“It’s temporary.” Dayn shakes his head slowly. “Draethys has runes installed to block outside magic. I’m not certain what else might be in place—I haven’t had time to study the city’s latest defenses. The Houses keep me busy with preparations for tomorrow.”
The change of subject makes me blink. “Tomorrow? What’s tomorrow?”
“A feast in honor of my return. You’ll be my guest.”
“I’d rather chew obsidian.”
He steps closer, and the world tilts—his scent, his heat, the thrum of his pulse fogging my thoughts until schemes slip through my fingers.
The godsdamned dragon blood.
And from the flicker in his eyes, he knows exactly what it’s doing to me.
“You don’t really have a choice, Esme Salem. As much as you hate it—and frankly, as much as I do—we still have to rely on each other to get what we need. I need truth and clarity. And you…”
“Freedom,” I cut in.
Yet the taste of his blood lingers on the back of my tongue, a ghost that begs repeating against every warning in my head. That’s what this is—the magnetic pull between us. His ancient dragon blood calling to me. The blood I thought would taste like old battery acid.
The universe has a sense of humor darker than my grandmother’s grave.
“The dragons of Draethys, especially those within this palace, know of your presence and your… uniqueness,” Dayn says.
“Okay. And? I’m not letting anyone poke or prod me.”
“I’m telling you so you don’t do anything foolish.”
“Like… try to escape?”
“Precisely.” His smile stretches, slow and lazy, across his mouth.
I’m cut off from my ancestors. Trapped in a foreign realm full ofcreatures who would burn me to ash if I so much as snap at Dayn in public—Nyssa made that clear. Whatever chaos we left behind aboveground, I can’t just fight my way out of this dragon pit.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate. But there are limits. If I even get a whiff of you double-crossing me again, Dayn, I won’t hesitate to?—”
“Split me open and hang me from my entrails. Yes, I know the drill.” He pauses, tilts his head, amusement flickering at the edges of his lips. “You’ll need Draethys attire. It’ll be easier for you to blend in. Nyssa will attend to you day and night. Though I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make her life hell.”
“It’s not her fault I’m stuck here. Only yours.”
He studies me for a long beat, and a slow smile cuts across his mouth, soft but dangerous. “If I wanted you caged, Esme, you’d already be chained to the wall. You’re here because you intrigue me.” He takes a step closer, voice dropping. “Try not to make me regret that.”
It’s clear that’s the closest thing to a concession I’ll get from him—and the closest he’ll get from me.Lord Daynthazar of House Draxion. Heir apparent to the throne of Draethys: dragon prince, jailer, violator of oaths.
By the ancestors, I need a way out of this pit before his chains wrap any tighter. My people need to know what he’s done.
First, I need to survive.
3
ESME
There’s one perk to being an unwilling guest in Draethys.
My chamber has an en-suite bath with mineral-infused thermal waters. I let myself sink into the liquid heat as soon as I wake, trying to forget the problems suffocating me for just a moment as I wash, letting my eyes wander. Crystals in a variety of reds, purples, and greens cover the walls and the floor, all of them jutting out and making me feel as though I’m smack in the heart of a precious stone mine.
I can’t feel my grandmother at all. Every time I try to reach out, even with a blood spell, I’m met with silence.
The steam rises in lazy rolls off the surface of the water, filling my nostrils as I scrub my skin clean with a soft cloth. Colorful bottles of body oils sit on a silver tray beside the tub that is carved into the floor, and I make liberal use of one that smells of late summer with hints of roses and smoked wood.
