people!”
“That would sound so admirable if only you’d tried to protect the
Scourge as well.”
When we got outside, Kesselly and Taro were waiting for us.
“We don't have any horses,” Zehr explained. “I would love to ride you,
but you're not a very reliable mount.”
I would have had something to say to that, but I was shocked by the
sight of the hybrids ambling toward us. My body immediately turned cold,
my feet rooted to the ground. For a second, I was back in those cold dank
tunnels, fighting for my life.
My gaze flicker to the sword Kessely carried at her side. She gave me a
long look back and gripped the pommel of her sword, shielding it from me.
“It's completely safe,” Zehr promised. “They are very tame.”
As if to belie his words, one of them bit the head off the nearest
Scourge. The Scourge screamed, there was a crunch, and then the hybrid
dropped what was left of the Scourge’s body.
Zehr shrugged.
“We need to move,” Kessely said urgently.
“Why?” I demanded.
“Honor, if I thought there was a point in trying to explain anything to
you, I would. I don't think you listen any better than your dragon royals,
though. So I'm just going to have to show you.” He turned to his friends,
who were mounting the saddled hybrids. “I'm going on ahead.”
“Don't,” Kessely started, but it was too late.
Zehr’s fingers tightened on the back of my neck, and then we were off
through the shadows.
 We blurred through the shadows, in and out catching glimpses of caves
and the forest. I caught a glimpse of a farmhouse, and I grabbed Zehr’s
wrist, my fingers digging deep into his skin.
“Where are we going?” I demanded, but he didn't say anything. We
blurred into the shadows again.
I didn't want to watch a Scourge attack an innocent village.
But that was exactly what I saw when we emerged again. I blinked hard
in the sunlight, my head reeling.
It would be so quick and easy for him to take my men and deliver them
to the Scourge. The realization was unsettling. He was powerful enough to
hurt any of my men with his supernatural powers. They wouldn't be able to
transform into dragons while they were in his grip being dragged through
the shadows.
“Don't touch me,” I hissed at Zehr.
He raised his hands mockingly. “I won't again. Not until you beg me.”
I turned to watch the Scourge scuttling over the village below. Dread
settled deep into my stomach. I looked up, trying to get my bearings. I was
pretty sure we were in the south, and Caldren’s territory.
“I thought you had an alliance with Lord Caldren.”
He studied me, crossing his arms over his chest. “I'm hurt that I'm the
only king you aren't sleeping with.”
“You're no king, Zehr.”
“My people disagree.”
“What happened to your alliance with Caldren?” I demanded.
“It doesn't look as if we have an alliance anymore.” He studied the
bloodbath below, looking displeased.
I started forward, and he stopped me, his fingers wrapped around the
base of my neck. “No. It's dangerous down there.”
In the distance, a child screamed, a piercing wail that drove into my
soul.
“It's dangerous up here,” I snarled back. “For you.”
I slammed into him, determined to take him down and get into the fight.
I wasn’t going to stand by while kids died. Zehr was trying to make me into
a monster like him, someone willing to allow suffering and death as long as
I reached my prize.
Zehr grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. I kicked him in the thigh,
hard enough for him to let out a grunt of pair, and twisted out of his grip.
 I elbowed him in the face. He stumbled back, shadow flashed before I
could hit him again, then he was behind me. He grabbed my shoulder and
yanked me toward him, kneeing me in the stomach so hard I thought I
would puke. I slapped him across the face, the cuff of my bracelet catching
his cheek. Let him eat that. Blood dripped from his cheek as he staggered
away and gazed at me, both of us breathing hard.
“You are spirited,” he managed, his breath coming short. “I wish I found
that attractive.”
“Oh, I'm happy you don't. I don't want to be desired by you.”
“You lie to me as if I won’t know better, as if I've never been in your
dreams.”
He was baiting me into throwing myself at him, so I did just what he
wanted. I abruptly threw myself to the ground as I neared him. My feet
plowed into his shins, knocking him down, and the two of us wrestled
across the ground.
The pommel of the long knife he carried—not that he needed it—
glimmered under his robes. I grabbed the handle and yanked it out of the
sheath, running away from him toward the village.
I veered from side to side, trying to stay in the sunlight because I was
afraid he would phase right behind me.
And then Zehr was in front of me, facing toward the village.
He pushed the hood down from his bone crown resting on his dark locks
and raised his arms. The power radiating from him shook the ground
underneath my feet. It made my own legs weak, and the nearest Scourge
went to their knees.
But further in the city, there was still screaming, desperate screaming. I
stumbled toward it.
He phased beside me. “You are a stupid, reckless girl.”
“I know.”
I reached the Scourge and was prepared to fight them, but as I drew my
sword back Zehr leapt in front of me. He turned his head over his shoulder
to tell me, “I won't let you kill my people.”
The next second, hybrids poured in around us. He whirled, raising his
cloak to put it around me too, drawing me into his side. The temptation to
stab him in the gut was intense, and the only reason I didn't is because I was
so focused on the hybrids who had begun to slaughter the Scourge all
around us.
 The hybrids growled and slashed with their claws, and Scourge tumbled
to their death.
Zehr flashed me a dark smile. “Instead, I'll kill them myself.”
“I don't understand,” I said. “I thought the elder Royals were the ones
who made the hybrids to fight your Scourge and you made your own
hybrids to fight them...”
He shook his head. “They began it, and I finished it. I found better ways
than they had.”
“I don't understand.”
“Maybe I'm a complicated monster.”
I stared at him. “How are you going to save Arren?”
He held out his hand for his knife. “I don’t like seeing you armed.”
“You don’t have a way, do you?” I still gripped the knife, sure that he
was lying to me.
“I can’t snap my fingers and reverse the curse,” he admitted, sounding
tired. “I can control the Scourge, more or less, but not the curse.”
He added, more blithely, “Now please give me the knife. Don’t be
tiresome and stab me.”
“You can’t help Arren.” My fingers tightened around the knife. There
was no way I could hand it to him.
He spread his arms. “I do have a plan to save Arren. Unfortunately for
you, it's the same as my plan to save all my people.”
“And what is that?”
He sneered down at me. “You know nothing about the Scourge, and
you’re supposed to be queen.”
“I’m listening now. If you have anything to say.”
“There’s supposed to be a way to undo the Scourge curse. They were
made with magic, and magic can be undone.” He gave me a weighted look.
“But I can’t just save one. I have to save all.”
He spoke as if he was sure I didn’t give a damn about the Scourge, and
my chin lifted.
“We have to save all.”
The words just made Zehr’s lips twist in a dismissive smile. “How
sweet. For the first time I have an ally. It would be heartwarming if not for
the fact that I only have one because now, the Scourge is costing you.”
“I didn’t know before, Zehr. Don’t be tiresome. No one knows anything
about the Scourge except they come to kill and destroy.”
 “You’ve chosen not to know.” He disagreed.
I thought we were becoming allies, but his gaze danced over my face,
his expression still taut. “If you don’t help me, royal, Arren isn't the only
man of yours that will fall to the Scourge.”
“Stay away from them!”
“Your people have never thought the lives of mine mattered. Why
should their lives matter to me?”
I swept my arm toward the chaos around us. “Your people kill
innocents.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Honor, but this entire world is ruled by
monsters who kill innocents.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty

L ynx

F angs skulked behind me as I paced down the corridor towards Jaik’s

throne room. It was hard to tell these days if people were afraid of Fangs, or
of me.
Branok came down the hall to greet me. He took in the way people
reacted to me with a quick flutter of his eyes, barely perceptible unless you
knew him well. He gripped my forearm warmly and said to me, “Still
uncomfortable with the respect you command now, brother? I would have
thought you would have grown into it by now.”
Even when Branok loved someone, he was still an arrogant and icy
bastard.
“I wouldn't call it respect. I'd call it fear.”
“The two are as close as a kiss.”
“It only seems that way to someone who's demented.”
Branok shrugged. “Perhaps. But at least I wouldn't waste my power.”
I followed him into the throne realm. The Academy felt lonely. Hell, the
entire city felt lonely these days. Jaik stayed in the castle more often than
not, and I wasn't sure if it was to avoid his empty bed that Honor had shared
or if it was because the cares of the crown were eating away at him. Arren
was gone, and the dragon Knights were still searching for him. Talisyn had
gone to meet Damyn. It felt empty when it was just us.
 Jaik didn't bother to greet me. “It's possible that the woman that
attacked Honor in the marketplace, the Scourge that seemed to be in control
of herself, is the same one who sabotaged Arren’s dragonsbane.”
“That seems most likely,” Branok said.
“Unless it was intended to throw us off the trail.” Jaik swiped his hand
through his hair. “We know we have spies in the court. I'd like to know if
it’s just my own damned nobles plotting against me, and not the Scourge’s
henchmen.”
“We will find out,” I promise Jaik.
Branok cut his eyes at me. He always said spies should never make
promises.
“What if it's my brother?” Jaik mused. “We know that he made a deal
with the Scourge once before. He and the Lord of the Scourge might be
working together now.”
“Now?” I demanded. “Now that he knows that the Lord of the Scourge
took Honor...”
The faintest shadow had crossed Jaik’s face, and my voice came out
harsher than I meant when I demanded, “He does know, doesn't he?”
“Oh, I'm sure he does. But I haven't told him.”
“I thought you and your brother had put the past behind you.” I glanced
at Branok for agreement, thinking he would have my back. I could never
imagine having the contentious relationship with my brother that Jaik had
with his. I'd been so happy for them when it seemed they'd finally overcome
it.
“We have, but that doesn't mean he's put the future aside.” Jaik crossed
his arms over his powerful chest. “Maybe he’s not content to bow to Honor
as queen in the end. The spies in this castle might well be my brother’s.”
I wondered if Jaik was willing to bow to Honor, in the end. Maybe his
own reluctance was why he feared his brother’s.
A troubled look came over his face. “I don't think Cal would hurt
Arren... I don't think he had anything to do with setting Arren loose. Even
though he would know how much chaos and...” he seemed to stumble over
the word then admitted, “heartbreak that would cause.”
“He wouldn’t,” I said, with confidence, and Branok shot me another
poisoned look. I was driving my cynical twin mad.
“But if he allied with Zehr and helped him save Arren… maybe he
could convince Honor to choose him. He has to feel… alone.”
 He sounded as if you were talking himself into believing his brother
was involved.
“Whoever the spies are, we will find them.” I promised.
Branok sighed under his breath and began to back out of the room. Jaik
turned and said, “Hold.”
Branok paused, crossing his arms over his powerful chest. “What is it?”
Jaik studied my brother. “Well, Branok, I just want to know why you've
been lying to me about Honor.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-One

H onor

I hung back , reluctant to leave the village, and evaded Zehr—who

apparently thought it was easier to grab me and shadow travel against my
will than have a discussion with me. I wanted to see all the Scourge leave
before I abandoned the village.
And part of me hoped Caldren would come. I longed to see him again.
“Get out of here!” A villager yelled at me. Someone threw a rock at me.
It stabbed my heart, but I pretended not to notice. Zehr twisted, his eyes
black with rage, and I caught his arm.
“Take me home,” I said, and the question—and the touch—seemed to
take him aback.
“You’re trying to keep me from murdering someone,” he noted.
“Why would you murder someone for insulting me when you insult me
all the time?”
He didn’t deign to answer that, merely threw his cloak around me and
drew me into his side. The two of us stepped into the shadows.
Just before the world lurched, I caught a glimpse of horses riding down
the hill toward us, of wolves and bears streaking down the hill. My heart
leapt in my chest. Caldren?
But we were already gone.
T hat night , Zehr watched over his Scourge from his throne.
“Can I get someone else as a maidservant?” I demanded. “Or better yet,
no maidservant? I used to be poor, I can dress myself.”
Zehr scoffed. “You were never poor. You might have been
disenfranchised by those ridiculous nobles, but I don’t think you’ve spent
much time faint with hunger.”
“And have you?”
“Yes,” he said tartly. “My father struck a deal with your father for him
to become the Lord of the Scourge, to play the villain to your father’s hero.
That didn’t leave me in the best of places. I grew up in the finest orphanage
the Isle has to offer before I was hired off into an apprenticeship, and none
of that was very pleasant. I ran away.”
I shook my head, finding it hard to believe any account that turned my
long-dead father into a villain. I might believe the broad strokes of the story,
but I couldn’t believe he had done it out of cruelty.
“Anyway,” he said. “Pedra will help you dress for dinner.”
“Believe me,” she said, pushing past him, “I’m as delighted as you are,
Princess.”
“Make sure she didn’t take any knives off the villagers,” Zehr told
Pedra. He smiled at me fondly. “My love is dangerous.”
“I’m not your love.”
He shrugged. “We’ll see.”
Then he sauntered out of the room.
“I might let her keep just one little knife,” Pedra muttered. Then she
turned to me. “Come on. He wanted me to take you to the bathhouse. You
reek.”
“I don’t need a maid.”
“Consider me more of an armed guard who doesn’t really mind if you
try to make a break for it, then,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind putting an
arrow between your shoulder blades.”
She patted the crossbow that hung from a leather strap around her
shoulder.
“I didn’t know Scourge could shoot.”
“Let me show you,” she offered. She swept her arm toward the door.
I felt a distinct prickle down my spine when I turned my back to her.
 The two of us went down those twisting, dark halls and into a cavern
that sparkled with luminescence draped from every stalactite. Steps had
been cut into the stone going down into the water, which reflected the
luminescence from above.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Oh,” she began, coming closer with a friendly smile. Then she shoved
me hard. My feet went out from underneath me on the slippery rock. I
threw myself toward the water, knowing I was more likely to hit my head
and get really hurt trying to save myself. Instead, I half-stumbled, half-
jumped into the unknown black.
I slammed into the water, drew in a shocked breath before I could stop
myself, and swallowed salty water. Then I swam up to the surface.
“Unfortunately, yes, it is safe,” she said as I emerged.
I treaded water, pulling off my clothes. I didn’t think she’d be too
concerned by the fact my clothes were soaking now, so I didn’t bother to
bring it to her attention. Zehr also probably wouldn't be terribly impressed
by the way she was treating me, but I had the feeling she already had his
loyalty. Meanwhile, I had betrayed him a time or two and would again
given the chance.
“Don't worry,” she said with a sickly sweet smile from her perch on the
damp rock above me. “Zehr provided new clothes for you to wear. Dry, and
I'm sure entirely to your taste.”
She nodded her head at the dress that was hanging across from me. I
gave it a skeptical glance. I hadn’t noticed it in all the excitement, but it was
a sparkling dark dress with a plunging neckline. I'd never seen a dress with
such an insubstantial top before.
“He has quite the fashion sense. What's the occasion?” I assumed he
was going to risk bringing me in front of his court again, and he’d hope I
didn't hurt him this time. I couldn't help but feel a little self satisfied every
time I thought of the wounded look on his face when I marked him back,
the same way he had marked me.
But if what people claimed about marks were true, then it was a sign he
had wanted me to mark him... although perhaps not in that way, or that
place, or that time. But still... it was an interesting thought.
“Why didn't you tell him what I did to you?” she asked.
“If you're so concerned, feel free to tell him yourself.”
 “I want to know why you didn't tell him.” Her voice had taken on a
furious tone, as if I'd betrayed her by not revealing to Zehr that he had more
people to hunt down and murder. “If you think I'm going to be loyal to you
now, if you think you can shake my loyalty to my Lord...”
“I thought you didn't deserve to be murdered. My apologies.” My voice
came out clipped. “You are a terrible lady’s maid, by the way. Is there any
soap?”
She rummaged around, then tossed some soap down to me. I caught it at
the last moment, the splash of dark water scattering bioluminescence that
glittered over my arms. It was magical. I hoped it didn't leave a rash.
“Why?” she demanded. “Because you pity me?”
“Why would I pity you, when you think I despise the Scourge so
much?” The truth was, of course I had despised them…until just recently
when I realized perhaps their situation was also miserable and unfair. It was
still an unsettling proposition. Because, in the end… they were also a
terrible danger.
“I don’t know. But it must have been pity that kept you from naming me
for Zehr to rip apart.” Her eyes glittered down at me, but there was no
hiding her confusion.
“You didn’t hurt me.”
“Do you remember killing my brother?”
“No.”
“He was just another Scourge.”
“Yes.” My voice came out clipped and harsh. “He was just another
Scourge rampaging through a village of innocents. Maybe he was the one
who had ripped off a child’s skull. Maybe he was the one I found carrying a
bloody doll. Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I couldn’t,” she said dully. “It took him longer to surface than it took
me. But he would have. He would have.”
“Are there any Scourge who don’t?”
“I don’t know. They never survive long enough to know. Because of the
Royals.” Her voice was bitter. She looked away, tugging her fingers through
her long brown hair. I expected her slender fingers to accidentally rip out
her hair, since I’d seen so many Scourge lurching along with their hair and
skin in tatters. Her skin was thin and pale, her lips cracked at the edges, but
she looked more human than most Scourge.
 “You know Lord Zehr tried to cage us,” she went on. “Down here under
the mountain. He made us build our own prison.”
“What happened?”
“Even he couldn’t hold us when we worked together. And he was
stronger then.” Her lips snapped close, as if she’d revealed too much.
A chill ran down my spine. “That’s why he made the hybrids. To stop
the Scourge.”
She nodded. I made a mental note to find out more later about how Zehr
used to be stronger, but pressing her on it now would be useless. She knew
she’d misstepped. She’d be on guard.
“So why do you hate me and not him?”
“He’s only used the hybrids when he couldn’t stop them. When there
was no other way. The second you all see Scourge… even if they’re
running, even if he was able to pull them away…. You go in with swords
swinging.”
“No one ever told me--”
She cut me off. “You asked about my little brother. Do you still want to
hear his story?”
My stomach dropped. No. “Yes.”
“The Scourge came to our village. We hid or fled into the forest. We
knew that sometimes they kill and sometimes they take.”
I fell quiet, giving her an encouraging nod, but her eyes had taken on a
far away, glassy quality.
“We were terrified. My mother kept screaming as they broke down the
door. She told us to run into the bedroom. She sounded so afraid, and that
was the last… the last words I ever heard from her.”
“I tried to hide him. He tried to hold my hands, to cling to me, as I
pushed him into the wardrobe. I locked it and I dropped the key. Then the
Scourge swept in, two of them…” She stared into the distance as if she
were living it again, then went on, her voice hard and brittle. “I thought I
was going to die. But they bit me.”
“I don't remember everything that happened after that. I woke up, down
here, under the mountain. I was so hungry. And I was so scared for my
brother. It took me days to make it back to my village to find him. When he
heard someone come in, he cried out for help. His voice was so weak. I
hadn't realized that no one would come and find him. I had tried to save him
and I’d starved him instead. Everyone in the village was dead or gone.”
 “I hunted around for the key. I finally found it, and I opened the door,
and he tumbled out. He looked so weak. He was dying. Too weak to fight.”
“And... I couldn't stop myself. I'm the one who turned him.” She was
still staring off into the distance. Then abruptly, she seemed to snap back to
herself, staring down at me. “You're not the only one I hate. But there's
plenty of hate in this world to go around.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Why should you be? You were just doing your duty.” Pedra rose from
the rock where she was sitting.
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Now finish getting ready. Lord Zehr wants you.”

