Page 62 of Courting the Dragon Prince (A Royal Arrangement #1)

Chapter Sixty-Two

L uther squeezed his eyes shut. His fingernails dug into his scalp. “Buried and dead,” Luther muttered. “Buried and dead.” He sucked in short, sharp gasps of breath.

As he’d heard the stone split, terror singed his nerves. Luther had looked up and seen the rock falling towards him.

Luther’s past had finally caught up to him. Like a reckoning.

Images flittered before his closed eyes, one after the other. He flew through a tunnel, wings beating. He heard the crack of rock. He glanced back. The cave ceiling crumbled and crashed into those who’d followed him.

“Buried and dead.” Luther curled in on himself. “All of them, buried and dead,” Luther whispered. “And now I join my brethren. Now I meet them beneath stone in death.” He rocked back and forth.

“Luther!” Onyx shouted.

Luther opened his eyes and lifted his head. But nothing changed. Darkness surrounded him. “I’m dead. This is my afterlife. My damnation. An eternity beneath the rock.” His voice shook.

“No!” Onyx’s hands, warm and firm, squeezed Luther’s arms.

“No? No.” Because of course, why would Onyx be here? Why would this be Onyx’s afterlife? He didn’t deserve an eternity buried beneath stone. That was what Luther had earned.

Luther blinked. But it made no difference. Whether his eyes opened or closed, the space around him remained black. “Then where are we?”

“My uncle collapsed the outcropping on top of us,” Onyx said.

A soft cry fell from Luther’s lips.

Onyx stroked his arms. “It’s all right. I managed to stop the rock from crushing us. I created a pocket beneath it. I’m maintaining the pocket. Nothing will fall on us. I won’t let it.”

Luther stretched and reached up above him with his arms, trying not to put weight on his smashed and aching leg. He pressed his palms against cold, hard, unrelenting rock. He slid his hands and fingers along the jagged, rough stone. A whimper escaped him.

It surrounded them. Surrounded them on all sides. He could feel the earth bearing down on him, weighing him down. His breath came faster.

“No way out. Buried alive,” Luther whispered. “Not dead yet. But soon. Buried alive.” He looked around. He blinked at nothingness. Nothingness and darkness. This was his death. His tomb.

The laughter started in his belly, bursting up out his throat.

“Luther,” Onyx gripped his arms.

“A fitting death.” Luther laughed and laughed until he felt dizzy and weak. “I escaped it once, but now it has caught up with me.” He laughed, hunching over, hands pressed to the earth.

“Luther!”

This would be his eternal resting spot. He laughed until tears ran down his face and dripped onto the dirt and the backs of his hands. “This is the death I deserve.”

“No.” Onyx squeezed his arms. “Don’t speak like that.” Onyx wrapped his arms around Luther, holding him against his chest. “This is not the death you deserve.”

“I led them to their?—”

“I know,” Onyx said so softly. “I know.” Onyx pressed kisses to his hair and face. “I know what you did. I heard all your words, your confession.” Onyx rained more soft kisses on Luther.

Luther tilted his head back, welcoming Onyx’s kisses on his face like raindrops on parched soil.

“So many died in the war, Luther. So many pointless deaths,” Onyx said.

Luther let himself sag against Onyx. If they were going to die, he’d take what comfort he could from the man he loved.

“I never led anyone during the war,” Onyx said softly. “But I know many who did. I know that small, insignificant decisions can lead to horrific outcomes and to so many deaths. You can’t be blamed for the death of the people you were in charge of.”

“I—” Luther began to argue.

“You tried to make up time so you could support the others,” Onyx pressed. “You made a decision. People died because of it. That’s war. It’s wretched. It’s horrid. But that’s what war is.” Onyx stroked Luther’s hair. “Before my mother lost herself to grief, I know she made decisions that led to thousands of deaths, for soldiers and civilians. My uncle did too. That’s war.”

Luther let his eyes drift shut, leaning into Onyx.

“That’s why the war has to stop. So people can stop dying pointlessly. So all the pain, the killing, the stupid fucking deaths, so all of it can just stop. That’s why we need this peace treaty.” Onyx’s hand stroked Luther’s back. “And I think you need to let all the blame you put on yourself go. Or at least try.

“That day, when we left the Mystic Mountain Temple to support the Voltaria army, someone suggested I stay back because my place was by my sister’s side,” Onyx said.

Luther opened his eyes. He hadn’t heard this part of the story.

“I didn’t want to stay back and sit around. I wanted to be part of the fight. After all, I was a warrior. So I left my sister.” Onyx let the words linger in the air.

“I have no idea if it would have changed anything. Perhaps me being there would have altered the day and she would have lived. But most probably, we both would have died defending the temple side by side.” Onyx paused. “I would not have left her to face the enemy alone, and she would not have left me. I’ll never know if my decision made a difference.”

