Page 11

M alachi’s wings cut through the air, each powerful beat sending ripples through the overcast sky. Dead tree branches cracked and splintered beneath his massive frame as he descended into the narrow clearing of the village. The dragon’s landing was a calculated thunder, his claws sinking into the ashen earth. His low growl was a vibration that trembled through my bones. Dark birds scattered, reminding me of crows, their black flecks against the blood-hued horizon.

Once Kainen undoes the straps, his hands are at my waist, causing a shiver to run down my legs before I register that we are safely on the ground. But that’s impossible. I can barely reach the straps of the saddle even on my toes.

But I don’t have time to ponder how he did it. I feel discomfort in my legs. The muscles in my inner thighs protest in knots from my sore muscles, or the tiny needles pricking underneath my skin from holding on. But none of it matters right now; none of it could mask his touch or the way it lingers––hot and unyielding––before he turns away, already adjusting the straps of the saddle.

“It’s okay, Malachi,” Kainen says soothingly. “Stay here. I can hold it until it’s time to go. If anything goes south, you take off.”

I watch as the dragon stares at him silently. They must read each other somehow.

“How did you––“ I begin.

“How did I what?” His voice, as always, a blade with a dulled edge––sharp enough to wound, yet too heavy to be swift.

“Get us down so quickly? It was like…you bent the air around us.”

The corner of his mouth lifts, a gesture more mocking than amused. “Dragons are more than wings and flame, Selene. Their riders…more than mere men.”

Before I can ask for more or why we are here, he moves like a predator through the smoldering mist. “This is the Gorge,” he explains, his voice low, as if speaking too loudly might shatter the fragile calm. “One of Nithya’s last sanctuaries; it supplies our food. Our life.”

Villagers move among the fields; their faces shrouded beneath deep hoods. Their silhouettes bend over baskets of pale root vegetables and stalks of crimson grain. They seem ethereal, drifting through the worlds of

smoke.“They can’t see him, can they?” I ask, glancing back at Malachi. The dragon’s scales shimmer like molten metal, his eyes half-lidded but vigilant. “How come I can?”

He leans close, the heat of him a contrast to the cool ash of the village, the broad span of muscles across his chest. “Because I want you to see.” His breath brushes my skin, and I fight the urge to shiver. “If anything happens, run to Malachi.”

“What about you?”

His lips curl into a smile. “I’m not the one who needs saving.”

His words hang in the air, a warning and a promise. I follow him, my steps swallowed by the soft earth. Creatures with pale skin and eyes like dying embers turn to watch, their gazes heavy with curiosity. I keep close, not knowing what they are, but their whispers curl around me like smoke, hoping Kainen doesn’t abandon me here to die.

Easier said than done. Kainen walks inside a cottage, leaving me outside, making my palms sweat, wondering how I lost him so quickly.

I’m almost to the door when a voice calls, “You must be the human.”

I turn to find a woman, her skin pearlescent beneath the hood of her robe. Her basket brims with dark vegetables, twisted roots, and pale leaves, her sharp teeth glistening as she speaks.

“I suppose I am.” My voice is steady, though my fingers tighten into fists; something is off with the way she looks at me.

Her crimson eyes sweep over me, a look that makes me feel more insect than human. “Isee why he keeps you close. More out of curiosity, like an insect in a jar.”

I force a smile, though it feels more like baring my teeth. “I imagine it’s my winning personality.”

She doesn’t laugh, and I didn’t expect her to. Nothing about this encounter is a joke. She sees me as a threat, but I don’t know why or how that’s possible. I have a feeling this world is more about what kind you are than anything.

She draws closer, a serpentine grace to her movement. “Your kind is not welcome here. Not after the massacre. Not after the royal blood ran black on Nythia’s soil.”

Her words were arrows, each one lodging deep, but she doesn’t understand I’m not from here. “And yet, you serve one of my kind. Or does Kainen not count?”

Her lips twist. “He is not like you.”

“No, I suppose not,” I say softly. “He’s worse.”

Her eyes narrow, and for a moment, I think she might hit me. She leans in, her voice a razor’s whisper. “Touch him, and I will drink your blood.”

I hold my ground, though every instinct screams at me to run. “You think I want him?” I let out a brittle laugh. “I’d sooner run into the river of blood.”

Her nostrils flare, sharp teeth glinting. “You’ll wish you had when I’m done with you.”

“Is that so?” I don’t know why I’m entertaining her. I could care less what she thinks.

“He cares about the people of Nythia. He would do anything for us, and we would do anything for him.” She looks at me from head to toe like I’m mud on her shoe she wants to flick off. “I’m surprised he’s allowed you to live this long.”

“Oh, that’s right. You all overlook the fact that he kills people because they are doing the same thing you are—trying to survive.” Annoyance drips from my tone, not caring if she looks like she wants to kill me.