W hen P edra escorted me into the throne room, Zehr smiled wickedly and
extended an arm, inviting me to join him. “Ah, there you are. Lovely.”
I drew the plunging neckline of my dress together, though the dress was
so flimsy that trying to move the shiny fabric put me at risk of exposing the
side of my breasts. I gave up and straightened. “I wish I could be as happy
to see you, Zehr.”
He patted his thigh. “Do you choose my lap for yourself or be dragged?
I’m delighted either way.”
I threw him a dirty look, but climbed over the arm of his chair, aware of
the distance between his throne and the roiling Scourge below. Some of
them looked up as if they would love to tear me apart if I fell.
His arm wrapped my waist, and his voice was a purr against my ear. “I
really thought you’d fight, but as much as I love having the chance to hurt
you… seeing you begin to break is the best.”
“I’m happy to give you these crumbs of affection,” I shot back. My bare
feet dangled from this insane height, giving me a dizzying feeling every
time I caught a glimpse of my toes. “This means nothing to me. I gave my
whole heart, my whole body, to some truly worthy men.”
He chuckled into my ear, but his arm tensed around my waist, as if my
words rankled.
I hid my smile. I had secrets to drag from Zehr. “What happened to your
father?”
 “He was stupid and believed he could make a bargain with your father. I
won’t be so stupid as to trust anyone from your bloodline.”
“Probably wise,” I said mildly. There’s power in not being offended by
people who strive to be offensive. “What happened to him? Why isn’t he
still carrying the curse?”
If it was possible for Zehr to look even cagier then he usually did, he
was hiding the answer to that question. “It was my turn.”
“You dreaded it.” The memory of the dream that I’d had- which now I
was sure was actually a memory of his—almost choked me with its misery.
“You didn’t want to take on the crown. You didn’t want to become the Lord
of the Scourge.”
“Really?” he spread his arm, encompassing the whole of his Kingdom.
“Who wouldn’t want to be Lord of all this?”
I looked out at the ruined wasteland that lay before us, and all the
Scourge who slept—for the moment—ready to rise and kill at any moment.
No matter how blasé he sounded, he was obviously disturbed by my
knowledge of his inner thoughts. I favored him with a smile. “You might be
in my dreams, Lord Zehr, but I’m in your dreams too.”
“Then tonight, I hope you dream of shadows,” he said to me, right
before his arms tightened, drawing me ever harder against his body. The
world went black.
There was a part of me that wanted to cringe away when he touched me,
and a part of me that wanted to lean into him.
Every time we blurred through the shadows, my skin went cold and I
couldn’t breathe.
I gasped in a breath of air when we finally stopped. “Where are you
taking me?” I gasped.
Then we were gone again. It felt as if my lungs were flattening, as if I
were underwater, the pressure forcing the last of the oxygen out of my life.
Then we were in sunshine and I drew in a ragged gasp. Zehr dragged me to
the right before I could regain myself, moving us into new shadows.
“To see Kallus,” he said, and then the world went dark again.
When we emerged again, I shoved him away from me, although my
arms were weak from the lack of air. I drew fierce ragged breaths trying to
catch myself again. “Why the hell are we going to see Kallus?”
“Because he can help us save Arren.” He said.
 I hesitated, and a faint cruel smirk came to his lips. “I thought that
would interest you. Though the lives of the five hundred Scourge under the
mountain don’t matter.”
“You talk to me about them as if they aren’t responsible for the deaths
of thousands of innocents.”
He cut me off by dragging me back into the shadows. This time, the
shadows went on and on and on. I felt as if I were drowning, and I clutched
at Zehr, trying to tell him I was dying, but I was voiceless.
And then, we were on a beach. Over the desperate ragged sound of me
trying to catch my breath, came the rush of the ocean against the rocks. I
was still clinging to Zehr desperately, my fingernails digging into the skin
of his neck. He reached up and took my wrists, pulling my grip away from
him, and stepped away. “I like you better when you aren’t clingy.”
“And I would like you better dead, but we can’t all have what we want.”
I raised my chin, annoyed at the moment of weakness he’d seen from me.
“Where are we?”
But the next second, I recognized Kallus’s castle.
“He knows I’m coming, but he doesn’t know you are,” he said. “And
we’re going to keep it that way.”
“Fine by me.”
He let out a laugh. “Honor, you don’t exactly have a heart of discretion.
But I’m going to help you.”
Those words, coming from him, sent a flutter of adrenaline through my
body, and I was already stepping back before he finished his promise.
But cliffs overhung us, leaving shadows stretched across the sand. The
next thing I knew, he was right behind me. I pressed against the hard length
of his body before his arm circled my throat. He lashed bindings around my
wrists. I whirled around, striking out with my foot. I knocked him to the
ground, and he grabbed my legs, pulling me down on top of him.
Before I could go on wrestling him, he whispered in my ear, “The
guards are right around the corner. Do you want to be caught by Kallus’
men?”
“Don’t they know you’re coming?”
“But I was going to hide you where you can hear everything Kallus has
to say. Don’t you want to know what your dear uncle thinks?”
I had so many questions about Kallus, and about how Zehr had worked
with him before. Reluctantly, I nodded. I’d play his little games for now to
figure out my uncle’s game.
“Wonderful,” Zehr murmured, and next second, he’d slapped a gag over
my mouth. I thrashed around trying to escape him, while he murmured in
my ear that he thought I had agreed.
Then we were flashing through the shadows again.
We emerged into a closet. “I made sure to visit all the closets when I
came to Kallus’ castle before,” he mused into my ear, sounding proud of
himself. He checked outside the room, then lifted me into his arms. “Kallus
doesn’t know that I’ve mapped his house. Be good now.”
He settled me under the table, flashed me a boyish grin and a wink
before he twitched the tablecloth into position. “You look delightful like
that, by the way. I should dress you in ropes at home.”
Then he flashed out again. I could tell when he was gone because there
was something about his presence that was both magnetic and chilling.
When he was near me, I felt it like a prickle across my skin. Like a pleasant
shiver on a hot day.
I waited long enough to wonder if he had lost his mind.
Then the door opened, and I heard Kallus’ polished voice and Zehr’s
rougher one.
“You know, Zehr, I believe you would have made your father proud.”
“It’s hard to know. I’m not sure what pride looked like on him.”
“You didn’t get the chance to know him as well as you should have,” he
said quietly. “That is Lysander’s fault. He convinced Lerick to leave you
behind to play Lord.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“Doesn’t it? Isn’t that part of why you are so eager to work against
her?”
“I just want to protect my people.”
“It’s not really that simple, is it?”
“Why can’t it be that simple?”
“You’re really telling me that you don’t want revenge. That you don’t
want to kill the dragon Royals for what they did to your family?”
“None of that is going to bring them back.”
Kallus sank into his seat at the table. It was strange to catch a glimpse of
my uncle's hairy calves above his jeweled slippers. He didn’t look quite so
dignified from this angle. He sighed. “It bores me when people pretend they
are above revenge and vengeance.”
 “Sorry to bore you. Sometimes I think you forget that I’m almost as old
as you are, Kallus. I’ve had time to gain some perspective.”
“And not much to think about, I imagine, trapped under the mountain
with all those beasts. You must have been quite bored until my niece came
along.”
I wondered if no one knew about the second-stage Scourge. If Zehr had
kept that a secret from everyone until me.
“She does entertain me. But she talks too much.”
“She’s delightful,” Kallus disagreed.
“She thinks she’s in love with those ridiculous royals, but she seems far
more in love with her own cleverness. Always a quip.”
I gritted my teeth, contemplating murder.
“I told your father not to trust Lysander,” Kallus said, cutting off the
conversation about my faults. “Lysander never would have sacrificed
himself the way your father did, taking on the curse to create a gift.”
“My father was a hero. It’s too bad people only remember him as a
villain.”
Kallus coughed as if he were allergic to the word hero. “Your father was
a victim. And worse, he made you a victim too.”
“I don’t think so.” Zehr’s voice was cool.
I thought perhaps nothing could ruffle the Lord of the Scourge. He’d
even stayed calm when I marked him. But even though he sounded
unbothered, I had a feeling that slight had struck home.
“You know, the dragon king that everyone admires so much was going
to destroy the Scourge stone….then he discovered he could not. Even
breaking it apart only made it harder to reverse. Then he gave pieces to his
henchmen, but he made sure it stayed out of your father’s hands. That he
never had a chance to control his own curse.”
“And then of course he lost his piece, like the dragon king lost
everything.”
Wait, had one of the treasures in my father’s horde been a stone used to
contain the magic for the Scourge curse? The memory of laying on top of
that shifting bed of gold coins rose in my mind. Maybe I’d once napped on
a curse.
Kallus chuckled. “He didn’t lose it. I stole it. He was going to make it
disappear forever so the Scourge stone could never be reconstructed. I
thought it might be useful.”
 “You didn’t tell me that when you asked me to spy on the girl.”
“I didn’t need to offer you anything for that. You were so eager to get
your eyes on her.”
“She seemed so exciting…in theory.” Zehr mused out loud. “I thought
she was pretty at first, but the attitude really ruins it.”
“My niece is magnetic and fiery and beautiful, and you are not going to
convince me you’re any more immune to her charms than the dragon
Royals.” Kallus’s voice was sharp, and his sudden rancor sent an
unexpected glow of confusing warmth through my chest.
Kallus leaned back and crossed his legs confidently. I caught a glimpse
of the jeweled dagger clipped at the top of his slipper. “After all, you’re
both dragons. It makes sense you would all be drawn to the one dragon
queen.”
“She’s never going to be a queen, Kallus.”
“Well, I guess that remains to be seen.” Kallus said.
“What do you want from me for your piece of this Scourge stone?” Zehr
asked. “If it’s even real.”
“You’d better hope it’s real. You’re dying, my boy. You’re going to need
the stone. You’re going to have a hard time finding someone else to lift that
crown off your head. You should have made yourself an heir like your
father did.”
A shock ran through me. Zehr was dying?
“What do you want from me?” Zehr asked again.
“Your Kingdom.”
“Seems expensive.”
“Expensive? Life is priceless, no? When it’s your own.” Kallus rose to
his feet. His voice softened, deceptively so. “And you grow a little weaker
everyday, don’t you? That’s why you need the hybrids so desperately now.”
“Are you spying on me, Kallus?” Zehr had risen to his feet too.
“Of course I am. But I wouldn’t need to to know that you were growing
weak.”
“Don’t underestimate me.”
“Oh, I won’t.” Kallus muttered the words of a spell.
Zehr leapt toward him, and the air in the room changed, turned tense.
I caught glimpses of Zehr shadow traveling, trying to stop him. But just
as Zehr’s slippers reached Kallus, Zehr made a small, broken sound. His
shoes lifted off the ground, his toes brushing the expensive carpet.
 “I’m not going to take all your mind,” Kallus promised him. “Just
enough to make you a little more reasonable.”
Zehr made a strangled sound.
And as his consciousness started to fade to black, his dreams rose
around us both. The Scourge around him. Fear pressing into his throat.
Revulsion as he looked at his father and what he would become. Pity. Duty.
Agony.
I thought he deserved pain. And yet, when I felt the pain he felt, I
couldn’t bear it.
Zehr didn’t deserve me.
I rolled out from underneath the table, reaching out with my bound
hands to grab Kallus’s dagger. I snatched it out before he could even
register what was happening, his startled face gazing down at me in
confusion. Then I drove the dagger into his thigh. He let out a scream of
pain.
Zehr fell to his knees, clutching his throat. His eyes had rolled back in
his head, but he regained himself quickly, his gaze meeting mine.
I’d already jumped onto Kallus’s back, trying to get my chained hands
around his throat. Kallus and I struggled, and then Zehr slammed into me.
Zehr carried me away from Kallus, knocking us into the hallway. I
caught a glimpse of Kallus’s shocked face before the jeweled doors
slammed shut between us.
Then we both fell sideways into the shadows.
The castle faded around us. At first, I felt a rush of relief. Zehr’s arms
were tight around me.
Then his arms began to relax. The air slipped out of my lungs, no matter
how much I tried to keep it. The sense of pressure on my chest hurt; my
eardrums ached, then burst into a bright blaze of pain.
I was drowning all over again.
It went on, and on, and on, and then I realized that Zehr might have
passed out, and I might die drowned in the shadows.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Two

Z ehr

K allus had come so close to unmaking me.

In the shadows, I gathered my strength again. Shadow travel stripped
something from me every time, but it was better than what he had been
doing to me.
I slammed back into reality. My shoulder blades hit the ground hard,
and Honor toppled on top of me. She drew shuddering breaths, her eyes
shining with tears as if she’d been strangled. I reached for my blade,
dragged it over the bind on her wrists, trying to be careful even though my
hands weren’t steady. The blade bit into her skin, and she winced, then
dragged the ropes apart, popping the last strands.
She yanked the gag from her mouth. “Are you alright?”
“No.” I answered. In the state that I’d been in, I’d tried to bring us home
as quickly as possible. I’d taken us to the center of the Scourge.
So we should have been under the rock ceiling. But the sun was shining
above us.
We were in the middle of a village, on the green between a dozen
houses. Villagers were starting to walk out of their houses to crowd around
us.
I staggered to my feet, knowing I would have to fight. Either the
villagers, or the Scourge, or both.
 Death was coming.
Honor still sat on the grass, looking ragged and bloodshot no matter that
she sounded like her usual cocky self. My heart twisted at the sight.
“Even bound and gagged, you let Kallus know you were there,” I said,
as if I could hold any grudge against her. She’d saved me from him. He’d
been trying to force an obedience spell, to bring me under his thrall.
But anyone who had known me for the last two hundred years would’ve
known obedience was never one of my virtues. If I had any.
Honor gave me an exasperated look. “I should’ve let him hurt you.”
“His spell would’ve kept you there too, since I would’ve become his
creature,” I said absently, not particularly interested.
“You could say thank you,” she protested.
“I could.” I glared at the villagers who hung back, as if they realized
there was something wrong with us. Eventually, they’d summon dangerous
courage—some of the men carried weapons and stared at us with unfriendly
faces.
They’d need those weapons soon if I couldn’t turn back the Scourge. I
would let them die because I was tired, but Honor was watching.
I ignored the angry faces and muttering and general air of violence—
experiencing that used to be a part of being a dragon shifter--raising my
hands and trying to call the low Scourge. Trying to send them home. I could
feel their thoughts—such as they were—the writhing mass of them, hungry
and aching and restless. But they were slippery. I couldn’t get them under
control.
I tried to call in my hybrids, but I couldn’t summon anyone. If I couldn’t
do that, then I definitely couldn’t stop the Scourge.
Honor’s voice was distant and muffled. She broke me away from the
dark depths of my mind.
Her hands were on my shoulders when I opened my eyes. “Zehr, talk to
me. You’re freaking me out even more than usual.”
“We need to get out of here.” I knew how well she would take seeing
the destruction that would be unleashed. I couldn’t hold them back.
She looked at me as if she expected me to wrap my arm around her and
shadow walk us again, but I wasn’t strong enough. I’d already been weak
from fighting Kallus, then I’d traveled so far that time, my body bringing
me back to the Scourge when no other part of me could fight anymore.
 “Let’s just walk,” I said, eager to get her out of here before she saw the
destruction. The two of us hobbled toward the forest.
The villagers started to heckle us. Honor’s lips parted in surprise, and
she started toward them to talk to them.
I caught her arm and reeled her back. “You talk too much, Honor, and
you rarely make people feel less murderous.”
We’d landed in a crowd of prey shifters, and they were an angry bunch
of birds and bunnies. They could tell we were predators, with those finely
honed instincts of prey, but there were so many of them they thought they
could hurt us. They crowded closer. Some cooler heads tried to appease
them. But the villagers wanted a fight—and right now, they thought they
could win one.
They changed their mind when the Scourge swept in.
I cursed. The villagers had slowed Honor down, and I’d hoped to try to
get her clear of this area before the Scourge. I didn’t want her to realize I
was helpless. The villagers screamed and ran, and half the villagers who
had been brave and armed before fled.
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “You need to call in your hybrids.”
“I don’t need to do anything,” I told her. I couldn’t do anything. “My
people need to eat too.”
She stared at me in horror. “I’m not going to stand here and watch these
innocent people die. You take the damn bracelet off me so I can fight as a
dragon.”
“Of course,” I said agreeably, then raised my eyebrows at her. “And
then you’d… kill all my people! Why are the villagers worth more than the
Scourge?”
“Because the villagers aren’t currently biting anyone to death!” She
raked her fingers through her hair desperately, then her gaze fell to the
bracelet. She tried to get it off, but I had magicked it onto her slender wrist.
“Our fathers worked together,” I said. “We’re both Dragons, or at least
once were.”
I’d lost my ability to shift, to fly, when I became Lord of the Scourge.
The way people used to treat dragons, those powers hadn’t felt like a loss.
Until I saw how happy Honor seemed to be when she flew.
Reluctantly, I admitted, “Perhaps you could command them.”
She gave me a suspicious look. “How?”
 I explained to her how to try. She spread her hands, closing her eyes,
imitating me—which was adorable--but the Scourge only grew more
restless and angry and bloodthirsty. It was as if they felt her sunny presence
wading into their fury and it made them even more feral.
“Stop,” I ordered, catching her hand, and she opened her eyes. For a
second, her pupils were wide and black and her eyes looked horrified, and
my heart stopped.
“It didn’t work?” she asked, full of concern and sweet as ever. Gods.
Those asshole Royals didn’t deserve her.
“You could lend me some of your magic,” I suggested.
Her lips straightened into a line, her brows puckering with a frown. “I
don’t trust you.”
And yet she trusted them. She was lovely, but insane. “Oh, it’s mutual,
little queen.”
She hesitated, then admitted, “I don’t even know how to lend my magic.
Is that really something we can do?”
“Color me surprised that your Royals didn’t teach you how to share
power.”
Reluctantly, she took my hand. An electric tingle ran through my fingers
at her touch. I hated what she did to me. She made me feel weaker than
Kallus’s magic.
She loaned me some of her magical power, and I wasn’t strong enough
to stop the Scourge… but I rarely was strong enough to stop them anymore.
At least I could command the hybrids.
For a few moments, there was nothing but the screams and bloodshed
and death surrounding us.
Then the hybrids swept in and stopped the Scourge. The Scourge
screamed and fell around us, and Honor chewed her lip, looking horrified.
“Close your eyes,” I told her. “I’ll be right here watching over you. No
one will harm you while I still promised you hospitality.”
But I had to watch. They were mine, and I was killing them. A Scourge
stumbled to his knees right in front of me, his throat slashed almost all the
way through. He wasn’t dead, not yet, but a Hybrid fell on him snarling.
Blood sprayed over both Honor and I, and she cried out in horror.
When it was done, when the village was full of the bloody wreckage of
villagers and Scourge and hybrids who had fallen, when the place was
haunted, I held out my hand to her. She took it silently, looking pale and
drawn.
Together, we walked out of hell and into the uncaring forest, which was
quiet and bright and filled with birdsong.
For a long time, we were silent. Then she said, “It doesn’t seem like
Kallus is a very good ally of yours anymore.”
“No, it certainly doesn’t seem so.” I was still shaken by his power.
“Where do you think he has the Scourge stone? Or… a piece of it?
There are more, and I assume we need them all?”
“Are you proposing an alliance of our own, Honor?”
I had said the word alliance slightly, but the look she gave me back was
weighted. “If we don’t get it, you’ll die. So are you hoping that I’ll take the
burden of the Scourge from you?”
Her words hung between us.
She wasn’t supposed to realize what I was plotting. “No. No, I would
never want you to take that burden from me.” That much was true, and then
I went on to lie, “You can’t. But we can stop the Scourge… if we break the
curse before I die.”
“What happens if we don’t break it in time?”
“The Scourge run without anyone stopping them. They try to turn
everyone else they can. Eventually the Isle… it will fall. They’ll grow more
powerful, more plentiful, every year until even dragons can’t stop them.”
She nodded, looking grave. “Then I suppose we’ll make an alliance.”
I let her make promises to me, knowing I was lying to her and she’d
despise me—even more—if she knew the truth.
It was Arren I’d hoped would take the burden from me.
After all, we were cousins. Close enough bloodline.
And his father owed mine.
But if Honor knew what I had planned for Arren, she would never help
me.
“I’m trying to defeat the Scourge once and for all, Honor. Even though I
expect that process will kill me.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Three

T alisyn

I went to sleep in one of the young knights’ bunkhouses, a long, low

building with a front room that smelled like smoke from the fireplace and a
scrupulously, surprisingly clean second room with eight beds. It was spartan
—I could see why Teris had thought the whole island ridiculous—but the
knights themselves seemed happy.
Some of the younger Knights, including the two that had met me earlier,
looked up when I came in.
“Is Fendrix still the physician at the academy?” One asked me after a
moment.
“Yes,” I said guardedly, not sure how friendly they were going to be.
“I got to know him well,” the knight said ruefully. He had a mop of dark
hair. “I thought he might’ve gone south to be with the rebels. That would be
a loss.”
“Maybe he enjoys seeing all the bleeding predators,” another suggested
with a laugh that took most of the poison out of his words.
The one I’d spoken to abruptly earlier looked me over, then tilted back
in his chair—as if he was reminding me we were all equals here. “Should
we be working you into the watch schedule and the work rotations?”
“Let’s talk about it in the morning.” Damyn apparently intended to let
me stew in my own misery. He told me we would talk in the morning.
 But I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. For a blurry second, I
thought I was being woken for the watch. Then Damyn leaned over me, one
finger held to his lips.
I nodded my understanding, then followed him out of the cot and into
the next room. It was empty now, unlike the cheerful scene earlier. The light
from the fire cast flickering shadows over the walls. Teris and Pend had
thought this place was a stupid project of Lysander’s, but they hadn’t
wanted to cause unrest by undoing it. I thought it was interesting how the
knights all worked together to keep the Isle working.
“You didn’t bring much with you,” he said, and I nodded even though it
hadn’t seemed like a question.
“You’ll need this.” He kicked a small pack. “I’m not sure there’s much
where we’re going. At least, not much besides creatures that want to kill
us.”
“You’re letting me go with you,” I tried to keep the question mark out of
my voice but I didn’t quite succeed.
“Against my better judgment,” he said. “Let’s fly.”
I hefted the pack over my shoulder and followed him out into the
starless night. It was freezing cold, though that wouldn’t matter in a
moment once I turned to a dragon.
Honor had told me I’d taught her how to fly by throwing her off the
roof. It was hard for me to imagine that I would have done such a thing to
her, even when she was Lucian Finn. I couldn’t remember hating Lucian
now, although I didn’t doubt she was telling me the truth.
“Keep up,” Damyn said, as if I’d ever struggled with that before, then
soared into the dark sky.
We spent the rest of the night flying, and by the time the sun broke the
horizon, we landed on the northern shore.
Damyn raised Honor’s bracelet. It glinted in the first soft rays of sun;
the light might be magic or the reflection of the sunrise.
He tried the spell, then slid the bracelet onto his own wrist.
“This way,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”
That was it for conversation; the two of us flew again. I tried to open a
line of conversation while we were both dragons, and I caught the quickest
glimpse of Damyn’s thoughts—of a red-haired little girl with pink cheeks,
and a rush of guilt that came with it—before he told me to shut up and cut
the bond.
 Hours later, Damyn dove suddenly to the ground. I thought we must be
close to Honor. I had a thousand questions.
But Damyn cursed as soon as he’d shifted.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said tautly. He ripped the bangle off, then tried the
spell again, but as he slid it back onto his wrist, he shook his head. “My
sense of her… it’s gone.”
“Do you think Zehr knows?” I asked.
“The Scourge Lord?” Damyn sounded dismissive of using Zehr’s name,
especially when he was tight with worry for Honor. “Maybe he figured it
out. Or maybe he took her where the spell can’t reach…”
My heart sank as I imagined where that might be. “Back to Kallus’s
kingdom? They were working together.”
“Maybe.” He shook his head, looking troubled. “A woman told me a
story once that he just disappeared in the middle of a battle. This woman
said she was trapped on the top story of her house by the Scourge, and she
saw him—she said he made her shiver, the sense of power and evil—and he
was there one moment, gone the next. I thought it was her terror making her
see things. But it’s not the only story I’ve heard since then that gives the
Scourge Lord strange powers.”
“Did Pend know?”
“I told him,” Damyn said, with the quiet bluntness that ended
conversations; he’d never criticized the Elder Royals to us and he didn’t
seem inclined to start now. I wondered if that was because they were our
fathers, or because they were his lords.
“We can find the Scourge,” I said. “We can follow them.”
Damyn glanced at me, since we didn’t exactly know how to do that, but
his face remained expressionless. “For now, we can build a fire, get some
food and some rest. We’ve both been moving for a long time.”
The thought of trying to rest when Honor needed me seemed
impossible. I built a fire while he went to hunt, and woke up to him kicking
my boots as I sprawled next to a fire that was mostly coals and ash. I
scrambled up, breathing new life into the fire, embarrassed to be caught
sleeping.
But Damyn said nothing, just set to skinning the rabbits he’d caught for
dinner. We’d have eaten them raw as dragons, but then they wouldn’t have
been enough to fill our stomachs.
 “You can cook,” he said.
“All right.” I outranked Damyn, technically, but I wasn’t going to argue
with him. The relationship between us and him had always been
complicated.
And technically wouldn’t save me from a punch in the face, either.
Dinner was quiet. I had the feeling Damyn would prefer it that way, but
he finally looked up at me and sighed. “You’ve wanted to talk all day. What
is it?”
I wanted to know about that sense of guilt and shame that bled through
the bond, the one he’d been so quick to keep me from seeing more of. I’d
never know Damyn to express strong emotions; I wouldn’t have guessed
there was so much pain just under his stony surface.
“I’m worried about Honor,” I said because Damyn didn’t want to
discuss any of that.
He was quiet for a second, then said, “I am too. She thinks she can save
everyone. I don’t know how she has come through all that darkness while
still having so much…”
He trailed off.
“Innocence? Idealism? Spirit?” I suggested.
“Stupidity,” Damyn offered, though I didn’t think he meant it. I’d seen
the way he looked at her, a glint of pride and admiration in his eyes that he
couldn’t hide.
“You talk about her like you talk about us,” I observed, thinking it was a
sign he saw himself as her mentor—or that he was trying to.
As much as the students at the academy admired him, he didn’t get
close to them like he did to the dragons—though he claimed he had no
choice in that, as we all needed a lot of supervision.
Damyn snorted. He looked as if he had something to say, then relaxed.
“I guess.”
I tilted my head at him. Before I could ask any more questions, he
asked, “How’s she going to feel, seeing you come to her rescue?”
“If we manage it,” I said. “I don’t know. We didn’t leave things…well.”
“Shocking,” Damyn said drily.
I should shut up, I knew that, but the story spilled out anyway. Damyn
listened patiently and intently, though I was sure he was just humoring me. I
finished, “Lenora was being nasty to Honor. I didn’t realize at first. I should
have. I hurt Honor, but then…. I hurt her every day.”
 “So you left the academy so you wouldn’t hurt her.”
I nodded.
“And now you’re trying to find her… so you can protect her.”
“I owe her that.”
“And you think you don’t love her,” Damyn said, as if Honor weren’t
the only one he’d call stupid. “All right. I’m going to sleep. Take first
watch.”
I stared at him as he leaned back on his pack, pulling his cloak over his
head and shoulders as a blanket.
“I don’t,” I said, knowing I was risking my health to keep Damyn
awake and talking about feelings but unable to resist. “Teris took that from
me. I know I don’t feel the way I did for her before… I want her safe, I
want her happy, but it’s not like…”
Damyn sighed and rolled over, ignoring me.
And he left me alone with the crackling fire and thoughts that didn’t
make any sense.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Four

