“Let mego.” I elbow him in the stomach. I sink my teeth into the side of his hand, but I might as well be fighting a mountain for all I seem to hurt him.
Stesha yanks off his cloak, swathes my head and body in it so I can’t see, and carries me out of the room. I feel him striding down a corridor, and a moment later, I tumble onto a bed. The cloak is still on top of me, and so is Stesha, squashing me against the mattress so that I can’t move an inch. His body is heavy on mine, and I writhe in pleasure. I need him to trap me. Crush me. Bruise me.Bite me. I hear his panting breaths above me, and I wait for him to rip the cloak off so he can get his teeth into me.
But he gets up off the bed. I hear a door slam, and silence reigns. I sit up and see that I’m in my room, and I’m all alone.
Stesha left me with his cloak and doused me in his powerful, rutting scent. I bundle his cloak up in my arm, press my face into it, and lie down, fuming angrily. Stesha was giving thanks to the gods. For what? All our misery? I want to punch his lip bloody and then slam my mouth over his. He’s dumped me back in my room, and he won’t even give me the pleasure of fighting him, gods take the man. Worse, by giving me his rut-scented cloak, he’s all but told me he doesn’t care if I get lavish sickness again. Tears stream down my face.
I should just die, and then he’d be happy.
Weeping, I gather up his cloak and some of my blankets and crawl under my bed, and sob in the dusty darkness. How can he be so cruel?
Sometime later, still sniffling, I open my eyes. There’s a dark line under my door, as if someone is sitting there with his back against the wood.
A few days later,it’s the final event of the Dragon Games. Stesha is in equal first with Zabriel, something that the dragonmaster must find absolutely infuriating.
Isavelle has tied her hair ribbons around the king’s arm for good luck, and many of the other riders are now sporting ribbons as well, though it is a human tradition rather than a Maledinni one. Stesha’s bicep is bare. It’s the final event, and for some reason I’m overcome by affection and hope. My emotions are all over the place lately. I take the ribbons out of my hair, meaning to offer them to him.
As I watch him prepare with Nilak, I lose my nerve. He won’t want my hair ribbons. He doesn’t want anything from me, and he couldn’t give a damn about human traditions. I let the ribbons fall from my fingers and flutter away.
The final event is in two parts, the first involving all the dragons and riders who wish to compete. Stesha is not the kind of man to let Zabriel win just because he’s king. If Zabriel wants to best him, Stesha’s going to make him work for it.
And he does, though Kane is the surprising winner of the first part. Kane chooses Stesha for the one-versus-one fight that will decide the games. If Stesha beats Kane, then his accumulated points will mean that Stesha will be crowned the winner of the games. No,whenStesha beats Kane. There’s no doubt in mymind who the better fighter is. Unlike Zabriel, Stesha will guess that Kane will fight dirty and try to cheat, so he will be on his guard.
I pray that Stesha will be on his guard.
He and Kane will fight to first blood, but first blood can also mean life’s blood when your opponent is as vicious as Kane.
Only Kane vows to fight to the death, and Stesha accepts. I cover my eyes and moan in horror. If Stesha loses… But I don’t want to contemplate what will happen if Stesha loses. And if he wins, Kane will be dead, and his mate will be Stesha’s to claim. I open my eyes and hunt the crowd for Ravenna, wondering if she’s delighted by this news. I spot her not far away clenching Stesha and Nilak’s colors in her anxious, no doubt hopeful, grip, and I feel sick.
Queen Isavelle somehow has my hair ribbons, and as Stesha kneels before her to pledge loyalty to the crown before the final fight, she ties them around his upper arm. I watch, holding my breath, as he glares at the fluttering ribbons, wondering if he’s about to tear them away because they are a silly human custom, or because they are from me. He gets to his feet, neither touching the ribbons nor seeking me in the crowd.
My heart is in my mouth as he and Kane take to the skies, both proud of the dragonmaster and afraid at the same time. Everyone is cheering for the dragonmaster. Nilak and Auryn are magnificent and terrible in the skies, all snarling mouths and glinting talons. I didn’t think to worry about Nilak, for she has always seemed immortal to me, but it seems for a terrible moment that Auryn is about to rip Nilak open with his talons from breastbone to tail. But Auryn changes his mind, or perhaps he misjudges the attack. Either way, Nilak suddenly veers away with Auryn in pursuit. The dragons disappear from view.
There’s a rumble of consternation in the crowd, and the noise grows louder the longer that Stesha and Kane don’t return. Iwipe my sweaty brow with the back of my hand. I can see Zabriel pacing back and forth, and he is angry and concerned for the dragonmaster. I want to run to him and beg him to send riders after them. People are penning me in on all sides, and just when I think I’m about to burst or faint or scream, someone calls out that they can see a dragon in the sky.
I shade my eyes with my hand and squint into the painfully bright sunlight. Everything is blurry and my head throbs. Before I can tell whether it’s Nilak, someone calls out that it’s Auryn.
Kane has emerged from the fight to the death, but Stesha has not.
My stomach rolls with nausea as I watch Kane dismount his dragon and approach the king. When I see that he’s covered in blood, my knees nearly give out. There’s no way that Kane bested Stesha in a fair fight. A scream is clawing at my throat.
He can’t be dead. Hecan’tbe.
Just when I think I’ll go mad, there’s another shout. Nilak is returning. I look up with a gasp and can just make out the white dragon in the skies, gleaming as bright as the sun and nearly as impossible to look at. My eyes are streaming from the glare, but I can see Stesha dismount when she lands, and he’s carrying two swords. His own and Kane’s.
Kane didn’t win the fight. Stesha did. I gulp in relief and pride for the dragonmaster.
Ravenna is watching the two Alphas with Stesha’s colors clenched tightly in her hands. She’s wanted nothing but Stesha to win and best her Alpha. He’s won the games for Ravenna. She’ll run into his arms, and Stesha will kiss her with passion. Everyone will cheer for them. Everyone wants the beloved dragonmaster and the redheaded Omega to mate. For what other reason could Stesha have fought so hard?
A sob rises in my throat. I can’t bear to see it happen, and I can’t stand to be under this massive, dazzling, sickening skyand among all these shouting, jostling people a moment longer. I break through the crowd surrounding me and run to the flare, which is assembled to one side. I have no dragon on which to make my escape, but an Omega called Calyx is there, a pale, docile, and riderless dragon. He seems surprised when I jump upon his back, but I urge him into the skies, and he obeys.
Someone is calling my name. There are heavy footsteps behind me. Calyx isn’t used to a rider, and I am out of practice at flying, so we are slow. I risk a glance over my shoulder and see that Stesha has abandoned the glory he earned by winning the Dragon Games and is running after me.
As Calyx soars into the skies, I hear Nilak’s thunderous pursuit, and my panicked heart tumbles through my body. All I know is the primal fear of being chased. I can’t feel Calyx’s mind as he’s not my dragon, but my body shifts subconsciously on his back, and I realize I’m guiding him into the Bodan Mountains, urging him to fly faster, though compared to Minta, he flies agonizingly slowly.
Nilak roars behind me, and with my body flaming from anxiety and some other powerful emotion I can’t fathom, I look for a place to urge Calyx to land so that I may hide from my pursuer. He alights on a mountain slope, and my legs buckle under me when my feet hit the ground. Everything is so bright that I can’t see. I feel exposed to the point where I can’t think. Can’t breathe. I whimper and look for a place to hide, but it’s too late. The sun is blotted out by Nilak, and then I hear two booted feet hit the ground.
Stesha marches toward me, his pale blue eyes blazing.
