Page 38

KYRIE

I ’m flying.

I blink, then retch, the disgusting taste in my mouth worse as I regain consciousness.

“Please warn me if you’re going to throw up. I’ll aim you at some of the retreating mercenaries.” Han’s voice is warm, familiar, welcome.

“I’m alive.”

“You’re surprised?” He’s not talking in my head anymore, but out loud, a deep bass that’s so low it hardly seems possible.

“Yes,” I say, and he laughs, a chuffing sound that sends sparks from his nostrils.

The ground flies by beneath where I’m held gently in his talons.

“You tell the truth so easily now.”

“What the hells did I do?” I ask, holding up a hand and inspecting it. Or, at least, attempting to, considering the fact I’m being blown around like wild by the wind.

“You breathed dragon fire. The very essence of the power of truth,” Han says, and there is pride in his proclamation.

“That’s not possible,” I say with a laugh. A laugh that’s brought up short because my magic reacts to my own words.

Apparently, it very much is possible and I very much did do it.

“It was unlikely, Kyrie Elieson. But you did it, and it completed your transformation.”

“My transformation?” I ask, wrinkling my nose. “I’m not going to turn into a worm or a dragon or something, am I?”

“You are now evenly matched with your mate.” Another chuffing chuckle from him. Smoke curls from his nostrils. “Are you comparing dragonkind to worms?”

“No. Worms don’t breathe fire.” I scrape at my tongue with a blood-crusted fingernail, trying to get the taste out. “Does your mouth taste like a sheep’s asshole after you breathe fire?”

“I can’t say I’ve tasted a sheep’s asshole. Have you?” he asks mildly.

I roll my eyes. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“You might want to be careful with those types of things for a while… at least until you understand what you can do.”

“I’m not sure I understand anything, much less how I’m alive.”

I give up on my tongue, which now tastes like sheep asshole and my own blood, and slump against his talons.

“You sacrificed a goddess and her high priestess, used your burgeoning power to tell them the ultimate truth, turned yourself into the ultimate weapon, and now you are at a power level equal to Arek Hrakan.”

“Oh.” I digest that as his wings beat heavy and hard against the air. “I don’t think I want to do that again.”

“You won’t have to, golden tongue.”

“I’d prefer not to remember what just happened, either,” I tell him hopefully.

“That is your burden to bear.”

“How did I not die?” My voice is so quiet, I can hardly hear myself over the wind in my ears.

“Because you are a child of chaos. Chaos and truth, which are all that is life.”

That doesn’t make any sense at all, but I’m smart enough not to argue with a dragon.

That bar might be in the hells, but I did manage to step over it.

I close my eyes, relaxing into the warmth of Han’s dragon scales.

I’m alive. That’s what really matters.

I’m alive, and I’m going home to Arek.