Page 41 of Court of Embers (Dragonesse #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Two

M y fist closed around the curl of hair. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking deep breaths, trying to remember that panic was the enemy of plans.

I had never been so torn in my life.

I blindly pushed through the doors, stumbling back into the eyrie. Back down the steps on wooden legs, fear churning in my stomach, my lungs ice and my bones numb.

Whom to save? The thought of leaving Rhylan tore at me, my mate fallen to some unknown evil, and when he woke up—not if, when —I needed to be there.

But I envisioned Mykah, surrounded by those loyal to Yura.

Those who might share her predilections and tastes.

And I knew the little draga would be counting on us to come for her.

She could already be in the dire straits Kirana had once found herself in, clinging to the hope that she knew we were coming.

But Rhylan wasn’t coming. And without a dragon…neither could I.

My hand shook as I pushed Rhylan’s door open. Kirana had managed to roll him over, exposing the terrible welts in his back, the gods-awful things infesting his body.

She wore wyvernhide gloves that reached almost to her shoulders. Myst leaned over her, hissing through her teeth as Kirana applied pressure to one of the welts with a long metal instrument.

“It’s like no parasite I’ve seen,” she said, without looking up at me. “These are…gods, I don’t know. Utterly hostile. They actively hunt for a new host, though they seem more inclined towards the Bloodless. Rhylan’s temperature is rising—”

She finally glanced at me, taking in my bloodless face and trembling hands.

I held out my hand, unfurling my fingers to reveal the lock of curly hair.

“She has her.” Once again, my voice came out like a stranger’s, cold and distant. Thank the gods for small favors. “Yura is keeping her in Everael. I suppose she finally realized that it's time to end her games, and she went for the throat.”

Kirana stared at the lock of hair, her eyes simmering with white-hot fury.

“Would dragon blood heal Rhylan?” I asked, looking at Myst. “No lies. Would it destroy these things?”

Myst gazed at me, and there was an infinite swirl of emotions in her eyes: sympathy, regret, and iron decision.

“I will not give him my blood, nor will any other Ascendant. It might heal him—I cannot promise any further than that—but it will, for a certainty, destroy all that is human in him. You would not be bonded to a male anymore, Serafina. You would have the tattered remnants of a bond with a dragon. He would never take this form again, and his mind would descend into the primal rage, now and forever.”

I breathed in once, twice. “How certain are you?”

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt.” Myst looked down at Rhylan, her muzzle wrinkling.

“The dragons have tried this all before. When we give our blood to a Bloodless, we are infusing our essence with a distinctly non-draconic being. The males, being closer to the essence of the Father, gain our forms. The females, being of Naimah’s ilk, receive the gift of mind-speech. And over time, the blood thins.”

Kirana and I both stared at her. My nails dug into my palms, threatening to pierce flesh, Mykah’s hair like a brand against my skin.

“Drinking our blood…to receive the gift of a dragon’s essence, when you already contain that essence in your veins, however diluted by the passage of time…

you come closer to your source. Your progenitors.

Kirana drew closer to Naimah and her Daughters…

and Rhylan would become closer to Larivor, a man no more. ”

She met my eyes again. “You would not be doing him a favor.”

“So…so all I can do is wait.” I bit down on a sob, my throat aching, and didn’t speak again until I’d swallowed the tears back. “Wait and see if he lives or dies.”

Myst drifted forward, coiling around me. “He is of strong stock, a powerful scion. He stands a chance, Serafina.”

I stood by his bed, desperately wanting to touch him, and not daring to.

“But Mykah doesn’t,” I said softly. “She’s in enemy hands. We could storm Everael Eyrie with our forces…but I fear that’s exactly what Yura wants. She would slaughter Mykah before we made it inside their walls.”

Myst brushed my hand as she swam through the air, giving me a sidelong glance.

“But if one or two were to slip in…we have a chance to find her.” I looked at Kirana, whose lips were set in a firm line, and then at my Ascendant. “Myst, make me a Naga.”

Myst smiled, all teeth. “I should not, Serafina. I am the creator of your bloodline. Better to have a new, fresh essence, the better to strengthen your line.”

I looked at her, and finally tucked the lock of hair away in the chest pocket of my leathers, next to the bottle of distilled Varyamar jasmine I still wore.

“Erebos, then. One way or another, I end this day as a Naga, and I’m going after her. Kirana, if you protest this, now is the time.”

