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Rose isn’t satisfied with my answer and she narrows her eyes. “Well uncomplicate it and explain it to me. I’m keeping up.”
This woman really will be the death of me, but I think I will welcome death with open arms. She’s not afraid to challenge me, despite the fact that I’m considerably more powerful than she is.
“By destroying the door to the human world, Gadreel took away one of our biggest power sources. Supernaturals and humans have mixed for years and a human mate acts as a conduit for our power. They make us stronger, so dragon rulers have always taken human mates.”
“So your mother was…”
“Human, yes,” I confirm. “She was the last human. She stood besides my father during the first Great War and their combined power helped keep a strong barrier. They knew that the Nephilim would return one day, so the protective barrier around Dragon’s Keep was their last attempt at saving them.”
“What happened to your parents?”
I’m momentarily caught off guard, which rarely happens these days. Everyone in Dragon’s Keep knows of my parents' love story and their need to be together, even in the end, that it has been so long since I’ve had to retell it.
“I was ten when my mother got sick. My father hired the best healers from around Mescos, even those from other kingdoms, but my mother’s sickness was aggressive. No one knew how to make her better and eventually she succumbed to her illness. My father died the next day, most people say of a broken heart.”
Rose’s eyes shine with unshed tears. She surprises the hell out of me by reaching for my hand and squeezing it. It’s a reassuring touch that is meant to bring comfort, but it’s so foreign to me.
“That sounds awful. I can’t imagine losing your parents so young. Mine died when I was eighteen and it had been hard enough then. Who raised you?”
“No one.” The day my parents died was the day I became a man. I had to, there was no other choice. “There was a kingdom to lead and no king. I had to step up and take on the role.”
“Oh, Malix…”
“Don’t,” I grit out through my teeth, unable to hold back the knee-jerk reaction every time someone looks at me with pity. “I got that look plenty as a boy. I don’t need it from my wife.”
“Well too damn bad. Why do people think pity is a bad thing? It means people care and don’t think you deserve the hand life dealt you. So, I’ll look at you any way I damn well please.” There’s a delightful flush to her cheeks when she’s finished and she goes to pull her hand away, but I tighten my hold on hers.
She stiffens but ultimately relents.
“So, let me get this straight,” Rose starts. “Ender brought me here as your human mate in hope of…strengthening the barrier?”
“That’s what I have to assume. Though that will only work if we are actually mates.” Considering how she has occupied every one of my thoughts since arriving, I don’t foresee that being a problem. It’s the actual mating that gives me pause. “I can also strengthen the barrier with my entire council, but most of them have fallen victim to the curse.”
Even if I had the power of the entire council at my disposal, the barriers wouldn’t be as strong as they could be. No, that can only be achieved with a bond as strong and unbreakable as that of my parents. I’m attracted to Rose, I’ll no longer deny it, but love is not something I know. All my experiences with love have ended tragically.
“What is the curse?”
“I can show you.” I hadn’t planned on showing her, but just as well. Admittedly, Rose needs to know, despite my reluctance. It’s the only way to figure out a solution together. I search for fear in her expression, but find none, only a hard determination. With a single nod, she says, “Show me.”
Chapter 13
Rose
There’s a warning about following strange men into a new, dark location, but I can’t think of it right now. There’s no reason for me to trust my dear husband, but I do. Maybe that makes me naive, but if he wanted to hurt me, he would have done so earlier.
He needs me. He admitted as much.
We wind down a dimly lit staircase, my hand on his back. I tell myself it’s because it’s hard to see and I don’t want to miss a step and face-plant down the rest of the never-ending stairs, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Touching him brings me comfort.
“We’re almost there,” Malix assures me.
The farther we descend, the darker it gets. It also seems like the lit torches are becoming sparser and farther apart, creating limited visibility. Malix doesn’t seem affected by this and I wonder if it has to do with his dragon side. Seems like a dragon would have better visibility than a mere mortal.
“Stay close,” he says as he rounds the final turn and leads us into more darkness. Malix moves away from me and panic sinks in. Did he really bring me all the way down here to kill me? That thought is squashed in the next instant when one by one, the torches around the room illuminate.
It takes my eyes a moment to adjust and when they finally do, an involuntary gasp leaves my lips. “Holy fuck.”
The room is the size of a football field. But I can’t see the floors because nearly every inch of this space is covered with dragons. Small and large ones of various colors. The rise and fall of their chests tell me they aren’t dead, but the waxy sheen to their scales let me know they aren’t okay either.
