Page 112 of Entwined

“They can’t,” Freya says. “You must make it for them.”

It hurts.

Worse than the demons taking bites, more than the lava burning through my skin, my muscle, and into my bone. It hurts more than losing myself—making this life-altering, binding decision that will take from the earth dragons something vital.

“I don’t know them well enough to decide,” I say.

“They won’t all agree,” Freya says. “You’ll be a savior to some and a monster to others. That is always the case.”

“What about the fire dragons, the water dragons, and the electro dragons? What happens to them when they can’t eat the earth dragons anymore?”

Freya shrugs. “Unknown.”

I can’t decide.

But I must.

Gordon and Rufus are being eaten, even now. “If I choose to restore them, will they be safe?” I think about Sammy and his love for Gordon. “The earth dragons will be able to bond humans and care for them, too?”

No more games of cards, but Gordon won’t be chained to the ground at the foot of Sammy’s cage. They won’t be weak—they’ll once again be strong.

Freya nods. “They’ll be as the others. No shifting, no groveling, no being consumed or mistreated.”

But the dragons are here to regain their ability to procreate.

“You’re the heart—now that I’ve found you, can they all regain their ability to have offspring?”

Freya points at Gordon and Rufus. “The decision you are set to make now is placed before you. Sufficient the day the sacrifice presented.”

“What about the demons?” I ask. “If I restore the earth dragons, will they be freed?”

“I keep them here,” she says. “The earth blessed sacrifice fueled it, but they will yet remain.”

It feels like a curse either way. They’ll either continue as they are, weak and abused, but able to procreate, or they’ll become strong like their brethren, but lose that chance at a future. They chose the initial sacrifice, if Freya is to be believed. They chose the weaker part, to trap the demons here in this place.

I shouldn’t take that from them.

But Axel is their leader, and I’m not at all sure what happens when life resumes. If he’s weak, if he’s partially human, I might be able to win him over again. I might be able to restore what I’ve lost.

In coming here, he disclosed his secret.

When we return, he’ll be seen as weak. Hyperion already does see him that way. There’s one way I can protect him from that liability, while simultaneously sealing off my chance at ever winning him back. I should be thinking about the earth dragons as a whole and what they would want.

But I can’t think of anyone but Axel. I never have been able to make the decision that’s right when the decision that’s right for my loved ones is an alternative.

So I choose to skin the innocent child, just as a monster should.

“Fine,” I say. “I choose strength. Restore them all—make them powerful like the others.”

“Interesting,” Freya says.

And then there’s a flash so blinding that I can see nothing but light.

25

Axel

When I’m expelled from the burning place, my oldest brother’s waiting for me.