H onor

Z ehr and I limped back to his castle. As soon as we got close enough for
their scouts to sight us, Kesselly and Taro came out to meet us.
Kesselly gave me a dark look. “What did you do to him?”
“I like the way you think,” I answered. “But unfortunately, I’m not
responsible for his disheveled state.”
They were careful with Zehr, obviously concerned, but he hobbled past
without answering them. As we walked beneath that overhanging bone
throne into the castle, they trailed respectfully behind him.
He didn’t have the close relationship with them like Cal had with his
people, although they obviously respected Zehr. I wondered if the monster
was a lonely one.
Given how I’d seen him slaughter some of his people for disrespect,
perhaps it was understandable they kept their distance.
Once we reached Zehr’s opulent, cavernous bedroom, Taro opened the
door of my cage and gestured me in silently. Arren slept on the floor of his
own cage, sprawled out and exhausted. His talons twitched in his sleep, and
it made my heart ache. He looked less human than the day before.
“You know, I don’t think I’m going to,” I answered Taro’s silent order.
“I just rescued your silly king. I think he owes me.”
 Zehr groaned. “I’ll take care of her.”
They looked at him doubtfully. Zehr didn’t look as if he were capable of
fighting off a particularly tenacious salamander at the moment, let alone
defend himself against a dragon royal. But in the end they bowed and left.
I flopped onto the bed beside Zehr, who groaned, then said, “I know you
don’t care about my opinion, but I don’t think you’re doing a great job of
managing your Kingdom.”
“At least I have a Kingdom. Some of us haven’t managed to lodge our
asses on the throne.”
“Who says I want the throne?”
Zehr gave me a disbelieving look. “Everyone wants a throne. Everyone
wants power.”
“You’re so cynical.”
“And you’re so naive.”
It infuriated me when he spoke as if I was so stupid. “I’ve seen plenty of
the worst people, but unlike you, I just don’t give up on them. People like
you like to pretend that’s a weakness of mine. As if there’s any strength in
giving up.”
He let out a laugh. “Fine, I’m wrong. It’s not like we are currently under
a mountain where we hardly ever see the sun, because I was cursed to lead
a horde of monsters. But please, go on, tell me how the world is beautiful.”
“Maybe the world is so terrible because you make it that way.”
“I wish I had that much power.”
I rolled onto my side, trying to get as far away from him as I could.
Seeing Zehr’s past, his fears, his people had made me soften toward him. I
thought he could be good. That glimpse into his dreams was poisonous.
He was poisonous.
“Don’t let me take your naivete from you,” he said. “I imagine it can
still serve me.”
“You’re very invested in your vision of yourself as a monster, aren’t
you?”
“Why shouldn’t I be, that’s what the world has wanted me to be, I’m not
going to let them down now. They can have the monster they deserve.”
“They don’t deserve the monsters.”
“You saw what those villagers were going to do today. They weren’t
peaceful. They weren’t innocent.” He scoffed. “If my monsters hadn’t
decimated them, I would have done it myself, for the way they spoke to
you.”
“I don’t know why you’re so protective of me when you’re the one who
cages me and binds me and gags me.” I was still furious about that. “There
was no need to gag me. I would have stayed quiet, I wanted to hear what
Kallus had to say.”
“I know. But it was awfully amusing for me.”
I shoved him off the bed, then scrambled on top of him.
Zehr might have been weakened, but he had me bound with
dragonsbane, so I wasn’t exactly my best either.
The two of us wrestled and fought across the floor. He slammed his
knee into my gut trying to get on top of me, and I backhanded him across
the face.
He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the floor, poised over me,
panting.
He was as vicious as he had been when we fought before. Zehr was no
gentleman.
But that didn’t change the fact that every touch on my body ignited my
desire. His chest heaved, his eyes dark, and I wasn’t sure he felt fury when
he fought me. A red mark blazed across his cheek where I’d hit him, and his
dark hair was disheveled over his handsome face.
Slowly, he ducked his face toward me. His lips brushed across mine,
tentative as a drifting leaf. His lips were cool, soft. He didn’t blaze like my
dragon royals when they kissed me.
It took everything I had to push him away. “Get away from me.”
He stared down at me, his eyes smoldering. “You marked me for a
reason.”
“I’m the first female dragon. None of us know how this works. We
don’t know why I marked you.” My eyes fell to the burn mark on his throat.
Every hour, it looked less red and more like a tattoo—a tattoo of a dark and
mysterious symbol I couldn’t read.
“I know,” he said with smug confidence.
He kissed me, hard, and I tried to pull him closer before I pushed him
away.
Arren’s roar rattled the room. And then there was the sound of
splintering metal.
 Zehr sighed in exasperation. “That overgrown worm is ridiculously
powerful and ridiculously in love with you isn’t he?”
“It seems so,” I said, right before Arren backhanded Zher with one of
his enormous fists. Zehr flew across the floor, tumbling over himself
several times.
Arren’s furious betrayed gaze met mine. His chest heaved with savage
desire.
Arren would kill Zehr right now.
But he would follow me if I ran.
“Get my bracelet off, right now,” I called to Zehr.
And for all he didn’t trust me, and all I didn’t trust him, for once the
man did what I said. He raised himself onto his knees, then saw Arren’s
gaze move over to him and he froze, thinking better of it.
Zehr’s gaze flickered toward mine, and he raised his hand while flicking
two fingers toward me. He muttered a word of a spell, and the bracelet fell
off my wrist. I grabbed it and flung it as far away as I could.
“Come and get me, Arren,” I called. Then I turned and dove out the
window.
It had been too long since I’ve had my wings, it felt so good to fly.
I thought Arren had forgotten how to be a dragon, but the monster who
wasn’t quite dragon and wasn’t quite Scourge threw himself out the
window. His enormous horned wings--disfigured and spiked and different
than when he was a dragon--burst into motion.
Relief flooded me. For a split second, I’d feared he had just thrown
himself out the window without having a way to fly because he wanted to
capture me so badly.
The two of us chased each other through the air, nudging and nipping
each other. It was hard to tell if we were fighting or flirting, but I guess that
was no great change for the two of us.
I soared upward toward the thin ceiling of rock and greenery that had
crept to cover Zehr’s territory, hiding it from the dragons. Zehr had
summoned powerful magic to protect his people.
I closed my eyes and bent my head, whirling at the last minute so my
heavy, spiked tail flew through the ceiling instead of my face.
The ceiling erupted, and stone and broken bits of vine rained down on
the sleeping Scourge. They rose from their slumber with screams of
frustration and hunger, but I didn’t care.
 Because Arren was right behind me, pushing his body into mine, our
wings and tails briefly tangling before he soared ahead. The two of us rose
into the blue sky and sunshine, leaving behind the shattered Scourge prison.
At least for now.
I was grinning as I dove below the treetops and landed lightly in the
decaying leaves that formed soggy piles across the forest floor. In an
instant, I transformed into my human form again, then I raced deeper into
the forest, which went still and quiet. Even when we were humans, the
animals knew we were predators, and they crept into their burrows or froze
high above.
I looked back to see Arren land heavily. Now, as a human, I noticed
what I hadn’t before: how his dragon itself was no dragon anymore, but a
winged monster. His face had barely changed at all when he transformed.
His wings were dark and hooked and jagged.
He was a nightmare, but he was mine.
He shook out his wings, then transformed back into the monster who
looked more like a man. His dark gaze met mine, and as soon as he took a
step toward me, I turned and raced deeper into the woods.
As soon as I’d lost him for a moment, I climbed a tree, and he ran
beneath me. Then he stopped and turned around, his nostrils flaring.
I stifled a laugh at the look of irritated confusion across his face—a very
Arren look, no matter how different his appearance—and his searching eyes
finally swept up to the treetops. I froze. There was danger and desire and
recklessness and joy mixed in this moment together. I didn’t think he was
lost to the monster anymore—but I wouldn’t know for sure until we were
close.
His gaze met mine.
I jumped from the tree, landed so close to him that he rocked back
before he recovered and swiped his muscular arms toward me. I ducked
beneath his reach and ran on. He was close behind me, and then suddenly,
he tackled me.
The two of us tumbled across the leafy floor, and I scrambled up, only
for him to press me against a tree. His arms caged me, his mouth descended
on my throat. My heart sped out of control, so loud I could hear the thunder
of it in my ears.
His lips brushed my neck in a kiss. Not a bite. The smoky, spicy scent
of Arren was the same as always, and I clung to his broad shoulders. The
skin beneath my fingertips felt different now, like tiny dragon’s scales,
slightly rough to the touch.
“You are insane,” he said, his voice half growl, but that wasn’t exactly
unusual for Arren either.
“And you love me,” I said.
A pained look came over his face. “Honor… I need to stay away from
you. You need to stay away from me.”
“No,” I answered.
He let out a groan. For a second, as his muscles tensed, I wasn’t sure if
he was going to throw himself away from me or devour me. Those dark
eyes locked on mine, fathomless black pools I could sink into like a hot
spring.
“Tell me you don’t love me, then,” I teased him.
“You haven’t said you love me.”
“You know I love you.” I touched one of the horns that curved up from
his head tentatively, and he winced.
“If you can touch me when I’m so ugly…”
“Not ugly,” I corrected. “Does this hurt?”
He shook his head. But his voice sounded strained when he managed,
“No. No, it- doesn’t hurt.”
It took me a second to realize the strain wasn’t pain at all, as his dark
eyes flashed. He groaned again and buried his face in my throat. His fangs
scraped across my skin, followed by the heat of his rough tongue. Curious
about his reaction, I toyed with his horns, running my hands over them, and
his breath came short.
He made a sound that was half roar as he raised his head, and he spun
me around, his hands gripping my hips. His talons brushed my thighs, but
his touch was gentle, as if he was afraid he’d hurt me.
“Don’t be scared,” I said softly.
He growled again, the sound tapering into the words, “You’re the one
who should be scared.”
I smiled at him over my shoulder. “Of you? Never.”
“Foolish girl,” he grumbled, but I rocked back against him, feeling his
hard cock jutting against my ass, and he bent his head to cover my neck, my
shoulders, in frantic kisses as he undressed me.
He pressed inside me, the two of us moving in time together. His tail
wrapped my thigh, then slid up higher and higher. I grinned, wondering
how much he could control it, and then the pulsing pace of his cock took all
my focus and my smile dropped away.
His cock seemed to expand, filling me completely, and he said against
my shoulder, “I can’t pull out.”
“Good,” I answered, and he wrapped his arm around my waist, the tip
of his cock pressing hard into the heated button deep inside me until stars
burst in my vision.
And no matter if he wasn’t quite Arren anymore, that was the name I
moaned as I came. He roared his desire for me as he finished, the world
fading away to just him and me, our voices the only sound in that frozen,
terrified forest.
Then the two of us fell together into the leaves, and he cradled my head
on his big shoulder. His talons were gentle as he stroked my hair back from
my face.
I stroked Arren’s now-unfamiliar face with my fingers. There were
glimpses of the man he used to be; his eyes as he stared down at me, intense
but shuttered and distant, were the same no matter how spines grew above
his eyebrows or how his brow jutted forward, transformed into horns. I
wanted to know why Zehr looked so different, more human than monster,
despite who he was. Zehr was the true monster.
And Arren was the one I’d always love. No matter what he became. No
matter how hard it was to lose who he’d been—the knight, the dragon.
I wondered who we were if we lost our dragons. But I knew whoever he
became, I’d love him.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Five

Z ehr

I could feel Honor and Arren having sex through the bond. I hadn't
realized that there was that kind of connection between us. I never felt that
before. But now, I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I wrapped my hand
around my cock and toyed with myself, imagining what it would be like to
have her mouth wrapped around me.
She flew up to land lightly in the window that she had broken, pushing
aside shards of glass with her talons. Then she transformed back to the girl,
but she settled herself on the windowsill, perched there like a raven. She
was clothed in shadows and darkness, she smelled of sex and blood, and she
could not have been more perfect.
It was almost certainly her desire to save Arren that drove her back to
my castle. No matter how much I mocked her naivety, there was a small
stupid part of me that dared hope for myself.
Arren couldn’t have killed me—nothing could kill me now except the
Scourge curse—but when I grew too weak, I drowned in the shadows. I
slept, helpless, while my angry Scourge raged over the earth. And
eventually, I woke again, into a world that was even worse than before.
But Honor didn’t know that, and she didn’t fully understand the ticking
clock that drove me now. I spoke softly from the bed. “You saved me
again.”
 “We all make mistakes.”
The mark on my throat throbbed. My fingertips traced it absently,
feeling how hot it pulsed beneath my touch. Only when I was near her. The
sense of pain and longing that seemed to come from it echoed through my
body as I watched her, as she stayed half-in and half-out of my life.
I should shove her out the window and slam it shut. But I beckoned her
closer. “Come here, wild girl. I won’t hurt you.”
“Maybe I’ll hurt you.”
I flashed her a smile that was more a baring of teeth. That seemed
inevitable.
“How was your monster?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.
She let her legs dangle into my room, her toes almost brushing the
polished floor. “How come he’s so different from you? From any of the
other Scourge?”
“He’s the first dragon I’ve ever seen turned.”
“Besides yourself.”
“I’m not exactly Scourge. I’m their lord.”
She exhaled through her nose and glanced away from me. I could read
impatience, but I wasn’t sure what else she was feeling. I’d know in her
dreams, though.
I hated seeing the dark reflection of myself in her dreams, and I craved
it too. When she was asleep, she couldn’t hide how she both hated me and
longed for me.
“Your parents didn’t name you Zehr,” she said. “They didn’t call you a
monster, did they?”
“No.”
“You became a monster.”
I shrugged one shoulder.
“What did they call you before that?”
I shook my head. She frowned at me, her beautiful red lips parting no
doubt to say something impertinent, and I rolled into the shadows. The next
second, I had her in my arms, and I flashed us both back to the bed. I
gripped her waist as the two of us tumbled into the sheets.
She was still frowning, her expression unchanged, as if nothing I did
could surprise her. “You won’t tell me.”
“It doesn’t matter. Zehr suits me fine. So does Lord. You can call me
master if you like.”
 Judging from her face, she disdained my generous offer. “Why won’t
you let me know anything real about you?”
“This is real.” I leaned on my elbow, studying her, trying to understand
what she wanted from me. “I’m real. This place is real. I made this place for
my people, from magic.”
“Your people say you made them make their own prison.”
I cocked my head to one side. “You got them to talk to you. How
interesting.”
Her bright eyes flashed at me. “Your miserable kingdom is going to
crumble.”
She sounded so confident, so sure of herself, that ice swept through my
blood. But I just smiled at her. “At least I’ll have you by my side.”
I leaned, caging her with an arm, and brushed my lips against the corner
of her mouth.
And despite herself, she turned her face into my kiss. I could feel her
longing to pull away, almost—but not quite—as strong as her desire for me.
But her lips found mine, then parted, caught my lower lip. She kissed
me savagely, hungrily, and when I pulled away, her back arched, following
my mouth.
I slid my hand under her lower back, feeling the way it curved, the
warm heat of her muscle, and drew her against my hips. She felt so good
against me, all warmth and softness and strength, the opposite of the cold
world of the Scourge.
The mark on my throat blazed hot; the bond pulsed between us. Her
warmth turned to heat, and I was ready to burn. My hands traced her thighs,
hiking up her skirt, and she raised her hips toward mine. Her fingers skated
over my cock and even through my trousers, that touch ignited every nerve
in my body.
Her hands slid down my shoulders, all but tearing off my tunic, and she
helped me as I drew down her pants. Her eyes had gone soft, as if she were
in a trance, and I pulled off her shirt. Her breasts, small and pert and
perfect, swung free, and I leaned down and slid my tongue along the curve
of that perfect hard raspberry of a nipple.
She caught my cock in her hand, squeezed hard, merciless and relentless
and everything I ever wanted. Her lips pressed my throat, then parted, and
her teeth scraped over my skin. Every hurt only intensified how much I
wanted her.
 I delved my hand between her thighs, my fingers skating easily over the
liquid heat. She moaned against my skin as I worked my hand against her
folds.
She pulled my cock toward her, pressed it against her opening. I angled
myself to enter her. Then she froze.
She drew in a ragged gasp of a breath and turned her face away from
mine abruptly. “We can’t. We don’t know what it will do to the…” She
staggered over the words as if she didn’t know what to call the bond
between us.
The bond she hated.
She looked ashamed of herself. Her face tore at my heart. I'd thought
that maybe when she saw for herself that I was trying to protect the
villagers by having the hybrids slaughter my own people, by making myself
less powerful to try to protect them, that she would soften toward me. But it
was obvious how she saw me…and how, when I touched her, she saw
herself.
I pulled the blanket up between us, covering her nakedness, tucking her
in. Then I rolled away to the far side of the bed, turning my back. Not
because I was so fucking gallant, but because I didn’t want to lay close to
her.
But in the hush of the dark room, I heard the rustle of her body under
the sheets as she pulled her clothes back on. Her breathing hitched as if she
were still aroused. I’d seen the shame on her face, though, the way her
luminous gaze had turned dark and sad.
She didn’t deserve to be comforted, and yet I couldn’t sleep knowing
how upset she was.
“It didn't really happen, Honor. It was just another dream.”
She didn’t answer. The bed groaned as she rolled onto her side.
But I still carried the smoky scent of her arousal on my fingers, and I
smelled her all night long in the dreams where she kissed me then smiled,
the dreams I knew she shared.

