Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kora took another bite. It hadn't escaped her notice that Derek had gone out of his way not to mention what he was. And she knew that, despite her asking, he didn't want to tell her. A flare of irritation rose. They were supposed to be earning trust. It wasn't happening fast, but it wouldn't happen at all if he held on to his secrets.

That made her ask herself why he didn't want to tell her. Was he uncomfortable? Scared ? Worried ? She had all those and more when she forced the words from her lips. He had given her time. It was only fair that she do the same for him.

Suddenly , his head snapped to the side, and his body went rigid. Kora immediately looked in his direction and listened. She strained to pick up any sounds but couldn't hear or see anything. She was about to ask him what he'd heard when he moved. One moment, he was on the other side of the fire. The next, he was beside her, hauling her to her feet.

He put his mouth by her ear. " Don't move. Don't make a sound. I'll be right back," he whispered.

Derek was gone before he finished speaking the last word. The panic in his words encased her in ice. She flattened herself against the tree's trunk and scanned the forest. There was still enough light from the sinking sun to see. The sounds of the woods continued around her. No predator stalked her. Tension eased out of her muscles, and she couldn't help but wonder if Derek had created an issue to keep from having to answer her.

He reappeared beside her, his hand wrapped around her arm. " We have to go. Now ."

" Why ?"

" The amethyst is gone."

She frowned at him. " What do you mean, gone? Show me."

" There isn't time," he said between clenched teeth. He moved to touch the cuff when a deep laugh rang out around them.

Kora stiffened at the same time a whiff of evil teased her nose. She couldn't figure out where the laugh had come from. When she turned back to Derek , she saw resignation in his eyes. And something else he quickly hid.

He slipped the cuff from his wrist and discreetly put it on hers. It was so big it nearly fell off. " Return to the city," Derek said in a soft voice. " Go to the room where Miena is and ask Daelya to tell you where to find the Druid , Katla ."

" We go together," Kora insisted. She breathed through her mouth as the smell of wickedness grew.

Derek slowly shook his head. " There's no time. I'll keep Bryok occupied. Find Katla . Go after Villette together." He released her and took a step back. " Go ," he mouthed.

" When are you going to learn?" asked a deep, gravelly voice that rang through the forest.

Derek turned at the same time a man with straight, flaxen hair that brushed his shoulders stepped from behind a tree. Kora stood frozen, staring at the newcomer's cold, blue eyes. He was dressed in the blue finery of Stonemore with a thick, hammered gold cuff at his wrist. The man was powerfully built and focused solely on Derek . And he reeked of evil.

She started to call to her flames and take out the man when Derek issued a low growl from beside her. She glanced over, and he shook his head at her. Kora frowned, but Derek was no longer looking her way.

" You continue to make the same missteps and mistakes over and over. How many times does Villette need to reset you before she washes her hands completely?" the man said.

Kora's lips parted in astonishment. Had she really heard him admit that Villette had taken Derek's memories? The man's frosty gaze slid to her. A tremor ran through her at his menacing glower. There was no way she was leaving Derek with this man. They would fight him together.

" You want a fight, Bryok ? I'm right here," Derek goaded.

Bryok laughed again, the sound as cold as his eyes. " I've come for you both. But you knew that. The little hellhound can run, but I'll find her just as soon as I kill you. There will be nothing left when I'm done."

" Now , Kora !" Derek shouted.

She touched the cuff but didn't return to the city. Instead , she teleported to a limb high in a tree. Because no matter how much Bryok scared her, she would fight alongside Derek .

" A hellhound? Really , Derek . That's a new low, even for you," Bryok said.

Derek and Bryok slowly began circling each other. " You follow blindly without asking questions."

" I never understood what Villette saw in you. She gave us life. But regardless of what we've tried, you always turn on her. Time and again, no matter who you talk to, no matter where you are, you decide she's your enemy. She wanted me to bring you back, but I'm done cleaning up your messes. This ends today."

" You're right," Derek said. " It does. But with your death."

Kora's startled gasp rent the air as Bryok changed into a dragon with navy and gold scales, but it was drowned out by the groan of trees as they split and were thrown out of the way to accommodate his massive size. Bryok lunged at Derek , who transformed into the black-and-silver dragon. Kora's heart dropped to her feet at the sight, fear turning her blood to ice as she grasped what Derek was. She wanted to run, to flee, but she was frozen.

