Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

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T HE MAGIC SEIZES ME SLOWLY, SOMETHING AKIN TO VINES creeping over my shoulders and dragging me down to the forest floor for a nap. All I see is darkness.

"Cayden?" I murmur, slurring like I've had too much to drink.

"I'm here," he responds, stepping behind me to keep me steady. "Gods, you're freezing."

The warmth of his chest keeps me tethered to the chamber, despite not being able to see it. Shadows swim behind my eyes like gossamer fabric flowing against the night sky. He rests his chin on my head and rubs his hand down my uninjured arm, holding me steady with his other. Flashes of green, lavender, yellow, blue, red, pink, gold, and silver shine through the shadows.

The colors of my heart.

The colors embedded into my soul.

"Dragons," I whisper. "My dragons."

"Elowen." He says my name with nothing short of reverence. "Your eyes are glowing again."

The shadows behind my eyes become green smoke. "Sorin."

The smoke clears in the center and I see Sorin's green-scaled sleeping face. My cheeks feel wet, and my heart sputters in my chest. His head is so much larger than the last time I saw him, and I wish the vision would let me see the rest of his body. I want to see his markings, his horns, his claws. I never want this to end.

"Venatrix." The smoke turns red, and I stare into Venatrix's red gaze and soak in her blood-red scales. "Venny, can you hear me?" She tilts her head to the side, and gold flecks appear in her eyes. "It's Elowen. I can see you."

The ground shakes under my boots but I can't pull myself from the vision, not when Venatrix huffs in acknowledgment. I can't let go of this one sliver of happiness.

The smoke changes to blue and I see Delmira. Flashes to lavender and I see Basilius. And finally becomes silver and I see Calithea.

The rumbling increases, and salty tears paint my lips. "I'm coming back for you. I promise. I'll see you so soon. Just hold on for me, please."

"The key is forged. It's time to let go," Cayden murmurs in my ear.

I grip the stone pillar with a shaky hand. "Sorin hasn't woken up yet. I haven't seen his eyes. He hasn't seen me."

"You'll see him soon, angel. I need you to let go now."

"I can't!" Basilius roars in distress. "Please don't make me leave them again."

But Cayden rips me away from the pillar, and my dragons are gone. I'm left with an emptiness deeper than the blackest part of the sea. The floor wasn't shaking, my body was and still is as sobs rack me. I don't realize I've collapsed until I try to stand, and the darkness surrounding me isn't from a vision but my face buried in Cayden's neck as tears slide down his skin. He rubs my back and pulls me close, trailing his fingers through my hair.

"We'll right this wrong, El." His voice is thick, rough. "You'll see your dragons again." He loosens his hold on me to tear off a piece of his shirt, but my knife is in my hand before he realizes what I'm doing. The blade doesn't even prick my skin before he wraps his arms around my wrists to restrain me.

"Just one more look, and then we can leave."

"No." His tone is final.

"I need to see Sorin's eyes."

"Elowen, that pillar is enchanted. Your father has sought multiple ways to keep you away from your dragons, and I don't doubt he'd create something like this with the intention of making you want to bleed out. If you were alone, you would've done just that."

"I won't bleed out." I struggle against his hold, doing my best to nick his hand just enough to unhand me. "Just one more second."

"El," he growls, pinning me to the wall and getting close enough to render my legs immobile. "Don't ask me to stand by while you hurt yourself. It's blood magic. It's not real."

"It was real! I saw them. They sensed me."

"I know, love. I know." His thumbs rub into my wrists where he pins them, careful to avoid my injury from the climb. "And you'll spend the rest of your life with them, which starts by getting out of this prison. I'm going to let go and bandage your arm. Can I trust you?"

I glance longingly at the pillar while letting his words sink in, swallowing the lump in my throat as I offer a resigned nod. It's just so hard to miss them, to long for them, and to have an image of them at my fingertips. But I know Cayden is right. I'd bleed out with hope in my heart and nothing else.

He continues speaking while wrapping my arm with more gentleness than I thought he was capable of. "Don't be angry at yourself, or me. Be angry at every single fucker that stands between you and your dragons. Turn your blades on them and reap their souls." His words awaken a fire in me. "Every time I step onto the battlefield, I tell myself it's one more kill before I make it to Garrick. His death has played out in my mind since I was a boy. Even when I had nothing, I knew your power existed. I knew I'd survive long enough to find the lost princess with a dragon bond and combine our forces."

I meet his eyes as he ties the knot on my arm, and he cups my face to dry my last tear.

"You will not die here. You will not be a prisoner to Imirath again. I don't care if I must carry you out of here, but you decide how we leave this room."

I let his words stoke the fire within until it blazes through me, becoming the firestorm made flesh that the seer from Galakin prophesized all those years ago. It's time I turned my wrath on Imirath, unyielding, merciless vengeance. "I want Imirath blood."

"There she is." Cayden steps away from me, a smirk playing on his lips when he plucks the freshly forged key from the mold. My blood solidified into crimson metal, and it shimmers as Cayden twirls it around his finger before tucking it into his pocket. "You'll have it."