I n the morning , I left her sleeping. I couldn’t stand to see the way she
looked at me, or the way she looked as if she’d shamed herself by desiring
me. By touching me. I strode into my throne room, where Kessely had been
bent over a book in the corner. She threw it aside and was on her feet in an
instant, murmuring a good morning.
“Kessely,” I ordered. “Find Arren.”
To her credit she didn’t react to the fact I’d lost him, after claiming I had
everything under control despite my weakened state. She bowed and said,
“At once, my lord.”
Then her gaze flickered behind me.
I turned to find Honor. She had dared to stride into my throne room,
looking as if she owned the place, her chin lifted high with her usual pride,
her red waves loose around her beautiful face. She didn’t look as if she gave
a damn about anything, even the Scourge.
It bothered me that she had just seen me ordering my people to find
Arren. It bothered me the way she looked at me. It made me furious that
when I was around her, I felt like I was unworthy, like the pathetic little boy
other kids once pelted with stones, long before I raised the bone crown. “I
should never have let you out of that cage.”
Her eyes flashed at me. Then she turned and walked away. It was so
unlike her to not have a snarky remark.
I chased her down, caught her around the waist and turned her to face
me. She glared up at me as if she hated me.
“Why do you need Arren?” she demanded.
“He’s an incredibly powerful Scourge specimen. I've never seen
anything like him before.”
She slapped me across the face. The sound was sharp and loud in the
damp stone hallway.
I tasted copper pooling in my mouth, and I smiled down at her. “You're
lucky that it's just the two of us.”
“Or what,” she snarled.
“Or I'd have to do this,” I said, wrapping my hand around her throat. I
pressed her against the wall, watching her lips part. It was hard to tell if her
face changed with pleasure or with fear or with a little bit of both.
I ducked my head to kiss her lips, tasting her softly and slowly. She was
so fucking perfect. So fucking far from being mine.
I felt her body strain toward me. She wanted me so badly too. Then she
turned her head away abruptly, her hair flying.
 “Are you trying to get Arren to take the curse from you, the same way
you took it from your father? Did he give you a choice? Or did he trick you
like you’d intended to trick Arren?”
if it weren't such a pain in the ass, I would have been impressed by her
keen intelligence. “I’ve carried this burden for over a hundred years, Honor.
Why shouldn’t one of these privileged men carry it for a while?”
“Because he's mine,” she said fiercely. “and I won't let you hurt him.”
“I think you're very confused about who's in control here.”
“No, I think you are. Because for some reason, you need me to get the
pieces of this Scourge stone. So let's do that. But keep your filthy,
disgusting hands off me.” She shoved me away.
She stormed off, though she had nowhere to go. She’d still be pacing
the halls of my castle, knowing at any moment, I could steal her into the
shadows.
I didn’t need her. Her ability to feel the Scourge stones was helpful, but
not essential.
I wanted her. She wanted me too, but not as much as she wanted to hate
me. To wrap herself up in her cloak of superiority.
But would she always? Could anything strip her haughty distance and
her arrogance, and even if it happened… could she love me?
I should kill that ragged scrap of hope.
And yet, the hall felt cold when she had left me behind.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Six

H onor

I walked out of the castle under the looming, oppressive ceiling of rock
above. When I turned my face up, regarding the craggy darkness suspended
over the castle’s spires, I remembered the moment that Arren and I had
soared through it and left Zehr’s land of darkness behind.
But Zehr had sealed the ceiling of stone and vines again. The weight
hanging above my head sent an ache down my spine.
Zehr was a danger to Arren. But the whole world was a danger to Arren
at the moment. I felt like a traitor to these men I loved every moment I
stayed with Zehr. But he was my only chance to protect Arren.
If I put together the Scourge stone, if Zehr and I could turn back the
Scourge curse, then I’d save Arren.
But if I failed… I’d lose him, and perhaps the rest of my men too. If
they knew about the bond between Zehr and I, if they knew I kissed him…
I imagined Jaik’s face shuttering with hatred. He loved so intensely—and I
knew from seeing him with Caldren and Pend how intensely he hated, too.
“Ready to go?” Zehr asked roughly behind me.
I turned. He held himself apart from me, as if he were still angry about
how I’d told him to keep his hands off me. I hated that part of me wanted
him, and I wasn’t sure if I hated myself or him more for those feelings.
 “I can’t wait,” I said fervently.
He held out his arm to me, his jaw tight. “Unless you want to ride a
hybrid.”
“I’m traveling with monsters either way.” I walked close to him, close
enough to smell the smoky, spicy scent that clung to his skin; he smelled so
different from his Scourge with their rot. He smelled like a dragon shifter.
He was tall and leanly muscled, and when he held out his arm to me, I
glimpsed the dark tattoos that ran up his wrist.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Kallus is in the capitol city to meet with your little king,” he said.
We were going back to the capitol city? The thought of being in the
same city as Jaik, Talisyn, Branok and Lynx sent a shock through me, but
he was already wrapping his arm around me before I could pull away. My
mind raced as we flickered through the shadows. I clung to his hard, narrow
waist.
Then we were stumbling into a dirty alleyway. I pulled away from him
as quickly as I could, stumbling into the sunshine, my mind reeling.
“Come on.” His voice was impatient, but he touched my back gently as
if to steady me. I moved away from him quickly.
I didn’t know where Arren was now, and that was Zehr’s fault. I didn’t
know if he was safe… or if he was a danger to others.
“Where is Kallus?” I asked. “Why the hell would he come here?”
“To negotiate with your boy king, of course. Do you think Jaik is too
honorable to work with him to bring down his brother?”
“You’re wrong. Jaik wouldn’t hurt Caldren.”
He let out a laugh. “Your constant faith in those men is misguided, but
charming.”
I turned to face him. “How do you know anything about them?”
His dark eyes glinted malevolently. “I move in the shadows, love.”
I stared at him as cold horror washed through my gut. “You’ve been
watching us.”
“Often. It’s been entertaining.”
“And then you pretended to be my friend when Kallus captured us…
why? What was your goal?”
His voice took on a mocking quality. “I longed to meet my soulmate.”
Soulmate. That word belonged to Talisyn, to Arren. My heart ached
thinking of them both, lost to me because this kingdom was a nightmare…
even without Zehr.
But he made it worse.
“You’re despicable.” I turned my back on him and stepped to the mouth
of the alley. We were entering the busy road that led between the academy
and the castle, which was crowded with street vendors.
The memory of Talisyn’s easy friendship with everyone he met, the way
the vendors would toss him gifts knowing he’d overpay them anyway next
time, stabbed me in the heart. Zehr thought my men were terrible, but how
could he think they were cruel when he’d been watching them?
“You should have tried talking to them,” I said over my shoulder. “They
would have listened to you. They would’ve tried to help you end the
Scourge.”
He let out a laugh. “Who says I never tried that, Honor? I didn’t tell
them who I was, but I came to them once.”
“What happened?”
“They thought I was some drunken asshole trying to hassle them about
the Scourge. The quiet one, Lynx, he tried to walk me off before the others
got impatient-and-or-violent, but he still wasn’t listening. They’re too
arrogant to listen.”
“That doesn’t sound like Lynx.”
“You know one side of them, Honor. And I know another.” His lips
twisted. “And here I’d assume Lucien Finn would know the same side I
did.”
His gaze flickered up behind me before I could answer. “Speaking of
the devils.”
I whirled, my heart rising in my chest already.
Jaik strode down the street, Branok and Lynx flanking him. They looked
handsome and untouchable, my dark-haired king surrounded by the two
golden twins. Longing for them rose so intensely that I took an involuntary
step forward. An invisible bond pulled me toward them.
Zehr flashed behind me, yanked me back into his chest, his palm
pressing hard against my lips. Just as Jaik paused and turned, searching as if
he had felt me, the two of us fell into shadows.
A second later, we were up on the rooftop overlooking the street. Jaik
continued to look troubled, his gaze sweeping the street, and Branok and
Lynx were searching now too.
 “Arren is loose in the land of the Scourge waiting for you to help him,”
Zehr spoke quietly into my ear. “And Jaik can’t help you with that. Only I
can.”
I couldn’t stop watching Jaik and the expression of pain written across
his face when he was missing me. “Where’s Kallus? You’re the one who
took us to the wrong place.”
“If I leave you here so I can shadowtravel faster, do you promise not to
do anything outrageously stupid?” he asked, then sighed under his breath.
“That seems like asking a cat not to slap anything off the table or chase a
mouse, but…”
“I’ll be fine.” I glanced at him over my shoulder, because he was still
standing so close behind me. “You can shadowtravel faster than we have?”
“When I’m at full power,” he said. “Not like… after Kallus drained my
power.”
“Why don’t you do that all the time, then?”
He gave me a hard look, then stepped back into the shadows and faded
away.
I watched Lynx clap Jaik on the shoulder and speak quietly into his ear.
Then the three of them continued down the street. People scuttled out of
their way to make an avenue for them through the crowd.
I missed them so much that I felt cold, as if their bodies were the only
thing that could warm me.
Then Zehr stepped by my side again. “Such an interesting turn of
events,” he said. He grabbed my hand before I could ask any questions.
“Don’t speak.”
I wasn’t sure if he asked that because he was sick of my voice or
because we were going somewhere dangerous, but either way, I pressed my
lips tightly together. I had plenty of time with Zehr to tell him what I
thought of him.
The next thing I knew, we were standing on a slanted roof top. I
momentarily lost my balance and lurched slightly to one side, surprised to
find myself high above the city, and Zehr’s fingers squeezed my hand
tightly. I was surprised by how strong he was as he kept me upright. The
next second, I was back to my usual cat-like reflexes.
He jerked his chin up the rooftop, beyond the shade of the tree branches
we were under. A skylight, open to the sunshine and breeze, lay a few feet
above us.
 The two of us knelt on the rough shingles and crept up to the skylight.
Kallus sat inside the empty inn.
Gorion and Joachim sat across from him.
The sight of those three assholes gathered in one place made me want to
transform into a dragon and drop down on them before they could react.
Zehr shot me a warning look as if he could tell what I was thinking. But it
was just a fantasy. I’d never let my desire for revenge take away my chance
to help our people. All our people.
“How do my sons look?” Joachim asked Kallus. “I’m sure the twins
were skulking in the background of Jaik’s throne room. They’re always in
his shadow.”
“They seemed well,” Kallus said, declining to be drawn into any of the
father-son drama playing out between the surviving Elder Royals and their
sons. “You haven’t seen them since…”
“Since the boys had their little coup.”
“Fate turns relentlessly,” Kallus said. “But we don’t have to suffer fate
without a fight.”
“Caldren and Jaik may be ruling, but I heard a rumor they put that
ridiculous girl on the throne above them.” Gorion said.
“Easy now,” Kallus said lightly, taking a sip of his wine. “She’s my
niece.”
“And they are our sons,” Joachim said drily. “But that doesn’t mean we
can’t consider their flaws.”
“I won’t hear of Honor’s,” Kallus said. “It’s one thing to betray her and
another altogether to mock her.”
Zehr’s gaze cut sharply toward me. There was no reason for him to
know how much I cared what Kallus thought of me, unless… the realization
that he had probably been watching, had seen my raw longing for my lost
family, struck me as hard as a fist.
Gorion inclined his head as if he were trying to pacify Kallus. “There’s
been no word of my son for a month. It’s as if he disappeared one night and
none of my spies can tell me much of anything that happened before he
vanished. Do you have any idea what might have happened to him,
Kallus?”
“No. Those boys of yours all look alike to me—rugged and stupid and
obsessed with my girl,” Kallus said with a smile.
 His vicious pride in me sent a warm glow through my chest that was
entirely inappropriate. I couldn’t trust Kallus, and I didn’t dare forget that
for a second.
“At any rate,” Joachim sounded bored; he was as cold-blooded and
terrible as any of them, but he rarely cared enough to take much offense.
“What kind of alliance were you considering?”
“I think there is so much we could do to help each other,” Kallus said
warmly. That sense of warmth and magnetism seemed to be extended
toward anyone that could be useful to him at the moment.
Which made me wonder if he knew that we were watching. For him to
defend me, didn't it seem most likely he was playing for an audience? He
risked alienating Joachim and Gorion by defending me.
I glanced towards Zehr, but he seemed intent on the conversation.
Kallus went on. “I want to help you, to regain the wealth that you once
had before you were betrayed by your sons.”
“And what sparks that generous impulse?” Joachim asked.
“The fact that wealth will be mine to give because the Isle will be
mine.” He gave them another delighted smile, as if he had just told them the
punchline of a wonderful joke.
“You think that we would hand our Kingdom over to you?”
“As opposed to trying to scrounge a way to survive without any money
in this Kingdom? Yes, I do. I think you'll hand over this Kingdom to me
with a smile on your face if you know you'll get back almost all of what you
had.”
There was a pause, while Joachim and Gorion glanced at each other.
They must be able to communicate—perhaps better than we could—
because then Joachim asked, “We might consider an alliance… What do
you want us to do?”
I was shocked to hear Joachim and Gorion agree to sell out not just their
sons, but their kingdom.
“Well, first, I need Jaik and Caldren dead. Obviously. But it will have to
happen at the right moment, when my troops are ready to invade.”
“That might be a problem,” Joachim said.
“Why?”
“Because we already rigged the academy with lethal spells,” Joachim
said. “To take out Jaik’s little standing army, so our own loyalists can rise.”
 Zehr’s hand was over my mouth before I could have reacted to the news
the academy was in danger—not that I would have gasped or exclaimed. I
flashed him a look and he raised his hands in apology, not that he looked
sorry. Zehr was incapable of looking sorry.
“You must not have many loyalists to need that advantage,” Kallus
mused, his gaze cold as he surveyed Joachim.
“Pend loved that academy,” Gorion mused, his eyes sad. Then his gaze
flickered up to the two merciless monsters sitting by him, who both seemed
perplexed by him.
“It’s true we have few allies among the prey. That’s why I can’t help
you with Caldren at the moment, but Jaik will be gone in a few hours,”
Joachim promised.
Kallus studied him curiously.
“Our loyalists probably can’t take the city, but the battle will further
divert any resources from the young dragons. It’ll all work to your
advantage.” Joachim went on.
Kallus leaned back, looking amused. “You really want Pend’s son
dead?”
“So very much,” Joachim said fervently. “I’d like to see them all burn,
but…”
“Not my niece,” Kallus warned. “If I lose her, you lose everything.”
“What if it’s not my fault?” Joachim demanded—as if assassinations
were fine and moral things, but Kallus was being unfair.
I could feel Zehr’s gaze on me again, judging me as much as he judged
Kallus, but I ignored him.
“I don’t care,” Kallus said dismissively. “That’s all I require—the
kingdom and the girl, both more-or-less in good condition—and you’ll get
back your lands, your castles and your wealth. You have no more heirs, but
you can live your lives in peace.”
They agreed and Kallus rose to leave. I caught Zehr’s lapel and gave
him a look, and he leaned in. My lips brushed the cool shell of his ear. “We
need to drop down and take them. We have to torture Joachim and Gorion
to find where they hid their attacks, to protect the academy.”
I wanted to tell Jaik what I’d just seen, but I never had much control
over my ability to dragonspeak in my human form, and I was afraid
Joachim and Gorion could eavesdrop.
 Zehr gave me a look full of mocking admiration. “I like this side of you,
but we need to play it slower, Honor.”
“I won’t let them get hurt.” I’d shove Zehr in through the skylight to
startle them and swoop in to collect Joachim if Zehr didn’t agree. I didn’t
despise Gorion as much, but I was quite comfortable with the thought of
torturing Joachim.
“Joachim is nothing if not predictable,” he promised me. “He gave
Branok his love of using flashy objects for enchantments. But Joachim uses
pages from books.”
I closed my eyes. “What an ass. He even tears pages out of books.”
My heart was still hammering at the risk to my men, but Zehr’s
presence was steadying… strangely enough. He’d seen so much already
that he seemed sure nothing even worse could come our way.
“Let’s go save your favorite idiots,” Zehr said, holding out his hand to
me. He raised his eyebrows, a mischievous twitch to his lips. “Or are you
still unwilling to touch me?”
“I have to admit you have your uses.” I gripped his hand.
The two of us slid down the roof’s steep pitch toward the trees. Just
before we could topple off the edge, we slid into the shadows, and we were
gone.
We blinked back into the academy. The polished floors squeaked
underfoot as we caught ourselves, our fingers tightening reflexively before I
realized I was gripping his hand too tightly. I wiped my palm on my
trousers and the two of us continued on.
Rows of lamps hung in the corridor, casting a cheerful yellow glow
through the hall.
“Here,” he said, sliding his hand behind the lamps hanging in the
corridor. “Found it.”
He grinned at me as he pulled out a folded-up sheet of paper, then read
it. “It’s a spell that requires fire to kindle. We have to check all the lamps.”
“Across the whole school?” I demanded. “We’ll need to get everyone
out of their rooms.”
He clucked his tongue. “Too bad you don’t know anything about
causing trouble at the academy.”
Then around the corner I heard voices—a soft but persuasive young
woman’s voice. Calla.
 I moved toward the sound, and behind me, Zehr groaned. “We don’t
have time for this, Honor.”
I turned my face to one side so he could see me raise my finger to my
lips.
Then I paused and listened.
“Stop walking away from me.” It was a deep male voice.
“I don’t have time to chat, Pelory,” Calla protested. Her voice sounded
stretched thin, and my hands folded into fists.
“Oh, I think you do. You little prey shifters fucked up today and our part
of the line folded, got all of our asses kicked. Are you going to get us killed
in real life?”
“Because you’ve never made a mistake.”
“No, but everyone takes it easy on you when you make one because
you’re just prey.”
June laughed. “Yes, that’s definitely making our lives easier.”
“I don’t know why you’re laughing. This isn’t a joke. If you can’t do
your part, hold your part of the line, you’ll get people killed.”
“That’s not why you’re hassling us.”
“I’m not hassling you. I’m reminding you. Encouraging you to study, to
work. The same way students always have inspired each other around
here.”
The sound of a fist in a gut.
I moved forward, and Zehr stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Spies everywhere,” he reminded me.
I’d hate to tip our hand to Kallus and Gorion and Joachim. Then there
was the sound of a shuffle, another blow, June’s gasp of pain.
There was no way I couldn’t charge in to protect my friends. I’d always
find another way forward once I’d taken care of my family; that was why I
wasn’t afraid to snuggle up to Zehr.
Zehr whispered a curse word and headed after me.
Just as we reached the end of the corridor, though, a usually-gentle
voice demanded angrily, “What the hell is going on here?”
Lynx.
I skidded to a stop.
“Nothing, sir.” said the meathead who was just beating up on my
friends. “We were just playing.”
 “I love a good game,” said Lynx acidly. “Why don't you explain all the
rules to me?”
It was obvious that Lynx had everything under control. I was smiling to
myself as the two of us sank back. I missed Lynx, but I was glad he was
here. He would look after my friends, he would look after Jaik and Branok.
He was quiet, but we all needed him deeply.
I’d always felt an impulse to reach out and run my fingers over the
emergency bell pull—which I’d resisted—but now, I reached out and
yanked it without hesitation.
Suddenly, chaos lit the academy. Students streamed past us as Zehr
grabbed my waist and dragged me into the shadows. We materialized again
in an empty room.
We’d landed in a bedroom with a polished wooden floor and three beds
in it. The room was far cozier given its three occupants and smaller size
than the dragon royals’ rooms, but that was nice in a way; the fire burned in
the grate, and a row of lamps illuminated the now-empty desks, abandoned
with books and papers still fluttering in the breeze from our sudden arrival.
We ran to search the room. I looked carefully over each lamp, while
Zehr ran his long fingers across every nook and cranny of the stone
fireplace.
Zehr turned triumphantly from the fireplace and raised the little bundles
of paper that would have kindled into an explosion.
We moved from room to room collecting Joachim’s deadly trash.
The Dragons’ hall was empty. It was strange to move furtively down
that hallway, where I felt shadowed by the ghosts of the girl I'd been before.
There had been the maid, carrying their laundry heaped in her arms. There
had been Lucian Finn, bullied and bloodied and strangely eager to prove
himself. There had been the girl, that they loved, even though they weren't
supposed to.
And I'd become someone else again, and we'd all have to figure out how
to live with who we were becoming.
“I’ll take Jaik’s room, you search the twins’ room,” I told Zehr, who
looked at me skeptically.
“Hoping to find him there?” he asked.
“No.” The hall felt cold and empty; my men weren’t near. “I’d know if
they were here.”
 Zehr’s lips twisted in irritation, but he shoved through the door into
another room.
I knew that there would be something in Jaik’s room. I searched
carefully, avoiding looking at the bed. I found the envelope tucked above
the fireplace.
“You're welcome, Jaik,” I said even though he couldn't hear me. I
missed him.
The strange sense of someone else in the room with me prickled down
my spine, and I turned, half expecting to find Jaik. A smile blossomed
across my lips.
But it was Kallus who stood right behind me.
I jumped back, but he made no move to hurt me.
“Oh, my niece,” he said warmly. “Clever girl that you are, I knew you’d
stop Joachim’s trick.”
“I appreciate the compliments, but it would be even better if you didn’t
invade my kingdom.”
He smiled as if I were amusing. “You could rule by my side as my
niece, my beloved sister’s daughter. You could run the Isle while I ruled my
kingdom–and your people would be better off.”
“What do you want? Why take the Isle?”
“I want its magic, its old gods… this bloodsoaked earth. I want what
everyone wants, Honor. Power.”
“I don’t want power.” I wanted books and chocolate and my men and
peace. I loved carrying a sword and fighting—and I’d happily hang up that
sword above a crackling fireplace and embrace peace.
“You want to keep the ones you love safe?”
“Of course.”
“You want power,” he said knowingly. “That’s all power is, my love.
Just be careful you don’t lose something else.”
“Is that a threat?” I asked sharply.
“No.” His expression was hard to read; he seemed almost…sad. But
everything about Kallus could be a calculated lie. “You’re all I have left of
my sister. I have no desire to hurt you, Honor. I want you to join me.”
Zehr burst into the room.
“Sorry, Kallus,” he said, slamming into me. “She’s my queen.”
His momentum carried me along toward the window, and I twined my
arms around his neck.
 The two of us leapt out into the dark void.
Zehr was always careful to use his magic out of sight. By the time
Kallus reached the window, he probably expected to see me shift, soaring
on my wings and carrying Zehr out of trouble. Instead the two of us fell into
the shadows and away.
We emerged back onto the rooftop. Zehr was breathing hard, as if he’d
been genuinely scared as he raced toward me, even though he’d made sure
not to betray to Kallus how he could shadow travel. He hadn’t been too
concerned to be calculating himself.
“Are you alright?” he asked me.
“Yes.” I tucked my hair behind my ears with shaking fingers, then
tucked my hands behind my back, hiding their trembling from Zehr. “He
wouldn’t hurt me. He’s a hazard to the kingdom, but not to me.”
“That’s not the only danger he poses to you,” he answered. “Kallus can
offer you something none of us can.”
“Us?” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the Scourge.
“He’s your family, your connection to your birth mother,” he said.
“He’s a nightmare.”
Zehr’s gaze caught on my face, his expression too knowing. “So?”
Behind him, one of the towers at the academy exploded.
We’d missed a spell.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Seven

