Page 11 of Song of the Shadow Prince (The Dragon’s Ballad #1)

10

CAT

G asping for air, I ran, limping and cradling my right arm, which I desperately hoped wasn’t dislocated. As I was painfully aware, this place lacked the caliber of professional doctors to which I’d become accustomed.

Since I told my guide Maeve to run, I had no clue where I was or how to get back to the Ryder residence, much less where the hell she’d run off to. The best thing I could do was find a well-lit area with lots of people. And I used the term people loosely, because I was almost certain the “people” I’d just encountered in the alley were vampires.

I’d done some stunt work on supernatural shows before, so it took a lot not to laugh when encountering the real deal. Call it a nervous tick, I guess.

“But art? Seriously? What is this Arya chick involved in?” I said to myself as I limped through the streets, trying to find my way around the Southern District. After two fights tonight, the adrenaline had worn off and the aches and pains were starting to settle in.

I’d run far enough that I didn’t think I’d been followed, but I was so fuckin’ lost. If only I could find a landmark I remembered, or even someone out and about who I could ask for directions. I didn’t even know how much time had passed since Maeve and I parted ways.

“Why are there no phones?” I groaned just as someone latched onto my shoulder. I winced from the pain and spun, ready to fight again. “Son of a bitch!” I shouted, coming face-to-face with a cloaked figure. I peered up at the tall guy hovering over me. “I’ve had enough fighting today, so can I get a pass?”

When he pulled off his hood and stepped under a gas lamp to reveal his face, I sagged in relief. “Thank the heavens,” I murmured. “David, right?” I asked, trying to remember his name.

His voice was a low growl. “Damien. What were you thinking, taking on those vampires back there?”

“You saw that?” My eyes widened. “And you didn’t bother to help?” I shrieked. “Oh, you’re a bastard, all right.”

His eyes grew wide and his jaw tightened. “What did you call me?”

“A bastard!” I yelled. “I was about to get… I don’t know, like, eaten by those things! And you couldn’t be bothered to help? Aren’t I a lady or something in this world? If there’s ever a time one should use their privilege, it’s times like these!”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You’re something. But a lady, I’m not too sure.”

With my good hand, I punched his arm as hard as I could. Unfortunately, it felt like punching a wall. I held back my grimace with great effort.

“Did you just hit me?” he asked stonily.

“Yes. I did. You deserved it.”

He narrowed his dark gaze on me and looked like he was ready to hit me back. I was not one to cower, but it took a lot not to step back from his menacing gaze.

“Do you even know where you are?” he asked, changing the subject.

I sighed. “No I don’t. Care to help a lady out?” I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes again. “Do I have a choice?”

“We all have choices. You obviously have a problem making the right ones.” I started to massage my hurt shoulder and arm. “But by all means, Your Highness, lead the way.”

Damien grimaced and looked up and down the street as if searching for something. The quiet between us stretched and my annoyance reached a fever pitch. I just wanted to get back to the Ryder residence and lay on my hard-ass bed and sleep at least twelve hours.

“What the hell is taking you so long?” I shouted. “Take me home!”

He gritted his teeth. “I can’t.”

My eyes widened. “You can’t, or you won’t?”

“I can’t,” he reiterated. “The best I can do is give you directions back to the Northern District, but I’m afraid you’ll encounter trouble again before you reach the border.” He sent me an annoyed glare.

I scoffed. “ Me ? Dude, are you freakin’ serious right now? Why can’t you just take me back?”

“Because I can’t!” he growled and stepped toward me, forcing me to take a step backward.

I didn’t think I’d ever heard someone growl before. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit afraid. I took a deep and controlled breath, then put two steps between us and looked up at him. “David, please explain to me in a way I can understand why you can’t take me home.”

He growled again and shouted, “It’s Damien !”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, whatever, same diff. Just tell me.”

He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Because I’m not supposed to be here,” he whispered. “I need to return home before I get caught. That means you have two options.” His gaze pierced me. “You can either find your way back with the directions I give you and hope and pray to the immortals that you make it back safely, or you come home with me.”

My brows shot up to my hairline. “To your place?”

He nodded. “I’ll give you ten seconds to answer before I make the decision for you.”

“What?” I gasped as my mind started to short circuit.

“Ten,” he started the countdown.

Could I make it home using only his directions? It wasn’t like this place had street signs. What if I got lost on the way and there was no one around to ask? What if the vampires found me again?

“Five.”

