48. FORTY-THREE

FORTY-THREE

Damien

"Look,Ididn’tmean anything by it. I just meant that if I can survive that—”

“That’s not the point!” Mom’s screech even made the icedrake wince.

I waved my hand at the icedrake as it blinked at us.

“Your mother is right, Damien. You should have told us immediately.” Dad shook his head.

“Hey, guys, it’s not that big of a deal.” I groaned, knowing that I shouldn’t have let that slip.

But they had accused me of being a little too hectic, when I’m always hectic—and now they’re blaming it on the fact that I went and got my head cut off.

“But it’s back on now. I don’t see the big deal.”

Mom’s jaw unhinged as her tail flicked behind her. “Roman, get your son.” She threw her hands up, anger slicing through her magic. Black smoke pulsed around her, and I glanced up at the black clouds smearing the sky. They expelled a low rumble as jagged plops of rain jabbed through the land.

An enormous tremor sent us catching our balance on our feet as the icedrake slammed its large foot into the ground as if it was irritated that we had turned our back on it.

I rolled my eyes as water spewed from its mouth before freezing into jagged edges on the ground.

“Testy,” I grunted, using my telekinesis to hold it in place. I let a few of my tendrils wrap around a few scales and forced them from its body.

It would shrink if it could, but it was unable to move thanks to my power.

I’ll give it props, though, because it took a hell of a lot more magical energy to keep hold of him than any of the others. I gripped two scales with my tendrils and shoved them both through its eyes and into its brain until the dragon stopped fighting.

I let go of my powers, and the icedrake dropped over and hit the ground hard, sending more tremors through the land.

I shot a glance at my parents, who were both still staring at me with that disappointed look.

“Oh, come on. That was a cool kill!” I threw my hands up in irritation. “Wren was with me. She kept me grounded.”

My heart ached as I thought of her. I needed this war to be over so I could have her in my arms again.

“Look, we trust Wren to keep you sane, but next time, let us know. We are your parents, and we love you very much.” Mom came forward and wrapped me in her arms while Dad wrapped us both in his.

I noticed a few specimens rushing toward us and allowed my tendrils to slice their heads off and watched them roll on the ground. “We should probably get back to this.”

They sighed but nodded and pulled away.

Killing wasn’t as fun when we didn’t take the time to enjoy it.