“It’s not so terrible,” Adoni murmured. He reached up, brushed a loose strand from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “Your people love you. The dragons still fly for you. You’ll ride them to the Unknown Shores one day. You’re the beginning of an empire.”
I lifted my head, staring at him. “I brought Radaan to its knees. Destroyed the peace we needed. Broke my vow to feed our starving. I’m not a beginning, Adoni—I’m the ruin at the end.”
“You’re wrong.” He cupped my cheek. I flinched, but didn’t pull away. “You came back. You can start again.”
His eyes burned, hunger glittering behind his tenderness. Not a boy anymore. A prince. A tactician. Reaching for power.
I shoved his hand aside. “Abyss, I’m a fool.”
“Wait!” He caught my wrist, yanking me off balance as I tried to stand.
I twisted, straining against his grip. “Let me go!”
“You’re not listening!”
I kicked him in the shin. He grunted, then lunged, knocking me flat in the sand.
Cold panic sliced through me. I gasped, searching for a blade. Tallon’s face flickered in my mind. I reached for Adoni’s hips. Nothing. No weapon.
“I hear you just fine!” I screamed through clenched teeth. “You want my crown—and I thought you were my friend!”
His weight dropped on me like a beached whale, pushing the air from my lungs.
He was going to kill me.
A dragon roared in the distance. Adoni’s mouth crashed against mine, shattering every coherent thought.
I screamed into him, twisted, lunged to bite his cheek as my nails tore down his arms. He cursed, seized my wrists, slammed them into the earth. His knee jammed between my legs, shoving them apart.
Real horror settled cold in my chest. No one knew I was here. No bonded dragon heard my cry. The Spire lay too far. He was too strong.
“You gave yourself to an old man who had nothing to offer!” he snarled, fighting as I bucked beneath him. “I have a nation! What could he offer you? A storming pat on the head?”
“He’d give me the world if I asked!” I shouted into his face. “A dragon will eat you. Get off!”
“My precious Dragon’s Heart,” he breathed, lips and teeth and tongue burrowing into my neck, “They don’t answer you. And no one would believe you didn’t want this—not even your family.”
Was he right?
Would my father believe him? Had I tarnished myself so badly they’d all think I wanted this?
Tears burned down my cheeks. I dug my fingers into the sand and thrashed, every nerve alive with panic. I clawed inward, searching for anything—any scrap of power, any spark.
Nothing came.
“It won’t be bad,” he said, mouth dragging a wet trail up my neck, to my ear.
I threw my head sideways. Bone cracked. Light exploded behind my eyes, but he yelped. I drove my knee into his gut, kicked. He let one wrist go, grabbing for my leg, and I raked claws across his face.
The ground shuddered.
Then something dark barreled into him.
Adoni vanished. I toppled after the blur that hit him. Scrambling upright, I bolted the other way and ducked behind a scaled foreleg.
A dragon loomed above, its massive paw nudging me beneath its chest. In the low light I couldn’t make out which one, nor the rider who had come—but I heard grunts. Fists meeting flesh.
The earth heaved again, followed by a shriek. Tsunami had arrived. And she was furious. Her hiss split the air. I clung to the dragon’s leg, rough scales biting my palms, and peered through moonlight at the shore.
