He is in a dark, deadly league of his own.
Wren draws her bottom lip through her teeth. “So your nightmare was a message?”
“A warning, I think.” I suppose it was foolish to assume the amulet would completely stop the king’s messages from finding me. It’s a downright miracle that this is the first one I received. “The king wants me to know he won’t stop looking for you.”
She inhales sharply, and several beats pass in silence. I can feel her wrestling with this new information.
“Can you elaborate?” she asks.
A shudder runs through me as the nightmare-that-wasn’t-a-nightmare replays in my mind. “He’s searching everywhere for you. On land, but also in the skies.”
And that was perhaps the most frightening realization of the whole nightmare. Message. Whatever it was. I lean my head back and shut my eyes, my voice washing over us as I recount what happened to me.
Waking up on a snow-covered mountainside with Wren. Wondering why we were there. A speck, growing larger in theblue sky. The horror that filled me when I realized a dragon was approaching.
Made of the king’s magic, this beast was the single most frightening creature I’d ever seen.
In the dream, I told Wren to run, and she did, but...
“You weren’t fast enough,” I say softly, recalling the way she screamed as the dragon scooped her up in its talons. “Gods help me, neither of us was fast enough.”
The thudding of my galloping heart reminds me of my own mortality and of the fear that had coursed through my veins. I’d raced after Wren and fought for her, but in the end, it hadn’t mattered.
“He took you from me,” I growl, my fingernails cutting into my palms. “He fucking took you. Said he owned you, that all Blessed belong to him.”
“I’m not his, Gabriel. I’ll never be his.”
Strength fills her voice, a reminder of how much she’s already endured, this gods-blessed who fell into my life.
“You’re right, you won’t.”
No person should belong to another. It shouldn’t have to be said, should be something that each person innately understands, but people also shouldn’t be sacrificed for bearing a Mark on their bodies, and yet they are.
This world is such a fucking mess.
“He wants to kill me.” Wren’s voice is low, but the way she says the words—a statement, not a question—has my heart twisting.
She’s not wrong. I’ve never known him to be like this, never heard anything like the rage in his voice.
I open my eyes and meet her gaze. “He does, but I swear to you, I will not let the king have you.”
He could come for her with a dozen dragons, and I still wouldn’t let him take her. Part of me thinks this is the momentto tell her who the king is to me, but I’m afraid that if I do, it’ll shatter the fragile trust growing between us. It doesn’t feel like the right time, but I’ll have to tell her eventually.
“We’ll need to be even more careful.” I sweep my thumb across the back of her hand. “The king’s anger is unprecedented, and it’s more imperative than ever that we keep you hidden.”
The sooner we reach our destination, the better.
Wren sighs. “I wish I could say I was surprised by this turn of events, but honestly, I’m not.” She twists her hair into a loose braid, tying a piece of leather around the end, before looking back to me. “Your dream, or... whatever it was. You saw a dragon?”
I nod, and she licks her lips. “Will you tell me more about it? I don’t want to be kept in the dark, Gabriel. Not about this, or anything else.”
Not anymore.
The silent words echo around us, a reminder of her past and everything that she’s survived.
“Of course, Birdie. I’ll get us some food, and we can talk about it when I come back.” I rise to my feet, raking a hand through my hair. I’m still tired, but I won’t sleep again today. Not with the remnants of that nightmare running through my mind.
She smiles softly, thanking me.
