Page 109 of I Dream of Dragons

“They impair your ability to think.”

“Why are you being like this? I thought you liked me! And him.”

“That is neither here nor there. An emotional attachment to you could make him stronger.”

“Could it? That’s not what I heard.”

“He can’t overthrow me. I won’t let him. I won’t lose sight of my goal. I won’t let you sidetrack me. Pretty and courageous as you may be, I can’t let you seduce him.”

I fist my hands at my sides. “Isn’t it too late for that? He cares for me. You said it yourself.”

“He does,” he admits.

“But you don’t care for him, do you? The king told me to deny him so he would go insane and let you take over permanently. Did you know about that?”

His face goes still. “The king said that?”

“Yes!”

His mouth twists. “You’re lying to me. The king knows that if Jai goes insane, then I won’t survive inside his head.”

“I’m not lying to you. I swear it. The king doesn’t care if either of you survives in the end. He only wants you to gain full power, even for a day, and open the gates for him. He isn’t your friend, Phaethon.”

He’s silent, obviously mulling over what I revealed to him, and I take advantage to push him more.

“Stop thinking of the king as your ally. Even if you survived Jai going insane…” I swallow hard, my heart hurting at the thought. “Have you considered that opening a gate will aid him in his ambitious plans to invade your home world? Is that what you want? Aren’t your people safer with him trapped here, far away from them?”

“We are a powerful people,” he says slowly. “We aren’t scared of the fae.”

“And yet you were imprisoned for a long time, if memory serves. You can be defeated, and seeing how he treated the occupants of this world, what do you think he’ll do once he gets there? Probably try to wipe you out.”

“He can’t do that,” Phaethon says, still in that slow, pensive tone. “He doesn’t have such power.”

“He wants wings. He wants your wings, your dragons. He wants you and your people to serve his interests. Look at what he’s doing already: he’s controlling you. Making decisions without consulting you. Placing your life and sanity at risk, alongside Jai’s. He won’t let you act freely, no.”

“A balance is necessary.”

“Heis controlling that balance. Not you.Heis deciding when to stop biting and aiding Jai, when to get me to push him beyond his limits, when to force you into doing his bidding.”

“That’s strategy.”

“That’s manipulation. That’s a king who doesn’t care about what you or Jai want, who doesn’t care if either of you survives, only interested in that gate you can open for him.”

“Says you. The woman who professes to love that king. That he is your long-lost love.”

“Gods, it’s so annoying that you only hear the parts I don’t want you to hear.”

“Vexing, isn’t it?” He smirks.

“Well, hear this. I don’t love the king. And he’s not my long-lost love, either.”

He’s gazing at me, a crease between his dark brows as if trying to figure me out. “You are drawing away from him.”

“He’s a monster.”

“We are all monsters here.”

“That’s not true. And for a monster, you seem to have a decent heart.”