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“Wrong?” he repeats, with a tightening of his jaw, clearly displeased by me.
“I’m at your mercy, when I should be a dragon in my own cave with all the glory of the treasure that I have won. You should be courting me inmyterritory.” I lock glares with him. “Not like this, not when I have only a shadow of my true power. You can’t take me as your mate if you don’t even know me.”
Scaldric returns my stare. “I have traveled long and far to find you, Pyrah, and I know that you are worthy to be my mate.”
“Why? Because of my reputation? Because I have killed dozens of dragonslayers and burned down a village?”
“Because you are a hidden jewel.”
My traitorous heartbeat flutters at his flattery. “And that’s all you want?”
“I want everything from you, sweet Pyrah, if you will have me.”
I glare at him. “I’m not sweet.”
His eyes glimmer. “Let me be the judge of that.”
Heat burns my cheeks. It’s impossible not to remember sitting on the throne while Rook tasted me with his tongue.
“Come.” Scaldric holds out his hand. “We have a long way to go.”
Golden scales armor his body as he becomes a dragon once more. He flares his wings against the darkening cobalt of the sky.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask.
“Home.”
“My cave?”
“No. Mine.”
“Where?”
“Near Netherhaven.”
I’ve never been to the city before, and my stomach clenches. He’s bringing me to a place full of people who might hate me. I don’t want to leave the Thornwood.
Don’t want to leave Rook.
But I’m being a fool. Rook rejected me. He’s not my mate and never will be, while Scaldric is promising me everything.
I slide one foot forward, then the other. “Take me there.”
“Climb onto my back.”
Heat creeps into my cheeks. I’ve never ridden another dragon before. I glance into his eyes, though he doesn’t look like he’s suggesting anything lustful. Shaking, I grip two of the spikes on his neck and swing my leg over his back.
When he lunges into the sky, cold wind stings my eyes with unspent tears.
Nightfall darkens the land. Beneath us, the Thornwood begins unraveling as we fly over it, until it’s nothing but tattered scraps of forest without any magic or monsters. My heart aches with a twisted kind of sadness.
“Goodbye,” I whisper, so quietly only I can hear it over the wind.
* * *
Netherhaven piercesthe night sky with spires and towers. The capital city glitters in the darkness along the Silver Sea. Lights from windows and streetlamps shine like thousands of fireflies below.
No alarm bells ring when Scaldric’s shadow ripples over the city. Rook was right—the golden dragon is welcome here.
