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He swallowed, and Merletta felt anxiety swell inside her. What could be so terrible Heath struggled to even say it?
“It’s all right, Heath,” she told him softly. “Whatever it is, we’ll tackle it together.”
“That’s the worst part.” The words burst from Heath. “This is all my fault, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it! I can’t even enter your world, let alone save it.”
“Save it from what?” Merletta asked sharply.
Heath reached out for her, as if needing the reassurance of touch. She took his hand readily, still searching his eyes.
“The dragons aren’t letting it go, Merletta,” he said. “Reka and his parents have tried to talk them down, to convince them that they must be wrong about what you are. But their law regarding these abominations is absolute. They feel compelled to destroy you.”
“They’re coming to kill me?” Merletta’s voice sounded unfamiliar in her own ears.
“Not just you,” Heath whispered. “Merletta, I’m so sorry.”
“What are you saying?” she demanded. “The dragons can’t possibly want to kill everyone from my world.”
Heath and Reka were both silent, their expressions grave.
“But…” Merletta struggled for words. “But they don’t know where to find me, or the triple kingdoms. Unless…” She looked fearfully at Rekavidur.
He shook his vast head slowly. “I will not betray your location,” he said, his voice a deep rumble. “But they will search. And the magic which surrounds this place will draw them like a beacon. You will not be hard to find.”
“When?” Merletta whispered. “How long do we have?”
Heath shrugged hopelessly. “Impossible to say. They’re determined, but time moves differently for dragons. If they say they’ll deal with it soon, they might mean this very moment. But it’s equally possible they mean in a decade.”
Merletta was silent, wrestling with the terrible truth of what she’d brought on her kingdoms. Her eyes sought Heath’s, and she could see her own fear reflected back at her.
“What have I done, Heath?” she whispered.
“This isn’t your fault,” he said fiercely. “None of it is.”
“But if I hadn’t gone to Wyvern Islands—”
“Or if I’d told you more clearly to be wary of dragons, I know,” Heath cut her off. “We were both foolish there. But those mistakes aren’t deserving of slaughter.”
Merletta raised a shaky hand to her face. “I was so sure that the stories about dragons’ aggression were just more lies. August and the others tried to warn me, and even you told me to be cautious, but I wouldn’t listen. Like an arrogant fool, I assumed that I knew better.”
“You are not entirely to blame,” Reka said slowly. “Dragons are not aggressive by nature, as you have been taught. But there is much that none of us knew when first we met on this shore. We could not have predicted what we would unleash.”
Merletta stayed silent. She could take no comfort from the dragon’s words. She was touched that Reka had expressed grief over her predicament, and she knew that Heath felt the impending disaster keenly. But it wasn’t the same for either of them—their kinds were not at risk of total annihilation.
“Reka.” Heath looked up at the dragon. “Can you please give us a minute?”
“Give you a minute?” the dragon repeated blankly. “I cannot create time.”
“I meant give us a minute of privacy,” said Heath patiently. “Although what I actually meant was several minutes.”
The dragon shook his head in bemusement, clearly baffled by the imprecision of human speech. But he took to the air without protest.
“Heath,” Merletta whispered in anguish, as soon as they were alone.
“I know, Merletta,” Heath told her, gripping her shoulders bracingly. “But we can’t let it crush us. Otherwise we won’t have the strength to fight.”
“But can we fight?” Merletta cried. “What hope is there against a colony of dragons?”
“There’s always hope,” Heath told her firmly. “We’ll find a way.”
