Page 39 of Exquisite Monster

I drove the dart home. He went limp as the dart pierced his heart. Gleym let him slip down the wall and slump to the floor. Heat built in my throat, and I sprinted for the door. I made it to the bubbling edge of the cave and fell to my knees before hurling what little was in my stomach into the water.

There was no forgetting the feeling of puncturing someone’s skin. No erasing the sensation of blood welling up against your fingers. And certainly no turning back the passage of time to the moments when I wasn’t a killer.

There was guilt, and yet there wasn’t. I chose to kill him, but Gleym would have killed him anyway. There wasn’t any dishonor in defending your own life. I would have to do it more than this. If I claimed I would do anything to get them back, then I needed to believe I would. And actually do it.

Still, my stomach roiled and wouldn’t stop heaving over the edge.

A shadow moved in the pale light falling from so far above, and I scrambled away from the edge. One of them had run out of the room. Had they gotten away and were coming back?

“Gleym.”

I ran for the door and was thrown to the ground as the beast landed behind me, shaking the stone like the land itself quaked. It was too big to be a drayg. That meant it was a dragon, and the dragons wanted me dead.

My arms were scraped from catching myself, and I forced myself to move despite growing bruises. They couldn’t burn me, but I wasn’t immune to dragon claws.

Magic shivered through the air as I ducked behind the edge of the doorway for the tiniest bit more safety.

“I hoped we’d find you in some sort of oasis, but I suppose this will have to do.”

That—

Varí’shead popped out of the bag and he stared at me like I was staring at him, before we both stepped back into the doorway and stared together.

“Idroal?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

________

KATALENA

Idroal smiled, though it was grim. “Surprise.”

“How did you find me?”

They walked forward easily, searching the space behind me, but Gleym wasn’t here yet. “We followed those soldiers once we heard they were coming after you.”

“We?”

They nodded. “We. I am relieved to find you alive, Princess. We weren’t sure.”

“Neither was I for a while.”

Idroal stiffened, and I stepped aside, sensing Gleym behind me. But there wasn’t any shock or distress on Idroal’s face. If anything, it looked like… annoyance?

“I see you’re still clinging to the bottom of the world like moss on a rock.”

“And you’re still meddling in business that doesn’t belong to you.”

A small puff of smoke came out of Idroal, like they were holding back laughter. “Good to see you too.”

Gleym said nothing.

Idroal turned and looked at me. “If I had had a choice, I would have sought you out sooner. I was bound by the Elders not to search for you, the Heirs, or for the little one.” They inclined their head towardVarí.

I looked over at Gleym expectantly, and she rolled her eyes before waving a hand in Idroal’s direction. They smirked. “My thanks for releasing that command.”

“But if you couldn’t look for me or them…”