My hands were clammy. Shit… shit shit shit! Directions or some scary guy’s crib? The answer was obvious when I put it like that.

“Time’s up; you’re coming with me.” Grabbing the scruff of my neck, he started dragging me down the street.

“Hey!” I tried to keep up with his long-legged pace. “You can’t just kidnap me! There must be laws in this place! You might be a prince, but I swear I’ll sue your ass!”

He frowned and looked down at me, convinced I was spouting gibberish.

The empty streets were eerily silent and murky, lit by guttering lanterns that stretched long, shadowy fingers across the street. Other than our footsteps echoing off the cobblestones, I became aware of the distant, muffled roar of the ocean as we strode further from the city’s center. We walked in tense silence until we reached the shore. Pale moonlight glinted off the dark, restless waves, lending an ethereal glow over the scene. The salty tang of the sea mingled with the faint scent of damp earth and seaweed.

Damien stopped abruptly and turned to face me. “I need to trust you, Arya. Can I?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Trust me ? How can I trust you after you dragged me here against my will!”

He ignored my sarcasm, his expression deadly serious. “I’m serious, Arya. What you’re about to see is something I’ve kept secret for over fifty years—”

“Dude, you’re older than fifty?” I gasped with wide eyes. “Damn. You look good for your age, Pops.”

Damien growled. “Be serious for a second, Arya!”

“Okay, okay.” I waved off his rebuke. “You have a secret. Out with it.”

He furrowed his brows and glared at me, unsure about his next move. “Are you afraid of heights?” he asked hesitantly.

I smirked. If only he knew. I was 82 nd Airborne, baby. The skies were my domain. “Not at all.”

Instead of answering, he stepped back and began to morph. His body shimmered, but not in an Edward Cullen sort of way, but more like I was looking between a veil of sorts. The air around him crackled with energy. His form grew and elongated, and then dark scales emerged and spread over his skin. He grew big. And I mean big -big. Wings sprouted from his back, large and leathery, unfolding with a powerful snap that nearly tumbled me over. I held up my good arm to cover my face from the wind. His face transformed, becoming more angular and fiercer, with sharp, glinting eyes and a row of deadly teeth.

Where Damien had stood seconds earlier now stood an enormous black dragon with scales that absorbed the moonlight and gave an almost spectral appearance. His wings stretched wide, creating a shadow that engulfed the beach all around me.

I stared wide-eyed at the magnificent creature before me. He was massive, at least thirty feet long from snout to tail, with muscles rippling beneath sleek, obsidian scales. His eyes, now a vivid shade of silver, locked onto mine, filled with intelligence that was unmistakably Damien’s.

“ Damn .” I gaped up at him in awe. “I knew I should have auditioned for House of the Dragon .”

Damien lowered his head and motioned for me to climb onto his back, which featured a row of ridges sticking out, almost as if intended for a rider to sit between and hold onto. Hesitantly, I approached, feeling the heat radiating off his scales. I clambered onto his back and sat between two close ridges, nestling in and gripping one of the ridges along his spine for support with my good arm.

With a powerful beat of his wings, Damien launched into the sky. The ground rapidly fell away and the wind whipped past my face, carrying the briny scent of the ocean. I clung to him tightly and my heart pounded as we soared above the waves.

From this height, the Southern District looked like a patchwork of shadows and flickering lights that gradually faded into the distance. The moonlit ocean stretched out below us, a vast expanse of inky black water.

Damien flew with a grace and power that was awe-inspiring, but it was clear this was his first time carrying someone. We wobbled and dipped, and I constantly had to adjust my grip to stay steady, especially since I was only holding on with one arm. Each powerful wingbeat jolted through my body, but I wasn’t nervous. Years of jumping out of airplanes had prepared me for the skies, no matter how bumpy the ride.

“Keep it steady, David!” I called out, my voice barely audible over the wind. He snorted in response, the sound vibrating through his body and into mine. I giggled, fully aware that I was just calling him David to annoy him.

Cold air stung my face and loose strands of my hair whipped wildly around my head. I gritted my teeth and held on tighter, shifting my weight as Damien adjusted his flight path. The view was incredible, even with the constant jostling. The stars were a dazzling blanket that sparkled on the ocean like a thousand tiny diamonds.

