Page 4 of Exquisite Monster

The hold on my body released, and we plunged downward. I grabbed forVarí, and he wrapped himself around my arm, clinging to me just in time for us both to crash beneath the warm, bubbling surface.

Before I could even try to swim, an invisible force wrapped around me, pulling me back out and dropping me onto wet black rock. I sputtered for breath, aching with the impact and the reality that I wasn’t dead.

I wasn’t dead.

Sagging on the stone, I hauled in damp, shaking breaths.

I wasn’t dead.

My mates weren’t dead either. Where their bond lived within me had faded, but it wasn’t broken. If asked how I knew, I wouldn’t be able to articulate the words, but I knew.

Varíreleased me and flopped onto the stone beside me, his little chest heaving just as hard. He blinked at me and closed his eyes.

“Whatever you said,” I whispered, “thank you.”

“He said you were the mate to the Heirs of the dragons and he would defend you until his death, even if that meant going against the Elders themselves.”

Spinning, I saw a woman standing over me. Anoldwoman. Older than Ellemar with her fabric hoard. Her hair was silver and braided down her back. She leaned on a dark staff nearly as tall as she was, and though she was old, there was nothing frail about her. Her back was straight, her stance steady. There was no doubt in my mind that she was just as strong as she’d always been.

Her eyes glowed violet in the darkness, power tangible in the air all around us. It shivered against my skin.

Slowly, her gaze rolled overVaríand me, taking in our disheveled state. Her lips flattened, and she jerked her head, as if I was meant to follow her.

“Try not to drip too much,” she said with a scowl. “I still haven’t decided whether or not to eat you.”

She disappeared into the velvet darkness, leavingVaríand me staring at each other before we both scrambled to follow.

CHAPTER THREE

________

KATALENA

Iwrung my skirt out with my hands before we got too far, conscious of the dragon’s command not to drip too much. The dress…

My breath hitched. Not long ago I’d put this dress on for them, to celebrate. It was now damp, torn, and dirty. How long had I been falling into Evrítha? How long had it been since they took my mates away from me?

The sharp echo of the dragon’s staff kept moving ahead of us.Varístayed on my shoulder, claws kneading into my skin like he needed the reassurance I was there just as much as I needed him with me.

“Who—” I swallowed, trying to make my voice more solid. “Who are you?”

“Does it matter?”

I shoved the nerves in my chest down. This was no different from that day when I stood in front of my mates and told them I was ready to die, because there was very little choice in the matter.

This was where I stood. I needed to face whatever was in front of me if I wanted to make it out of here and back to them. Fear didn’t serve me. Nerves didn’t serve me.

“Perhaps it doesn’t,” I said. “But I always prefer to know who I’m speaking with. My name is Katalena Isabel Arslan Savea. I was once Crown Princess of Gleira, and am now the bonded mate to the Heirs of the dragons.”

A low, snorting sound. “Quite the title, girl. Do you run out of breath when introducing yourself?”

I laughed under my breath. If only she knew how many times I’d fought for something simpler. The next words gave me an aching sense of repetition and longing for the three dragons who’d changed my life so quickly. “I prefer to be called Lena.”

We passed under an archway of dark stone, like it had simply crumbled that way and remained. Or perhaps it had been broken on purpose.

There was so little light I questioned whether I was really seeing anything until we passed through.

The violet glow I’d seen as I approached the bottom lived here too. Buteverywhere. Beneath my feet, damp moss clung to the rocks and glowed, becoming brighter as we passed. Trees and even flowersbloomed, alight with a glow that made it seem opposite of the world above. The light now came from within everything.