Tazurel watched me with detached interest.
Kairos?
Silence.
My heart seized. I tried again, but nothing.
“He is unconscious,” Tazurel said.
I spun around, and in the dragon’s place stood a man. Tall, radiant, and wrong. Long hair the color of wild honey framed a haughty face.
I dropped to my knees, stone biting my skin.
Tazurel smiled. He crossed the distance between us without seeming to move at all. He stopped in front of me and reached down, patting my head.
“You have served me well, runebreaker,” he murmured. “Not as swiftly as I expected, but I am capable of forgiveness.”
His fingers tightened slightly, tilting my head back until I met his gaze.
Heat coiled in my chest. “Lord Tazurel, please. I need to find Kairos.”
“Your king lives.”
“Is he safe? I need to?—”
“I am eager to taste the sky again, but you freed me. Begrudgingly, but still. That earns you a reward.”
My mind blanked.
“What would you ask of me?” he prompted.
I licked my cracked lips. A thousand things flickered through my head—power, wealth, safety, revenge—but only one thing mattered.
“Rheya,” I blurted. “My sister. Did she survive?”
His head tilted. “Yes. She emerged. Disoriented, but alive.”
“Where is she? Can you bring her to me? And Kairos and the warriors, they were fighting when the seal broke,I don’t know if?—”
“Breathe. I can sense every living soul in the realms. Your king is being tended to by a female warrior. Your sister is with the Dreadfae. The others are scattered. Injured.”
Alive. They were alive.
Tears burned my eyes. “Please. Take them to Ashvar Keep.”
“Is that all you want?”
I hesitated. What else could I ask for? What about protecting Sanguir? Kairos had poured everything he had into me and nearly lost his life. I had to do this for him.
“Protect Sanguir. Its people have suffered enough.”
Tazurel frowned. “You speak for the king?”
I bit on my lip.
“You reek of his claim.” Tazurel circled me, his lip curled over his teeth. “Mated to the ruler of the mist realm. That makes you his queen, does it not?”
Bond? His queen?