B ranok

I was walking back toward the castle from the party where I’d just left
Lynx to sulk—Lynx hated parties, and I was pretty sure he preferred them a
little bit when he was spying instead of socializing—when one of the
towers exploded. The initial blast seemed to tilt the stone street beneath my
boots, and I stumbled.
I was instantly running. I waited for a second explosion to make the
street buckle, but nothing happened.
The explosion originated from one of the towers, centered above the
dragons’ wing. Jaik should still be in the castle, and I knew Lynx was
behind me; Tal and Arren were gone. My friends were alive.
Who would attack us? Was it Kallus? He had seemed far too ambitious
when we visited the Grey Kingdom. Or was it Gorian and Joachim, seeking
to raise themselves from the ashes… or at least tear us down into the filth
with them?
But no second explosion shattered the street. The silence seemed to
hang in the air heavy like storm clouds, full of malicious waiting.
Then I saw her.
A flash of red hair. A long stride, too quick and determined to be as
feminine as most noble ladies. A lithe figure, full of grace and spirit. I
didn’t need to see her face to recognize her. I wasn’t sure I even needed to
see her at all. Her aura alone might have been enough for me to recognize
Honor.
The next second, I saw the monster beside her. I’d already started
toward her, but I stopped dead.
What had brought her back to the city with him? Was there something
she needed to save Arren?
I darted through the shadows carefully trying to get close without him
seeing. She stopped and turned abruptly, her gaze searching, as if she knew
I was there.
And the Lord of the Scourge froze like a predator scenting prey.
Given what he’d already done to Arren, Honor would want me to stay
away. I debated letting them pass. Honor had her game she was playing,
and I didn’t need to interfere.
But Zehr was a creature of shadows, so perhaps it was no surprise that
his gaze found me as I lurked in the darkness.
“There you are!” He clapped his hands together. “And which one are
you?”
That question has been one of my pet peeves all my life, even though
Lynx and I often took advantage of the fact no one could tell us apart except
our dearest friends. I wasn’t sure our father could even manage it.
I ignored him, because when Honor’s eyes met mine, her eyes widened,
delight coming over her face. That joy was gone in a second. But it had
been there.
I felt a hundred times lighter than I had before. “Honor, I thought I’d
finally gotten rid of you.”
Zehr bared his teeth in a poor approximation of a smile. “I’m happy to
make sure you two are permanently separated.”
I ignored him. Sure, from my peripheral vision I kept an eye on him,
ready to respond to any attack. There was a prickling at the back of my
spine because he might do the same to me as he had to Arren.
After all, if it truly was his spies at work, they’d been eager to make
sure the nobles knew the Royals were under attack. That nobles and
civilians alike worried that the dragon Royals were not up to the challenges.
What could convince them better than yet another dragon royal turn to
Scourge?
But I wasn’t sure he would do that in front of Honor. Even the nastiest
of men could fall for her. I certainly was proof of that.
 No, my attention was all on Honor, and the way her gaze searched my
face. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and pull her close, to lose
myself in her for a minute. Instead I asked, “Is Arren well?”
“Yes.” She shook her head. “No. He’s still alive. I haven’t managed to
stop his turning yet.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way.” I touched her wrist, sliding my thumb over
at the bangles she bore on my way to take her hand, and her gaze rose to
mine, full of understanding. She’d known when I slipped the enchantment
on. I’d suspected she would, and warmth lit my chest.
“Do you really have that much faith in me, Bran?”
“I have an unreasonable amount of faith,” I confessed. I grabbed her
fingers in mine, knowing that I could only hold her hand for a minute and
yet wanting to hold on all night.
“Is that why you let me go?” An uncertain expression had come over
her face, one that I wasn’t used to seeing from Honor.
Regret knifed me in the heart; I thought she’d understand my banter.
“You didn’t really believe me when I claimed I let you go because I didn’t
care? There are some things you can do that I can’t, Honor.”
Honor’s face softened.
“Touching,” Zehr pronounced drily, although the look in his cold, dead
gaze seemed like jealousy to me. “Too bad this relationship is doomed.”
“Can you take a potion for me?” I asked her softly. “So I know you’re
traveling with this asshole through your own free will?”
“I am,” she protested.
“That’s exactly what you would say if he was forcing you.”
Zehr said,” And what if I were, royal? You couldn’t do anything about
it.”
Honor gave him a cutting look, one that I’d seen a time or a hundred.
She reminded Zehr, “You just told me that you needed me. So please try not
to be tiresome.”
I had the bottle of potion out of one of my pockets and in my hand in a
second. She took it from me without hesitating and uncorked it, throwing it
back before Zehr could make a move to intercept her.
There was a swirl of magic around her wrist, but nothing else lit up.
“Well, there goes that idea,” I said. “It would make more sense for why
you’re spending a moment by his side, if you were enchanted.”
 “Oh, but Branok, you’re the one who taught me to love the company of
monsters.” She sounded bright and winsome. Then she sobered as she told
me, “We came here to stop Joachim and Gorion. They’re partnering with
Kallus. They were trying to kill you all.”
“So now you know,” Zehr said mockingly, “that you are forever in my
debt.”
“Oh, after what you did to Arren, I am certainly in your debt. And I
won’t forget what I owe you.” I warned him.
Honor’s fingers tightened around mine, pulling my attention back to her.
“Kallus wants control of the Isle. Joachim and Gorian are willing to help
him, to regain their fortunes.”
“I’ll make sure Jaik knows,” I promised her. “I wonder what it will be
like to murder my father.”
“Thank you.” She hesitated, obviously wanting to say something
comforting in regard to patricide, but she didn’t seem to find anything.
What would she offer, anyway? Joachim had to be killed. Honor could
have offered us to do it for me, but I didn’t want to see the hand I still held
covered in my father’s blood. Normally I liked how stabby the girl was, but
part of me still loved my father, in a way.
Jaik would be upset to know she’d been here, within my touch, and was
gone. “Can you come tell him what’s happening yourself? He’ll want to
know everything.”
I hesitated, debating just how honest to be with Zehr watching. I didn’t
want to say that the others would be hurt. I didn’t want him to know how
much we all cared about her. I worried that it would make her more
valuable to him, more vulnerable.
“We are all out of time to chat,” Zehr said pleasantly.
“I see.” Another potion was already gripped in my fingertips, and I
popped the cork off with my thumb, ready to throw it at him then shift into
a dragon for my attack. I kept expecting him to attack me.
“No fighting,” Honor warned us both, sounding far more exasperated
than I would expect from someone standing between two lethal creatures.
“Bran, I’m where I need to be for right now. And Zehr, you are on thin ice
with me already. I’ll go along with you and try to save the world—”
“I’m not trying to save your part of the world,” Zehr cut in cooly.
“But I’m not going to stand by and watch you hurt any more of my
friends.” Honor finished, ignoring his interruption. Then she told Zehr
fiercely, “You might not be, but you’ll help me do it anyway.”
My lips parted, trying to understand just how the two of them were
going to save our kingdom.
But Zehr gave me a nasty smile and suddenly wrapped his arm around
her waist, tugging her backward. Her fingers yanked from mine abruptly,
and I took a step forward, trying to recapture her before my conscious brain
kicked in.
I caught a brief glimpse of Honor’s face—her wide eyes, her parted lips,
the way she reached for me too—and then they melted into the shadows.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Eight

H onor

I was furious when Zehr finally let go of me and the world resolved into the
warm glow of a fire and wood walls around us. I registered an empty room,
then all my attention was on him. “What is wrong with you?”
“An exceptionally long lifetime,” he said pleasantly, “ruined by the
existence of the dragon Royals.”
“And here my lifetime has been much shorter so far, and yet you're
ruining it.”
“Keep talking, and your lifetime certainly will be short.”
The room behind him took more shape for me. Above the blazing fire, a
code of arms was hung above the heavy mantle. In the code of arms, a
sword was crowned with a crown, which meant...
Pend. Jaik.
I thought of them in quick successive heartbeats, one that made my
heart sink and one that made it soar.
Then I thought of what Zehr had done to Arren, and my gaze snapped to
the bed, half-obscured by the heavy purple tapestries. Jaik never slept here
in the castle. Strangely enough, his home was the Academy. But was this
the one night when he and his court were dealing with so much and he
might have slept here.
 “Relax, I'm not here to kill your pretty boy. If I wanted him dead, he'd
already be dead, and I'd keep you in the dark about it so it was easier to win
your love.” Zehr said the words sarcastically, and I smiled blandly back at
him. We both knew his sarcasm was just cloaking his truth.
“So why are we here?”
“Because I was watching you at the inquiry,” he said with a smile, “and
I think there's something here you'd like to steal.”
“I'm a dragon,” I reminded him. “We’re notoriously prone to larceny.
Among other crimes both petty and large. I don't need you to help me steal.
What is it you really want?”
Zehr gave me a charming smile, stuck his hands in his pockets rakishly,
then said, “I'd like to fuck you on his bed and leave your scent on his sheets.
I want him to know you belong to me now.”
The smile had me expecting something a little less crude. “I'll never
belong to you, Zehr.”
“I love the way you say my name.”
“With complete disdain?”
“It'll make it all the sweeter to hear you moan my name later.”
“I'm going to ask you one more time.” I wandered toward the window,
then nestled myself into the window seat, a dozen floors above the sea
below. The waves crashing violently against the shore sounded like a faint
and distant rush below. I turned to him with a smile once I was seated above
the waves. “or I'll fly away. I don't need to be with you. You know that I'm
choosing to stay.”
“How sweet,” Zehr said, but there was a spark in his gaze. Then he
relented. “I know you're staying with me because you want to save Arren. I
wonder just how far you'd go to save him? If I told you there was magic
that we could unleash by touching each other...”
He blinked in and out of shadows, suddenly standing right in front of
me. He rested his hand on my bare thigh, where it was exposed from sitting
cross legged in the window seat.
“Oh I'm already afraid of what can be unleashed by us touching each
other,” I said, and I brushed his hand away.
Zehr strolled across the room and threw himself on to Jaik’s bed,
looking far too comfortable. “I need to tell you a story.”
“I assume everything you tell me is a story.”
 “The Scourge stone was broken into many pieces.” He hesitated, his
eyes saying he was enjoying knowing he had hooked me enough that I had
not yet thrown myself out the window to trust my wings.
“You mentioned that already.” He did not seem inclined to go on, so I
prompted, “How many pieces? And why exactly is this relevant, especially
when we're trespassing in a dragon Royals bedroom in a heavily guarded
castle?”
Zehr shrugged. “I like the atmosphere. Even though the room is very
much decorated in early greedy asshole.” He picked up a solid gold candle
stick and flipped it over in one deft hand.
“Focus.” I snapped my fingers at him. “The stones?”
“Once the two halves of the curse were in place, the Scourge stone was
split into enough pieces that there was one for each of the dragon Royals,
and one for both Lysander and Amily.”
“They were shattered so that it would take a consensus to ever remove
the Scourge magic and the shifter curse from the land. You see the two are
spun up together,” he circled his hands around each other. “The gift of
shifting feeds the curse of this Scourge, and the curse of the Scourge gives
off magic that feeds the gift of shifting.”
Horror struck me as I understood. The image of my copper dragon and
my men’s dragons flying together rose to my mind, the way it felt to soar
through the sky and to speak directly into each other’s minds and the sheer
joy of it all.
And then I imagined tearing their fierce, beautiful dragons away from
my men. “So when we lose one, we lose the other.”
“I'm not aware of a previous time that people used magic to reshape
reality on such a large scale, so it's all rather theoretical at the moment.”
I was glad I was already sitting down, although now I wish I wasn't
sitting a mile above a dark cold sea. I felt gripped by icy fingers of horror.
I’d gone charging off to destroy the Scourge curse, and if I'd succeeded,
I would have destroyed my own dragon. And those of my men. Who were
we without any of that?
“Existential dread,” Zehr noted cheerfully. “I love seeing that look on
someone else’s face. I usually feel like I'm so alone in my crushing
anxiety.”
Did Zehr really intend to stop the Scourge curse, or did he have some
other nefarious plot? “Is there anything else these stone pieces do?”
 “They can be used for some magic. Holding on to spells, for instance.
Kind of like a second sorcerer’s mind, linked to one’s own magic.”
It wasn't as if I trusted Zehr as the ultimate source of information.
“Alright, what about the stones made you feel like you needed to take me
here?”
“As I said, I was watching you during the inquiry.”
“Given your ability to shadow travel and your deeply creepy
personality, I was beginning to assume you'd been watching me
everywhere.”
Zehr half bowed, as if I'd complimented him. He went on without
acknowledging what I’d just said. “I noticed that you were having a very
hard time keeping your hands to yourself with Prince Jaik.”
“To be fair, anyone would have a hard time keeping my hands off Prince
Jaik,” I taunted him. “Have you seen him shirtless? You wouldn't be able to
keep your hands off him either.”
“Perhaps,” Zehr shot back. “Perhaps we'll get to a point that he doesn't
try to kill me on sight, and I can flirt with him instead. But in this case, you
couldn't keep your hands off his crown.”
I racked my brain, trying to remember feeling interested in the crown
itself. I remembered a playful moment, taking the crown off Jaik’s head and
putting it on my own. His eyes had twinkled at me, and one of those rare,
gorgeous smiles had spread across his face. “Careful,” he'd warned me
softly. “Don't give the people any ideas. Someone is going to realize that
you are the true queen.”
He'd looked at me as if he liked the idea, resting his hand lightly on my
knee. The memory was a warm and tender one.
But the next instant, the doors had opened and I'd handed Jaik back his
crown and he'd snapped into that icy, regal demeanor that caged him almost
as much as it scared everyone else.
“And you think the crown is in here? What do you want with Jaik’s
crown?”
Zehr gestured toward the door beyond, closed and heavily locked.
Before I could say anything, he'd slipped his arm around me, and the world
shuddered around us in that unnerving way.
Then we were on the other side of the door, in a dark, windowless,
airless chamber. I felt gold coins slide away under my feet as I drew in a
sudden shocked breath. The next second, I raised my hand and called my
light. Flames crackled across my palm, beautiful and mesmerizing. I
couldn't help but glance sideways at Zehr. All the Scourge I’d encountered
before fled from fire.
But Zehr was something else. More than Scourge.
“The crown’s got a Scourge stone in it,” I said, putting the pieces
together.
I didn't like the idea of stealing from Jaik. “We could just tell Jaik we
need it, and he would give it to us.”
“Perhaps he would just give it to you, but he isn't exactly doing me any
favors. And what would be the fun in that, anyway?”
“Now be a good girl and find it for me,” he said, as if I didn't want to
end the Scourge just as much as he did.
“I live to serve,” I said dryly as I began to wander the chamber, looking
for the crown.
“If only that were true.”
I looked around the room, feeling a strange unspooling sensation in my
chest, a sudden spike in my heart rate. my skin seemed to buzz as if magic
was alive in the room.
I glanced at Zehr, wondering if he felt it too.
He definitely needed me just as much as I needed him. Even though I
was sure that there were things he wasn't telling me yet.
He stared at me, his expression vaguely mocking as usual. He didn’t
feel the pull toward the stone. The sense of power I had over Zehr hardened
like a crystal in my chest.
Zehr needed me as much as I needed to save Arren.
I let the sensation draw me around the room, following where it seemed
to grow stronger. I opened a chest and found Jaik’s crown glittering up at
me.
“Arrogant bastard,” Zehr mused. “Of course he had to keep his hoard
close, no matter how dangerous it was.”
“That's not fair. This was Pend’s treasure not long ago. Jaik's been a
little busy, dealing with the inquiry and the Academy and you...”
Zehr looked briefly perplexed. “I wasn't talking about Jaik. There have
been a lot of years where this room was Pend’s, and I was alive for all of
them.”
“How much did you see? Of what your father did with mine?”
 “Ah, the adventures of Lysander and Lerric.” He held his hand out for
the crown. “I’d escaped the orphanage. I saw everything. Not that I was
supposed to.”
“I can't imagine that orphanage was able to hold you.” I tossed him the
crown.
“Hold me? No. Tame me? Not that either. But it did make me very
miserable to repay me for not being able to do either.”
I started to say something sympathetic, and he cut me off, tilting the
crown from side to side to study it. It glimmered in the firelight. “I've been
alive a lot longer than any of those little boys you play with, Damyn
included.”
So he'd been watching me enough to see Damyn as well. It wasn't
surprising, but it was infuriating. And worrying. I wanted to know Damyn
was safe.
“I’m not like them, wallowing in that same leftover misery like two-
week-old stew. I don't care about the pain of the past anymore.” He turned
that wicked gaze toward me. “I just want to make the future.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Fifty-Nine

L ynx

B ran had abandoned me at the party. He’d been annoyed at me ever since
I confronted him; he knew more about Honor’s disappearance than he had
told any of us. He’d mocked me, saying, “I thought you would be happy
that my loyalty was to the girl.”
“All of us are loyal to the girl,” I reminded him. “Our queen.” I put
deliberate emphasis on the word queen.
“Our queen,” Branok agreed, making the emphasis entirely different
and insinuating an entirely different set of things.
“I am glad you finally seem to have gotten your head out of your ass,” I
observed. “You were so rude to her.”
“She finds it charming.” He said breezily.
“I can assure you she does not.”
Branok had shrugged and given me a cheeky grin. If I’d let it go then,
we probably wouldn’t still be fighting.
“You shouldn’t lie to Jaik.”
“I don’t recall electing him king.”
I gave him a heavy look. “Branok.”
When we were young, Branok had sometimes dreamed about
overthrowing Pend. I hadn’t heard him say such things about Jaik, but I was
pretty sure that was purely because Branok had grown wiser and more
secretive by the time Jaik took Pend’s place.
“We’re friends,” I said. “Don’t ruin it.”
“How come it’s always the people with the most to lose that are warned
to give in to the other party? If we’re such good friends, then why am I the
one who has to be watchful?”
“Jaik’s not like that and you know it.”
“Maybe.”
I’d been as aggravated as he was by the end.

A t least I passed through the crowd unseen. I’d been trying to use
Honor’s magic, although to make it work, I had to keep flipping my father’s
talisman between my fingers. I’d tied my spell to his old pendant, the one
he’d almost always worn. He’d tied especially important spells to it, and the
stone vibrated with a sense of power.
I’d ripped the stone from his throat the last time I saw him, when we
were fighting in the temple. It was important to my father, and that meant I
didn’t trust him with it. Only power and magic mattered to my father. Even
money was only important because it showed the former.
I had to admit, though, that his old trinket was useful. And it seemed
magnetic—I was reluctant to put it down or to tell Branok about it—so I
was pretty sure it was enchanted. I would’ve fucked up by leaving such a
powerful relic with him. And I’d fucked up by taking it.
Sometimes life is like that.
I’d been able to use it to alter my face, just as Honor had before.
The nobles didn’t notice me. I’d changed my posture along with my
clothes, slouching along—a skill that Jaik could not master no matter how
much Branok and I tried to fix him. Jaik was who he was, always and
inescapably.
I mingled with them, making small talk. I told everyone a fake name, of
a made up minor noble, and I used the smallest spell to prompt them to
forget as soon as I’d moved on. I was nobody. Easy to talk to. Easy to
forget.
I pretended to talk to a flirtatious girl, who was definitely only
interested in a night’s conversation given I was supposed to be petty
nobility. Meanwhile, I was intent on the background conversation than the
handsy brunette in front of me.
I’d never been particularly interested in anyone until I met Honor, but I
could flirt with half my brain, however little I cared, and let the
conversations around me trickle in.
“—war coming with the prey shifters. They have the numbers, but I
think we’ll be fine since Caldren is probably going to be overthrown by his
own rebels. They don’t like—”
“—I can’t buy anything purple. Isn’t that so weird? These dragon—”
“Jaik would be lucky to have just a rebellion on his hands.”
I’d been sifting through the noise, but now I paused.
“Well, that is a beautiful dress,” I told her, as if I’d noticed what she was
wearing, and she beamed. She began to tell me all about it while I listened
harder to the conversation in the distance.
The other man engaged in the conversation stopped. “Don’t talk about it
here.”
So they knew even more. I politely excused myself from my current
conversation mid-fabric-dye-related rant—Jaik had really caused a
surprising amount of textile-themed trouble in the kingdom, and I wasn’t
sure he even knew it—and strolled to fetch another glass of wine.
Then as I caught a familiar voice, receding through the noise of the
party toward the door, I wandered after them, pretending to be lost in the
crowd and looking for someone.
I stepped into the quiet of the cool marble hallway; they were already
gone. So they must have gone into a room nearby. I wandered the hall,
sloshing my drink a bit dramatically around my glass and looking more
cheerful than anyone should with an imminent war.
The door was closed, and the voices behind it were just a whisper. I
rested my hand lightly against the door, let my current spell go so I could
summon the next and eavesdrop.
“—going to get us killed.”
“I won’t bring it up again.” The other man sounded conciliatory. “It’s
better we all forget we know anything about it anyway. It will be done
soon.”
Fuck. I’d like to know what exactly they were talking about.
I made my way out of the mansion, counting windows so I could
identify the room I’d found from the inside. Then I stood out in the dark
garden and watched, even as a soft rain began to fall.
My eavesdropping spell was still working so I could hear their words.
Occasionally I caught a brief glimpse of a silhouette—one of them was
pacing near the window—but I hadn’t yet caught sight of a face I could
identify.
The thought that someone would try to kill Jaik filled me with boiling
rage. They’d have to come through Talisyn, Branok, Arren… not Arren,
that realization felt like a pit in my stomach… and me to get to Jaik. They
wouldn’t find that easy.
“I remain skeptical it will even work.”
“You’ll see. Keep an eye on the news.”
“So he’ll die in his sleep?”
“Ebba’s promises are a little shaky. But it will only attack when it can
leave no witnesses. It should look like an accident or an illness. No castle or
bodyguard will save him.”
I froze, feeling the rain turning cold and soaking my tunic to my body.
They’d raised a supernatural monster, one long dead, to attack my old
friend.
One that would make it look as if he’d died in his sleep.
And it sounded as if it could attack at any moment.
Was he alone, even now, brooding about his kingdom and how to fix it
in front of the fire?
I had to make sure he knew. I sent a message out through our dragon
bond, though I never had the highest of hopes when we were in our human
form. Most importantly, I’d reached the point in spycraft where escaping
with the information was the highest priority.
I turned and made my way toward the garden gates.
“Stop right there,” A querulous voice called. “Why are you loitering
outside the castle?”
I turned to find a handful of minor nobles in front of me. Since my
disguise was gone, I fixed them with a cool smile instead. “I’ll loiter where
I please.”
“All right, Lord Branok.”
Of course. If I acted like an asshole, they’d assume I was my brother.
Understandable mistake.
“You can come with us. Get out of the rain.” One of the nobles gave me
a sharp smile.
 “Sure,” I said easily.
They were going to kill me if they got the chance. They were afraid I’d
heard too much. A prickle ran up my spine, and I moved abruptly to the
right, trusting my instincts.
The crossbolt intended to drive between my shoulders slammed into the
thigh of the man across from me. He howled in pain as he grabbed for his
leg. Such a pity. Seemed like it hurt.
They moved to attack me, and I seized one of them, sliding behind him,
putting my blade to his throat. He froze, his chin lifted high and stiff.
“Why are you planning to kill King Jaik?” I demanded.
“I’m not,” he babbled. “It’s his brother, we have to stop the rebels…”
“You’ll plunge us into war,” I scolded them, but when I glanced around,
their faces were hard. That was their intent.
There’s no reasoning with those who want war.
One of them flickered his fingers, raising magic. The man I gripped
closed his eyes and murmured a prayer to the gods.
I slit his throat in one quick, smooth motion. Blood sprayed over his
friends.
Their magic sizzled around me as they attacked, and I leapt forward,
transforming, already breathing fire while I shifted.
They screamed as they went up in flames. The magic they’d tried to
attack me with ricocheted around the courtyard, fiery and alive and
dangerous even as they all fell dead from my attack.
I scooped up the body of the ringleader to carry him with me, and
soared into the night.
Just because they were dead didn’t mean their magic died with them. If
it was bound in an item of some type, it was still alive, still a threat to
Caldren.
I had to track their magic down, but first, I needed to deliver my friend a
corpse and tell him what was coming.
I flew as fast as I could.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty

