My vision became blurry as the tears began to really spring up before slipping down my cheeks. I brought my hands up to brush them away, not wanting to miss a moment of this.
As I moved, though, the smaller dragon’s eyes snapped toward me and a warning snarl echoed through the space.
My joy shriveled up at the tiny noise and I immediately took a few steps back as my sense of self-preservation kicked back into gear.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, holding my hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll go now.”
The small one’s jaws opened and a loud trill came out, as if they were trying to roar but couldn’t produce the noise yet. It would have been cute if she didn’t follow it up by snapping her jaws in my direction as I continued to slowly retreat.
Shockingly, the bigger one lifted his head from her belly and nipped at her side, as if telling their sibling to knock it off. He turned to look at me and chuffed.
Okay, maybe he wouldn’t let his sibling eat me. That was comforting.
Just as I began to let myself breathe and think of life after I escaped the nest, the room shook with the force of a rumbling growl. I was hesitant to give the babies my back, but I had to confirm if the sound was as close as the warning bells in my head were telling me it was.
I turned slowly on my heel, inch by inch, until my eyes landed on the behemoth navy dragon that had their head hanging down into the nest, silver eyes trained directly on me.
Mommy was home.
Chapter Nineteen
SIYANA
“Okay,I know it might look like I’m trying to steal your babies, but I promise I’m just a dumb human that got lost and maybe was a bit too curious when I saw your beautiful eggs.” My voice teetered on the edge of panic at the end, my tone hitching higher and higher as I spoke.
For a moment, the mother only blinked at me, unmoving otherwise, and I remembered suddenly from my studies that dragon’s could understand humans.
Maybe she was a fan of my self-deprecation?
That hopeful thought was short-lived. Seconds later, she was surging forward into the nest, jaws wide as her eyes sparked with the energy of magic I was growing well accustomed to. I didn’t know what magic water dragons were capable of, but I knew it was more than enough to take out one measly human if they so desired.
On instinct, I sank to the ground and wrapped my arms around my body, tucking my head down as much as I could.
This was it. This was how I died.
For a moment, I contemplated reaching out to Theo to tell him I was going to die and that I forgave him for telling me to leave, for the good of us both. It was strange how looming deathcould, in the blink of an eye, make one realize how trivial their prior issues were.
Maybe I was too sensitive, or felt too deeply, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. What I would work on was listening better, and not hearing what my brain twisted words into—to think before reacting so quickly.
I didn’t want him to blame himself for my death, though, so I shut down the idea of calling out to him. I’d made the choices that led me here. Hopefully, he’d never find my remains and he’d think I’d just left Andrathya.
I squeezed my eyes shut and held myself tightly.Please let this be over quickly. I didn’t want to feel what was certain to be an insurmountable amount of pain.
The ground shook beneath me, and I knew she’d be upon me any moment. My stomach tightened into an iron fist, and I screwed my eyes even more tightly together, unable and unwilling to face the literal jaws of death baring down upon me.
Suddenly, everything was still.
Had it happened so quickly that I truly hadn’t felt an ounce of pain? Had I gone to the afterlife so swiftly? Would the elementals see me fit to experience Elysium? Or had my soul been deemed unworthy?
I prepared myself to face the gods, but as I lifted my head and my eyes opened, I was met with the sight of the same nest surrounding me. What was truly shocking, though, was the baby dragon standing in front of me with his wings out, as if shielding me from the mother.
A hiss sounded, and his scales lifted near the ice-ridge down his spine. The dragon I assumed was his mother had a wickedly sharp-tipped tail flicking around, dangerously close to us. I surged to my feet, barely resisting the sudden urge to get in front of the baby.
She wouldn’t hurt him, would she?
I blinked rapidly, confused by the situation, and unsure whether I should get my hopes up about being left alive for the time being.
The baby dragon began to glow again, and once more, the searing pain above my breast appeared. I tugged at my fur coat, opening it and yanking down my tunic, needing to see why I was in pain there.
