Page 21 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Kora stood frozen as she watched Derek fall to the ground unconscious. The room erupted with bodies that rushed past her, bumping into her on their way to Derek. Blood rushed in her ears, making their shouts seem distant and faint.

She stepped back, stumbling as she tried to get out of the way. She didn’t stop until she made contact with a wall. There, Kora flattened her hands on the stone before slowly sliding down until she was on the floor. That’s where she remained, her knees up to her chest, as Derek was examined before they turned their attention to the cage.

Though she was in the room, it didn’t feel as if she was in her body. Time was disjointed, fragmented. Derek’s face kept replaying in her mind. The way his gaze had lit with exhilaration at breaking free, to anticipation at reaching her, and then seething when he realized he hadn’t.

Miena hadn’t just erased Derek, she had made sure his disdain of Kora was so deep that nothing could repair it. Kora had been processing what Merrill had told them about the eggs when she heard Derek. No prison would hold a man such as Derek, especially not one who wanted revenge for the supposed death of his family.

Kora couldn’t think of anything that would convince Derek that Miena had lied. There had been eggs. Though no one had gone to see if they remained intact. Kora had a sinking feeling they weren’t. It would be just like Miena to destroy them to get back at Villette. All the while proving to Derek that she spoke the truth.

Kings and mates filed in and out of the room. Derek was back in the cage, which had been repaired. What was next? Starting all over? He hadn’t listened to how they’d met or what they had been through at Stonemore. Nothing she could say would change his feelings toward her. She knew it as surely as she knew she loved him.

The residents of Iron Hall came into the room one by one and added their power to the barrier around the cage. She watched it pulse each time new magic was introduced before going still. Her attention got snagged on Lotti, who walked in with Alasdair.

Kora should probably talk to them to find out what was going on with Villette, but she couldn’t get to her feet. It wasn’t as if she could do anything. The binding vow prevented Kora from attacking Villette. Miena was out of her reach, and Derek…was lost to her.

The last time she had lost so much, she had withdrawn from the world. From herself. She had shut away her hellhound abilities and forgotten them. It had done nothing. Villette still perpetrated her evil, innocents had died, and the past never left Kora.

Retreating seemed her only option now. She wanted to go somewhere, lick her wounds, and heal her broken heart. But that was the easy way out. Besides, she had told herself at Stonemore that she was done running. She had taken a stand, and she owed it to herself, her ancestors, and everyone else to fight.

Even if it was the hardest thing she had ever done.

By the time she got to her feet, Alasdair and Lotti were gone. A few people still milled about the room, checking on the cage’s integrity. Con waved her over. She tried not to look at Derek as she walked to the King of Kings, but she couldn’t help herself.

“It’s your turn,” Con said when she reached him.

Kora frowned up at him. “For?”

“To add your magic to the shield.”

“I don’t think you want mine.”

His dark eyes held a wealth of kindness as he looked at her. “What happened wasna your fault.”

“It isn’t that. It’s just that…I’m a hellhound.”

Humor lit his expression. “Exactly.”

“I don’t think you understand. I can burst into flames, and I’m fast. We’re apparently only good at killing Star People. We don’t do much else.” At least, that she was aware of. And after several hundred years of life, she should know.

Or would she? She had tried to forget that she was a hellhound for most of that time.

“Everyone at Iron Hall who has magic has added theirs.”

Warmth spread through her at being included. Accepted, even. These people didn’t know her, but they had taken her in and listened. They had worked with her and protected her. These dragons, who were supposed to be her enemies, were now people she called friends.

Kora raised her hand until she felt the vibration of magic from the barrier. Sparks flew as fire danced from her palm and moved up her fingers. She pressed it against the shield and watched it absorb the blaze. The flames wove through the barrier, giving it form before slowly diminishing until they were gone, and the shield was invisible once more.

She lowered her arm to her side as her gaze landed on Derek. “How did he break through?”

“He’s a dragon, but he wasna born like the rest of us. He was made. By the Star People.”

Kora swung her gaze to Con. “Meaning?”

“As I feared, he has some of their magic. It isna a lot, but it’s enough that he got through our layers. We’re hoping the addition of all the magic of those here will keep him inside until we can reach him.”

“That won’t happen.”

Con’s blond brows snapped together. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s what I saw in his eyes.”

“And what he told Merrill.”

Kora nodded. “I know we have time to work on him, but?—”

“We doona,” Con interjected.

Her heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

His black gaze briefly lowered as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Miena approached Lotti, Alasdair, and Villette. It appeared she wanted Lotti and Villette to side with her. But after Miena left, the other three went to Stonemore. Villette feared her sister would take over, and she was right to worry. Miena is there and has sent Gordon to attack the villages.”

“Of course, she has.” Kora tried not to think about the innocents dying, all because she had trusted the wrong person.

Nothing was going according to plan. Miena seemed to be ahead of them at every turn.

“Merrill was right, you know,” Con said. “Even if he is surlier than he used to be. We’ve been victorious because we didna give up. We stand united. There are many of us, and only one of her.”

Kora wrinkled her nose as a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of Gordon. “With a dragon who apparently can’t be killed.”

“He was Alasdair’s brother.”

And she knew exactly who was responsible. “What did Villette do to him?”

“Your guess is as good as ours. Right now, our focus is on Derek. You need to keep talking to him.”

Kora shook her head. “It’s a waste of time.”

Con stared at her for a long moment, then asked, “You have something else in mind?”

“It’s an idea. I don’t know if it’s a good one.” She laid out the plan, and not once did he laugh or tell her it was absurd.

He briefly raised his brows as he twisted his lips. “I doona need to be the one to say it could backfire.”

“What will happen to him if we can’t return his memories?”

Con said nothing.

Kora looked at Derek’s unconscious body. “Exactly. No one wants to be in a cage. He’s had little control of things in his life with the Star People wiping his memories and directing him at every turn. He’s uninterested in anything we have to say. So, we show him instead.”

“And if that doesna work? If you die? He’ll still come for us.”

She nodded and slid her gaze to him. “Then that decision will be in your hands. I’m open to other ideas.”

“I’d like to try something where there isna a chance of your death.”

There was always a chance of her death. Kora wasn’t sure when she had accepted that. Maybe when she decided to find Villette. Or perhaps it was when she first stepped foot in Stonemore. All she knew was that there was only one place she had ever felt safe: Derek’s arms. Nothing that had happened to him was his fault. He was a pawn in a vicious game where he was always the loser.

And it was time someone set him free.