H onor

T he world was dark and cold, and then suddenly, far too bright. I
squeezed my eyes shut against the painful sunlight; Zehr kept his hand on
my shoulder, steadying me, as the wave of nausea that came with my
shadow-travel passed.
He asked, “Are you alright?”
I shook his hand off as the shadows melted. Zehr’s eyes glinted down at
me maliciously, annoyed by me and bound to me all at the same time.
It took me long seconds to orient myself in the courtyard, trying to
figure out exactly where we were.
It wasn't until I breathed in sea air and identified the glint of water
through the the trees that I realized we were in the southern part of the
Kingdom. Rebel territory. Caldren’s territory. I’d had a glimpse of my other
men, and my heart sang at the thought of seeing Cal again.
Zehr was already halfway to the castle.
“Where are we?” I called after him.
“Somewhere we shouldn't be.”
“Yes, that's a given. Answer my question.”
He stopped at the threshold and turned to face me, exasperation written
across his face. “I told you the list of people who had a Scourge stone.”
 “Yes, I remember.”
“Only one of them wasn't a moron who wanted to keep it close to the
best of my knowledge. Which of the dragon Royals do you think is the least
terrible?”
“Gorian,” I said without hesitation. “He seems to love his son.”
“A low bar, but I guess it's doing pretty well for the Royals.”
“So, am I right? Is this Gorion’s palace?”
Zehr clicked his tongue. “You haven't been here before? I can't believe
that you weren't welcomed into the family.”
Something flickered behind Zehrr.
“Lookout!” I called rushing forward. He dove to the right without
hesitating and disappeared, then popped up again in the shadow of the
nearest tree.
In the space he just vacated, a ghostly figure stood, still gripping the axe
it had just swung. It paused staring at us, then blinked back into
nonexistence.
“So the castle is protected with magic,” Zehr said calmly, as if he'd
known all along. “At least the other’s castles should be less protected, since
their spells should have died with them by now.”
“I don't think you know how it works,” I said, shaking my head. “The
spell that Terris used on Talisyn didn't just go away when… when I killed
him.”
Unfortunately.
Zehr gave me a pitying look. “I don't think you know how it works. Are
those Royals keeping secrets or are you all this lost?”
He thought he knew everything about me, and that rankled. “Perhaps
you didn't learn as much as you think you did from skulking in the
shadows.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” He headed toward the doorway.
“Hang on,” I told him. “You've got to be careful! That enchantment
almost chopped you in two.”
“If it were that easy, I'm sure you'd already have murdered me.”
The thing reappeared as he neared the door, but it didn't matter. As I
watched, ready to leap to the idiot lord’s defense, Zehr muttered a spell and
the supernatural creature vanished.
This time it didn't come back.
Zehr beckoned me toward him. “It's safe.”
 I didn't appreciate his tone. “How did you break the spell? How do you
know the spell to break it?”
He just flashed me a bright smile.
He broke every enchantment we encountered, cheerfully muttering
counterspells as ghostly figures broke through the walls or sent axes flying
our way.
We moved through the castle, which was eerie and empty and smelled
surprisingly stuffy for someplace so palatial.
Another supernatural creature that guarded a door drew blood with his
sword, and Zehr let out a hiss of pain, pressing the wound with one hand
while he muttered a counterspell.
The enchanted figure immediately apologized. “I am so sorry, my
Lord.”
It occurred to me that there were complicated reasons why he was able
to move through the spells so easily. I shot him a quick suspicious look.
“Why did it call you my Lord?”
“Because unlike you, it recognizes my superiority.”
“It thinks you're Gorian or Arren.”
He shrugged.
“Why is that?” I demanded.
He continued making his way through the castle. I kept up a one sided
conversation, undeterred as usual.
“So, after he drew your blood he thought he recognized you. So you're
related to Arren?”
“I am the poor distant cousin,” Zehr admitted.
“Then why did you bite him? Why would you hurt your own cousin?”
“We didn't exactly have a relationship.”
“If you talked to Arren... if you tried to get him to listen...”
He scoffed. “Because those men of yours listened so well.”
“But seriously, why Arren? Did you want to hurt him? Because he's
family?” I stared after him as he waved away the spells on the Gorion’s
vault. “Is that part of why you wanted to hurt him? Because you grew up in
an orphanage and Arren grew up with his father?”
He scoffed as if I were ridiculous. “I told you how little I care about the
past. I dislike all of those insufferable, arrogant, ridiculous men of yours
equally. Arren just happened to be the one who was convenient.”
We stepped into the vault.
 I lifted one of the swords from the racks. “I need to be armed if I'm
going to go on these adventures with you.”
He gave me a skeptical look. “I feel certain that blade will end up buried
in my back.”
“Why don't you just concentrate on not earning a stabbing?”
He waved his hand at me, as if he were generously offering me a second
dessert. “Fine, carry the sword. You won't get the chance to land a blow
anyway.”
He was really making me want to stab him.
We located the Scourge stone.
But as soon as we stepped outside, a sudden blast of fire flare down at
us.
My magic exploded like a shield above us. Flames blasted above. Zehr
turned to me with a faintly impressed and amused smile, them reached for
me, already eyeing the shadows beyond.
But I shoved away from him.
Gorian, in his dragon form, stood on the rooftop, his talons digging deep
into the stone. Then he saw me, and he dropped to the ground, landing
lightly on his feet as a man.
“Where is my son?” he demanded roughly.
Arren had just disappeared off the face of the earth as far as everyone
was concerned.
“He's Scourge now,” I called up to him. My raised voice didn’t hide the
disdain in my tone. “You helped create the Scourge curse, after all. Seems
only fair your son would be struck down.”
My voice came out cold and sharp, even though I was dedicated to
saving Arren from that curse. No one deserves to suffer for what their
parents did, even though that is so often inevitable.
“What are you talking about?” Gorion demanded. He looked at Zehr.
“Haven't you broken your vows enough?”
“If I'd broken any vows I made, the magic would have had its way with
me,” Zehr said lightly.
Gorian snarled at him. Then his gaze fell to the stone I clutched.
“Don't trust him,” Gorian warned. “He's trying to find someone to take
the Scourge from him as he once took the Scourge from his father before he
died of the curse.”
“I'm also trying to fix things,” Zehr said mildly.
 “Don't worry,” I promised Gorion. “I don't trust him anymore than I
trust you.”
“Where is my son?” Gorion demanded. “Do you have him hidden
somewhere?”
“I took him with me to the Scourge lands so he would be safe,” I said
bitterly. “Now he's lost out in the wild.”
“I'm sure he'll show up when the Scourge next attack,” Zehr said mildly.
Gorion plunged toward us both.
Zehr held his hand toward me. “Shadows!”
I ran toward Zehr, but Gorion plunged into me, knocking me sideways.
I twisted and slammed the pommel of the sword into his gut, trying to
knock him back and get space to swing the sword.
But Gorion had a single-minded focus on the stone. His fingers burned
against mine, and I cried out in pain as his fire burned my hand.
“You stupid girl. I’m going to save my son,” he said fiercely. His thumb
jabbed deeply into the tendon of my wrist, breaking my grip, and he
wrested the stone from my fingers.
Zehr launched himself toward him, but Gorion soared into the sky,
leaving us both behind.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-One

J aik

A fter L ynx told me what danger my brother was in, I flew as fast and
hard as I could for the southern Kingdom. Branok and Lynx put up a fight
for me to stay and for them to go, but someone had to stay to control
questionable nobles.
And it was my brother who had no idea he was marked for murder.
Familiar territory that used to be Pend’s spread out below. It was a map
of memories. Grain fields where we had fought Scourge, losing each other
among the golden stalks. Spreading trees that had sheltered my friends
when we were bloodied and hurt and needed a healer.
It made me furious now to think of the times one of us or another had
come close to death because my father had been so selfish with the magic.
We could always have had the capacity to heal each other. Honor had
returned with that magic from the arena.
Pend had stolen so much from us.
Now he was gone, but the world didn't seem any brighter.
I ran into the wall of dragonsbane. It felt like running into a wall, a
sudden shock that ran through my bones and muscles all the way to my
wing tips. Pain spurted through my body like fire. For a second, I was
stunned. I wheeled around and moved backward, catching a quick glimpse
of a couple of children who ran outside from their house and cupped their
hands over their eyes to stare at me, open mouthed.
The effect of the Dragonsbane had me careening through the air, and I
clipped a few trees on my way down. I wanted to get far away from anyone
who might have just seen me run into the dragonsbane.
I landed gracelessly-- at least no one else was around to see it--and
climbed to my feet in my human form.
I swung wide around the cottage where I’d been spotted—in the
distance, I caught raised voices, muffled by the trees but urgent-sounding—
as if these villagers thought I’d come alone to bring war.
How had our kingdom become so broken? We’d removed our fathers,
yet everything was worse than ever before.
I moved stealthily through the trees until I reached the dragonsbane line.
I felt it before I saw it, now that I was familiar with its magic. A sudden
slow, languid feeling spread through my muscles, making them heavy. With
it came the first tingle of pain, as if my limbs had fallen asleep. Then I saw
the slender glittering line against the green grass.
I pulled the dragonsbane knife from my belt and set to sawing through
the tough metal. In the distance, the sound of the voices flowed nearer and
farther.
I sawed as fast as I could. Moving further down the Dragonbane barrier
would mean starting all over on the tedious process. A spy would have
spent a long time sawing through Arren’s chains. Was the culprit a Scourge
spy? Until Honor had that strange encounter, I'd been sure no Scourge could
ever be intelligent or aware enough to spy. But apparently, there was much
we didn't understand about the Scourge. The reminder hollowed a pit in my
stomach.
Our ignorance should already have killed Arren. I feared what he would
do since he had been left alive.
The voices were no longer audible, but I could sense someone-- or more
than one-- moving in the woods nearby. I’d been spotted.
The fraying string in my hands would take another minute at least. If I
ran, they'd be close behind hunting me and I'd have to begin again. How
long would it take me to get across the border?
I didn't want to kill villagers or rebels unless I was forced. I was trying
to bring an end to war.
 But if I didn't get through… Caldren might meet the assassin before I
found my way to his door.
I went on sawing as the woods rustled, and I felt more than I saw the
villagers who stepped out of the wood.
They raised their bows, arrows already nocked.
The blade suddenly slipped free of the dragonsbane, and I held two
glittering pieces in my hand. I threw them as far from me as I could, trying
to create enough distance to regain my full strength.
“Is that Pend’s boy?” one of the villagers asked in a contemptuous tone.
But there was doubt there too...which surprised me. I'd thought they all
knew my face. I was ready to bluff my way through it when another said,
“Aye, that’s… king…Jaik.” He all but sneered the word king.
I straightened. “I have an urgent message for my brother.”
Everything in me wanted to make them regret calling me Pend’s boy.
But it wasn't as important as my mission.
They looked at each other and snickered. “Sure you do, and I'm sure
he's very eager to hear it.”
I took a step back, and then another, trying to get enough distance
between the dragonsbane and myself to be able to shift and fly. Obviously,
I'd probably cause mass panic anywhere that my shadow touched. But my
priority was getting to Caldren. Everything else could be sorted out
later.Nothing mattered besides making sure the shadow assassin didn't kill
my brother.
Keen eyes and arrow points followed my every move. “Stop right
there.”
“We will take you to see him. And we'll see how well that goes.”
“Oh, I'm sure it will go perfectly. My brother and I are closer than we've
been in years,” I said cheerfully.
Then I turned and ran. My spine itched, waiting for arrows to fly into
my back, but I heard curses behind me. They might think Cal hated me, but
they weren't entirely sure. They didn't want to risk their new King's wrath.
As soon as the tingle faded from my limbs, I leapt in the air, already
transforming. That decided it for them. Instantly, I felt as much as I heard
the zing of arrows being released. But their arrow shattered harmlessly
against my scales. I climbed fast and hard, leaving them cursing behind me.
They should be thankful I hadn’t turned back to destroy them all with a
breath of flame.
 I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get to my brother. He was protected
by his rebels who thought I was a danger. That would make it harder to
protect him from the true danger.
I felt stretched thin, as if parts of me had been flung to the four winds.
Honor was gone, and I had to trust Damyn and Talisyn to find her while I
protected her throne. I'd given Arren up for dead, willing to kill him myself
rather than see him turned into a monster. And now my brother was in
mortal danger.
I’d do whatever it took to bring them all back together.
I touched down inside the courtyard walls of Caldren’s last castle.
Obviously, his rebels saw me coming.
I transformed back.
As the guards approached with their swords, I raised my hands. “I come
in peace. With a message for my brother.”
The guards did not come in peace. They proved that in short order. I
could’ve killed them all, but that would’ve led to more chaos, more delay.
When they finally had enough, and one of them had his boot on my
chest and had paused triumphantly, I turned my head and spat blood. My
voice came out ragged. “I just need to get a message to my brother!”
I could have destroyed them. I could have flown away. But I wouldn't
do that unless my own life was in danger. For now, these fools were still my
best chance of getting in touch with my brother.
That was all that mattered.
“And what is that, exactly?” one of Caldren’s friends, Nora, wound
through the crowd. The rebels with their bloody knuckles backed away to
make space for her. “I've heard rumblings about how you’ll handle our
king’s so-called rebellion. I don't trust you.”
“Fine, don't trust me.” I locked eyes with her. “But you need to listen to
me. You need to get him a message. There's a supernatural assassin coming
after him, and if he's not ready, he's going to be killed.”
She stopped and tilted her head to one side. “Why didn't you kill these
morons who attacked you?”
“I’ve seen enough war. I'd rather not have another.”
“This just doesn't seem like you,” she said. “Which makes me think it
must be a trick.”
“I've taken lots of beatings in my life. But I've never lost a brother. One
seems far more serious than the other.”
 She gave me a long look. Then she said to one of the others, “Let him
up. We're taking him to Prince Caldren.”
As soon as they backed away, I peeled myself off the ground, hiding
how my muscles ached. Gods. Maybe I’d still kill them all in their sleep,
once Cal was safe.
“Cal isn’t here?” I looked up at the sky. Dusk was settling in behind
heavy clouds that seemed to make the sky darkened before its time. “Is he
alone?”
Nora shook her head, tangled dark hair flying. She wore several blades
that I could see, but didn’t seem to own a comb. “I don't trust you enough to
tell you.”
“Fine. Don't trust me. But he will.” I spoke confidently, far more
confidently than I felt. “Take me to see him.”
“You sound so very cocky and demanding.” She tilted her head, staring
at me. “I see the family resemblance.”
She turned, and my heart sank. Over her shoulder, she called “Tie his
hands. Dragonsbane. None of us want to be eaten for dinner tonight, I
assume.”
“You'll take me?”
“Oh, you couldn't stop me. Cal will want to see you.” She fixed me with
a look that was not particularly kind. “And I am so very curious.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Two

A rren

T he pull in my chest felt like a string yanking me to my destination. I

raced through the woods, the trees a blur around me.
A familiar face, red hair, a mischievous smile that always begged to be
covered with a kiss—she haunted me as I ran.
Was our bond magic pulling me toward her? I stopped abruptly, trying
to control my whirling thoughts. Honor?
The words echoed in an empty bond. I couldn’t reach any of my friends
from my past. I let out a roar of frustration and loneliness.
A Scourge raced toward me. I growled and leapt toward it, but it ducked
away from me and kept running in the same direction I’d been going, as if it
was being pulled toward that same destination.
Through the flashing trees surrounding me, others were moving too.
The glitter of the river rose alongside me. Then I caught a glimpse of
thatched roofs and stone buildings ahead, before I burst out of the trees.
Screams rose in the distance.
A pair of children ran wildly for the woods, their faces frozen in terror.
A Scourge leapt toward them, his fangs extended.
I jumped on him first, knocking him to the ground. He swiped me with
his talons, attacking me with fangs and claws, and I ripped his throat out.
 I raised my mouth, tasting his delicious blood, feeling it stream down
my chin. The children had disappeared. Were they safe?
I moved into the village. A pair of Scourge, working together, battered
down the door of a house. It exploded inward. I followed them in,
determined to protect the family hiding inside.
The simple one-room house was empty at first glance, the fire still lit in
the fireplace. The ladder to the loft had been kicked away.
The two Scourge trampled the ladder without even realizing what it was
at first as they tore open cabinets and overturned beds, searching for hiding
prey.
Because the scent of life hung in this room. I could smell it too.
The Scourge tried to place the ladder to climb into the loft overhead,
then clambered up it. A terrified young woman leaned over, pouring a hot
pot of boiling oil over the Scourge. They fell back, screaming.
Then one of them jumped and caught the edge of the loft floor.
Before he could climb up, I grabbed his legs and wrenched him down.
Half the loft came with it, the young woman and one of her children
plummeting to the floor. She screamed and caught the small child in her
arms, trying to run for the door.
One of the Scourge blocked her way. His mouth was locked in a
permanent rictus smile as he gazed down at her triumphantly.
I snapped the throat of the Scourge I held so I could get between the two
of them.
At first the Scourge just grinned at me stupidly, thinking I was just like
him.
Then I tore his throat out.
The woman was screaming. She didn’t stop. Not even when I turned to
her and tried to say comforting things. She backed away, tripped, landed
heavily. She pushed her child behind her. The child was frozen in terror.
The screaming hurt my ears.
It made me want to hurt her, too. And the scent of blood hung in the air,
making me feel a sudden, intense urge to make more blood.
With great effort, I threw myself out the door and back into the madness
of the village. I stared around it, feeling an urgent rush toward violence.
And I wasn’t sure who I wanted to hurt anymore.
The back of my neck prickled.
 I turned and found someone watching me from the outskirts of the
village, a figure with a dark cloak and a face I couldn’t see.
He wasn’t part of the screaming crowd. He didn’t help them, and he
didn’t fear the Scourge. His attention was focused on me.
I lumbered toward him, and he tried to disappear into the brush. I
followed him with a few quick strides.
“Why are you watching me?” I tried to ask, but the words came out a
growl.
I reached for him, just to stop him.
And I accidentally popped his head. One moment, he’d ducked and I
grabbed his head by mistake; he twitched in my grasp, and my fingers
tightened reflexively. His head exploded like a melon, brains and blood
spraying everywhere.
I’d been hungry for days. I stared down at the piece of his shattered
skull, one eye staring up at me uselessly. My mouth watered.
“Arren?”
I raised my head to see a man standing just beyond me. He looked
horrified, and it took me long seconds to remember him.
Gorion.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a red-headed girl called to me,
smiling.
Gorion had wanted to kill her. Had he killed her? An image rose—or
maybe it was a memory—of him cutting her throat. I shook my head, trying
to clear it, trying to remember. Trying to understand.
“I can fix you, I can help you,” he promised me. He gripped something
tightly in his hand, and he raised it as he began to incant the words of a
spell.
I stared at him dumbly for a second. Then as he went on, pain ignited
across my skin. Pain burst through every limb. Pain pounded in my head.
I roared at him. My face hurt so much I couldn’t stand it, and I reached
up to touch my horns, only to find them crumbling as my talons touched
them. It was a nightmare, and I roared again.
“Arren, calm down,” he said. “This isn’t the first time one of you has
been bitten by the Scourge. Right? Does it make sense that with all that
time you spent fighting them, since you were just boys, you’d never be
bitten? No, we always healed you. With one of the Scourge stones.”
I didn’t remember that.
 He kept doing the spell, even though I stalked toward him. He raised
one hand to fend off my attack with magic, then went on.
He’d erased my memories.
Someone had tried to take the red-headed girl from me. By killing her?
Or something else?
Was it him? I didn’t remember now.
And he was still hurting me.
I lunged at him. His eyes went wide, and he cried my name before my
fangs settled into his throat.
The world went dark.
The sky was still darker than before when I surfaced from my rage, next
to my father’s dead body. The Scourge were running away from the village,
disappearing into the trees deeper around us. Then they were gone, though I
was sure they’d left chaos behind them.
I tried to say my father’s name, but my voice just came out a growl. I
stared down at him.
His face had been kind, worried for me, when he was doing the spell,
even though it had hurt. Deep regret opened like a wound in my gut.
Other memories followed in too quick succession. Gorion, reaching for
my hand when I was a little boy. Pend, Gorion, Joachim and Teris striding
ahead of us with their cloaks fluttering behind them, their swords at their
sides, and then Gorion being the one to turn back. The way he’d winked at
me sometimes.
The noise I made wasn’t quite a growl. It was a keening sound, and I
jumped to my feet, alarmed by it. I shook my head, trying to clear it, trying
to focus on what to do next.
Had Gorion summoned them to draw me here? To heal me?
I picked up Gorion’s wrist, reluctantly, and peeled his fingers open.
But his palm was empty.
I crawled frantically across the grass and stones, my talons scrabbling
through the dirt, but there was nothing. Had someone taken it? While I was
lost?
I had to get to one of those stones. But I also had to stay far away from
everyone… and especially anyone I cared about. It was too easy to imagine
Honor laying there the way he was, her face untouched and her throat
bloodied, her chest…eaten.
Overhead, a dragon soared.
I snapped my head up, surprised to see it. But I couldn’t call for help.
I watched it go. I was alone.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Three

C aldren

T he S courge had swept through Keris, a village by the river. My fighters

and I had scrambled to protect it, but the city was a mess in the wake of the
Scourge.
Families had been separated from each other as they ran and boarded
themselves up in buildings. Scourge had slaughtered livestock left
unattended in the marketplace auction. Blood and feathers were streaked
across the cobblestones.
But the final count on the dead was just three. It wasn’t a bad day,
compared to the others, even if somewhere, someone wailed in grief, the
sound almost muffled by the heavy clouds.
A dozen dead Scourge were being dragged out of the village and down
to the river’s edge to be burned, then dumped into the water. I stood
watching, while the three bodies were taken from the temple where they’d
tried to shelter and were carried to their homes.
“Lucky they’re dead and not turned,” a man muttered to his son as they
passed.
“Lucky for who?” I mused out loud, thinking about Arren’s fate.
Perhaps they were better off dead…but not if there was a cure.
The man turned accusing eyes on me, then recognized me and his face
shifted. “Oh, King Caldren.” He half bowed, and a second later, so did his
son, who had gone wide eyed. “Can I ask you a question, my lord?”
He sounded awkward trying to be respectful.
“Yes,” I said, even though every muscle in my body ached after the
fight we’d had with the Scourge. My sword harness felt heavy on my
shoulders.
“D’you think the Dragon Royals were behind the attack? That they
partnered with the Scourge?”
“The last survivors? Joachim and Gorion? Partnered with the Scourge?”
My spies hadn’t heard any such thing, but there was always the possibility
that even someone from a far-flung village had seen or heard something we
needed to know.
“No.” He shook his head. “The new would-be king. Jaik.”
“No,” I said. “My brother wouldn’t do such a thing.”
The man looked distinctly unimpressed.
“Can I ask a question too?” The boy asked.
“Sure, little man, what is it?”
“Do you think someone like me could ever be a knight? Like the dragon
knights?”
I shook my head gravely. “No.”
“Oh.” He wilted with disappointment, his shoulders curling inward. I’d
miscalculated just how hard that would hit, or I wouldn’t have tried to joke.
I hurried to finish. “You’ll never be like the dragon knights. They have
one set of gifts and people like you and I have another. We’ll be our own
kind of warriors.”
His eyes brightened, and he drew himself up quickly. I clapped his
shoulder and smiled, then moved on.
But I was troubled by what the man had said.
I walked down to the river bank. On my way, Morick appeared by my
side. He carried two wooden cups of wine.
“Is one of those for me?” I asked.
“I suppose.” He handed it over with disappointment.
The two of us stopped at the edge of the river and studied the flames
that crackled in the night air, carrying the scent of burning Scourge. We
both stayed far enough back to stay upwind.
“It seems like everyone wants war, Morick,” I said. “The north is trying
to push Jaik into war with us, and…”
 “And your people crowned you expecting you’d give them war and
victory?” he asked, giving me a sharp sideways look. “You haven’t taken
long to turn into a disappointment.”
“Story of my life.”
“You’ve never let me down,” he said.
“You have very low expectations.”
“And that’s the secret of happiness.” Morick bumped his cup into mine,
although his toast was one-sided.
I hated the thought of disappointing my people.
But I hated the thought of war even more. That wasn’t what they truly
needed.
After a while, Morick raised his now-empty cup again. “Well, holding
this much misery seems like a one man job.”
“You’re a dedicated friend, Mor.” He was, in his own way, and I
appreciated the way he’d been there for Nora. There were glimpses of her
happiness now, even though she was brittle and angry; there were moments
where her old personality flashed as surely as her smile, her eyes widening
and her lips parting in a smile that took me back in time and reminded me
of when my best friend had been at my side.
He offered me a mocking salute. Even if I’d tried, it was impossible to
compliment Morick; he took every compliment as sarcasm. He left me
alone on the riverbank to brood.
The shell of the bodies were piled onto a makeshift raft and shoved out
into the river to be carried away so they wouldn’t spoil the land or the
water. I watched them go, swept away by the current, and let out a sigh.
I took a long sip of my wine and as I lowered the cup, I noticed the way
the wine seemed to pool to the right of the cup, as if I were on drastically
uneven footing.
I raised my head to survey the world around me as the wine moved, and
found the river moving too.
The river rushed toward me. No, it was a part of the river, rising from
the darkness of the waves and reaching toward me as if it were a monster’s
arm. My sword wouldn’t help me, which I knew even as I reached for it out
of habit; I turned and ran, dropping the cup. The wine darted quickly under
my feet as I leapt over it, moving to join the river.
What the hell was happening?
The river slammed me in the back and dragged me down.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Four

J aik

N ora ’ s team of violent-brigands-who-thought-they-were-heroes

surrounded me as we headed toward the village. The river in the distance
wound sullenly through the rocky shores beyond the village; the first stars
were beginning to sparkle above the falling darkness. The scent of death
and smoke hung in the air. It was so strong I tasted it in the back of my
mouth, as if it had become part of me; I’d certainly inhaled enough death.
I almost stumbled on the rocky hill and slid on my heel, trying to keep
my balance. A half dozen swords were at my back in an instant.
I raised my gaze, ignoring them all, and that was why I caught a
glimpse of the river sweeping a figure away.
Caldren.
He’d ignored every call through the magical bond our mother had given
us, and he didn’t call to me now. He might not have ever been able to
answer, but I was still pissed.
“Nora, let me loose. The river’s taken Caldren.” I twisted to find her,
daring to take my eyes off my brother.
One of the soldiers near me snorted. “A likely story.”
Nora’s gaze met mine. She hesitated, then swore, suddenly stepping
forward.
 A grumble of discontent rose up from the men around her, and two of
them grabbed at her. But she’d already slid my own dragonsbane knife
through the rope and slashed upward, sawing. By the time they snatched her
away from me, I could pull my hands apart. The last strings of the rope
exploded.
Pain pierced my side, an explosion of shock that raced through my
veins.
“Galor, what are you doing?” Nora screamed. “He’s the king’s brother!”
“And a healer can heal him, but we can’t let him attack our king!”
The sword was still stuck in my side, ripping muscle every time I
shifted. I grabbed it and flung it away from me.
Then I raced down the hill away from them, jumping into the air and
transforming. They screamed and ran after me and fired arrows, but I flew
as hard as I could over the village to the river. I chased the curves of the
river, searching frantically for Caldren.
He was nowhere to be seen.
Then suddenly, his head surfaced. He drew in a ragged gasp, then he
was gone again.
I dove like a hawk, slammed into the water. I got my talons around
Caldren, but I couldn’t pull him up. The force was far stronger than the
ordinary force of even the wild river currents. He was being dragged
relentlessly to the bottom. I caught a glimpse of faces swirling in the water,
terrifying and vivid, and then I dragged him up.
The two of us barely managed to soar over the surface of the water. My
wings beat frantically, trying to bear us up and away from the river, that
seemed to shudder, then a spiral rose to attack us. It almost dragged Caldren
away from me, and he screamed out in pain as my talons pierced his side as
I struggled to keep him.
Then I managed to climb, and the river fell behind us.
I banked hard to the right, flying desperately for land. I didn't know if
the monster would be able to pursue us on land as well, but I wanted to get
away from the river. I let go of Cal before I slammed into the earth myself,
tumbling end over end. I was water logged and exhausted from the fight.
Caldron rose to his hands and knees, vomiting up brackish river water,
then laid there groaning. “Your flying leaves a lot to be desired.”
“You are such an asshole.”
 “Just celebrating my unexpected continued survival by antagonizing my
brother. Natural order of things.”
He was going to want to kill me when he learned Honor was gone. I
couldn’t really even blame him.
My fingers found the wound. I hadn't even felt it during the fight. As I
looked up from my blood smeared fingers, my brother was watching me
intently.
“It's not as bad as it looks. I can fly us back. I don't have any time to
waste.”
“So you know what that thing is that attacked me?”
I was prepared for a fight, but I didn't want to have it here. “Yes, and I'm
happy to tell you all about it when we're back in a crowd. I don't know how
the assassin magic works, and if it can attack you just as easily further
inland.”
“Did you send the assassin?” Caldren asked.
“If I had, do you think I would have come running to try to save you?”
Gods, he was infuriating.
“You might have. You might have sent assassins after me, and then
realized how boring your life would be without me, and regretted it, and
come to play the hero.”
“That's not what happened.”
Caldren held his hands up as if you were trying to defuse the situation,
which was hilarious, because Cal had never defused anyone’s tension in his
life. He was the human embodiment of antagonization. “I understand.”
“And you should understand that we need to move.” If he would just
stop being so needlessly obstinate.
“I want to know what's going on first before I bring some new violent
magic back to my people.”
“That's very generous, but they would want you to risk it. They've
demonstrated their desire to protect you over and over by beating me and
stabbing me. It’s very touching.”
Caldren raised his eyebrows. “I didn't know I needed protecting. Where
did these assassins come from, if you didn't send them after me?”
“Some of my nobles. They should be in prison by now, assuming they
didn't resist.” Branok had seemed to prefer the idea they would resist, and I
wasn't sure if it was just because Branok loved a good murdering spree, or
if it was because some part of him still felt protective of Caldren. “They’ll
face trial when I return.”
“They’re so desperate to see you on the throne, hm? You must have
made quite an impression.”
I pulled a face. “They’re just eager to see prey shifters crushed and the
old ways restored. Everyone’s anxious that change is coming.”
“In my half of the world, everyone is anxious that change is not,”
Caldren observed.
I rose to my feet, wincing at the coursing of the blood through my
fingers. Caldren was wounded too, bloody but shallow gashes. He pulled
his shirt over his head, revealing the rake of my talons over his skin.
“We need to get back,” I said. “We can heal there.”
Finally, his gaze met mine seriously. “It’s not safe for you in my
kingdom, Jaik. I appreciate you coming, but… I don’t entirely trust my own
people. Not all of them. Not right now.”
“That’s why you wanted to have this conversation all the way out
here?”
He nodded. “I’d like to think none of them are so foolish to attack you,
but…”
“I’d have liked to think none of my nobles would be so foolish as well,”
I answered lightly. “Now let me heal your wounds.”
He gave me a suspicious look. “You’ve never been much of a healer.
Like every other predator.”
“I learned from Honor.”
“I don’t entirely trust her tender ministrations either,” he said. “I’ve seen
her stab herself trying to cut a loaf of bread.”
Gods, I missed her.
I had to tell him.
I hoped that wouldn’t shatter the fragile peace between us.
Reluctantly, I told him the whole story.
“You lost Honor?” Caldren demanded. “Zehr has her?”
I stared at him, stone-faced. “As if you could do a better job protecting
and controlling her. She’s Honor.”
Caldren paused. I had a point, but he was too worried about her to let
me off the hook.
“Let’s get back,” I said, rising from the moss-covered earth. “You’re
safer with more of your people around to protect you.”
 “But you aren’t safe,” Caldren admitted. It obviously hurt his pride to
admit it, but he said, “I don’t have... complete control over my fighters.”
“Rebels are rebellious, what a shock,” I said. “I won’t let them kill me,
Cal. I promise. My difficulty has been not killing them when they beg for
it.”
“You’re so arrogant,” he said, shaking his head.
“Arrogant enough to come save your ass when you need me,” I shot
back.
Caldren grinned at me. He was, once again, just antagonizing me
recreationally.
After a second, I grinned back.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Five

H onor

Z ehr and I returned to his castle. He had shadow-traveled us to the edge of

the enormous space just past the cave tunnels, where his throne and the
castle behind it towered over the Scourge who slept under the stone roof far
above us.
The Scourge roused as I passed, raising their heads and staring at me. A
prickle of fear ran down my spine.
“I’ve got you,” he promised, taking my arm.
I scoffed. “If you had me, you’d have shadow-traveled us back to the
castle, not paraded me past all your pets.”
“I’m reminding them you’re mine, and off-limits to them,” he said.
Everything Zehr did had a reason, and when he told me what it was, I
usually figured he was lying.
“They’re restless. They left while we were gone.” He frowned.
“Someone called on them. That took a lot of magic. Why the hell would
someone call my Scourge?”
My mind raced. Gorion. “Did they hurt anyone?”
He gave me a look, as if to tell me not to be stupid.
He escorted me into the castle. Before the doors closed, though, a
hulking figure barreled through all the resting Scourge. They scrambled to
their feet, scattering around him. He swept them out of his way with one
enormous arm, and I gasped at the sight of a familiar face under the now-
looming horns.
Arren.
“Shut the doors!” Zehr called to his servants, casting a glance at me as if
he were afraid to hurt Arren in front of me, so he’d chosen hiding instead. I
certainly preferred that.
They started to swing the door shut. I started forward, drawn to Arren,
even though he looked feral and mad and…covered with blood. The
realization made my heart sink.
Arren had gone with the Scourge when they attacked, and he had hurt
people.
“He’s gone,” Zehr said sadly. He caught me in his arms, drawing me
back, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was going to shadow travel me
further away.
I shrugged him off, trying to reach Arren.
“Honor, he’s lost to the madness,” Zehr said behind me.
Arren’s gaze met mine just before the doors slammed shut. He looked
wild, but his eyes were familiar. My heart beat wildly. I didn’t know what to
do.
Then he slammed into the doors, and they splintered, falling inward.
Zeh gripped his sword. “I knew this day would come. I hoped he’d go
after someone else, slaughter some school children somewhere you didn’t
have to face what he’s become.”
“Leave him alone, Zehr.”
“I won’t let him hurt you.”
“And I won’t let you hurt him!” I yelled back.
The first of the Scourge servants got between Arren and me, raising his
sword toward Arren.
Arren swiped him away with a powerful blow of his arm. Arren was
bigger than anyone in the room—bigger than Zehr, who was tall and lean
but didn’t have Arren’s massive presence.
The next one came in, and Arren bit his head off.
“No!” I screamed as Arren tossed the body away.
Arren ran toward me, and before Zehr could hurt him, I grabbed Zehr.
And we shadow traveled.
 I hadn’t expected the world to turn black, for me to suddenly want to
vomit, for us to lurch through space. Then we were stumbling in the
bedroom, back in the cage where Zehr had locked me. I hadn’t even
realized we would come back here.
What the hell had just happened?
I could shadow travel? Because Zehr looked sick, off balance. He
hadn’t brought us here unless he was playing another game now.
Had I stolen his power?
Or was it one of my powers all along?
I left Zehr in the cage and scrambled out. He was dazed and confused at
first. Then clarity dawned on Zehr’s face and he lunged at me.
I slammed the door shut on him.
Zehr paused on the other side, breathing heavily, his dark eyes intense.
“Honor…”
The same dragonsbane that had caged me should hold Zehr, I hoped.
Or, if I was getting myself into trouble that I couldn’t handle, I hoped
one of his servants would let him loose. But for now, I still hoped I could
save Arren.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt him.” Too bad I had no idea how to
keep him safe as well as anyone else.
But I stepped into the shadows cast by the flickering lamps on the wall.
I hoped I could shadow-travel back to him. I didn’t actually understand how
to shadow travel. It had been all intuitive, thinking that I wanted to be
somewhere then finding myself there. It did not make sense.
I thought of Arren, raging, searching for me, and my heart squeezed.
The world went black and cold and breathless.
I stumbled back into that blood-streaked grand foyer.
Arren lumbered toward me, his eyes lit with rage as if he might try to
kill me. I steeled myself. I could shadow travel if I couldn’t help him.
Maybe.
Arren sank to his knees in front of me and gripped my waist. He let out
a growl of pain that vibrated through his chest, that I felt all through my
body. I rested my hand on his dark curls between his horned head.
“Arren,” I said, thankful to have any part of him with me. The monster
didn’t kill me. He took comfort in my arms.
He let out a growl, long and increasingly desperate and frustrated, as if
he were trying to speak and couldn’t manage. He still knew me, but he was
more and more a… creature.
“It’s alright,” I promised, but he just grew more wild. “I’m listening.
Take as long as you need to tell me.”
People were yelling in the distance. But I didn’t think anyone else
would dare enter the foyer except Zehr, and they’d have to release him first.
“Gorion,” he rasped. Then, in a broken tone, “My father.”
I hadn’t often heard my men call the Royal Elders their fathers, and my
heart sank. Something had happened.
“I’m here.” I sank to sit cross-legged, and he collapsed into my arms,
his big head in my lap. I stroked his horns. “Tell me what happened.”
“He tried to heal me,” he managed. “With a stone…”
My fingers froze.
“He’s dead.”
Ice swept through my veins as Arren buried his face, hiding from even
me.
Guilt settled into my guilt as I realized I’d taunted Gorion with his fault
in his son’s death, and that had led to Gorion’s death. Gorion was a monster
too; he’d known what the Elder Royals were doing and he’d been with Pend
every step of the way. But still. His death weighed heavily on Arren, and so
it weighed heavily on me.
Finally, I understood what he was saying.
He could be saved by a piece of stone.
“A Scourge stone?” My voice seemed to echo in the chamber. “That
could save you?”
Zehr had told me we needed to assemble all the pieces, but it sounded as
if Gorion had tried with just one.
I needed to get one.
And luckily, I had the Lord of the Scourge caged.
Which was where he belonged.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Six

D amyn

I’ d given Tal first watch—it was the easier watch to take, as waking up in
the middle of a cold night to stay awake was misery—and he shook me
awake in the middle of the night. His eyes were wide, and I knew to be
quiet before he signaled. I could feel the pressure of his mind against mine,
the call of the dragon’s bond, and I let down my guard.
There’s someone else out here in the woods, he spoke through the bond.
But he didn’t need to tell me, because when I opened myself up to listen
to dragons, I caught familiar voices—ones I’d heard a thousand times
before when we were on the same side.
He’ll lead us to her.
I expected he’d see what needs to be done. He’s getting soft in his old
age. I couldn’t say that once I realized she was under his protection though.
Fuck. Plyrick and Aster wanted Honor dead, and they and other dragon
knights were trailing us, thinking we’d bring them right to her.
I wondered what they planned to do with us. They were my oldest
friends. Which meant they knew they'd better kill me first if they wanted to
hurt someone under my protection.
I cut the bond, before they could hear me too. A few seconds
eavesdropping had been enough to know enough about what they planned. I
had to stop them, and the thought filled me with regret.
 “Go to sleep,” I mouthed at Talisyn.
He frowned, not understanding... and if I knew him, not wanting to
understand either.
But I didn't want him to see what I'd have to do next. I didn't want to be
a part of it. I didn't want anyone else alive to remember.
“I need you out of my way,” I mouthed. The words would hurt him but
his feelings did not make the list of my priorities right now.
The look on his face was distinctly sullen, but he nodded and laid down.
I gripped my sword, not taking the time to strap on my sword belt, and
moved into the woods where my friends had set up their own camp.
Plyrick was on watch.
I paused, bracing a hand against a slender white birch as I steeled
myself. I tried to push away the images that flashed through my head.
Plyrick, as a boy with freckles crowding his face, the only other young
boy on the Isle. “Y’think we’re both going to be dragons? You’re an orphan
too, right?”
Plyrick in our first fight with the Scourge, pale and shaking with
adrenaline. “I’ll be right at your side, Damyn.” He’d been trying to comfort
me as if I were the one who was afraid. But he’d fought valiantly, the two
of us watching each other’s backs.
Plyrick, in dozens of toasts to fallen friends, clinking his goblet against
mine. Sometimes in those memories, he’d been laughing, remembering the
good times. In other memories, he was grim faced. In one—when Yari died
—he’d been trying not to cry. I’d slung my arm over his shoulder and the
two of us had walked off together, and I’d told him I’d cry for Yari if I still
could, there was no shame in it. He’d hugged me hard, like I’d said
something he needed to hear.
“Forgive me,” I mouthed, even though he never would, because he’d be
dead.
And then I went in behind him.
For Honor.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Seven

H onor

Z ehr suddenly loomed over me . His dark eyes flashed.