Despite the rough ride, it was exhilarating to fly on a dragon. The sheer power and raw energy beneath me and the sense of freedom as we soared through the night sky was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

Suddenly, we hit a particularly strong gust of wind and Damien banked sharply to the left. I slid to the side, my good hand holding firmly to the ridge on his back to keep from falling off. “Watch it, dragon boy! I only have one good arm!” I shouted, laughing despite myself. This was insane, but I couldn’t help but enjoy the thrill of it.

I could tell we were heading toward an island up ahead, which I assumed was where he lived. I used my bad arm to glide my hand across his scales, wondering if it was like plucking a strand of hair. I grimaced from the slight pain in my shoulder from the movement, but the touch of his scales was a unique tactile experience. With layers upon layers on top of one another, I couldn’t see skin. My curiosity piqued, I gripped a scale and plucked it with enough force to free it. He shivered beneath me, but otherwise didn’t react. I tucked the scale into my bra as a token of the experience.

The outline of a volcano came into view as we approached the island, but Damien didn’t slow down. The steep, jagged cliffs and dark, foreboding landscape provided an air of isolation and mystery as we soared closer.

“What are you doing?” I called out. “You’re not going in there, are you?” No response. “Damien!” I screamed.

We descended into the crater, where the walls of the volcano rose around us like a protective barrier. I shrieked and held on tightly until the scenery changed and I loosened my grip.

The bottom of the volcano had been transformed into a grand hall, with dried lava forming natural pathways and platforms. Damien landed roughly and stumbled, and I gripped him tightly until he let out a massive huff, which I assumed meant, “get the fuck off me.”

I looked around in awe. I was literally inside a volcano. Like, what the heck? This was insanity! The only lava I saw was dried up, but I itched to touch the walls that glowed reddish orange.

Damien huffed again and impatiently motioned for me to get off him. I grumbled and slid off his back, my legs shaky but steady. “You should come with a warning next time,” I mumbled as I watched him shift back into his human form. I watched in awe and realized my first thought was correct; his forms shifted between veils, he wasn’t compelled to shift and break bones like what you saw in the movies.

“Did you take one of my scales?” he shouted, scratching his back as if he knew precisely the area I had plucked it from.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said cryptically. I sauntered around him and approached the wall, my fingers itching to touch it. “Can I?”

“Yeah.” He watched me with narrowed eyes.

I slid my hand along the bumpy walls of dried-up lava and fought back the goofy grin that threatened. Even though it was dried up, it was still slightly warm. Idly, I wondered if it could possibly burst at any moment. The textures varied, with some smooth, glassy areas while others were rough and pockmarked. The walls emitted a faint, almost imperceptible heat, giving the space a cozy, albeit slightly eerie, warmth.

“You turned this into an apartment?” I tilted my head back and looked around the vast volcano.

“A what?”

“A home,” I repeated.

“ I didn’t. My father did,” he said sharply. “And it’s not a home; it’s my prison.”

“Pretty nice prison,” I whispered just as someone cleared their throat.

Damien and I whirled around to find an older gentleman standing in a living room area, watching us with a book in his hand and a curious expression.

I jabbed a thumb in his direction. “Butler?” I questioned. “Is he your Alfred Pennyworth?”

“My who?” Damien scoffed.

“Never mind.” I rolled my eyes as I approached the older man. “Hi, I’m Cat—I mean, Arya.” I extended my hand for him to shake.

The man looked down at my waiting hand and up at me for a split second before taking it. “Hello, Lady Arya, I see you don’t remember me.” I frowned. “I’m His Highness’ uncle, Royal Prince Bai.”

“Oh!” I quickly retracted my hand. “My bad,” I mumbled and did a clumsy curtsy. “Apologies, your, uh… Your Highness?” I wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was in this situation. Damien was treated as just a regular Joe Blow at the Ryder residence, and Maeve hadn’t taught me how to interact with any of the royal family because it wasn’t necessary up until this point.

“Yes… I see the rumors are true. You are unwell,” Royal Prince Bai murmured mainly to himself. He glanced at Damien. “Care to explain why she’s here?”

Damien hurried to my side. “I found her in the Southern District. She’d just been attacked by vampires and as you can tell, her memory is gone and she didn’t know her way home after parting ways with her servant. I… I couldn’t take her back for obvious reasons.” He whispered the last part like a guilty admission.

“I see,” Royal Prince Bai said. I wished I could see what he saw, because I still didn’t understand why Damien had to bring me here instead of escorting me home. “I will make arrangements.”

I cleared my throat and raised a hand. “Excuse me, but would someone like to fill me in? I was practically abducted!”

