“Siyana?” I called out, causing her to pause as she pulled it open. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
She didn’t bother looking back at me or responding, and the door quickly shut behind her. A roar came from within me as I gave in to the beast, who fought to take over the moment she was gone from my sight.
I stripped my clothes off as I raced toward the balcony, not wanting to destroy my chambers again if I didn’t get into the sky in time. As a teen, the shift had hurt as I learned to master it, but now it felt as natural as breathing. The world shifted as I grew wings, the wind calling to them as the blizzard raging outside consumed me. My vision became sharper with both eyes acclimating to my advanced sight as a dragon. The scent of the salt from the ocean bordering our lands was accentuated as I launched into the air and rolled through it, finding the current that offered the least resistance.
Somehow, I didn’t manage to go very far, instead only wrapping around the side of the castle and to the other end of the building, where I could easily catch a glimpse of Siyana within her chambers. The snow would obscure me from her view, but not her from me.
As my wings beat through the gale of the storm, whooshing in time with my beating heart, I zeroed in on her small form as she crumpled the letter in her hands and threw it into the blazing fire. Despite being encapsulated within the stone walls and far from my ears, I still heard the anguished scream that came from her.
It shocked me that such a sound could come from a woman as small as her. It spoke of grief, hatred, and the need to get vengeance. I knew that scream intimately, because it sounded the same as my own when my mother died. Only I would never have the chance to seek the vengeance I craved.
I hoped that in letting her return to her home, she could claim hers, having all of the information needed to aid her at her fingertips.
Pride swelled within me as I pictured her slamming the doors open in her home castle and letting her father finally hear everything she thought. The demands she would make. The fire within her that dared to burn anyone who denied her. I wanted her to refuse to take no for an answer, to never allow her father or anyone else to ship her off to the next best suitor as he had shipped her to me.
I wanted her to take the throne and be my equal, running her own castle, not by marriage but by her birthright.
She paced around the room for what felt like hours as I made loops in the sky, watching her, unable to tear myself away. As the sun began to set and the fire within her room began to dwindle, she threw herself onto the large bed, face first.
Drawing closer to the window, I watched as her body trembled, the sound of her sobs wrenching through the air. It was a risk to be this close. If she lifted her head, there was no doubt she’d see a hulking dragon within the blizzard staring at her. Two navy eyes sparking amongst a sea of white, unable to look away.
She curled up on her side, giving me her back. A deafening cry tore its way through my throat and into the sky, my beast aching to tuck her against it.
We’d destroy anyone who made her feel this way.
No. It wasn’t my place to be that sort of protector for her.
As she began to turn, I launched up above the castle and away from her sight.
The truth was, she didn’t need me to be her champion—she was strong enough on her own.
Chapter Fourteen
SIYANA
Sometime throughout thenight I’d awoken to only the embers of my dying fire providing a minute amount of light and warmth, compared to the roaring fire that had lulled me to sleep. I hadn’t the desire to go to Theo and ask him for anything, even something as small as more wood for my fire. The shame I’d felt in his denial still burned brightly within me, but the fight I’d usually hold on to was nowhere to be found due to the contents of my father’s letter.
The way he’d offeredmythrone to Theo. My fucking birthright.
My sleep was far from peaceful as I’d forced myself to try and rest more, but waking fits disrupting me throughout the night. Upon my most recent fit, I noted that even the embers of my fire had died out. The shivers running through me and my chattering teeth must have been what woke me this time.
“Shit,” I breathed out, feeling pain in my lungs from just how damned cold the air had turned. Tossing the heavy covers from my shaking body, I dropped my feet onto the floor and stumbled, finding the surface slick with ice. Throwing my hands out to find my balance, I squinted, trying to see what had happened with the help of the little bit of moonlight streaming in from theglass windows next to my bed. The snowstorm was still raging beyond my window and the wind howled, buffeting against the window and rattling the panes. A shiver ran down the length of my spine–the atmosphere in the dark room was eerie, just off enough to leave me feeling unsettled.
A loud crack sounded through the room and my heart leapt into my throat. My head snapped in the direction of the sound, eyes landing on a dark corner near the fireplace.
“It’s just one of the logs cooling, Sia,” I tried to reason with myself, but I still felt the skin on the back of my neck prickling with some preternatural sense of danger.
Taking tentative, small steps over the icy floor, I drew closer to the fireplace, crossing the small sitting area situated in the middle of the room. I cursed Theo for taking my only weapon from me, suddenly desperate to feel the cool hilt of my dagger pressed against my palm.
Just as I swore, a large figure swam into view from the shadowy darkness, with two glowing, silver eyes snapping open. My breath caught in my throat, the fear piercing my chest leaving me momentarily stunned.
Was this another drackya?
From the slit in their left eye, opposite of Theo, I’d wager that it was.
“Who…” I stammered, taking a step back, “who are you, and what do you want?”
I could barely sort my thoughts as my heart beat frantically in my ears. My chest seized with pain from the arctic temperature in the room and the panic that was quickly overtaking me. I had no means of defense, and if my iced-over floor was any indication, it would seem that this drackya also had an affinity for ice like Theo. Even when I’d had my dagger, it’d done me no good against his magical abilities, rendering me useless back in my castle.
