22. Bella

There was something in the air. Not the stillness of earlier or the changes that seemed to be burning into the stagnation of this cursed land and people… No, this was different. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn”t shake the feeling.

”You are not keeping your stance properly,” Lore grunted at me as I faced him, sword in hand.

”My stance is good enough to knock you on your ass,” I muttered low, but I knew he heard me anyway as a smirk stretched across his face.

”You need to take this seriously.”

”Okay, I”m going to seriously knock you on your ass.” I advanced on him, swinging my sword high—too high. I realized too late I made a liar out of myself and knocked myself on my own ass.

I huffed, blowing my loose strands of hair out of my face, and lay in the dirt for a few moments longer than necessary. Today, I”d decided to broach the subject of the changes with Lore. Things had been odd between us.

There was definite tension, and a few times, we”d come so close to kissing, but each time, he pulled back as if he was doing everything to put me at arm”s length. It was driving me crazy.

His hands were on me again, and my mind was going in every direction but what I was supposed to do. I admitted that my heart seemed to speed up, and my stomach fluttered when he was near. Perhaps it wasn”t just mind-blowing passion between us. I enjoyed his hands on me, even in these simple moments. I felt my hand touching his lightly as my breath hitched.

Lore stared at me, lifting an eyebrow as if warning me to focus. But as much as he tried to hide it, I saw how much I affected him, too. His eyes dilated and flashed crimson and back as heat warmed the liquid sky blue in his gaze. His lips parted as if he was remembering the feel of his lips.

He stepped back and, with a groan, ran his hands through his dark auburn hair. ”You will be the death of me, woman.”

I wasn”t going to deny I wanted him. That when I wasn”t around him, I thought about him. That at night, when I could hear his dragon in the sky, I wished it was him and his dragon touching me and moving inside of me.

Only I”d not seen his dragon flashing in his eyes since that one day and just now. Now, it seemed like the changes were taking his dragon and him further away from me.

I had stayed away from him, but it had been hard. The longer I stayed away and deciphered the emotions that were plaguing me, I realized that my feelings for him were more than just lust.

The sun beat down on us as we circled each other, swords raised. Lore”s eyes were steeled, his jaw set in determination as he prepared for my next attack. I knew I should focus, but my thoughts drifted to the strange tension brewing between us.

His hot and cold attitude was maddening. One moment, we were locked in passionate embraces, and the next, he pushed me away. Since he realized that his dragon was drawn to me, he had withdrawn, fighting the inexplicable pull between us. I longed to break through the walls he had erected, to confront him about the unspoken emotions simmering beneath the surface. The proud jut of his chin warned me he would rebuff any vulnerability.

With a cry of frustration, I charged, swinging my sword with wild abandon. Lore deflected it easily, quirking one arrogant brow.

”You”ll have to do better than that,” he taunted.

His flippant tone ignited my temper. I struck repeatedly, venting my conflicted feelings with each furious blow. Lore matched me strike for strike, his eyes alight with exhilaration. Our deadly dance stretched as sweat slicked our skin under the relentless sun. Still, neither could gain an advantage over the other. As we slammed together, breastplate to breastplate, the air between us crackled with sparks.

Lore”s eyes smoldered, his lips parted as he panted raggedly. This close, his earthy scent enveloped me, conjuring memories of our passionate encounter weeks before. Unbidden, my gaze dropped to his mouth, and a devastating yearning unfurled within me.

With a growl, Lore wrenched me against him, his sword clattering to the stones. One hand grasped my neck, and the other snaked around my waist.

”Why must you tempt me so?” he rasped, his eyes tormented.

My heart thundered. ”I could ask the same of you,” I whispered. ”One moment you pull me close, the next you shut me out.”

Lore”s jaw clenched, conflict raging in his stormy eyes. With a curse, he crushed his mouth to mine. The kiss seared through me like wild and consuming dragon fire. I melted into him, returning his fevered passion measure for measure.

When we finally broke apart, gasping, the yearning inside me had transformed into a bittersweet ache. No matter how Lore tried to resist, we were inexorably bound, two halves of one fractured soul.

The curse still loomed, an uncrossable chasm between us. Lore”s stubborn pride refused to acknowledge what was written on both our hearts.

I gazed at him, praying he would finally relent and trust in this… whatever blossomed between us. His expression shuttered, leaving me alone in the cold. Without a word, he turned his back and retreated into the castle, taking my hopes with him.

I sank to my knees, cursing the cruel fate that destined us to be eternally torn. No matter how desperately I yearned for his acceptance, Lore remained determined to keep me at bay. When would he realize that only together could we prevail against the darkness? For now, he chose to barricade himself behind empty denials… leaving my soul to wither in despair.

The stillness of the castle grated on me as I restlessly paced its empty halls. Ever since Lore rejected me again, bitterness festered in my heart. I needed to act, not wallow in despair.

I made my way to the dusty library. Surely, among the leather-bound tomes and faded scrolls, some clue to lifting this accursed curse waited to be discovered. I had combed through everything and found nothing new.

I lit a single candle and began my search, methodically combing each shelf. Most texts were nonsensical ramblings or ancient histories. Tucked away behind a sheaf of crumbling papers, I uncovered a small journal bound in cracked leather.

Trembling, I opened it to the first page. Uneven scrawl filled the yellowed parchment:

Prophecy of the Moon Seer, Era of the Dragon Kings.

My pulse quickened. This must be a record from Lore”s time before the curse fell. I read on with bated breath:

When crimson blood stains the silver moon, the end shall come. Only the sacrifice of the cursed true love will end the stagnation of the land...

The rest was obscured by age. I swore violently, nearly hurling the fragile book across the room. Even this scrap of prophecy spoke, hinting at a grisly sacrifice.