“I’m glad you didn’t die that day,” Luther said.

Onyx paused. “I’m glad you didn’t either.”

“Even though I destroyed your temple?” As soon as Luther spoke the words, he wished he could take them back. He shouldn’t have reminded Onyx about that.

Onyx rested his head against Luther’s. “I don’t want to be angry with you or blame you for things that happened during the war. I’m sorry for what I said,” Onyx said softly. “I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad I met you, married you, and fell in love with you.”

Luther let out a breath, allowing Onyx’s words to wash over him and warm his entire being. He clutched at Onyx.

“It’s such a mess. It’s all such a fucking mess.” Onyx sighed. “We are making peace with the enemy. We literally were trying to kill each other not that long ago. And now … here we are.”

Luther wished he could look into Onyx’s face once more before he died. “Now here we are, married, in love, buried beneath stone, and about to run out of air and die.”

“No.” Onyx squeezed him. “We aren’t defeated yet.”

Luther huffed. “I had no idea you were such an optimist. I thought we were resolving our issues before we died in each other’s arms.”

“I mean, I can get this stone off us. I can get us free. Earth elemental, remember?” Onyx released Luther.

“Oh.” Somehow Luther had completely forgotten in his panic. “Of course. Why haven’t you done that, then?”

“Well, my uncle and the others are still out there. I have no idea what Warden Flint is doing. He won’t be able to tell if we are alive or dead under here. At some point, I assume he’ll start trying to dig us up to find out. So we should make a move soon.” Onyx paused. “I have a plan. It’s not a good one. But …” Onyx trailed off.

“A bad plan is better than no plan,” Luther said. “Let’s hear it.”

“How’s your leg?” Onyx asked. “Is it bleeding badly?”

“It hurts. A lot. I’m pretty sure the bone is broken,” Luther said. “I can’t walk or stand. But I don’t think the skin actually broke that much. So I don’t think I’ll bleed to death, at least.”

“That’s something,” Onyx said. “Can you fly on a broken leg?”

“I don’t need my legs to fly. Just my wings.” Although, Luther knew he wasn’t supposed to shift with a broken bone. “But I still can’t shift. Shackles. Remember?” Luther lifted and shook his manacled wrists. The chain rattled.

Onyx didn’t answer him. “What about with broken wrists or hands? Do you need your hands for flying?”

“Nooo,” Luther said, drawing the word out. “Onyx, what are you planning? Are you going to cut my hands off?”

Luther paused. “I guess cutting off my hands is actually not the worst idea. Losing two hands to get the shackles off is better than dying here. Although, I’d probably bleed to death. How are you going to cut my hands off anyway?”

Luther glanced around in the darkness. Of course, he could still see nothing. “Is the dagger in here? I had one of them when I was running but dropped it when they hit me with the rock.”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t see it before the rock avalanche.” Onyx shuffled around. His fingers touched Luther’s. “But that isn’t my plan.” Onyx held Luther’s hands. “However, since you seem open to getting your hands cut off, you’ll hopefully be open to my plan.”

“The uncertainty in your voice does not make me feel confident.”

Onyx let out a breathy laugh. “That’s fair. To be honest, I’m not feeling particularly confident.”

Luther held his breath, waiting for Onyx to continue. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes in the darkness to no avail.

“I can try and break these cuffs off using my power,” Onyx said.

Luther frowned. “Can you control metal?”

“I can’t. But I plan to try and smash the shackles with rocks,” Onyx explained. “Using force, I can bring down a stone onto the shackles. But I might injure you in the process.”

Onyx rubbed the skin of Luther’s wrist beneath the shackles. “As I’ve told you, I’ve never been that precise with my power. I’m a brute-force type of earth elemental. So I might use too much force and bring the rock down too hard. I could end up crushing your wrists.”

Luther blew out slowly. “Well, if I’m going to be visiting a healer for my leg, why not get my smashed-up wrists fixed at the same time?” Luther gave a weak laugh.

“I’ll try my hardest not to harm you. Obviously. But honestly, my strength lies in just smashing with rocks at full force.”

Luther flinched, imagining the full force of Onyx’s power pulverising his wrists.

“I’m sorry,” Onyx said softly.

“Don’t be.” Luther shook his head. “So we get the shackles off, fingers crossed, with minimally crushed wrists, then what?”

“I’ll knock back all these rocks around us; they’ll erupt outwards, and we’ll be free,” Onyx said. “I’ll be good at that. It will require lots of brute force. Then you shift as soon as you have enough space. Then we fight and fly the fuck out of here.”

“All right. I’ll burn them all with dragonfire,” Luther pledged. “So let’s go. Let’s smash these shackles,” Luther said with more confidence than he felt.