She gazed at me, golden eyes burning, and shook her head. “This is a war. We do what we need to do.”

I nodded briskly. Better not to think about it. I didn’t want to consider the ramifications, that I would never eat food again without tasting ashes, that wine would be so much water.

I didn’t want to think about how my mouth was watering at the thought of a dragon’s blood, when I thought I’d destroyed that craving.

“Erebos,” I whispered, and to my surprise, the dark shadows around Rhylan’s bed coalesced into being, the dragon flowing forth from the shadows. “You were here this whole time.”

“To keep vigil over my child.” Erebos hovered over him, claws flexing. “He reeks of the Primoris. You must put an end to this.”

“That’s the plan.” I steeled myself, knowing my life would change from this day forward, but for Rhylan and Mykah, it would be worth it. “Erebos, will you gift me your blood, and make me Naga?”

The great dragon turned his head, jewels glimmering, and looked at me. “Why, Serafina, I have been waiting for you to ask.”

I twitched a little, glancing at Myst. “Was this your plan?”

She coiled delicately around Kirana again.

“To violate the Law, to transgress against my brethrens’ wishes, and to create Naga and allow the Daughters to walk the earth once more?

Of course. I have told you my suspicions, and the blood has grown weak and thin.

We must now do what we once vowed to never do again. ”

“I’ve been waiting. You’ve already tasted my blood,” Erebos said gently, coming to me. “It was only a matter of time before you lost the battle of will and came to me. But Myst has appealed to our brothers and sisters.”

“This earth has gone too long without Larivor and Naimah’s presence, and yet the taint of the Outsider remains.

With every generation, our children grow weaker against her lingering threat.

It is long past time that we return to our roots.

You will be stronger for it,” Myst added.

“Your children, and my entire House, will be stronger for it.”

“Come.” Erebos flowed to the door, leading me to my old quarters. “Better to let my child rest peacefully, and fight the Primoris in his sleep, unbothered by your cries. This will be painful, Sera.”

“I can handle pain.” What I couldn’t handle was Rhylan dying, with no way of touching him, or letting Mykah be skinned alive, the hope of rescue dying in her heart with every second that passed.

I looked down at Rhylan, one hand reaching for him, but Kirana caught my wrist. “No,” she said quietly. “Gods only know how this parasite travels; better to be safe. And steel yourself, Sera. He isn’t lying. This will be the worst pain you’ve ever felt.”

I nodded, sending feelings of peace and love through the bond, even though Rhylan wasn’t on the other end.

Then I strode to my quarters, closing the door and locking it behind me.

“No cups, no goblets. We will do this as Naimah did with her chosen daughters: with tooth and claw.” Erebos sat before me, his mass lessened, but he was still an imposing figure.

Myst followed me, a spirit of iridescence in my wake. “If I recall correctly from past experiments…it will not take long. Kirana was mortally wounded when she drank my blood. Erebos’s blood will be working on a strong, healthy body, and you will likely come out the other side forged anew.”

“Likely?” I whispered. Though I was afraid, I was committed to this course.

To save my mate and my ward, I needed the strength of a dragon.

“It is not a perfect process. It is not without its dangers.” Myst tapped my forehead with a claw. “But I am one of the eldest, and I was there when the Daughters walked the earth.”

For once, Erebos didn’t snipe back at her. He looked at me gravely. “Are you prepared, Sera?”

I nodded. No hesitation. No doubts.

“Then come, and take my blood.”

With tooth and claw. He raised his arm, and without hesitation, I dug my nails beneath his scales, ripping him open.

It felt wrong to do such a thing to an Ascendant, and yet, as the flesh parted beneath his scales, I tore more eagerly, my mouth watering with anticipation.

I lowered my head, his scales cutting at my mouth even as I tore into him with my teeth, and then—oh sweet gods. The nectar I craved, the fire of his blood, filling my mouth.

It burned. It sank into my wounds, slipped down my throat and filled my stomach with coals. The heat of it spread through my veins, the strength of a dragon flooding me—

Too hot. The fire wasn’t content to simmer, but began to ignite, burning, scorching through my veins and blackening them to ash—

I gulped, taking as much as I could, even as a cry slipped out of me. My mouth was wet with blood, and yet burning. Gods, my skin had to be charred, I was nothing but an inferno, my breath stolen to be turned into smoke and sparks…

I collapsed, and felt claws pry my mouth open. Didn’t they see I was burning? How could Myst think to do this, when I was already ashes?

The agony was… too much.