“Dangerous? How?” Volkmar laughed, finally looking up at him incredulously. “I didn’t even see a weapon on them anywhere.”
“I could sense their magic,” he said, the lie coming easily. It was only halfway a lie, after all—the ability to sense another dragon’s presence was certainly linked to magic, even if it was more territorial instinct than anything else. “That’s how powerful they were. They knew me, and I didn’t know them, so they had me at a disadvantage. I wasn’t going to risk anything happening to you in a situation like that.”
“A human,” Volkmar scoffed. He leaned back in the chaise lounge as he said it, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t believe you. You’d never be so scared of a human.”
Adrissu rubbed his eyes in frustration. The veneer of their simple, easy life was about to be ripped away, and he wished he could enjoy its last few moments, rather than dread what was to come. But he did not know what else to say that might have any chance of assuaging him, so all he was left with was the truth.
“They were not a human,” he said softly, pulling his hand away from his eyes as he said it. “They were a dragon.”
Volkmar stilled, looking at him with wide eyes. For a moment they were both silent, tension palpable in the air between them, but Adrissu forced himself to hold his gaze.
Finally, Volkmar barked out a bitter laugh. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“They were a dragon in disguise,” he sighed.
“Now I know you’re hiding something,” Volkmar spat, folding his arms across his chest. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Even if they were a dragon, how could you possibly know that?”
This was it. He wanted to look away, but he kept looking at Volkmar, hoping things would somehow work out.
“Because I’m one, too,” he said. “That’s how I knew.”
Again Volkmar went utterly still, but this time his face twisted in anger.
“Do you really think so little of me?” he hissed, standing up quickly. “That I would believe such an obvious lie?”
“I’m not lying,” Adrissu continued, keeping his voice low. He reached for Volkmar, grasping his wrists—he felt the human flinch, but he did not pull away. “You don’t remember it now, but you knew this about me. You knew, a long time ago.”
He could tell Volkmar was right on the edge of panic, feeling his pulse thrumming rapidly from where he held his wrist, his breathing fast and shallow. All he could do was keep his voice low and even as he spoke.
“I know you don’t remember anymore,” he continued softly. “But we’ve known each other longer than you’ve been alive. Please, you have to trust me on this.”
“I don’t believe you,” Volkmar said sharply, tugging his hands futilely. Adrissu did not let go. “I don’t care what you say anymore. I don’t believe you.”
“I can help you remember,” Adrissu said, though he was unsure if he actually could. “Would that prove it to you then? If you remember?”
Volkmar stared down at him, eyes wide and bloodshot. That, at least, seemed to take him aback. Adrissu’s heart spiked with fear that Volkmar would still refuse, would stillleave—so without waiting for an answer, he reached out with his magic to touch the human’s mind.
He had long ago studied the basics of altering memory and other such magic. However, these were typically frowned upon amongst both dragons and mortals, if not outright condemned, so he had never had the chance to try anything like this before. He felt his magic touch Volkmar’s consciousness, and he thought of Ruan, the time they had shared, and the ritual they had done to bind their souls together.Remember, he thought, as if that might somehow unlock whatever was buried deep in Volkmar’s subconscious.Remember me.
He could feel his consciousness catch on something, a tugging sensation—then Volkmar was wrenching his hands out of Adrissu’s grasp with a cry.
“What did you—what did you—” he gasped, clutching his hands to his chest as he collapsed back onto the chaise lounge. His face was glossy with sweat now, his eyes frantically moving back and forth around the room, as if he were seeing things that were not there.
“It’s okay,” Adrissu said softly, ignoring the fear and worry that had started to trickle down his spine. He had expected that the process would be distressing, but the human looked as if his heart were about to burst. “Do you remember now? Do you remember being Ruan?”
Volkmar sobbed. He reached for a spot low on the left side of his ribs, looking down at himself with obvious worry. “They stabbed me,” he whimpered, looking at his hands as if expecting them to come away bloody. “I—You—” His eyes flicked up, lingering on Ruan’s shield where it was displayed on the wall, and his face went even more pallid than it already was.
And then he looked back at Adrissu, and terror filled his eyes.
“Volkmar,” Adrissu said softly, reaching for him.
“Stay away from me!” Volkmar cried, stumbling off the chaise lounge and onto the floor with how forcefully he recoiled away from Adrissu. His blood turned to ice in his veins, every part of him becoming numb all at once. His mate feared him—his matehatedhim. He watched, frozen, as Volkmar scrambled back on the stone floor, putting more distance between them, before stumbling to his feet. “Don’t—Don’t touch me!”
Volkmar was weeping now, his whole body trembling. Adrissu stayed where he was, motionless. Everything was going as poorly as it possibly could, and he had no idea how to make anything better. How could he ever fix this?
