Page 153 of I Dream of Dragons

“Why are you so surprised?”Now he sounds cranky.“You love her. Why wouldn’t I like her?”

Yes, but you…

“… I’m a cantankerous old bastard?”

To my shock, a laugh escapes me.Yeah!

“It looks like cantankerous old bastards can also fall for a person.”

I rub a hand over my eyes.Youfellfor Rae?

“Can we change this topic?”

I shake my head, a grin still tugging at my lips. “Incredible. Fucking incredible.”

“Shut up.”

I suppress more laughter.Fine. I have to get ready for this accursed dinner the king has planned, anyway.

“You do that.”Another pause.“I am remembering things. Do you remember them, also?”

What things? Be more precise.

“Do you remember who killed her?”

I freeze, the laughter dying in my throat. The king. The king said something before he had me lashed but my mind recoiled from it, and now…

He sends images flashing through my mind and I groan. “Fuck… He did it, didn’t he? He killed her.”

“We have to remember,”he says.“Remember more. Remember it all. Otherwise we are at a disadvantage.”

More memories pelt me. They cut bloody grooves in my mind. “The hells, Phaethon.”

“I know. Not pleasant, is it?”He waits for me to gather my fucking wits, then says,“Who are you?”

What the fuck do you mean? You know who I am, you’ve been with me for?—

“Are you King Marsyas?”

CHAPTER FORTY

RAE

It’s hard to admit how long I’ve stayed in my room.

As night fell and the dark deepened, dressed in the gown the king had sent, I sat, staring out of the window. Hiding from reality.

It’s embarrassing and cowardly.

What are my options? I can’t run away with Jai. He’s bound to this king who controls him through his bite, and me. And as for me, I’m bound to both of them.

I have to kill the king. So what if it kills me? I don’t care. Yesterday I wouldn’t have cared but… Jai.

Mars.

Won’t I have even one night with him, to pretend we have each other, that we can still have the future we wanted?

And then there’s the third trial. Trial by water. Panic edges my mind.