“Tell your servants to get out of the castle so Arren doesn’t hurt anyone
else,” I ordered him.
He seemed taken aback I’d just scolded him. “Arren will hurt someone
else.”
I shook my head. “No. He’ll surface from this… like all your Fae do.
You tried to keep me from realizing.”
“So you could love a monster?”
“I could love Arren. Not a monster.” My tone was dismissive. I’d never
love Zehr.
He frowned at me. “I didn’t try to keep you from realizing Arren would
eventually become better…”
He picked up on my tone, but he thought I was angry at him for a
different reason.
And I had to make sure it stayed that way. Because he’d kept me from
understanding how to save Arren for a reason.
“He’s never going to be the man you used to know though,” he said.
“He is a monster now. No matter how much you want things to be different.
No matter how you try to convince yourself he’s not really a monster.”
 “No,” I shook my head. “I’ll never give up on him.”
Arren raised his head, glaring at Zehr. Zehr didn’t step back, but his
posture shifted, becoming defensive. He had to know Arren would try to
kill him again if he thought Zehr was a danger.
“Honor,” he said gently, “He killed people tonight. You know that. He’s
no different than all the Scourge you’ve slain.”
“I love him.”
“And all the Scourge who’ve fallen at your sword or your lovers’ had
people who loved them and hoped they’d come back.”
“Oh? Did they hope they’d come back? Did their parents, siblings,
lovers, hope the ones they once loved would storm into their village and
slaughter everyone or turn them?” The memory of what happened to Pedra
when she turned her brother burned in my mind.
Zehr raised his hands. “I’m simply saying. You did what you thought
was needed. And Arren is no different. You should take mercy on him and
kill him… you know that’s what he wanted. When he could still think.”
“You are vile.”
“Yes. But at least I’m firmly grounded in reality.”
“How many make it through?”
He hesitated. “Maybe one in ten. You’ll notice the castle is not… highly
populated.”
“I noticed that.”
“I’m sorry, Honor.”
He turned away, then said, “There is one idea.”
“What is it?”
“He could become like me. The Lords of the Scourge… they never
succumb to the Scourge itself. You can see how different I look and act…
monster though I may be. An exceptionally intelligent and handsome
monster, of course.” He fixed me with a rakish smile.
“You never went through what he is?”
“Never.”
I pretended to think it over. “Then there would be two Lords of the
Scourge? How would that work?”
“I don’t know. There’s never been such a thing before. But it’s better
than killing him. And then maybe you’ll choose to stay with the
monsters…” His eyes twinkled in a way that would have been charming, if
he weren’t… Zehr. He added, “As if I’m not enough of a draw myself.”
 I nodded, every connection in the stories he’d told me suddenly blazing
to life. “So he would become a Lord of the Scourge… not the only Lord of
the Scourge? Not taking the crown from you like you grudgingly took it
from your father…”
Those dark eyes glimmered down at me. “Yes. I was scared… but I was
just a boy.”
“And then what happened to your father?”
“You know he died.”
“And you’re dying too.”
He shrugged. “Aren’t we all?”
The Scourge was killing him… but he must believe that if he passed the
Scourge to Arren, it wouldn’t kill him and he could heal.
“It should work because he and I are cousins,” he mused. “There has to
be a bond.”
“Like the bond between the two of us?”
“You’re definitely not my cousin.”
“But there’s a bond in the magic.”
He nodded. “We’ll need one of the Scourge stones.”
I made a show of chewing my lip, letting my tears gather in my eyes.
Zehr was a vicious, manipulative liar, and I’d almost fallen for his
stories. I’d almost fallen for him.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “Where are the Scourge stones? Why do you lock
them away from me, anyway?
“I trust you as much as you trust me,” he said lightly.
“I want to trust you,” I said.
But I never would.
I closed my eyes. “Let’s get the stone. We need to help him.”
“All right.” His tone sounded as heavy as mine. He rested a comforting
hand on my shoulder.
I wanted to punch him—over and over again—but I just smiled at him.
We went to the armory, where he took the stone. We went in to Arren,
who growled at Zehr—understandably—but I calmed him.
Arren managed, “Honor, I thought of something else.”
“What’s that?”
“I saw… memories I didn’t have before. The way out of this. If I can
remember memories that Teris took from me.. maybe Tal is getting his
memories back too.”
 The words struck me deeply, and warmth and hope glimmered in my
chest. Arren was thinking of how I’d lost Tal now, no matter what he was
going through. “You think Tal might remember?”
“Your memories?” Zehr asked lightly. “And what is it that you
regained?”
Arren fell silent.
Zehr suddenly understood—at least, he understood something, judging
from the dawning in his eyes and anger across his face.
I punched Zehr, my knuckles exploding in pain, just to weaken him
enough. I scrambled to pry the Scourge stone from his fingers.
He elbowed me in the side of the face as I went for the stone. Then he
disappeared into the shadows. I scrambled after him, flickering into the
shadows myself; the next thing I knew, I was right by his side. He tripped
me as I went for the stone, and I staggered into him. The two of us fell back
together.
Arren pounced, ready to kill him, knocking us both over. I let out a
grunt of pain as I scrambled for the stone. Arren climbed on top of Zehr, his
fangs bared, looking more creature than human now. Zehr gritted his teeth
and stared up at Arren, no doubt using his magic and calling his own
monsters.
But Zehr’s arm was outstretched, pinned by Arren, his fingers curled
tightly around that damned stone. The only stone I’d ever needed, no matter
how Zehr lied to me.
I wrested the stone away.
“Honor, stop!” Zehr called. His gaze sought mine hungrily. In a broken
whisper, he managed, “I’m dying.”
“We all are.”
“Not in the way we’re all dying. Imminently.” His gaze stared into
mine. “Only family, only part of that bond, can save me. If he doesn’t take
the Scourge for me, Honor… I’m dead.”
“Then I guess you’re dead.”
I touched Arren.
We shadow-traveled away.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Eight

A rren

W hen H onor gripped my shoulder , her touch was always so calming,

and I looked up at her gratefully.
Then the next thing I knew, the world lurched. Everything was pain and
darkness.
I was terrified when we lurched out of it into an entirely different place,
and I roared, searching for whoever attacked us. I’d rip them apart.
We were deep in the forest once again. In the distance, stone buildings
slowly crumbled, giving way to the greenery that crept over them. A
village, abandoned. Or everyone in it killed.
The memory of the wide-eyed, screaming mother trying to shield her
child made my stomach turn even more than the shadow-traveling.
“I'm sorry,” Honor rushed to say, touching me as if she hoped that
would bring me peace. “I had to get you out of there, away from Zehr. He
wanted to use you.”
I growled, and she said, “I know. You want to kill him. I want to kill
him too.” More quietly to herself, she said, “And I guess I have.”
“What?” I tried to ask, though it came out half a growl.
“It doesn't matter right now.” Her tone was urgent. “I want to heal you
before anyone catches up and tries to stop me.”
 She held up the stone, and a sudden memory surfaced of seeing a
similar stone in Teris’s hand. I growled again, jerking away from her. I
didn't want to, but I remembered how painful it had been before.
“Here goes nothing,” Honor said. She stroked my shoulder, her gaze
patient. Although I was more used to seeing her red lips smirking or
teasing, her faint smile now was sweet. “It would be easier if Zehr could tell
me how to do it.”
“We don't need Zehr,” I managed, and paused for a second, startled to
hear my own voice so clearly. We’d never need Zehr. “I remember how
Teris did it.”
“Show me.” She lowered herself to sit cross-legged, and I towered over
her. She didn’t seem afraid in my shadow, but she should be.
I shook my head. “No. I hurt Gorion.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she promised, patting the earth beside her. She
looked up at the treetops rustling high above us. “We’re in the shadows. If I
need to, I’ll travel away from you.”
It took everything I had to settle down close to Honor. I was so scared
I’d hurt her.
“I remember Teris complaining because he didn't wanna give up any of
his magic,” I explained. “and Pend told him to stop being ridiculous, that he
would heal. But Teris threw the stone at Gorion and told him that he could
help his own son. The Scourge curse and the shifting ability are two sides of
one coin. To cancel out the curse, it costs us our ability to shift.”
“So I’ll lose some of my magic? For a little while?”
“I don’t know how long. It’s not worth it.”
“You’re always worth it,” she said. “We should be safe enough here.”
I shook my head. “Zehr will be looking for you. And it sounds like
Kallus and Joachim and…” I faltered. Gorion wasn’t going to come looking
for me ever again.
“All right,” she finally admitted, and I relaxed.
Right before she pressed the stone into my hand and began to murmur
the words of her spell. The magic yielded to intent; it wasn’t mathematical,
although some words and phrases helped to focus that intent in a way the
magic could understand.
“No.” I pulled away from her, but I couldn’t; the two of us were linked
now, magic swirling around us both.
Then I collapsed to my knees, and so did she.
 When I woke, her head was cushioned on my shoulder, her leg flung
over mine. We must have moved that way in our sleep. One of my big
hands cupped her red hair.
My hands. Not talons.
“Honor,” I said, my voice coming out hoarse. But it didn't sound like the
horrible growl it had before.
Her lashes fluttered open, and her eyes brightened as soon as she saw
me.
“I look better?” I asked, hoping she'd agree. “But I'm not better yet. Not
all the way.”
“Maybe it will take time,” she said carefully. “Or maybe there have
been some... changes... if we'd known sooner, maybe this never would have
happened. The Scourge had so much time to take you over.”
She looked furious. “If only your fathers hadn't kept so many stupid
secrets.”
“Well, it's ended badly for them,” I reminded her. If my father had not
allowed them to take our memories, we would have known how to cure the
Scourge curse.
She didn’t look as if their deaths earned any forgiveness. “If we'd
known anything about how the curse worked, we would have questioned
them sooner. If we'd known the Scourge stones existed, we might have tried
to stop the Scourge...”
“They couldn’t let us stop the Scourge when the people’s terror made
them easy to rule.” I shook my head grimly. I’d thought I’d been protecting
my kingdom when we obeyed our fathers, but Pend had been as bad—or
worse—than the Lord of the Scourge himself. “And now we have to deal
with your uncle too.”
She chewed her lower lip. “Kallus wants to take over the Isle. Do you
think Joachim will try to trick him and end up ruling?”
“I think it’s safe to say Joachim will be underhanded. But I don’t plan to
see either of their asses on the throne.”
“I’m worried Zehr’s partnered with Kallus and we might not be able to
beat the two of them…” she hesitated. “Zehr is dying. He wanted you to
take his place as Lord of the Scourge so he could survive.”
“You chose me,” I said.
“You didn’t ask for this.” She said, then bit her lip. “And I love you.”
“I know.” I turned my head and kissed her hair.
 The way she loved me—no matter what I was, no matter how terrible
and dangerous—was a bright spark in my chest. I didn’t think that light
would ever burn out. But I didn’t know how to tell her any of that, so I just
kissed her again.
She straddled me in an instant, her eyes bright. I wrapped my hand
around the back of her throat and dragged her face down to mine, her
copper hair swirling across my bare chest. The mischievous quirk in her lips
begged to be kissed.
She kissed the corner of my mouth, then straightened. I curled up to a
sitting position so she wiggled back onto my lap. I pulled her tunic over her
head, revealing the perfect curve of her breasts, then slid my hands down
her hips, easing her trousers down. She smiled down at me as if she knew
what it did to me to see her naked.
She looked like a goddess, surrounded by the tall, swaying trees and
haloed in the sunlight.
She toyed with my cock, brushing it against her folds. “See how wet I
am for you already? I want you, Arren. Fuck me.”
“Gods, that mouth of yours.” I wrapped an arm around her waist and
pulled her down to me to kiss that mouth again.
She slid onto my cock, quick and decisive, both of us gasping at the
sudden sensation as her tight channel took in my cock. I reached up and
palmed her breast, tweaking her nipples until her channel pulsed around me.
Then she rode me, her breasts rocking with the motion. She leaned back
and rested her hands on my thighs, thrusting out her breasts. I couldn’t take
my eyes off her face. She was gorgeous.
My thighs began to tremble against hers, and she bit her lower lip. Her
hands tangled in her hair as she rode me, as she was closer and closer. I
gripped her hips and helped move her up and down my shaft, fast, unable to
hold off any longer. I needed her so badly.
She let out a moan. “Arren…”
Hearing my name on her perfect lips sent me over the edge. I shattered
inside her, and she moaned as she rode me hard and wild, her hips bucking
against mine as she came.
Then she collapsed against me, her head on my shoulder, my cock still
buried deep inside her.
“I love you,” I whispered into her ear. And even though she’d said it to
me more than once, something hard and stony and prickly came over me
then. Would she really say it back?
“I know.” She turned her head to kiss me, letting the moment unspool
with her usual mischief while I waited with bated breath. Her eyes twinkled
up at me. “And I love you too.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter

Sixty-Nine

H onor

A rren and I wandered into the village. Several decomposing stone

buildings clustered around a green.
“We have to tell the others you’re alright,” I said. “They love you as
much as I do.”
He snorted.
“In their own twisted ways,” I admitted. “But they’ve been afraid for
you.”
“They were willing to kill me, not that I hold it against them.”
I wasn’t sure what to say in response to that cheerful thought, though
Arren didn’t sound as if he held a grudge.
I walked up two decaying wooden steps and into an empty cottage,
prepared to back out if it stank. But the cottage was fine, with light slanting
in from the window illuminating a wooden table and chairs. A kettle for tea
hung by the fireplace.
I turned back to Arren, who glanced around the place skeptically, as if
he expected the roof might fall at any moment.
“Let’s talk to them,” I said quietly, taking his hand.
“None of us are great at communicating,” he said drily. “Through the
dragon bond, or any other way. Pend and the others were much better, but
then, they had two hundred years to practice.”
“Just try,” I said. “Zehr said we can share power.”
His face clouded, and I thought it was because of the mention of Zehr,
but then he asked, “Did you really lose your ability to shift? After…”
“It’s only temporary,” I assured him, though I didn’t know how long it
would last. “And I’ve spent enough time wearing dragonsbane lately, I can
live without my dragon.”
The words made me feel a shudder of guilt.
If I stopped the Scourge, I’d destroy all our dragons, wouldn’t I? I
hadn’t talked about it with my men yet. I needed to, but I dreaded that
discussion.
Because wasn’t it most important to both stop and save the Scourge?
What if they didn’t agree?
I pushed the thoughts aside and closed my eyes, concentrating on the
weight of Arren’s hand in mine.
I reached out to Jaik, Talisyn, Branok and Lynx, picturing each of their
faces in my mind. They flashed through rapidly.
Jaik with his dark hair and stoic, perfect face.
Branok and Lynx, with their golden hair and—if you took away
Branok’s smug expression and Lynx’s kind eyes—identical handsome
features.
Talisyn, with that grin that devastated any girl he turned it toward. The
memory came with a spike of pain and a rush of warm affection.
I tried to open the bond with them. And then, suddenly, I could feel
them. Talisyn broke off suddenly in the midst of a conversation, but I
caught his voice. “—if she’ll always miss what we had before…” and then
he faded into silence, listening himself.
Jaik—distant, distracted, more focused on his sword than on our
conversation. He was trying to kill someone.
Branok and Lynx, their minds unfurling at the same time.
“Arren’s with me,” I said, out loud but it echoed through our bound.
And there was Arren’s mind, too, as well as his deep voice in the
narrow cottage, his hand squeezing mine. “I’m not Scourge-cursed
anymore. Honor saved me.”
I felt the shock that ran through them all. The relief. It felt as if I was
with them, far-flung all over the kingdom, at the same time as I was
anchored in this room with Arren.
 And through the bond, I felt Jaik’s sudden jolt of pain, then fury.
“Are you alright?” I demanded.
Too long of a pause—I could feel his adrenaline through the bond—
then a grunted, “Wonderful.”
“The bond is supposed to be sacred, Jaik. No sarcasm.”
“I’m trying to kill a supernatural assassin over here!”
I hadn’t known anyone could shout through the bond, but Jaik managed.
“Listen, I’ve found some information about the Vana snake,” Lynx
began.
“Short version, Lynx,” Jaik snapped.
“Where are you?” I demanded. “I’ll shadow travel to help.”
“Shadow travel?” Branok demanded.
“It doesn’t matter right now! Lynx, go on,” I said.
“The Vana snake is basically a servant of Ebbo. The nobles would’ve
cut a deal with Ebbo of some type,” Lynx said. “They found something they
were able to use to summon the old god.”
A chill swept through me. “A baby?”
“Not necessarily an actual baby. The promise of a future baby, made of
clay or stone or even a doll, marked with the blood of the person cutting the
deal—that would work too. That’s where we got some of those old folk
tales.”
I always hated those stories as a kid. In many of the fairy tales, a smart
mother negotiated to save her baby’s life that some careless man had
bartered away.
“I found the item they used,” Lynx went on. “I just need to summon
Ebbo and make a better deal.”
“No!” Branok said sharply.
“We don’t need to do that,” Jaik said shortly. He was breathing hard, but
his heart rate was dropping. “Caldren and I can handle that… thing.”
“Yes, it sounded like you were in control that entire time,” Talisyn
answered. “Situation well in hand.”
“Well, Caldren and I are still here, remarkably unsmothered despite a
sudden cave-in,” Jaik said. “We’ll be fine until we find another way.”
I had to find a way to get Caldren’s assassin off his back. Suddenly, an
idea occurred to me.
I needed to visit my uncle to steal back the Scourge stone. It would be
hard to take Kallus in a fight, blow for blow. He was an old magician.
 Before he came for my kingdom… I needed to trick him.
And maybe I could borrow a trick and protect Jaik and Caldren, all at
once.

A thump outside made Arren and I jump. We shared a look, and I drew my
knife. The two of us covered each other carefully as we went to the
doorway and glanced out at the eerily empty courtyard, long abandoned.
Zehr was sprawled across the steps. His bone crown had rolled away
when he fell. His face looked younger, more boyish and pitiful, than ever
before, and I had to remind myself he was two hundred years old.
Arren looked down at him as if he were obviously contemplating killing
him.
“Don’t,” I rested my hand on his forearm. “It won’t work anyway. Only
the Scourge will kill him. But it’s working fast now.”
Arren looked down at him again. “What do you want me to do with
him?”
I sighed. “Let’s bring him inside. I think I need him in the end—we
need to stop the Scourge curse, and he saw it created.”
We brought him inside the cottage and dumped him in the bed. A plume
of dust went up from the moldering sheets, and I wrinkled my nose.
“Typical Zehr,” I said, dusting off my hands. “Showing up when he isn’t
wanted.”
As the two of us stared down at the unwelcome, snoozing lord of the
Scourge, he finally stirred. His eyes opened, black and fathomless, and he
looked at me in total delight. “I found you!”
“How did you find me? And if you can find me, does that mean Kallus
can?”
He scoffed. “I’m not working with Kallus. He’s stealing Scourge stones
himself. I think one of his spies took one off your freak here.”
I glanced at Arren, who frowned. “The spy who was following me,” he
said slowly.
“The spy who was following you.” Zehr looked at me, his expression
smiling although I could tell gears were whirring behind that cool façade.
He looked awfully relaxed for someone who was pale and dying. “Popped
his head like a melon before he moved on to Papa.”
Arren tensed. He was genuinely upset every time someone brushed
against the subject of him killing his father, but he didn’t react in front of
Zehr.
“I could try to kill him,” Arren offered. “It might not work, but it could
be fun.”
“No, I tracked you by your bracelet,” Zehr went on, as if he weren’t
weak as a kitten and surrounded by two people who had a lot of reason to
dislike him. “Of course I’m not the only one using it to track you, but I
think I’ve kept you moving enough to confound them.”
“You’re a real ass, you know that?”
He smiled at me unashamedly. “I figured what was one more
enchantment?”
“Why did you come here?”
“Because I need your help.” His smile had disappeared. “What do you
think happens to the Scourge when they don't have anyone to control
them?”
“You haven’t been doing a very good job to control them anyway.”
“I was trying to extend my life long enough that I could undo the
Scourge curse,” he said. “You and I together can stop the Scourge. But we
need all the pieces of the Scourge stone.”
“And I'm sure that this isn't a trick at all.”
“I'm not exactly thrilled to have to spend time with you either, Honor.”
He raked his hand through his hair, although the efforts seemed desultory.
There were dark shadows under his eyes. I hadn’t noticed his cheeks
hollowing, day by day, but now I could see how much weight he’d lost
from his already lean frame.
“You look like shit,” I told him. “I can tell you've been crying for me
since I left.”
“I'm dying!”
“And I don't care.” It wasn't entirely true. “If you want people to care
when you die, you should probably live like you care about them.”
“Honor, please. Be reasonable. The Scourge will be far worse without
their Lord. I've done everything I can to keep them from hurting people, to
keep their numbers from growing exponentially. You might hate me, but I
do serve a purpose.”
 “No more lies, Zehr.”
He reached into his jacket, and Arren tensed.
“I'm just getting a book out, big guy.” Zehr handed a small leatherbound
book to me.
“This is supposed to mean something to me?” I demanded. “It would
not surprise me if you made up a fake book just to fuck with my head.”
“I suppose that's true,” he said. “But I thought you would want to read
Amily's journal.”
My fingers tightened around the smooth book.
“You're a liar,” I said, as much to remind myself as to accuse him. Of
course I wanted any connection to my dead mother. But I couldn't trust him.
“Read it,” he said. “The Scourge wasn't set in motion by my father and
yours, by Lysander and Lerick. it was set in motion by my father... and your
mother.”
“I hope that you're not going to say you two are siblings born far across
the decades,” Arren muttered.
“No worries, when Honor finally gives in her desire for me, there will
be no issues of incest,” Zehr said pleasantly. Arren did not look amused.
“Lerick and Amily had a bond that was in vows only. Lysander and Amily
seem to have loved each other, although how anyone could have stood
Lysander, I have no idea.”
I stared at the journal then picked it up and carried it toward the porch.
Behind me, I could hear Zehr making a list of demands to Arren. I sat
heavily on the wooden step, which rocked slightly under my weight, and
steeled myself before I flipped open the book.
Rows of neat, rounded handwriting filled the pages.
It was no surprise that Arren soon followed me out onto the porch,
closing the door on Zehr.
“Do you think he's really that sick?” Arren asked me.
“Yes,” I said without hesitation, “but I don't trust anything else he says.”
I stared down at the diary. “I want this to be real, I want to be touching
something that she touched. But I don't trust how much I want it, and I don't
trust Zehr.”
“What does it say?”
“It looks like her journal from when they set the spells in motion. She
talks about... About being a dragon shifter but being able to hide because no
one thought that there were female dragon shifters. She talks about how
they were mistreated, and falling in love with my father and his friends.
About how she chose my father.” I squeezed my eyes shut, because my
mother's loss seemed real and close in a way it normally didn't. I’d lost my
memories of her, and time had passed… But I wasn't sure grief ever faded
completely.
“And she talks about how she set-up the spell, how there had to be a
bond... Either of blood or by marriage.”
Arren stared at me. “So you and Zehr aren't related but in order to do
the spell...”
“The two of them ‘married’,” I said. “and I imagined Zehr needed you
to replace him because you two are cousins.”
“Oh, I doubt that very much. I do not think the two of us share a
bloodline.” Arren said.
“It's true,” I said. “He was able to defeat the spells in Gorian's castle to
get the stone because he shares your lineage.”
“Well, I don't like that,” Arren muttered. “So does that mean you two
have to get married to stop the Scourge?”
The thought was horrifying. I didn't want to answer it, I didn't even
want to think about it. “I have to get all the pieces of the Scourge stone first.
I intend to verify everything he’s ever said. It would be just like that asshole
to trick me into a wedding.”
Arren looked worried. “You know how dangerous those magic vows
are, Honor. We know what they did to Pend…”
Something else occurred to me. “Zehr and I are already bound together
anyway, since our parents were bound together in magic. I could…”
I could become the Lord of the Scourge. I swallowed thre thought,
knowing Arren would lose his mind if I said those words.
“I have to go visit my uncle,” I said. “And when I go to steal your
father’s Scourge stone back from him, I'll also steal the things he owns of
my mother's. That way I can call on her ghost to ask her what really
happened, if the diary is real.”
“Why not just use the diary to summon her?” Arren asked.
“Because I don't trust Zehr not to have performed some kind of magic
on it that makes me see something that isn't there,” I said.
I also wasn't quite ready to face her. I'd had time to adjust to the idea
that my father had brought the Scourge down on us, with good intentions
and bad judgment. But it made me sad to imagine my mother deciding that
the bloodshed that would sweep our Kingdom was worth the downtrodden
Dragons rising.
And yet... part of me thought of the glimpses I’d seen in Zehr’s
nightmares, of kids calling him names and chasing him with sticks and
stones, of his father falling asleep bone-tired and boots on after a day of
doing the worst labor and being shorted. If this combined curse and cure
seemed like the only way to protect my family and my people… I wondered
if I would do the same.
I didn't want to dwell on any of those thoughts. “Keep Zehr alive for
me. I think we need him.”
“No promises,” Arren said, but then he kissed me, and that was a
promise too.
I’d saved Arren.
Now, to save my Isle, I’d save the Lord of the Scourge.

OceanofPDF.com
 A Note From May

I hope you enjoyed Honor’s story! Pre-order Royal Honor to make sure you won’t miss the explosive
conclusion of Honor’s story.

Join my Facebook readers’ group, May Dawson’s Wild Angels, for exclusive excerpts, giveaways
and discussion!

OceanofPDF.com