18. Lore

My dragon had surfaced inside of my mortal body. It spoke through me, moved my body. All to be with this girl. The vampire half-breed, Isabella. Never in all my years cursed had he ever come to me in the day in my mortal form. Not since the curse had been created all those centuries ago. We were cut off from one another.

The cruelty in which the moon goddess twisted her curse. Because being cut off was like missing a part of my soul. For a short, fleeting moment, that part of my soul and a part I never knew was missing, collided, and I felt whole.

I felt content, restored, as if I”d finally found my home, my reason for being. The reason I”d suffered for so long suddenly felt as if it was worth every second, even for just a few moments. This terrified me. Terrified me in a way I couldn”t put into words or even work through the conflicting emotions that twisted inside me.

She had done this to me. Bewitched me and used magic to pull my dragon out. The moon goddess must have sent her. I stormed through the castle, cursing and smashing my fist into the wall as I sought out that area of the castle I always craved. I was broken, in pain, and spiraling into darkness.

She’d asked me about the curse, and it was more evident than ever that it was closer to claiming me forever. There was no promised true love. If there was, I prayed she never came because the monster inside of me would be her ruin.

I felt my dragon’s claws unfurl within me as he scratched the edges of my mind as if he were that much closer to fully taking me over.

I made my way to my sister Lara’s room, stopping in front of the stained-glass windows that showed our kingdom’s history and shame. There was no littered furniture, only dust, ghosts, and heartache. I studied each pane, seeing the red dragon over the castle, its red scales glowing from the outside light.

A stillness came over me as my thoughts drifted back to Bella, to the passion we had found in each other’s arms that morning. It had been so long since I had been with another woman, but even in my memories, nothing had ever felt like that.

It had felt right, like I had found a piece of myself that had always been missing. This thought made me go to the door before my sister Lara’s room and see that the dust had been disturbed. My steps faltered as I looked around. Someone had been here recently, and the footprints were dainty and petite, just like a beautiful, infuriating half-vampire—the uninvited guest of my castle.

I moved to stare at the portrait of Lara. Layers of dust obscured her smiling face. She had been so vibrant, so full of hopes and dreams. Until the vampire queen stole all the light and joy from Lara’s spirit in one cruel act of betrayal.

I remembered her excitement at being invited to the court for the first time when we worked hard to unite the two kingdoms. Something Lara had indeed been the instrument of change for. Upon the first time home, she had blushed with moon eyes as if she had found a man with whom she”d fallen in love.

I’d wanted her to be happy, and there had been no reason to remind her she”d never be allowed to have more than a crush on someone in another court. So I’d dumbly let her hold onto the hope in her heart that love was possible.

The next time we had visited, when we came home, things had been different. She had been different. It was obvious her heart had been broken.

Soon, we’d found her dead, taken by her own hand. I had found evidence of the vampire queen Isabella”s treachery. She”d taken my beautiful, young, naive sister and had used her, then she’d broke her heart as she used her to fuel the very war Lara had desperately tried to keep from ever happening. The shame and heartbreak had made Lara fall into despair, which had taken her from this world forever.

I’d blamed the entire vampire kingdom, and I had given them their war. I had become their nightmare.

I walked over to the balcony doors and out to look across the land, which was so different from what it used to be. When Lara had still been alive, there had been laughter and love here. My parents and I had lost a part of our souls when she’d left this world. Our love for her had made us lash out, and we’d still suffered the consequences.

When the war had come, I had done unspeakable things. I’d lost my way in my anger, desire for retribution, and vengeance. I’d led our troops to war, and we’d killed without abandon. My men had followed orders without question. The generals had seen any one of the moon clans as a threat, young, old, innocent. It hadn”t mattered. We had eradicated any and all in our path. I had been a monster and a monster I would remain.

When Lara had died, a hole had been torn into my heart, leaving a gaping abyss that I thought would never heal. It would only continue to shrivel and die in the hurt that remained where she had once been. Losing my little sister had broken me, leaving an endless void in my heart. ”Lara,” I whispered into the dark corners of the dusty room.

Yet, what we had done and had become was the opposite of what Lara had believed. Lara had wanted to bring peace to the clans, tear down the lines, and make us all one people. I’d believed her secret love for the vampire queen had made her see the world this way.

With a sigh, I closed the balcony doors and jumped to the ground below, waiting for dusk to turn on this cursed land. With one last sad look up to her room, I said goodbye. ”You were right. You were always right, little sister.”

For centuries, I”d been severed from my dragon, our bond shattered by the moon goddess”s bitter curse. Once, we had been two parts of one whole. Now, a jagged chasm divided us. I had been condemned to walk this earth alone, my soul torn asunder.

In my darkest moments, I called out with my mind, striving to bridge the gap between us. Only silence responded, hollow and endless. The dragon”s absence haunted me, an aching void I could not fill.

At times, I feared my humanity was slowly slipping away, the man I once had been fading into shadow. Rage came quicker, and coldness seeped into my heart. The dragon had tempered these impulses, balancing the extremes of my nature. Without our connection, I was adrift.

Now, this girl—this Bella—had changed everything. For the first time in centuries, I felt the dragon stir, drawn by her presence. The possibility of reforging our bond teased me, offering salvation.

Perhaps the curse could be broken through her, and I could be made whole once more. Or she might be the key to my utter ruin, my final fall into darkness. I knew not which path awaited.

I had to find her. This half-vampire temptress called to both man and dragon. She might be my only chance to salvage what remained of my humanity before it was consumed forever. I clung to this fragile hope, pushing back against the shadows. I had to believe she would lead me back into the light for both our sakes.

Even if it turned out she was the key to breaking this curse, then I would have to sacrifice more than I was willing to give. In the end, my humanity would be lost in the same way.

Yet every time I thought back to her, what it felt like to be with her, to feel her, and to touch her, it was both a comfort and a deep-seated fear that gripped my insides. I felt things I”d never felt before when I was around her. Perhaps even emotions that I never could feel until now.

But I could never tell her that.

In her presence, it felt as if I stood too close to the sun, like my dragon”s fire brushed over my skin like a warm kiss, touching but never burning. A bittersweet feeling in the back of my mouth made me yearn for more than I deserved. I was in so much trouble.

As my thoughts wandered to every moment in her presence, the way I felt pulled toward her as if stuck in her gravitational pull, I knew one day I”d fly too close and burn from her intensity. My dragon had claimed her and knew.

I knew what that meant.

She had finally come.