“The last thing you humans from Elariya do is survive. You all are a bunch of traitors to the true king.”

Correcting her is futile. Pointless, because it’s obvious he’s had time to tell her his version of how I got here—his reason for not locking me in the dungeon becoming clear.

Like he said, he’s waiting for his brother to come find me. To Kainen, I’m just bait. A worthless worm on a hook. I’ll drown before his brother comes looking for me. I might as well be trapped in my own hell.

She gets closer, her voice menacing. “Touch him, and I’ll kill you.”

“Trust me, the last thing I want is to touch your precious dark prince. Since you’re so interested in what he does with me, why don’t you tell him to let me go, and we’ll get what we both want?”

She bares her teeth, her sharp canines growing longer. “He’ll kill you before he lets you go.”

“Then I guess until that day comes, I’ll be sticking around.”

“There you are.” A man no taller than Kainen walks up with similar features, except his eyes are blood red. “I was looking all over for you.” He stops, and his blood-red eyes take me in slowly.

“I was having a word with Kainen’s prisoner.”

The man tilts his head in my direction. “She doesn’t look like a prisoner.” Then he smiles. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Finnas.”

“Selene.”

He pulls back his hood. His hair is dark like ink. “Selene.”

The woman rolls her eyes. “What do you want, Finnas?”

Her brother. I wonder if he knows she has her eyes set on the dark prince.

“Mom was asking for you.” He drops his gaze to her basket. “I think she needs today’s take.”

She hands him the basket. “Good, then you can take it to her while I watch this one.”

“This one has a name,” I interject.

“Relax, Kiera. She isn’t so bad.”

“How would you know?” Keira looks at me disapprovingly. “I don’t trust her.”

“Keira.” Kainen’s voice cuts through the tension, as sharp and cold as steel. She turns, her claws gone, replaced by something softer. She walks to him, the transformation unsettling. How quickly a wolf could wear sheep’s skin.

I watch as her eyes soften when they land on Kainen in the doorway leading to a small house. She hands the basket to Finnas, and like a crack of lightning, she practically runs to him. Her long black hair escapes the hood of her robe.

When she reaches him, there is no doubt about the want in her gaze.

I recognize that want; I used to wear it like my favorite sweater when I looked at Micah.

Kainen bends so she can wrap her arms around his neck in a tight hug. His eyes clash with mine as he returns her embrace. I tear my gaze away right when he ushers her inside and shuts the door.

“Don’t mind Keira,” Finnas says with a smile. “She gets defensive when it comes to Kainen. Ever since the night he saved us all from the Nightfallen when they invaded our village, she sees him as her hero.”

“What happened?”

“They came in the night like moving shadows. Wyverns breathing fire, burning the entire place to the ground. The crops. Our entire food supply was decimated. The gorge is all that is left to grow vegetables safely and in enough amounts to supply Nythia. Since our powers are limited, we were practically defenseless, but then he came like a torch in the sky, destroying anything that was a threat.”

“I’m sorry.” It’s all I could say. I can’t blame them for worshiping the ground he walks on.

“It’s in the past, but all we can do is stick together, and there is no one you can really trust. Not everyone in Nythia is to be trusted. There are creatures that still have the need to hunt. And not all of us can survive on vegetables and animals.”

“But you do?”

He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, and a sense of dread washes through me. “What do you eat? Usually.”

“Blood.”

I swallow. “Like vampires.”

He nods, but his eyes are like pools of garnet, his dark hair spilling over his shoulders. “Something like that. We’re Nightweavers. We hunt.”

“What do you hunt?” I ask, but I have an idea.

“Humans, mostly.” My steps falter. “Oh, but you have nothing to worry about. Keira was just messing with you. We are in charge of the gorge because we can move easier at night to plant the crops, and right before night sets, we pick.”

I look at the sky, the sun starting to set. The three moons peek out from the gray clouds.

Finnas moves closer, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand in fear. “Don’t worry; he wouldn’t leave you out here if he thought we would kill you.”

I glance at the small house, imagining what they’re doing inside, but I shake that thought from my mind. It’s none of my business.

“How long will they be…”

He raises a dark brow. “I don’t know. Kiera is an adult, and so is he.”

His meaning is crystal clear. “Got it.” He was impatient to come here because he wanted to fuck. My head starts to pound. My braid is too tight. My chest tightens in anger and something more bitter twists inside me.

“Is everything alright?” Finnas asks, concern marring his brow.

“Yeah, I’m just thirsty.”

“I can fix that. Care for a drink?” He holds out his hand, his nails black and sharp. “Come on, Selene. I promise not to bite.”

“Fine. Lead the way.” I slide my hand into his. The palm of his translucent skin is cold to the touch.

