Page 13 of Kiss of Death

“And he loved these dragons like his own kin. He wouldn’t want them to die and be turned into monsters?—”

“Loves.”

I blinked.

“He loves these dragons…because he’s still here.”

My eyes started to water from the impossible decision I had to make, the decision I had to make as a queen, not as a daughter—a decision no one should ever have to make. “Do you have another idea, Hawk? For both of our sakes, I hope you do.”

He held my stare as the breeze moved through his short hair, more emotion in his eyes than I’d ever witnessed before. A thin film of moisture formed there, but it seemed to be taken away by the breeze. “No…”

I inhaled a breath so sharp it was like a dagger scraping against my lungs. It was a sacrifice not for my brother and me, but for our kingdom and for the dragons we loved like we were the same species.Khazmuda.

It took him a moment to come to me.I’m here,Zunieth.

Release the dragons from the wildlands. We’ll lose this battle if we don’t.

I was met with silence.

Khazmuda.

No.

Khazmuda—

I won’t do it.

Tears that I had suppressed this entire battle broke the surface and slid down my cheeks.I don’t want to do it either?—

We’ll find a way.

There won’t be a we in the next hour—and you know it.

Silence again.

I love my father, and it kills me to do this…but we both know he wouldn’t want this. He wouldn’t want to risk the Southern Isles and all of us for him. He would want us to let him go…and prevail.

Khazmuda continued to ignore me, processing this realization on his own. He loved my father differently from my mother, differently from us. But it wasn’t a love bound by friendship either, something deeper, something that couldn’t be described with the words in our language or dragon tongue.

I continued to cry, to see Hawk’s eyes mirror mine when he realized the conversation that was taking place in my mind. My heart bled tears made of blood. The dead of my allies and my foes littered that courtyard, and the villa where I’d fallen in lovewith a god was nearby, but the place suddenly felt like a scene in a nightmare.

Felt like the underworld.

A silence that stretched on for minutes ensued. Then Khazmuda came back to me.This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

I know.

But you’re right. He would want my hatchlings to live. My kin to live as free dragons and not vampires. He would want his own wife and children to survive. He would rather fade into the Realm of Caelum than risk losing all of that…

I nodded through my tears even though he couldn’t see me.

I will do it now.I felt Khazmuda leave my mind the way someone stepped out of the room.

Then I started to sob, my hands cupping my face to stifle the tearful scream I wanted to unleash.

Hawk knew what had transpired without asking, and he moved into me and hugged me hard.

It was one of the only times we’d ever hugged, and I held on to him with the same strength that I gripped the horn on Zehemoth’s saddle. His cries were audible next to my ear, mourning the death that hadn’t yet come to pass.