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“I knew it. She is dragonless!” Nande practically said with glee.
Kaida was confused at the happy tone in the queen’s voice. There wasn’t even a way for her to sort through the confusion because her attention went to Enzo. He was now slowly standing in front of her, his eyes full of rage. Kaida shrank down into her chair as a bright green color flashed inside his eyes.
“Kaida Hilmir, I reject you.”
The words caused the bond between them to shatter, and pain seared inside her chest. Kaida screamed as it took over her whole body, and the magic inside of the rejection removed all ties to Enzo from the inside out of her. Kaida heard her mother scream, but she could not look over at her.
Enzo was shifting, and Kaida pushed her chair back so its monstrous claws didn’t rip through her as his dragon form landed on its paws. A terrifying roar echoed through the ballroom, and Kaida shook with fear as she watched the Enzo she loved disappear. Before she knew it, Kaida was snatched in his claws, and she was lifted off the ground. She heard the stones of the palace explode as Enzo burst through and flew into the sky.
Oh, my Gods…he is going to drop me. He is going to kill me!
Kaida screamed as the buildings below became smaller and smaller. Enzo was flying away from the castle entirely, and it wasn’t until there was no hint of the city below that Kaida realized what Enzo was doing.
Tears spilled down the sides of her cheeks as she pleaded with Enzo not to do this; that there had to be a way to make her dragon emerge so they could still become bonded to one another; that she was beyond sorry for not telling him; even how much she loved him. Her words fell on deaf ears, and before she knew it, they were descending.
Enzo dropped her when she was just a few feet from the ground. As she sat on the ground, Kaida watched her mate’s dragon fly away. He showed no hint of remorse or pain from the rejection. If anything, Enzo seemed like he couldn’t have gotten away from her fast enough.
Enzo isn’t the man I thought he was… He rejected me when he said he wouldn’t. He lied to me.
Thirteen
It was the most difficult thing she ever had to do, watching Enzo fly off without even a glance back at her. To feel the absence of their bond within her chest felt like her heart was hollowed out and ice was shoved in. Kaida sobbed with her knees tucked into her chest as she looked out to a vast sea. It didn’t take long for her to realize where she was while she sat on the hard sand.
He sent me to Reject Island. I am in the Outcast Lands… I guess it could be worse… he could have killed me.
That was the only positive thing she could think of as the cold air rolling off the water made her shiver. The thought of staying here until darkness claimed her flickered through her mind. She had just lost everything. Once someone was sent here, they were never allowed to go back unless their mate brought them back to their kingdom. It was like that in the other four kingdoms that made up their world, but that never happened. It was more like a loophole in case someone realized the decision they made was wrong, but no one wants to admit that kind of mistake, even if it’s discovered, so Kaida knew, even with that small glimmer of hope, she wasn’t ever going to see her parents again.
I might as well just give in to the darkness and let it claim me. I have no reason to live on. I have no mate, no future, and no one here.
The reaction Enzo had when he heard of her being dragonless made no sense. What he told her at that beach felt genuine, and it seemed to come from his soul. Enzo was someone who was accepting of others because that is how he wanted to rule the kingdom. He didn’t like how his parents did things and wanted it to change.
So why did he reject me?
Was everything he told her just a way to make her fall in love with him? Did Enzo play a role inside of who he really is so she wouldn’t reject him? How could anyone inside of the kingdom fall for that? Even her parents mentioned that they didn’t think he was as bloodthirsty as his parents, so even they were fooled by his act if that was the case.
Kaida laid back on the sand and stared up at the stars. All her life Kaida believed the Great Dragon watched over her, guided her to make the best decision she could, and would give her the perfect person to be her mate. That was what all the elders preached to her He would do, and she needed to trust what the Great Dragon had in store for her. They also told her that if there was ever a time when she lost her faith in the path that was given to her, Kaida needed to ask the Great Dragon the question that she needed the answer to the most. Kaida looked up into the night sky, noticed the star formation of The Dragon, and pondered the question she wanted answered.
Why did this happen?
The only sounds she could hear were the waves crashing against the sand and a few insects chirping. Kaida waited to hear something, anything, that would indicate the Great Dragon heard her and would answer the question. While she stared, Kaida found herself getting lost within the waves. She wasn’t sure how much time went by, but after a while, she let out an exasperated sigh before giving up.
Laughter broke her focus, and she shot up to her feet to prepare herself for the sudden company. There was no telling who she would encounter here or how powerful they would be. Without having a dragon to protect her, she could be subject to a vicious attack from a Lycan or a Vampire, spells or curses from a Witch or a Fae, or even worse… someone from the Dragon Kingdom recognizing her. She looked around for a weapon of some sort, but there was nothing that could do any kind of damage. If anything, she could use the small stick she noticed in a small patch of grass ahead of her to annoy the assailant as it snapped against their skin.
Yeah, let’s not look more like a disaster than I already do.
The laughter came again, but this time it was further down the beach. It sounded as though it came from a female since it was higher pitched and melodious. At first, Kaida felt relieved that it wasn’t a male. Then she remembered that the females of the Witches and Fae species tend to be more powerful than the males naturally. If the person that was laughing was either of them, she could be in more trouble than she originally thought.
The thoughts of going over toward whoever was laughing or running in the opposite direction went back and forth inside of her mind. Without knowing where civilization was on the island, it seemed more appropriate to go find them. Kaida looked off to her right and noticed that it was a hill. She had no idea what would be waiting for her inside of the populated area considering the people who resided there were all rejected by their mates. They could be harboring hatred and express it through aggression or even hate people so much that they just secluded themselves and didn’t help anyone.
I think I am reading too much into this…
Kaida brushed off all her second-guessing thoughts and started to make her way up the hill. It was steeper than she expected and she was struggling to climb it. The rejected bond made her weak, and she barely made it to the top. She used her hands to help her over the edge of the top and dropped to her knees when she did. The absent bond inside of her chest seared with pain as she panted on the ground. She heard herself whimper as she struggled to find the strength within herself to get back up and keep going.
“Hey, you’re new.”
Kaida nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the feminine voice. She screamed while the female laughed. A small voice inside of her head made a snide remark about how Kaida should have at least grabbed the stick so she could have hit the person with it. As she took several deep breaths to calm herself, Kaida mentally kicked herself for not doing that because she really wished she could hit this person for sneaking up on her.
“For a Dragon, that was a pitiful response. I thought you people had heightened senses like us Lycans.”
