Page 73 of I Dream of Dragons

The command strikes me like a blow. It elicits a knee-jerk reaction from me. I step toward him even as I try to resist.

“No,” Jai growls. “Don’t do that to her.Fuck.”

My mark stings. Before I can give it more thought, I find myself gathering my skirts, preparing to walk around the other guests to reach the dais where the king is now standing, his guards close behind him.

But Jai snarls, his hand curling into a fist, and the dark shadows flare around him, knocking over the rest of the candelabra, shoving at the guests, their chairs crashing backward. The fae shout, hitting the flames with their napkins.

I stop, unsure of what to do as people scramble to get up from the floor. Wine spills. Flames dance.

The king lifts a hand and air slams against the shadows, knocking them back. A silvery mist slithers over the table, smothering the flames, turning the spilled wine into crackling icicles that catch the light.

The shadows snap back—toward the king. They curl around his neck.

They tighten.

Even as I watch this happening, I gasp, lifting a hand to my throat, because…Skies!I can’t breathe. My air is cut off. I choke and bend over.

What in the hells is going on?

As I gasp again, desperately clawing at the invisible noose around my neck, Jai whirls toward me and goes very still, eyes widening. All color leeches from his face.

“The fuck,” he breathes, stumbling backward. “What the fuck is…? What are you doing to her? Stop it.”

A smirk plays on the king’s mouth. “You want me to play fair?” he rasps. Gasps. His fingers fly to his neck, mirroring my gesture. “You thought you could win this? Against me?”

“Stop.” Now Jai starts toward me. “Stop choking her.”

“I’m not the one doing it,” the king manages. His face is darkening, eyes bulging. “Don’t you understand?”

Jai stops again, glances between us.

The king wheezes.

I wheeze.

The king stumbles against the table.

I stumble, too.

“Damn you.” Jai slams his hands on the table and bows over, eyes dark, face white. “What is this magic?” He lifts his head and goes utterly still. “It’s the mark, isn’t it? The goddamn mark you put on her. You…” He shudders. Then he raises a hand and the shadows lift off the king’s neck. “She’s not collateral, dammit.”

Air flows back into my lungs, and I start coughing. Breathing in. Coughing some more.

The king starts to laugh, a harsh sound. “She’s not collateral?Too late to start using your brain, Athdara.”

“You don’t touch her.” Jai closes his eyes. They look bruised. “Don’t fucking touch her.”

And with a muttered curse, he spins on his heel and limps out of the hall, taking the shadows with him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

RAE

“What was that?” I whisper, rubbing at my throat, as the king pulls me along dark passages. The guards hurry after us, lighting sconces on the walls. “Why did the shadows hurt me when they hurt you? Why is the mark doing that?”

He doesn’t reply. Doesn’t bother to explain.

He doesn’t need to. The truth is inescapable. He has bound me to his own life and I’ll feel any pain he feels.