AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Branok shook his head to clear it, then winced as if the movement hurt. “We found Joachim,” he managed, so it must have helped. “But it was a trap.”
“Shocking,” Damyn said. “You know better than to trust every spy.”
“Who was on his side?” I asked.
I glanced up at Damyn and it was no surprised to see the way his jaw tightened when Branok said, as I expected, “The dragon Knights.”
“Fantastic,” Caldren muttered. “We have a handful of ragtag rebels and Jaik’s loyalists—who we can’t trust within ten feet of each other—and then Joachim’s little army, Anix’s insurrection andKalluswith his fleet all against us. I don’t know why I ever wanted a damned throne.”
Branok seized my arm, his face frantic. “Where’s Lynx?”
“I don’t feel him anywhere,” I answered. Branok’s fingers were digging into my skin in his agony over losing his brother, but I would never have shown him he was hurting me. Damyn, though, reached over and yanked his hand away from me. Perhaps Damyn didn’t feel he deserved any comfort at the moment.
But then Damyn said, “Joachim wouldn’t kill Lynx. He must be using dragonsbane to keep Honor from being able to reach him.”
Branok cursed, burying his face in his hands. “What the hell does my father want with Lynx?”
“We’ll find him and bring him back,” I promised Branok.
“That’s exactly what he wants,” Damyn growled. “He has Lynx now to use for a bargain… and a trap. He’s trying to keep Honor from ever reuniting the Scourge stones and taking away his power.”
“I just wanted to make things right,” Branok said. “He’s a fool, we should’ve been able to outsmart his trap…”
Damyn’s lips pressed tightly closed, as if he knew Branok couldn’t bear any more scolding on top of his grief. But it was obviously an effort.
I offered Branok my hand to help him up. Branok took it, although I felt it was more humoring me since he didn’t put on his body weight on me.
He said to me quietly, “We’d fought, but before that, seeing you and Hanna, I was thinking how glad I was that he was my brother. And I didn’t say it. I never fucking said anything like that to him. What if Joachim…”
I was so used to Branok being cold. I could see how disturbed his eyes were right now though. And then I could feel his pain, as intense as my own.
“You’ll get the chance to tell him,” I promised.
* * *
My dragon royalsand I were flying, hunting for Joachim. The dragon knights had disappeared, but if we could bring one of them down and interrogate him, we would.
Zehr’s cool, sarcastic voice rose in my ear. “Do you need help from the shadows?”
I had no doubt he could feel my distress. “You know I do.”
Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as someone interrupted us.
An unfamiliar voice echoed in my ear, speaking close to me like it felt when the other dragon shifters and I communicated in this form.
“Honor.”
I spun, looking for the source of the voice. It almost sounded like… Joachim.
I hoped so. I would love to get my hands on Joachim right now. “Who are you?”
“Try not to act like an idiot. I know it’s difficult for you. This is Lord Joachim.”
“How are you talking to me?”
“We have the dragon bond too. In our own way.”
It bothered me Joachim was able to speak to me this easily. It was a reminder of how powerful he was, with ten times the experience being a dragon.
