“She doesn’t answer to you,” I ground out. “The deal was for myself.” There was no way in hell I was bringing Aura here. I could feel her in my mind, knew she was aware of what was happening to me, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Her desperation was eating a hole inside me, tearing me apart slowly ever since I made my deal.
“I’m aware,” Dahes drawled. “But you still need to call her, and I’m sure if she cares about your life, she’ll come.”
“You’re killing me either way,” I spat, clenching my fists. “She’s not coming.”
“I wasplanningon killing you,” Dahes corrected. “As soon as this is over, I won’t have use for you anymore. Your dragon gets to decide your outcome.”
Aura,I thought, knowing she was already reading my thoughts.Don’t listen to him. I need you to stay where you are. I need you to protect Nollie if anything happens to me?—
“Fuck,” I cursed the moment rattling filled the air.
Dahes grinned, his head tilted to see my dragon sink into the Dome. I knew she’d been staying close ever since her well refueled, but it still ached to see her now.
Aura landed next to Nollie, her talon nearly scraping the metal of her cage.
“If she does anything,” Dahes seethed, his voice lowering. “I will kill Magnolia, so you better make sure she behaves.”
Dahes flicked his fingers as the sentries started dragging thick chains over Aura’s body.
Aura, don’t let them. Fly?—
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
She roared, her rattling grew, but she just let the sentries chain her.
“If she leaves this Dome,” Dahes warned, “the deal is off. Make sure your dragon knows that.”
I didn’t say anything to Aura. There was nothing I could do to change her mind. She could get out of the chains if she wanted. She didn’t have to do any of this, but I couldn’t convince her I wasn’t worth it. I could feel her, could feel that she believed Dahes’ threat to her core. Except it didn’t matter. My life was doomed the moment I made my deal with him.
“I’m glad I get to keep you alive,” Dahes smiled as the last of the chains clamped over her and bolted her body into the ground. “Because living will be a far worse nightmare for you than dying.”
I ground my jaw, letting his taunt roll off me. I didn’t care aboutmy life right now, all I cared about was making sure I could get Nollie as far away from Dahes as possible before he killed me.
And my plan had been Aura. I was going to have her use a barrier on Nollie so he couldn’t lay a finger on her, and whenever her well needed to replenish, Nollie could go transparent. It wasn’t much, but it was a semblance ofsomething, and now it was gone.
Aura huffed steam over Nollie, reading into my thoughts. I knew she would have done it. She viewed Nollie as her own rider now, even if we didn’t get to complete the bond, Aura felt it just as much as I did.
“I’ll let you see what I make of the world,” Dahes pulled me from my thoughts. “Let you watch as I murder every commoner and enslave the Wielders—” Nollie’s breath hitched as Dahes spoke, but he kept going. “I’ll make sure all drakins are superior, butyou… you will be beneath everyone.”
My eyes narrowed. “You want to keep me alive just so I can see that?”
“No,” he grinned. “I want to keep you alive so you can watch me fuck Magnolia over and over again.”
I followedDahes up the steps, leading to Elion’s castle. The suns were sinking further into the mountains, and the moons were already winking into view.
It was abnormally quiet tonight—the Solstice always was. The drakins were confined to MonClem, and everyone else was essentially locked up for the night. It put me on edge.
The only thing keeping me on the steps was Dahes’ order for me to move. I wanted to kill him.
Everything I ever cared about was left in the Dome. Nollie and Aura were both trapped in the pit, chained and defenseless.
I kept staring at the knife pinned to Dahes’ side—my fucking knife.The metal tip shimmered as the blade reflected off the remainingdregs of sunlight. Glimpses of red and orange swirled underneath the silver.
It had taken me five decades to craft it, to work with a Ferro rider to blend Aura’s flames into the metal, trapping it within a permanent shield. I had kept it at my side ever since, knowing one day I was going to use it against Elion.
As far as I was aware, it was the only one in existence. I was the only air user, the only drakin who had the power to contain dragon flames. It was only a guess that it would kill the unkillable.
But now, watching it dangle across the Dead King’s hip, I’d never wanted to use it more. I kept envisioning stabbing him over and over again.
