Page 28 of Exquisite Monster

The old man stared at Andaros, seemingly in horror. “You didn’t put a blade in her heart?”

“I thought it might be overkill. With that kind of fall, I’m sure there’s nothing left of her.”

“Or you were once again a fucking fool,” the man spat at my feet.

In a fraction of a second the prince—no, he was akingnow, as he liked to remind us—had the man up against the wall with a blade at his throat. “What did you say to me?”

“You claimed to have killed its mate and have kept it underground for more than a moon cycle. This dragon should beferalwith rage. Distraught from the breaking of its bond and lack of access tothe sky. Yet here it stands, calm and steady, as if it is a human prisoner accused of a crime.”

I watched Andaros’s face grow thunderous, and even though this old man was clearly my enemy, I admired his strength and bravery with steel about to pierce his skin.

“Be careful with your words, Nelis.”

The old man pushed Andaros’s knife away and glared at him before looking at the guards. “Get out.”

When they hesitated, Andaros nodded, leaving the three of us alone. I didn’t bother to pretend I wasn’t listening. How much would they say in front of me? If they were going to give me information, I wasn’t going to interrupt them.

Nelis turned on the king, eyes filled with rage. “Be careful with my words? Be careful with your actions. You should have simply broken the girl’s neck. Because she is not dead.” He pointed at me. “Mating bonds are in the soul. If its soul had been ripped out, it would not act like this.”

I didn’t want them confirming Lena was alive. We didn’t know what had happened to her, but Andaros hunting her down to finish the job couldn’t happen. “Don’t presume to know me, old man,” I said, putting every measure of pain and grief I could into my voice. “Or how I would react toanything.”

“Oh, but I do know your kind.”

“No human has known my kind in centuries, other than my mate. Mydeadmate.” Even the word on my tongue felt like acid.

All he did was smile, like he had every bit of knowledge he needed about us. I already knew it wasn’t true, given he believed not seeing the sky would eventually kill a dragon or drive them mad. But his smile was laced with both disgust and hatred. I’d been on the receiving end of enough looks filled with those same emotions to understand them.

This Nelis thought he could frighten me with this expression? Try being on Varreo’s bad side.

He turned on a heel and stormed out of the cell. Andaros followed, closing and locking the door behind him. Whatever their intent had been when they entered, it seemed I’d been given a reprieve.

I held back my snort of derision when the man began to speak just outside. He knew our kind, yet he didn’t think we could hear his voice through a single wall? Or perhaps he intended me to hear. But the urgency in his tone didn’t lead me to think so.

“Andaros—”

“I don’t care what room we are in and who we are in front of, Nelis. Even if it is the fucking prisoner. You will treat me with respect. Or have you forgotten I’m your king now?”

“A king with grand plans that are going tofailif you don’t listen.”

“She’s dead. There was no one else for miles around, and there’s nothing at the bottom. Even if Katalena managed to stop her fall somehow, she was not strong enough to climb back out. And the only three dragons who would rescue her arehere.”

That wasn’t true either, but they didn’t know that.

Sirrus?Zovai asked.

Hold.

“That woman is not dead,” Nelis said. Their voices began to fade as they walked away, and I strained to hear as much as I could. “There are writings about witnessing the death of a dragon’s mate. Whole swaths of forest were burned in their grief and rage. Notthis.” He hissed in a whisper. “If you want to break them enough to control them, you need to find the mate and finish the job.”

“She isdead.”

A sound, like the old man had knocked something in the hallway over. It paused their progress away from me. “You’re still not thinking, Andaros.”

“You’re coming dangerously close,” the king warned.

“To what? To you executing me in a fit of rage? Everyone around you is always close to that. Don’t forget how long I’ve known you, and despite what you think, I am trying to help.”

The silence that followed was long. And deadly.