She was so immersed in her fear and the scene that she didn't realize the tree she was on had splintered. It moaned ominously before pitching to the side, sending her flying. She landed on her back; her breath knocked from her. Pain radiated through her. More creaking had her looking up in time to see a tree falling and coming right at her. Kora thought about being outside the forest and touched the cuff.

Breath finally filled her lungs. She rolled over into some tall grass and popped up on her knees to peer above it for another look at Derek and Bryok . Their roars boomed as they clashed with such force the earth shuddered. She spotted the two silver horns atop Derek's head that dripped with Bryok's blood. Derek shoved him.

Bryok slid backward, his long, navy talons scoring the ground. He roared and sprang forward, his arm reared back as he descended. She watched in horror as four slashes opened on Derek's chest. He bellowed and whipped his tail at Bryok . Then , they were tangled together, rolling out of the forest toward her location. Kora took one more look at Derek and pictured the palace in her mind. Her finger hovered over the cuff as Derek's huge jaw locked onto Bryok's shoulder. She touched the metal.

The dragons' roars turned into the clamor of the city. Kora found herself standing in the corridor outside the stairway down into the mountain. She knew she needed to do something, but her mind got stuck on one simple fact: Derek was a dragon.

A dragon .

The sound of voices snapped her out of her musings. She turned to find the stairs that would take her to Daelya . Whether it was luck or some kind of divine intervention, Kora found the staircase almost immediately.

As she ascended, the tap of her boots on the steps made her think of the trees snapping. That brought back images of the dragons fighting. Her steps slowed, and her heart twisted with hurt and anger. Derek was a dragon. One with black-and-silver scales.

Her arm swung down, causing the cuff to bang heavily against her hand. She stretched out her fingers to keep it from falling off. She stopped and looked down at the silver. He had given it to her to escape Bryok . It was Derek who had protected her against the amethyst.

She thought about the dragon that had stood over her. Had that really been Derek ? Or was she only imagining it was black scales in the fog?

Kora looked up the stairs and got moving again. She reached the landing and paused when she heard voices headed toward her. She turned to the next flight and started up them, then kept going until there were no more. When she reached the top, she found herself in a hallway with arched, open-air windows looking out over the city. She glanced left and saw a doorway that led through another passageway. She turned to the right and saw a door down the hall. There wasn't a soul around anywhere, at least that she could see. It was like this section of the palace had been forgotten.

She turned right with the windows on her left and a solid stone wall on her other side. She proceeded cautiously down the corridor. It wasn't long before she noticed small cracks in the floor. The farther she went, the bigger they got. Then she spotted more fissures on the walls.

The closer she got to the door, the more fissures there were. The yawning door stood like a hand beckoning her forward. She stepped over the biggest fractures and slipped through the doorway.

The room was a disaster. The wall facing the city was gone, as was some of the floor. Everything had been blackened by what must have been an explosion. Or a fire. Dragon fire, perhaps? Derek's face came into her mind's eye, but she pushed it away and concentrated on the situation. The floor was littered with debris and dark splotches. Beneath it all, near the outer wall, were cracks big enough to make her wonder if the entire room was about to break apart.

Kora scanned the chamber and found two more doors. One on the opposite side of the room, and another to her right. Did one lead to where Miena and Daelya were being held?

A vision of Derek in dragon form, his mouth open and wings spread wide, flashed in her head. She closed her eyes to dispel the image. Instead , she saw the face of a dragon as she lay dying, red eyes looking down at her. The face became clearer. She saw the black scales tinged with silver.

Did that mean he'd carried her up the mountain? Dragons didn't do that.

Nor did they shift.

She gripped her head as her emotions tangled with facts. Kora wanted to scream. Had it all been a game? Was she nothing more than a pawn?

Had any of it been real?

She drew in a shaky breath and lowered her arms. The heft of the cuff was a constant reminder of Derek . She covered it with her hand and considered flinging it away. Then Derek's words whispered through her mind.

" I'll keep Bryok occupied. Find Katla . Go after Villette together."

Dragons hunted hellhounds. They didn't protect them.

Everything she thought she knew had been jumbled and shaken until she didn't know which way was up any longer. Kora smoothed her fingers over the braided metal at her wrist. The cuff had been Derek's way out. Why had he given it to her?

Why had he done any of the things he had?

