“The prophecy states the Shadow Reaver will destroy us all, but who isus?Is it all immortals? Is it humans and immortals? Is it the dark fae, the arach, the crones? Who isus?”
“Andthatis what makes prophecies such ridiculous, inane things,” Cole said. “Their vagueness makes them pointless, and they notoriously never come true. People and immortals see what they want in their words and run with it.”
“I agree with the Reaver.” Alina looked pained to say so.
“How come the dragon in there didn’t recognize her as an arach if she bears the mark of the dragon?” Orin demanded and pointed his finger at the cave.
“Was capturing him your doing?” Alina asked Lexi.
“No. I would never do that.”
“Was it his?” she jerked her head toward Orin.
“Don’t eat him!” Lexi blurted, startled by her instinct to keep Orin alive.
He drove her crazy, but he loved Cole, and Cole loved him, even if they would gladly beat each other bloody. But while she’d prefer it if Orin didn’t die, it might be nice if Alina gargled him around her mouth like mouthwash before spitting him back out.
It might take Orin down a peg or two. But probably not. He’d start bragging about how he’d survived being eaten by a dragon and become more insufferable.
“I’ll do whatever’s necessary to defeat the Lord,” Orin replied defiantly. “And we have to learn about her and the dragons.”
That gargling thing might be worth it. When Lexi leaned forward and cupped her hand against her mouth, Alina lowered her head toward her. Though a wall of shadows separated them, a conspiring air surrounded them.
“Can you put him in your mouth and gargle him around a little before spitting him out?” she asked.
“I might swallow him if I did,” Alina replied.
Lexi debated if it was worth the risk as she recalled all the things Orin had done, like imprisoning her father and keeping it from her, blackmailing her into helping him, and his overall shitty attitude. Was Alina accidentally eating him worth it to scare him?
“Lexi,” Cole growled when she didn’t immediately respond.
“I guess you shouldn’t do it,” she grumbled and pulled back.
“It’s time to set Tymin free,” Alina said.
“Who?” Lexi asked.
Alina’s slender head twisted toward the cave, and her scales rippled like blood flowing over rocks in the sunlight. “Tymin, my friend. If we are to work together, you cannot imprison us. The Lord already has us in mental shackles.”
“I would never… that’s not….” Lexi stammered over her words before saying. “I’m sorry; we didn’t know. We were trying to see how a dragon would react to me, and Tymin wasnothappy to see me.”
“No one is happy to be in chains, but he also doesn’t know what you are. All other dragons believe the arach are dead, and if your shield was up when you went in there, he wouldn’t know what you are. To him, you are the enemy.”
“Isthatwhat the dragon marks are for? To let the dragons know what I am?”
“To let us know, call us to you, and show we are united. In the shadows, he has no idea what you are.”
“So how do I set him free if the marks fade once I’m out of the sun?”
“They’ll last for long enough for him to see. That should be enough.”
“Okay,” Lexi said, but she wasn’t so crazy about thatshouldbeenoughstatement.
She’d prefer not to die in a cave if things went wrong. But she couldn’t leave Tymin in chains either.
She threw her shoulders back as she turned away from Alina. Striding toward the cave, she prayed Alina wasn’t simply trying to kill her off. Maybe Alina couldn’t get past the shadows and this was her way of getting rid of Lexi and making the Lord happy.
She gulped, but she had no choice. If they were going to make any headway with the dragons and against the Lord, she had to return to that extremely angry dragon.
