Page 44 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

If Helena did not know any better, she could have sworn he whimpered.

This magnificent being, from histories so old some considered them legends, was whimpering at her feet.

A low, whining sound emanated from the Dragon’s closed mouth.

She scooted forward, grimacing as she went, reaching out for Atlas.

She touched her dark grey palm to a single scale, larger than her hand, between his two large nostrils.

The Dragon blinked his eyes. Helena felt a chirp of delighted surprise in her head.

She realised it was not her emotion. It was his.

“What was that, Atlas?” she asked in surprise.

You felt me?

“I did,” Helena replied.

I have not had a kind touch with another in tens of thousands of years, he explained. I had forgotten what it is like.

The Dragon shifted his chin forward slightly more so he could lean into her palm further. He closed his eyes, and a rumbling hum came from his throat.

Helena exhaled heavily through her nose.

My stupid heart. She pitied the Dragon, desperately.

He saved me, he says. His magic is keeping me alive, he claims. If I bring him with me, I will live.

I want to be with my family. I want El home.

I want to be with Lance. I want to play with the twins.

I want to joke with Rose. I want to live.

She pinched her nose with her free hand and rubbed.

Her head was throbbing and the skin across her forehead felt tight with blisters.

Helena closed her good eye and fumbled around inside her whirling thoughts.

There was something new there. It was not from her.

A fragile golden thread was tied to Helena’s mind.

She knew exactly where the other end led.

She imagined plucking it like a fiddle string.

She felt emotions not her own. Helena rummaged through feelings of desperation, determination, and loneliness.

Then she felt another one: honesty. The clear tone of truthfulness resonated from the plucked golden thread.

Helena’s eye fluttered open. “How do we get out of here, Atlas?”

Your Siren’s magic has torn an opening. I believe if you step through it, you will be returned to your body there.

“Believe?” she asked.

I have not exactly done this before.

Helena sighed. “Of course. I suppose this is a unique circumstance. If the me that’s here goes back to my body there… why can’t you go back to your body in… Midgard?”

Atlas opened his eyes. My body there died, Helena. A long time ago.

My body is there. My body is here. I don’t understand this.

I have an idea of how it works. I have had nothing but time to think about it.

It is all just theory, but my kind is known for our brilliant minds and for our ability to travel between the branches that link the worlds.

If versions of us do not exist in another world, our consciousness forms a repeat of its point of origin.

It is why I came here wounded from my imprisonment. It is why your injuries remained.

Helena nodded along like she understood anything the Dragon just said and then she froze. “Did you just reply to my thoughts?”

Yes.

Helena squeezed her eye shut, grinding her teeth with irritation as she went back over their conversation so far. She realised he had been partially answering both her verbal questions and thoughts the entire time.

She opened her eye, squinting up at him. So… I do not even need to speak aloud?

No. This is what it will be like when I come with you.

I will hear your inner voice when you speak to me.

Atlas shifted his giant head from Helena’s touch and coiled it around her back.

He pressed her lightly there. She could not tell if it was a Dragon version of a hug, or if he was encouraging her to stand, or perhaps both.

The curse will kill you if I do not balance it out and keep it at bay.

If you pass through the tear and I do not stay in your head, you will die.

If you leave without me, I will die. The moment he used his magic and my flame to deliver the killing curse to you, he tied us together.

“How do we get to this opening?” Helena asked.

Her mind was reeling from this information.

Her head spun with thoughts of new worlds, consciousness, internal voices, and a Dragon in her head.

She had no doubt that Atlas spoke the truth after she felt honesty travel down the fragile gold thread between them.

Helena knew she had a chance. She could go back to her daughter, her partner, and the rest of her family.

She and Lance could build the life they dreamed of together.

Too many thoughts. She breathed out heavily. In this situation, I should just do the next right thing.

Yes, Atlas replied.

“We will have a discussion about privacy at some point.” Helena chuckled weakly, which turned into a hacking cough, spitting up ash. “Where do we go?”

I saw the blue rip far on the horizon. We must walk, the Dragon said, pushing Helena gently with his head. He sighed happily. It has been so long since I have seen the colour blue.