“I think I have to go in there, Kaida.”
“I will follow you.”
The strength behind his words slammed into me, and I turned back to find him ambling toward me, eyes back to their milky white voids I’d quickly grown to know. A deep sense of trust and love for this creature grew within me, like a ball of light burning brightly.
“No. I will not place your life at risk as well.”
He let out a growl and puffed steam at me.“I will not stay behind.”
A desire to keep him away from the ominous doorway filled me when I looked back into the void within the castle, darkness calling to me. This was for me to face alone, somehow I knew this without question.
An explosion of ice sounded behind me, and I whirled to find Kaida’s way blocked, a wall of ice now separating me from him and trapping me within the arched entryway. He roared before I saw his body through the translucent ice, running straight for the wall. A boom came as he slammed into it, yet the ice didn’t crack, even with such brute force hurtled against it.
“Trust me to do this.”
Still, he threw his weight into the ice over and over, and suddenly, I felt his emotions without him needing to voice them. A possessive desire to protect me. The overwhelming need to stay by my side. His love for me.
It nearly brought me to my knees, and yet I remained unflinching in my decision to go on without him. That same love he felt for me poured through my own heart and soul in my quest to ensure he didn’t die alongside me.
I wasn’t sure who he was to me, but I knew that I would do everything in my power to protect him.
“Don’t go!”he yelled into my mind, and so I began to build a wall there to keep him out, on instinct alone.
“Goodbye, Kaida,”I whispered to him before sealing it completely.
He clawed at my mind but I forced myself to walk into the darkness ahead. Everything went black as the doors slammed shut behind me. The force of them closing echoed through the room. As I took a deep breath and continued forward, a voice whispered in the darkness around me.
“Welcome, Siyana. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Siyana.As soon as I heard the name, I knew it referred to me. This knowledge of my name seemed to be the key to unlocking my mind, and my memories slammed into me with sudden force. It drove me to my knees as I groaned, faces and scenes rolling through me with alarming speed.
“Choose. Either you die or the dragon does,” the unknown voice demanded, seeming to come from all directions around me.
Without hesitation, I answered.
“Me. Take me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
SIYANA
“Come on wench,open that mouth and tell me how much you hate me now.”
Theo’s voice was the first thing I heard as the foreign world of ice and that sinister voice melted away, leaving me in a dark void. That odd dream left a feeling of fear gnawing in my belly, but I focused back on the sound of Theo’s rumbling voice, anchoring me in the present.
It wasn’t real. This was.
“Now?” I croaked, my throat constricting around the word. An overwhelming dryness filled my mouth and throat, as if I hadn’t drank anything in weeks. I must have slept with my mouth open. I forced a small amount of spit down, swallowing thickly as I added, “Bold of you to assume I haven’t hated you this entire time.”
His deep, booming laugh had my eyes flying open in shock. After how I’d stormed out of that cavern, and the way we’d clashed about the bond, I’d thought he’d at least still be flustered and confused, like I’d been. But that didn’t seem to be affecting the dragon in front of me, now.
Never before had I seen such a fierce yearning in his deep blue eyes as he gazed down at me. The intensity of his stare wasalmost overwhelming, drawing me into its depths like a moth to a flame. It seemed as if he were baring his very soul to me, willing me to understand the depth of his desire.
“Is your love language degradation, wench?” he asked, arching a single eyebrow as he waited for my response. He reached up, brushing away a strand of hair that was caught in my mouth to tuck it behind my ear.
My breath caught at the adoration I felt pouring from his every word and touch. He was still playful and teasing, but it felt rooted in something more now.
Confusion and butterflies took flight within my belly, warring with each other over how I was supposed to feel. This is what he always did to me, though. A few words and a glimpse into the real Theo and I always caved, despite any previous feelings of hurt and distrust.
