Page 131 of I Dream of Dragons

The king has lifted his hand, stopping the lashings.

Then, after a small eternity, Jai lifts his head. His eyes are flecked with burning gold.

“You will not kill Jai,” he says, his voice deep and clanging. “You need me, and I need him. So cease before I change my mind.”

“You need me, too,” the king says, “Phaethon.”

Phaethon wrenches his hands free of the bonds. The vines snap and fall to the flagstones, writhing, then falling still. “Are you so sure about that?”

The king’s expression is haughty. “We have to talk.”

“You should have found a nicer way to invite me for a drink.” Phaethon pushes off the pole and shakes his head like a dog, spraying blood all around. Some droplets land on my face and I flinch.

The king’s eyes narrow. “Phaethon?—”

“She comes with us.”

“What?” The king gestures and the guards approach. “You?—”

“Call your dogs back, king. I am here of my own volition, though you went too far. By Eos, you went way too far.”

“Athdara was keeping you a prisoner, I had to?—”

“Had to?Had to?” Phaethon steps toward the king but only manages to fall to his knees. I jerk toward him but massive shadows fall over the yard. Not living shadows, this time, I realize, but the shadows of monsters circling overhead.

A collective gasp goes through the gathered crowd when, with a screech, a drak passes over us, swooping low, then another.

I’m gaping at Phaethon.

“As for the prisoner comment… you seem to forget my powers.” Phaethon glares at the king through his black, soaked hair. Blood runs down his cheeks like tears, over the dark blooms that seem to gleam, metal-like. “You know there is a fine balance between my vessel and I. You have known us for a century! Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending this wasn’t anything else but a petty ploy at revenge because Athdara played you, went against your orders and got the girl. Because he humiliated you and you want to punish him for it. Is this how you pretend to be my ally?”

Why would the king care if Jai is with me? I thought his only motivation in deceiving me was to put that mark on me.

The draks continue circling overhead, now joined by darakins, and I think of Remi.

“Aethry!”he responds instantly in my mind.“What is happening? I feel a call…”

That name again, my pet name from way past.

“Why wouldn’t I use it?”Now he sounds confused.“It’s your name.”

Just… stay safe, Remi.

“Why wouldn’t I be safe?”Amusement tinges his voice.“You’re the one in danger in that accursed palace. Never trust a fae.”

“Never trust a fae or a toothless troll,” I whisper.

“A fae or a toothless troll or a tailless drak,”he sends the thought.

A fae or a toothless troll or a tailless drak or a morose moth.

His laugh is a sibilant hiss winding down the pathway of our communication.“Morose moth. Love that.”

Gods below…And now this. How is it possible? Why would this random darakin not only know the nickname my long-dead brother used to call me by, but also the game we used to play? A game we invented?

Then again, after finding Mars alive, nothing should have the power to shock me anymore.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR