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“For your submission.”
My stomach tightens like a clenched fist. My gaze falls to the sand beneath my bare feet. It’s easiest if I pretend to be docile and defeated.
I’m not his mate and never will be.
“Come,” he commands. “We must return to the castle.”
I force myself to meet his eyes. “Will you allow me to shift into a dragon?”
“Why? Climb onto my back instead.”
Naked, in the cold night wind, with the whole city of Netherhaven below to watch me. What will happen if I refuse him?
“I want to fly there myself,” I say. “I won’t try to escape.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “If you do, there will be consequences.”
Acid rises in my throat. “I know.”
When I transform into a dragon, my body feels distant, my wings and claws far away. We fly back to the castle at Netherhaven. The balcony isn’t big enough for dragons, so we land on the road outside the castle gate. Church bells are still ringing an alarm.
“Shift back,” Scaldric says.
I obey, since now is not the time to fight.
After he transforms into a man, he marches me naked through the castle as if he conquered me. I’m hidden by only my long hair, which doesn’t even hide my breasts. Guards and courtiers gawk as we pass. Their stares travel all over my skin. They see my bitten neck. I should be humiliated, but I’m too numb.
We climb upstairs to the sapphire bedchamber.
“Stay here,” Scaldric says.
Without hesitation, he exits the room. He must be confident that I won’t try to escape again. Or perhaps he’s testing me.
I will kill him in his sleep. In cold blood. In any way that saves me.
On the balcony, I cling to the stone railing until my knuckles turn white. My fingers remain stained by my own blood. I touch my neck and find it’s already healing, which feels wrong to me. It should be a much deeper wound for such sickening pain. I never want to forget what he did to me. Not until I have my revenge.
When he returns, he brings me a surprise: a gown shimmering in golden silk. Intricate embroidery twists over every inch of it. I touch the corner with my fingertips. Golden, for the bride of the golden dragon.
“Put it on,” he commands. “I want to see you in your wedding dress.”
There’s no shift to wear underneath. When I slip the gown over my head, the silk clings to every curve of my body. It slithers over my skin with a cold tingling.
Magic.
A smothering enchantment, one that locks the dragon deep inside me. My guts twist with horror as I stare at the gown.
My wedding dress.
Embroidered with aellurium.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
When I claw at my neck, the gown refuses to peel from my body. It clings to me like a second skin and chills me with magic.
“What have you done?” I ask, my words hoarse with unspent tears.
Scaldric stares at me without blinking. “The sorceress enchanted the aellurium. Magic to keep you from shifting. Magic to keep you obedient.”
