Then stuttered.
I was dying.
Alone.
Unbonded.
Unwanted.
A tear slipped from the corner of my eye, cutting a hot path down my cheek before vanishing into the mist. My fingers trembled, blue-white sparks dancing over my skin as my magic tore through me, untethered and ravenous.
My heart, gods, myheart, it wasn’t just aching.
It wasbreaking.
Splitting in my chest like something trying to tear free, like the very magic in my blood was trying toescapethe body it no longer trusted. The rhythm stuttered, faltered—then slammed hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
I leaned forward, the fog swallowing my scream.
Was this how it ended? Would my heart explode inside me?
It hurt so much I prayed for the end. Begged for it, silently, as the pain clawed through me and my breath came in short, ragged bursts.
And then?—
He roared.
Siergen’s voice crashed into my mind, not soft or sly or teasing like I’d come to know—butcommanding,ancient,terrifying.
ENOUGH.
It wasn’t the voice of the small red dragon who whispered comfort and warmth into my lonely nights.
It was the voice of a creature older than memory.
Powerful. Regal. Terrifying.
The storm inside me stopped, frozen by the sheer weight of his command.
And then Kaelith was there.
Her magic slammed into me like a floodgate opening, her energy threading through mine, anchoring it, taming it. Lightning bent, receded. The pain dimmed, but didn’t disappear.
The bondsnappedinto place.
Real. Final. Unbreakable.
But I was already collapsing, the burn of magic leaving scorched wreckage behind. My heart still trembled, fractured. My healing power surged, trying to keep up, trying to patch what had nearly been destroyed.
I slumped forward against scales that burned cool against my fevered skin, tears slipping freely down my face, dripping onto the violet armor of Kaelith’s back.
And I knew.
She hadn’t chosen me.
Not because she wanted me.
Not because she believed in me.