Had the moon goddess foreseen Lore and I, star-crossed lovers doomed to tragedy? Was our tale destined to end in blood?

”What have you found there?”

I whirled, the journal tumbling from my fingers. Lore prowled closer, sunlight streaming through the high windows to halo his brooding form. His eyes narrowed, fixating on the open page at my feet.

”Nothing of consequence,” I lied hastily, scooping up the book. Too late—Lore gripped my wrist, emerald eyes blazing.

”Do not attempt to deceive me. I can scent your excitement.” His tone held both menace and desperate longing. ”What revelations lurk inside that book?”

I hesitated but knew I owed him the truth, however dark. ”It speaks of a sacrifice… of cursed and the cursed beloved. How to break the curse.” My voice dropped to a pained whisper. ”I think it means us.”

I steeled my heart, hoping he wouldn”t say his true love was still out there, and all my fears returned. I sucked in a sharp breath and prepared to be crushed. Lore only watched me instead.

Lore stood rigid, his gaze fixed on the book in my hand but said nothing.

Somewhere in the tangled threads of our fate, hope lingered. We would find it together… or burn trying.

Lore released me as though scalded, anguish etched on his proud face. ”You should not have come here,” he rasped. ”Now we are both damned.”

”What do you mean?” I asked. ”How am I damned?”

Lore stared at me for a long moment, his features reflecting a whirlwind of emotions. ”We both are.”

I pressed my lips together before lifting an eyebrow. ”A little more clarity would be nice,” I muttered.

”In order for the curse to be lifted, a sacrifice has to be made,” he said.

”What kind of sacrifice?” I demanded, crossing my arms as I lifted my chin, trying to act as if his severe, deadly tone didn”t frighten me a little.

”The kind that ends in death.”

I flinched as understanding crashed over me. The prophecy from the book—spoke of our fate.

Lore watched me with infinite sorrow in his eyes. ”I thought by keeping my distance, I could spare you. It is too late. You are cursed as I am now.”

”Tell me,” I begged and demanded, feeling his weight as he stood beside me. Instinctively, I moved closer, seeking him out.

”It was after I led an attack on a village of witches,” Lore said painfully, not meeting my eyes. ”The moon goddess had a daughter there, a half-mortal child. My men showed no mercy, slaughtering all in their path for retaliation against the vampires. The goddess arrived to find her daughter dead. In her grief and rage, she damned us all for the innocent life I had taken.”

Lore”s shoulders slumped under the weight of guilt and regret. ”Her curse turned my family and kingdom into lifeless statues, frozen in time. Each night my dragon form is freed, but without memory or reason. Only a sacrifice of love will break it.”

My mind reeled with this devastating revelation. We were star-crossed lovers, destined to die together to free Lore”s kingdom from eternal suffering. Fate had bound us in tragedy.

”There must be another way,” I whispered. I knew this, but I”d had some desire to find a solution, a misguided hope, even as reality”s despair threatened to drown me. Lore just shook his head, the bleakness in his eyes mirroring my heart”s darkness.

He turned away, his broad shoulders slumped in defeat. The yawning chasm between us had never seemed so vast, yet I could not surrender to despair.

I had run toward this castle to save myself, and this dragon had answered my plea. He had been there for me every time I had needed him, the one to heal my broken soul, and now he was slipping away into the darkness forever.

Months ago, I decided to break the curse by killing Lore. Now, I knew I could never go through with it. I doubted I ever really could. I feared all was lost as that feeling that something wicked, something terrible that settled under my skin and clung to my bones, was coming—and soon.

I found myself lost in thought as Lore had long since left me to ruminate in my morose thoughts. I heard the roar close by as I walked through the halls past the ballroom and armory, not daring to look at the furniture—no, the enchanted people—that littered the floor.

The acrid smell of smoke roused me from restless dreams. I stumbled to the window, gazing at the hulking shadow perched atop a crumbling tower, eyes glowing crimson in the gloom.

My dragon.

My Lore lingered somewhere within that monstrous form, locked in the curse”s cruel prison. I had to try to reach him before he completely lost himself to the ancient magic corrupting his soul.

Shivering in my thin nightdress, I crept outside into the chill night air. The dragon”s slitted eyes tracked my approach, a menacing rumble vibrating in his massive chest. Tendrils of inky smoke unfurled from flared nostrils.

”Lore...” I called softly, hands raised in supplication. ”It”s me.”

The dragon hissed, its serpentine tail lashing against a weathered stone. I stood firm, my heart hammering against my ribs. When his head reared back, his maw gaping to release a jet of blistering flame, I fell to my knees.

”Please!” I begged, tears streaking my soot-stained cheeks. ”Remember who you are!”

He froze, the fire dying in his gullet as I gazed upward in wordless entreaty. Scaled lips retracted from dagger-like teeth as the creature slowly bent his terrible visage closer. One gleaming obsidian claw-tipped my chin up, razor-sharp edge against my vulnerable throat.

Without flinching, I met the slitted crimson eyes, imagining I could see echoes of Lore”s human spirit behind their feral ferocity.

”You are more than this curse,” I whispered through bloodless lips. ”Our fate is not written in the stars. Only you can reclaim yourself from the darkness.”

A shudder rippled along sinuous coils, and vast pinions rustled. Confusion clouded those draconic orbs for one breathless moment, and my heart swelled with fragile hope.

The shutters closed, the beast retreating back to inhuman instincts. It reared up with an ear-splitting shriek that reverberated to my bones.

As it took flight, the wind from its wings nearly dashed me against the stones. Still, I clung to faith that I had reached Lore, but only briefly. We would find a way back to each other. We had to believe it or surrender to despair.

Somewhere within the dragon”s fiery heart, our love lingered. Next time, I would pierce his armor of anger and pride. Lore and my dragon were in there, and I would set them both free.