Royal Prince Bai’s eyes widened in shock and he whirled to face Damien with a look of horror. “You abducted her?”

Damien gasped. “What? No! She willingly climbed onto my back!”

“On your back?” his uncle repeated slowly. “As in, you shifted in front of her and she rode you here?”

Damien slowly nodded and his uncle turned back around and sized me up and down like he was seeing me for the first time.

“While I find this all… tantalizing,” I remarked dryly, “I think I have a dislocated shoulder and I’m in a lot of pain. So can I please just—”

“We can help with that,” his uncle interrupted, awakening from his fugue to usher me toward their living room. “I need to push it back into place. It’ll be painful, but I can get you some—”

I shook my head and held up my good arm. “No, it’s okay. I can bear the pain. Just do it.”

“Oh… okay,” he murmured as I sat down. “Damien, come help me hold her.”

“No need. This isn’t my first dislocated shoulder.”

“My lady!” Royal Prince Bai whispered. “When have you ever had a dislocated shoulder?” he asked in horror.

For a second, I forgot I was Arya and not Cat. “Well… this was long ago,” I mumbled. “Never mind. Just do it and get it over with.”

With those questions out of the way, Royal Prince Bai took the wrist of my injured arm and gently lifted vertically, whilst applying gentle traction. He then gripped my shoulder with his other hand and externally rotated, pushing the humeral head back into position. There was a loud pop. I grimaced and gritted my teeth, but didn’t make a sound.

“You’re all set.” Royal Prince Bai stepped back. “Wow… I’ve never seen a young lady handle pain as valiantly as you did. I’m quite impressed, Lady Arya.”

I gave an awkward chuckle. “Yeah… thanks.”

Royal Prince Bai motioned toward a hallway. “Damien, show her to a room so she can rest. I won’t be able to convey her home until the morning.”

Damien sighed and motioned for me to follow him. “Come on. You can stay in my room.”

I followed the dragon down a narrow passage that wound deeper into the heart of the volcano. The walls were rugged, a mixture of dark basalt and patches of glowing minerals that provided an otherworldly light. The air grew warmer as we descended, and the earthy scent of minerals mixed with a faint sulfuric odor.

His room was marked by a sturdy wooden door. Damien pushed it open, revealing a surprisingly cozy space. The walls glowed with soft, amber light as the dried lava bathed the room in a warm, flickering glow. Instead of tapestries, intricate carvings that told the story of the volcano and the dragons who inhabited it spanned the walls. A large bed with a carved wooden frame stood against one wall, piled high with furs and plush pillows. A woven rug covered the stone floor and a small hearth crackled with an inviting fire.

“Wow,” I breathed, taking in the space. “This is… really nice.”

Damien shrugged. “It’s private. No one will bother you here.”

Sweating from the fire’s heat, I untied my fur cloak and started to drape it on a nearby chair.

“Whoa!” Damien yelled, averting his gaze. “What are you doing?”

I looked up at him and back down at what I wore, realizing my torn dress from my fight at the tavern revealed a shocking amount of leg and thigh. “Got anything for me to change into? Because if I have to continue wearing this fur cloak all night, I’m going to roast in this volcano,” I deadpanned.

Aggravated, Damien’s nostrils flared and his jaw locked, but he turned and went to his dresser, pulling out a drawer and rummaging through his clothes. He returned with a pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Neither would fit me, but they would do in a pinch.

When I started to undress, Damien’s face turned crimson. He whirled around with his back to me. “Can you please show a modicum of restraint?” he growled. “You are a lady. Act like one!”

Down to my knickers, I snorted. “Oh, please, like you’ve never seen a naked woman before.” I side-eyed him. “I’d be willing to bet you’re a regular over at The Gilded Serpent.”

There was a quiet pause before he answered, and I giggled to myself because I’d probably hit the nail on the head. “Not too long ago, I was courting your sister. Have some respect for—”

I slipped on his oversized shirt. “Whatever happened between you and Gianna anyway?” I didn’t know much about their relationship, but I’d heard whispers between the servants.

“That’s none of your concern,” he gritted, his shoulders bunching up to his ears.

I chuckled. “Okay, if you say so.” I tied the pants as tight as possible and gave a sharp whistle. “You can turn around now.”

Tentatively, Damien turned. His shoulders sagged in relief once he saw me covered up, my shredded dress pooled at my ankles. “What happened to your dress?”

