Page 78 of Burdened Bonds

I look at the woman before me. I had illusions about making her my pet. I am stupid after all. Because she’s right and because she’s like the dragon. She can’t be owned. Not by me.

The dragon snorts and clouds of black smoke billow from her nostrils, then she spreads her wings again and rises up into the air. We watch her go, flying through the crack in the rocks and then up into the sky. She soars in a circle, golden against the dull clouds and then she’s gone.

“There’s every chance someone else will catch her,” I say.

Rhianna shrugs. “It’s beyond our control.”

She squeezes through the narrow passage in the rocks and then we follow the meandering path through the maze of skeletons. We’re halfway through when I tell her to stop, taking the bag from her shoulder and the pig from her arms, and then her hand in mine.

It takesus the rest of the day to retrace our steps and descend the mountain, the sun falling behind the peak and casting us in shadow, the light and the warmth fading away.

I don’t feel the chill though. I’m buzzing, fucking buzzing, bouncing on my toes, swinging her hand in mine, whistling under my breath.

I rode a fucking dragon.

Little rabbit let me kiss her.

I think of all the things I’ve done in my life. The first time magic sparked in my fingers. The first time I made someone hurt. The first time I watched someone die. The first time I stole a life.

Those were good days. Some of the best.

They pale in comparison to this day.

Who fucking knew making out would be better than torturing a man to death? Fuck me – that is a surprise.

Little rabbit seems happy too. Her magic all sparkly and fizzing. But the lower we get, the closer we come down to earth, the more it fades along with the light. Her hand cools in mine. Her body stiffens. Her gaze flicks around us.

I’m shit at reading people. But with her it’s different. There’s something wrong. Is she worried we’re going to be attacked?

“What’s up, little rabbit?” I ask her as the night paints the sky black above us.

“This thing between us …”

“The sex?”

“We haven’t had sex. We’re not having sex.”

“We’re going to have sex, little rabbit.”

“If we have sex … I’m not talking about sex!” She looks up at me with eyes full of fear.

“I won’t hurt you,” I tell her. “I know I said I would, but things are different now. I want to make you feel good. I like making you feel good.”

She stops. “You promise?” I open my mouth to answer her but she laughs and looks away to the ground. “Why am I even asking you? You’ll only tell me what you think I want to hear.”

I take a step towards her. “Have I ever lied to you, little rabbit?”

Her brow creases. She’s thinking. She shakes her head.

“Do you believe in fate?” she asks me.

“I’ve never really believed in anything before, little rabbit. Not the gods, not the stars, not fate. Not family or friends. Nothing. But I believe in you, little rabbit.”

“Oh shit,” she says, “I want to believe you.”

I shrug. “Then do.” She looks up into my eyes. The world tips on its axis. I see the future and the past deep in her pupils. I feel fate pull me towards her.

“Don’t let me down,” she says earnestly. And I’m going to kiss her again. Maybe pull her to the ground and make good on that promise to fuck her. But before I can, a voice calls out in the night.