Page 106 of I Dream of Dragons

“Why not? You said he’s not distracting you. He can’t be that important to you.”

“He’s not… It’s different. Oh Gods. Please, don’t ask this of me.”

She drags herself toward me on powerful arms. “Then step out of the way and let us finish him off.”

I snarl right back. “I already said no.”

“You can’t just flout the queen’s commands. Beware, girl. The third trial is the trial of water, and he will be at our mercy anyway. Better grant him a mercy kill now so he won’t suffer.”

“No!” I inch closer, terrified that any moment now she will grab him again and jump into the sea with him in her clutches. “Tell Queen Amphitrite I said no.”

“You want to incur the wrath of the sea queen right before a trial in the sea? What is going on here? What is Athdara to you?”

“Nothing.”

The other mermaids are still as statues. And Jai still isn’t moving. I step toward him. I don’t trust Alys, and he’s vulnerable right now.

“You say you won’t kill him. If your betrothed finds out…”

“I am not betrothed to Lord Psamanth yet, and I don’t care about the queen’s political alliances. Things have changed.” I swallow hard. “She never lifted the spell off me. Tell her that I won’t forget this.”

“You go seeking trouble.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“No, my business is to end him.” And she lunges sideways, reaching for Jai once more.

I lunge, too, blocking her once more. “You don’t touch him. Not ever again.”

The other mermaid is slithering away. She dives into the sea. Several splashes tell me more mermaids have been climbing the rocks to reach us and are now returning to the water.

Alyss hisses. “I can’t promise you not to touch him. And the queen will not be happy to know you have formed an attachment to her detriment.”

“I have not!”

“Your protectiveness of him says otherwise.” She turns, dragging herself away, her long tail leaving a shimmering wet trail on the flagstones. “You love him.”

“No.”

“You’re willing to fight the queen of the sea on his behalf. You act as if you’ve loved him all your life.”

And casting me one last sour look, she slides through the gap in the balustrade and jumps into the sea.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

RAE

Abandoning my dagger on the ground, I fall to my knees, then crawl to where Jai is lying on his stomach.

The fear is back, closing a hard fist around my heart.

“Jai?” I whisper. Is he breathing? My own lungs have ceased working. I grab his shoulders and push. It takes a lot of work to roll him over and it’s only in the last moment that I think to cradle his head before it smacks into the cracked paved floor.

He’s breathing. Thank the sleeping Gods for that.

The rise and fall of his broad chest is shallow. Immediately, I search for an injury, and the only new injury I discover, apart from fresh blood on his thigh wound from the trial, is a bump on his head.

Relieved, enough to draw breath, I sit on the floor and settle his head in my lap, grabbing my dagger for good measure and pointing it at whatever new monster decides to come after us.