“A fight.” I shrugged one shoulder before falling onto his very large, very comfortable bed. I sighed contentedly and ran my fingers through the fur blankets.

He raised a skeptical brow. “I watched you fight the vampires, and they didn’t shred your dress. Your cloak covered you the whole time,” he said dryly.

I snorted. “That’s because it happened at the first fight. The one at The Broken Tankard.”

“You got into two fights tonight?” he gasped and stepped toward me. “Who are you?” He narrowed his gaze on me, a look of bewilderment plastered on his face.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is how the hell I’m going to get home tomorrow. From my understanding, you being a dragon is your big secret, which means the only reason you flew tonight was because your dragon is black and it was night.” No wonder they called him the Shadow Prince.

Narrowing his gaze further, Damien prowled toward me until he stood in front of me, then leaned down and placed a hand on either side of me on the bed, blocking me in. I felt the heat of his body, but I refused to cower. “You’re smart, Arya. Maybe a little too smart. You’re right; my secret is that I have my dragon. I might come from a bloodline of dragons, but I’m not supposed to be one. You don’t need to know the reasons behind that, but I need to trust that you won’t tell a soul.”

I scoffed and leaned back on the bed, pushing my chest out toward him as he leaned toward me. “Oh, yeah?” I raised a brow, itching to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him on top of me. “And why do I need to keep this secret? What’s in it for me?”

Damien smirked and leaned even closer until he was nearly on top of me. My heart galloped and I felt the first twinge of nervousness. I licked my lips and kept still, unwilling to become prey to his predator, even though the thought sent a thrill through me.

He quirked a brow. “Well, Arya, if you haven’t noticed, you’re in my room, on my bed, in my home, in the middle of the night. What’s a lady like yourself doing in such a situation?”

I laughed. “Dude, if you’re trying to threaten my reputation, you can stop right now because I honestly don’t care. And from what I hear, I don’t have a great reputation anyway.” I wasn’t worried about this girl’s reputation. She’d tarnished it a long-ass time ago. Besides, I didn’t plan on being here long enough to care. If I got called a slut, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Even so, something in Damien’s dark eyes told me he wasn’t done with me yet.

Damien laughed. He actually laughed. “You’re worried about your reputation ? No, Lady Arya, you should be worried about who you might be forced to marry, ” he countered.

My blood ran cold. Whoa! Hold the freakin’ press. No one said anything about marriage. “Marry?” I placed my palm on his very sturdy chest and pushed him back hard enough to move him just a tad, but he still hovered over me like a dark cloud. “Who said anything about marrying you?”

I didn’t care about this Arya girl, but I didn’t want to bind her life to this nutcase, either. I wasn’t that cruel. He might be the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, but he was the epitome of danger and I knew better than to stick my hand in the fire. I didn’t care how good the sex might be, he seemed like the type who played with his food. A predator through and through.

“Ah,” he smirked knowingly. “I see I have your attention now.” He grabbed my chin and pulled me toward him roughly, until our lips were practically brushing. “So, it’s in both our interests if we keep each other’s secrets. Don’t you think, Lady Arya?” he whispered, his breath fanning my cheeks.

I smacked his hand away and glared. “I don’t like being threatened,” I gritted between my teeth. I held very still to avoid kissing him.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you threaten me first?” he said with a cruel smile, his white teeth gleaming in the dim light.

I placed a hand on his chest again and pushed him away. “You’re suffocating me,” I grumbled. “I get it, okay? I’ll keep your secret. Now go away.”

Damien chuckled and paused to stare at me for a moment before stepping away and walking to the other side of the room, finally giving me a chance to breathe. As Damien moved away, I sat up and noticed a small alcove on one side of the room filled with books and scrolls. A sturdy wooden desk sat there, cluttered with parchment and ink. It seemed like a private study area.

“Nice setup you’ve got here,” I said, trying to lighten the tension. “Doesn’t feel much like a prison.”

Damien glanced over his shoulder and his expression softened just a fraction. “Make no mistake. It’s a cage, Arya.”

I sighed and felt a pang of sympathy for the dragon despite my instincts. “Well, at least the cage is warm.” I rubbed my hand through the luxurious bundle of furs.

“Don’t let the warmth fool you.” He grabbed the chair from the desk and dragged it toward where I perched at the edge of his bed. He sat down facing me and clasped his hands. “I think it’s time we have a little talk about tonight.”

I snorted. “I sense an interrogation coming, but let me stop you right now. I don’t know a thing.”

