“One day, she was trying to provoke an emotion out of me, any emotion. Normally, I’d give in and give her the argument she was looking for, but I was tired of fighting her. So tired. All I wanted was for her to go away and I think she knew it.” Elena wrapped her arms around me. I felt the shudder of her breath against my side. I pushed on. “I tried to leave her screaming behind me and she followed me to the aviary platform. I told her I was done. That we’d have the bond annulled. I couldn’t do it anymore.”
“I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“Neither did I until I’d been pushed too far, for too long.”
“What did she say to that?”
“She told me if I went through with it, she’d kill herself and that I’d be sorry.”
Elena wrapped her arms around me. She was shaking. So was I.
“I told her I was going to go through with the annulment. I didn’t think she’d also go through with it. What I didn’t know was she’d gone to a caster for a curse.” At this Elena stiffened. “She’d had a powerful caster put a curse on our clan. No dragon would ever fly the skies or have another hatchling until I could convince another Immortal to learn to love a beast like me. I think the curse was more powerful than either she or the caster intended. As time went on, it grew stronger until I was the only dragon left.”
She put her hands on either side of my face. “None of this was your fault. No one deserves to be treated like that. No one. And I will never hurt you like she did, Rhysander Blaque. I promise you as long as I live, you’ll never have to fear me.”
I kissed her, pulled her close, and put everything I was feeling into it. “I know that, little mate. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“For what?” she asked.
“For treating you like a means to an end. If I could go back, I’d do it differently. If I never break the curse, but get to have you in my life, then being your mate would be more than worth it.”
After my confession, Elena held me for a while, then pulled back and studied my expression, letting her mind inch along our connection to test the waters of my mood. She hadn’t been able to tell I was hiding things from her before, but maybe she hadn’t been paying close enough attention. The surge of our bond was so intense, she jerked backward the second she came in contact with my mind.
I watched as tears streamed from her eyes. Her thoughts, her feelings, became my own. For the first time since we’d met, since we realized we were mates, we could…feeleach other. All of each other. Without restraint or restrictions, lies or boundaries. One of us, I wasn’t sure who, reached out, gripped each other’s hands and pulled closer. I held her too tight, but I only paid half-attention, too intrigued by the siren call of her soul across our connection.
What would it be like to know every little thing about him?she thought.
The prospect—and its implications for her—were staggering.
She struggled to focus on my face as I shared memories about her from my point of view. The day we met in her father’s room. Embracingme for the first timeby the creek. Our binding ceremony and the night after. The dinner. Seeing her face when I realized I was infected with dragon’s bane. Her saving me. Claiming her.
“It’s all right,” I said, and then reached out through our connection to her. When her knees buckled, I gripped her arms and held her steady. All the while I murmured softly in her ear, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Yes, sweet, hold onto me. I won’t let you go.”
An indeterminate amount of time passed before she was able to control the door she’d opened between us. When she regained the ability to stand, she did so on trembling legs. The mating bond between us before had been staggering. She’d never felt so happy or content. I didn’t think being bound to her could get any better.
Until now.
“I didn’t want to see what we could be at first,” I said, my voice a rumble in the darkened caves. The steadydrip, dripof water in the distance made it seem like we were alone for miles. “I was afraid to lose you. To fail you like I’d failed Valeria. I was so afraid to lose you that I pushed you away. It took nearly losing you to realize we are worth that risk.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I kissed away her protests.
“No matter what happens to the clan, or with the humans, I’m glad I have you and I’mnevergoing to let you go again.”
“I believe you,” she said. When we were both steady again, I helped her to her feet. “How far do these go?” she asked, gesturing to the eggs.
“I like to use these caves to think. I guess I’ve walked miles of them and have never seen an end. When my father was alive, he used to say they went on forever.”
“Forever?”
“Mmhmm. The mountain was blessed by magic. These cryptscould come out on the other side of the world, for all we know. We used to explore them a lot—when there were more of us.”
“I’ve never seen our own unborn in the palace. They were kept under strict guard. For exactly this reason, I suppose.”
I led her through dozens of rows until we came to several on a ledge near a far wall. We stopped, and I pivoted to her.
She stared at them. “These are yours.” It wasn’t a question.
“Ours,” I said, and my voice was as hoarse as hers. “These would be ours.”