Her stomach knotted so painfully she thought she might be sick. Then she remembered what Bryok had said about Derek's memories. She clung to that as if it were a lifeline. Derek's memories had been erased more than once; each attempt meant to turn him into whatever Villette wanted. Most likely, a copy of Bryok .

Anger swelled and returned to where it had always been. Villette . She had to be stopped. All of it needed to end.

Kora stepped over rock and rubble to the door nearest her. Her fingers wrapped around the handle, and she started to open it when it was suddenly yanked out of her hand and slammed shut.

" I wouldna do that, lass."

She turned her head and found herself looking into eyes of the darkest blue. The man had his dirty blond hair pulled away from his face as he watched her. But she recognized him. Derek had called him Merrill . But was he a friend or foe? " This doesn't concern you."

" That silver on your wrist is too big," he stated. " Did you steal it?"

She looked down at the cuff. Pain cut straight through her heart. Derek was a dragon. Derek had protected her.

Kora shook her head. " He put it on my arm and told me to find Daelya ."

" Why ?"

She lifted her gaze to him. " Why should I tell you anything?"

" Because I can help. If you'll let me." He lowered his arm from the door. " Lass , tell me where Derek is."

" Fighting a dragon." Hearing the words aloud made her wince. " He's one and never told me."

" Aye , he is. So am I ."

She tensed, eyeing him suspiciously. She had been surrounded by dragons and never knew it. How many people had she passed, believing them to be human, when they were really dragons? It was too much to take.

Merrill sighed wearily. " If I wanted to harm you, you'd already be dead. Tell me where Derek is."

" I don't know. I'd never been there before."

" Take me to him."

" I'm here to find Katla ." Even when she questioned Derek's motives, she was still following his urging. " She's the one who hurt Villette ."

Merrill kept his hand on the door. " And you can do just that. But first, take me to Derek so I can help him."

Kora wanted to believe Merrill was a friend, but she was drowning in doubts and panic. He was offering her support if only she was bold enough to take it. But even Derek hadn't known if he could trust Merrill .

" Shall I shift right here to prove what I am?" Merrill asked heatedly. " We doona have time for that. Take me to him before it's too late."

Kora might very well be bringing death upon herself, but she wanted to help Derek . Even if he was a dragon. She clutched Merrill's hand and tapped the cuff before she changed her mind. In the next heartbeat, roars fell like thunder around her, one on top of the other. She spotted Derek , who fought not just Bryok but also the amethyst dragon. She did a double take at the sight, but there was no denying. The dragon Derek had slain earlier was alive.

Merrill pulled out of her grasp and started running. He got two steps before he jumped into the air and shifted. The shock of seeing him turn into an orange dragon made her stumble back. Merrill flew straight up before tucking his wings against his large body and diving into the melee from the sky, going straight for the amethyst. Being around dragons in a fight was dangerous. Remaining while four were trying to kill each other was a death wish.

Kora sought out Derek . Blood spattered his scales, but she didn't know if it was his or another's. She had shared her bed with a dragon. Had given herself to him more completely than any other. And he hadn't killed her.

She jerked when Bryok threw Derek to the ground. He rose quickly, giving her time to see the wounds covering him. One wing was torn in half. She moved toward him without realizing it. What could she do against dragons? She didn't belong in that fight. Her quarry was elsewhere. Merrill had restored the odds. She had done what she needed.

Kora lingered for a second more and then returned to the room in the palace. She didn't hesitate to throw open the door this time. Heat blasted her, snatching her breath and drenching her in sweat.

" Well , well, well. The hellhound has finally arrived," said a voice from deep within the room. " What took you so long?"

Kora looked inside to find who she assumed was Miena chained and standing in thigh-deep lava, just as Derek had described. Kora scanned the rest of the room and located Daelya near the door. " Derek told me to find Katla . Will you tell me where she is?"

" All Derek had to do was release me, and I'd have taken care of our mutual enemy," Miena said. " Where is he, by the way?"

Kora wiped the sweat from her brow before it dripped into her eyes. " Fighting Bryok ."

" Ah . I had hoped he might succeed in learning the truth this time." Miena shrugged, causing the chains to rattle loudly.

" What is the truth?"

" That is something he needs to discover on his own. It's the only way he'll believe it."

Kora now understood why Derek hadn't freed Miena . She turned her attention to Daelya . " Please . Can you help?"