He quirked a brow. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”

“Oh? Aren’t you about to ask about the vampires?”

He grinned. “Smart girl. Yes, I am. I’m curious as to why they would attack you , of all people. A noblewoman from the Northern District. They even knew you by name.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Damien, other than I don’t know what they wanted. I’m just as clueless as you are.”

He narrowed his gaze to a squint. “I’m starting to believe that,” he murmured. “You really did lose your memories, didn’t you?”

I sighed. “Something like that.”

This was a prime time to tell him I was actually Cat and not Arya, but I was so tired of singing the same song and dance and no one believing me. At this point, I needed to go with the flow until Garrick could find me a way home. That was my only hope. Wasting my breath on anyone else was pointless.

“But with your memory loss came some new skills,” he countered. “You suddenly know how to fight. How do you explain that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s like xenoglossy. You know, those cases where someone wakes up and can suddenly speak another language,” I offered nonchalantly. “Unexplained phenomenon.”

Damien frowned, clearly not understanding a single word I said. Go figure.

“Either way, I’m not sure what good it did me since those vampires still kicked my ass.” I groaned and rotated my sore shoulder.

“Of course, Arya. Because you’re human. Did you expect a different outcome? You started out well because you caught them off guard. They didn’t expect you to fight, much less fight well. But once the shock wore off, they were obviously going to overpower you.”

His explanation was perfectly logical, but since I’d never fought a vampire, how the hell was I supposed to know? “Do you know much about me?” I asked hesitantly as I leaned my elbows on my knees. “I’m mostly going off of what Maeve tells me.”

Damien shook his head. “I don’t know you well. All I know is that you like to torment Gianna… vigorously.”

I rolled my eyes. “Jesus… Okay, so aside from that, nothing else?”

“Nothing else.”

“A lot of good you are.” I side eyed him. “I would have assumed you built a dossier of the whole family in anticipation of marrying Gianna.”

“A what?”

I sighed loudly. “Nothing. So, are you going to tell me why you ended things with Gianna? All kinds of wild gossip have been floating between the servants at the Ryder residence.”

He seared me with a glare. “And let me guess – you never once bothered to put a stop to it.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been busy. I don’t have time to worry about someone else’s drama.”

“She’s your sister,” he deadpanned.

“So everyone tells me,” I mumbled. “But Gianna is my older sister, which means she should be able to handle herself. I doubt she needs her little sister to fight her battles.”

With a scoff, Damien stood and dragged his chair back to the desk. “She might be older, but she’s fragile. Besides that, she’s the daughter of a servant. She doesn’t have the same authority you do.”

I laid back down on his bed and made myself comfortable. “Look, I have a lot on my plate. It’s time she toughens up. I won’t always be around to hold her hand.”

“As if you ever were,” he muttered.

“Possibly not, but that’s what you’re asking me to do.” I leaned up on my elbows and stared at him. “I’m no hand holder. You’re asking the wrong person. But I can promise you I’ll never bother her again. That should make things easier for her.”

Damien considered my words, judging whether to believe me or not. I guess he did, because he nodded and approached the other side of the bed. He pulled the fur coverings back and slipped into bed.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to bed,” he said casually, giving me his back.

I scoffed. “Are you serious? A few minutes ago, you could barely look at me in a torn dress. Now you have no problem sharing a bed with me? Make it make sense, dude.”

He turned to face me. “Where do you expect me to go, Arya?” he asked dryly. “This prison only has two bedrooms. One for me and one for my uncle. Do you expect me to go sleep with my uncle?”

“Well… yeah,” I casually offered, as if it made all the sense in the world.

He smirked. “Think again, little liar. You’re stuck with me for the night. For a bit of added insurance, if you ever have the urge to tell someone about my dragon, I can easily tell them about the night we spent together.”

My mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly.”

I couldn’t hide my astonishment. “You would make it seem like we had sex when we didn’t?”

He shrugged. “It’s not my fault if they don’t ask for clarification.”

“You’re a bastard,” I gritted through my teeth as I angrily turned my back to him.

“That I am,” he said. “Don’t have any silly thoughts that we might be friends, Arya. I’m not the friend type.”

I scoffed. “Trust me, I never once contemplated it. You’re an asshole. I get it.”

“I don’t know what an asshole is, but the context doesn’t sound too good,” he whispered. “After tonight, we’ll go our separate ways and never see each other again. You stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours. Deal?”

“Deal.”