Page 8 of Exquisite Monster

Is there something to combat it?

I didn’t need to specify what. Though the protection was severe, we’d never worried about the consequences because it was so hard to make. The humans could create enough to protect themselves, but not enough to launch an offensive.

Now Andaros had three of the most powerful dragons in existence. He didn’t need to tell us why he was doing it, but it was clear Craisos had more power than we’d realized.

I don’t know, Endre said.If there is, then someone like Idroal or Mesene might know about it, or be able to find it.

If we ever saw them again. Or could get a message to them. But the reality was that scalefire was a closely guarded secret, and at the time the knowledge had been gifted to humans, all dragons knowing the way to nullify it made the gift useless. It was more likely no one knew, if it existed at all.

Shutting the thoughts down, I braced against the roiling pain of nausea flowing through my body before hurling fire in front of me.

He’s here with me.

Well out of the range of fire, I assume?

He was. As much as I hated the man, he was no fool. Well… he was. But even fools had a sense of self-preservation.

Another burst of fire and pain started. Fire was at the center of our very souls, but even we weren’t meant to wield it without rest.

The chains, I said.Are they breakable?

I haven’t had the strength to try.Ender’s frustration bled through his tone.Not that I can.

They are breakable. Zovai sounded groggy.Meltable. Or at least they would be if I could fight back. They saw me testing them, so they might have switched them out while I was unconscious.

Andaros watched me carefully between my bouts of forced vomiting, like he suspected my mind wasn’t fully present. He could go fuck himself.

Are you all right?Endre asked Z.

They have me on my knees now. Pretty immobile. Am I all right? No. But I’m alive.

I understood the sentiment. I wasn’t all right either. I was pushing away the pulsing pain in my chest—separation from my mate. And more, not knowing what hadhappenedto her. What had Andaros done to her? Was he…

Snapping my thoughts away from my darkest fears, I glared at the king who watched. His face was still blurry, but I could see enough. He smirked, as if he knew exactly where my thoughts had gone.

“You’re more docile than I imagined,” he said. “But I suppose a dragon’s reaction to the death of its mate would all be different. Your other… I suppose I don’t know what to call your merry little band.” His tone dripped disdain. “They were very different.”

The poison forcing my body to breathe fire kept me from showing my shock, thank the Fallen. They couldn’t hear Andaros.

He thinks she’s dead, I managed.Lena.He just told me all our reactions to her death were different.

Relief was a cooling balm to my pain, both mental and physical. If Andaros thought Lena was dead, then he didn’t have her. He wasn’t torturing her or forcing himself on her as some sort of sick revenge on both her and us.

Where is she?Zovai asked.

She was alive. We could feel it. But that was all we felt. We couldn’t know if she waswell. Simply alive. There were many things that could have befallen her and her still be alive. But for the moment I chose to believe that she was alive, healthy, and safe.

I couldn’t stand it otherwise.

Even if he gives us the opportunity to speak,I said.If he thinks she’s dead and realizes she isn’t, he might go after her to make sure he finishes the job. But if he tried to kill her in order to break us, we can make sure to use it to our advantage.

Z’s laugh echoed roughly.What few there are.

Heaving in a breath, my body released the last of its fire, and I hung from the chains. Much like when the body was actually sick, it was easy to sense when there was no more to expel.

The mask which held my mouth open prevented me from speaking, so Andaros was really only here for his own amusement.

For centuries we have had to bow to Elders who hated us because we refused to submit to them for the sake of their power and approval.Beneath Endre’s words I heard cold determination. Something which had hardened and would not break.I will not bow to this. We have found our mate, and I don’t care if I have to break the laws of the world itself to be free of the Elder’s control, I will find a way.