I keep the flames burning as we exit the chamber and pass the deeply snoring guard. I wonder what it's like to sleep that deeply, magically induced or not. Cayden pricks his finger again and we begin our journey through the winding caves to return to our boat. I'm slightly light-headed, but the fruit I left in my pack at the Vareveth fishing village will help. We're halfway down a long cavern when shadows dance along the wall. I whip my head behind us, but we won't be able to retreat without them hearing us run. Everything in here echoes.

"Looks like you'll be getting your wish for Imirath blood far sooner than I intended." Cayden chuckles, unsheathing two swords. It's comical how calm he is. A man completely in control of any fight he enters. I can't stop myself from softly laughing, despite what happened moments ago. Six guards escorting a prisoner round the bend and blink in confusion when they see us. I smile and wave while Cayden throws an arm around my shoulders. "Oh, thank the gods. Would you be so kind and point us in the right direction? We can't find the exit."

Their shocked faces increase my laughter, and I steady myself against Cayden as they unsheathe their weapons and charge us. The prisoner remains where he is, not that he'd get far with the shackles connecting his wrists and ankles. I take down one guard with a knife, spearing him through the eye before unsheathing my sword. The blade becomes an extension of me, and I move with it like the tide pushing and pulling against the rocks surrounding us. Cayden kills with the efficiency of a god going against a mortal army, barely breaking a sweat as he wields his twin swords, cutting down two.

Within the whirlwind of blades and blood, I hadn't realized I offered Cayden my back. It's a sign of trust I've only truly granted Finnian. I've been betrayed too many times to trust freely, but perhaps the alliance between the two of us doesn't have to stand on shaky ground. We're bound by sharing the same enemies, but this is the first moment where I'm happy to fight with him. Not because of his power but because I know no blade will pierce my back for as long as he stands.

I throw another knife from behind Cayden as he's about to kill the last guard, and he whips around to face me after. His lips spread in a devastating smile as blood drips down his cheeks, taking in my similar disposition.

"You're a vicious little thing," he says, pricking his finger to create another blood droplet to get us out of here.

I quirk a brow. "Scared?"

"Not in the slightest."

Our moment is broken when the prisoner picks up a sword from the ground and raises it at us. He looks as if he hasn't eaten or bathed in weeks, and it's impossible to see him as a threat considering his blade wobbles like a frail tree in a storm. I roll my eyes and retrieve my knives. We don't have time for this.

"I-I-I won't let you take me back out there," the prisoner stammers. Cayden and I exchange a look. If this man is more terrified of the world outside this prison, then he must've done something to earn his sentence and a six-guard escort while chained. "INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!"

Cayden steps forward and swings his blade with enough force to behead him. The prisoner's body twitches as his head thumps on the ground. Silence hangs heavy between us, but it doesn't last long. Hundreds of footsteps echo throughout the mountain, rumbling the pebbles along the side of the cave. Cayden throws the prisoner over his shoulder and picks up the head before sprinting slightly behind, trusting me to follow the droplet to where we need to go. Hopefully Garrick thinks we infiltrated the prison to liberate a prisoner. It's not uncommon to break an inmate free from other prisons to face the wrath of a gang leader or someone else they've harmed.

We make it to the cave we entered through, and Cayden tosses the prisoner into the ocean. He stares down like he wishes he could command the sea to spit the man back out so he could torture him for jeopardizing our mission. The waves churn far more aggressively than they did when we arrived, completely swallowing the small beach we walked on. Our boat still floats but won't for long if we don't get down there in time.

Cayden slams his pick into the mountain and begins tying intricate knots to tether him to it. He steps toward me when he finishes and grips my shoulders. "How much do you trust me?"

I hate the timing of this question. "I trust you to not let me die."

"I can work with that." He reaches for me, wrapping both of my legs around his waist, and ties us together with the same knots he used on the pick. "Before you argue with me, know that this isn't up for discussion, princess. The tide is rising, and the guards are scurrying through this place like rats."

I tighten my arms around his neck when he dips over the side and begins our steady descent, keeping me secure between his arms as our hearts crash together. I've never feared heights, but once the cloud of thick fog surrounding the base of the prison obscures my vision, I bury my head in Cayden's neck and trust he'll finish the journey.

"Will you teach me how to use your lockpicks?" I ask, needing to distract myself.

His chuckle dances in the strands of my hair. "Corrupting you further is an invitation I'll never decline."

Cayden's boots splash in the surf when we make it to the bottom, and he unties the knots in one simple tug. "I'd like to learn that, too," I say.

"Deal."

I loosen my legs around him, but he tightens his arms, not letting me go until he deposits me in the rocking boat and pushes us out to sea. He notices my flushed cheeks as he rows us back to the Vareveth village where we left our horses and made camp in the forest.

"No point in us both getting our feet wet," he says.

"No ulterior meaning?" I ask, recalling his words from the tavern.

The grin he gives me is anything but innocent. "Never, angel."