Lucien pointed at the beast. “If you make me watch them kill you, I will never forgive you.”
As if Whisper understood, he dropped to his haunches with awhine.
“We’ll see you soon, alright?” Lucien gave a fake smile to everyone, wrapped his arm around me, then led me limping out of the courtyard.
The last thing I saw was Dillon, his eyes full of worry...
Chapter Nine
EVERY STEP WAS WRONG.
Obeying my enemies clawed at my very soul. It made me want to turn inhuman because it shot me straight back to the nightmare of Cinderkeep, and no fucking way was I walking back into that cage, but...I had nothing.
No way of protecting Rook or Whisper and all those who lived in Ashfall Cliff.
I was worse off than I had been when I’d been trapped, and it made me want to fuckingrage.
Hot hatred boiled inside my veins, pulsing in time with the heartbeats I could hear all around me. So much life. So much energy, but when I’d tried to steal it from the leader, I’d felt instantly nauseous.
The only energy that had helped was Rook’s.
The second I’d reached out and taken from her, I’d felt unbelievablygood. The gnawing calmed for a moment. The shakes subsided. The weakness faded. But what if I irreparably damaged her? What if she never replenished what I stole? What if I ended up killing her?
Every step we took toward the main courtyard, I racked my brains on what to do.
I searched every part of my body for any inkling of the flames...
And nothing.
Another gush of fury coated my thoughts as I glanced at my hand. Rook’s awful black blood covered my fingers. No hint of the silver. Not even the usual red tint of mortality.
Yet another worry. Another question about what was happening to us.
Had we broken some unwritten rule?
Had the power abandoned us because we’d refused to die and now waited eagerly for that to come true?
“Lucien...” Rook murmured quietly, wincing with every step. “Your thoughts are giving me a headache.”
I was too deep in my temper to attempt a smile or an apology.
We continued walking in silence.
Rook squeezed my fingers as we headed down the covered corridors of Ashfall Cliff. Lucky cranes and protective phoenixes mocked us as we marched toward our death.
Whisper roared behind us, making my heart hitch.
At least the men on the wall stayed true to their word.
As we travelled further away from my pavilion, they followed us. The sight of their black boots treading along the scaled back of Whispering Dragon filled me with yet more rage.
At this rate, I’d catch fire even without the flame’s help.
My gaze travelled to the reptilian head rising high over the multiple pavilions and courtyards. The stone dragon’s whiskers turned the wind into a soft lament, its fangs bared at the blinding sun, its scales so lifelike.
Scorching disgust filled me for ever believing in the stories my mother used to tell. All those childhood fantasies where the dragon would always protect those of the Yunhui bloodline.
Bullshit.