He leads me to a dimly lit tavern, the walls draped in deep red, like veins beneath the skin of the earth. Music plays—strange and haunting—strings that pull at the edge of fear. The room is filled with Nightweavers. Their crimson eyes burn against my skin.

Finnas ushers me to a table cloaked in shadows in the far corner. He watches me, his expression veiled but not unkind.

“Your hair…” he reaches forward, fingers brushing the strands as I unravel my braid. “Beautiful.”

Heat rises to my cheeks, an unwelcome warmth. “Thanks.”

I wasn’t used to compliments. Not from men with teeth like knives.

“What do you eat?” I ask, more to fill the awkward silence than out of curiosity.

His smile widens. “Blood.”

“So, you are vampires.”

His eyes glimmer, hunger and humor entwined. “Like I said earlier, we prefer to be called Nightweavers.”

My pulse thrums like a rabbit’s heartbeat. “What do you actually hunt?”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to.

He motions to the man behind the bar with long white hair.A woman appears with two pints of beer, setting them on the table. “Here you go, Ma’lady.”

I smile and take a sniff. “Beer?”

“Ale. Don’t drink it all at once. It can knock you on your ass.”

I take a sip; the beer is surprisingly cold, but then I feel the burn down my throat pooling in my belly.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kainen’s voice slices through the music.

Finnas leans back, his expression unreadable.“She was thirsty. I thought I’d keep her company.”

Kainen’s presence fills the room, shadows pooling at his feet. His hand shoots out, gripping Finnas by the throat. The music falters, then dies, but no one turns to look. It’s like we slipped into a separate reality, a bubble where pain and fear exist for us alone.

“It looked like you were going to be awhile, and I was thirsty and had a headache,” I blurt, panic wrapping around me.

“So you took the first offer on the table?” His eyes rake over my hair, making me wish I never unraveled it.

“Kainen,” Finnas manages to get out.

Kainen’s hand tightens, cutting off his words. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”

I move to stand, but an invisible force pins me to the chair, his voice becoming a snarl, words in a language older than stone, darker than night, reverting back to English.

“Kainen, stop!”

“I got her a drink,” Finnas sputters. “It’s not like she was going to run away, Kainen. There is nowhere she could go. She can’t get far on foot.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Finnas.” Kainen looks two seconds from blowing a gasket. “What did you say to her?”

Finnas looks at me and then at him. “That you were busy with Keira.”

Kainen smiles, but it’s sinister. He grips his throat. Terror slices through my veins as Finnas struggles to breathe.

“Kainen!” I call out, but he doesn’t listen.

His knuckles turn white. Finnas’s red eyes bulge out of his head. “This is a glimpse of what would happen, Finnas.” Kainen starts to speak in a foreign language.

I glance around the room for help, but no one is paying attention. It’s like we are in a bubble where no one can see us.

Finnas continues to struggle, his bulging eyes on me. I try to reach out to help, but the force is too strong. “Kainen, please,” I plead. Tears gather in the corners of my eyes. “Don’t hurt him. He didn’t do anything.”

But he ignores me and continues to speak in his dialect. His eyes shift to black, like a demon possessed. His voice lowers to a whispering chant. The room spins, my vision narrows. My own voice, a scream in my mind—Drak’hal! Drak’hal! The word rises, unbidden, from my throat. “Drak’hal!” The table shakes like an earthquake. After a few seconds, I slam my hands on the table and yell, “Drak’hal!”

The bubble we are in fades away. The force pinning me to the chair evaporates. Kainen releases Finnas like a bolt of lightning, ripping his hand away from his throat.

Finnas takes deep breaths, sputters, and coughs. His eyes wide, tears the color of blood leak down his face. “I didn’t know,” he says, managing to get up. “I’m… sorry.” And then he runs out.

My gaze shifts to Kainen as he takes his seat, ignoring the stares from everyone aimed our way.

“What the fuck was that, huh?” I can barely breathe, my own words a rasp.

He grabs my beer, takes it in one go, and slams the glass on the table. His eyes go back to the color of storm clouds. “I should be asking you the same thing.”

Rage bubbles to the surface. “Me? You could have killed him.”

He leans close, his eyes boring into mine. “And how would you know that?”

“Where I come from, blood doesn’t leak from someone’s eyes unless they’re on the brink of death, Kainen.”

His eyes shift back to black. They said he was human, but he wields some sort of magic you could only find in fantasy novels. Then there is the way he looks at me. I’m not sure what it is in his eyes—anger or hate—but he’s good at masking whatever it is.

“I would have killed him if you hadn’t intervened.”

“For someone who doesn’t care if I live or die, you have a funny way of showing it. I was just having a beer and a conversation.”

The corner of his mouth lifts maliciously. “You didn’t see his thoughts.”

I scoff. “What the fuck do you care? If anything, I should be asking you the same question.”

He bolts out of his chair. “Let’s go.”