A light sparks ahead, and my breath catches as it grows brighter.
A Firefolk appears around a corner, his arms laden with empty wooden tankards. “Help!” I yell.
He stops and looks at me, his flames lowering into orange embers. Why are there Firefolk here?
“I know you. I mean, others like you.” I step toward him.
He steps back and looks over at the DragonKin in question.
“Ignore her,” he says and waves the Firefolk away. “Just go.”
The Firefolk hesitates.
“Go!” The DragonKin barks.
The Firefolk jumps and scurries back the way he came.
“Wait!” I move to follow him, but the DragonKin steps into my path.
“This way.” He gestures down a separate hall.
“You didn’t have to do that. I was just going to talk to him.”
“You mean you were going to ask him to help you escape. Let me save you the trouble.” His deep voice sounds utterly bored. “First, walk.” He points.
I grudgingly move down the hall, the way becoming lighter. Up ahead, I see flashes. Soon after, thunder rolls through the charged air.
“Firefolk serve all DragonKin. I assume you met some while you were Vander’s captive.”
The walls turn from roughhewn to more stately, dragon inlay here and there.
“I wasn’t his captive.” I’m grateful for the smooth floor on my bare feet, now sore from the rocky cave.
He snorts a rude laugh. “Of course you were. A mortal Bargain, you’re nothing more than a prisoner to whoever has you in Oblivion.”
“And you’re an asshole, but I don’t go around pointing out inconvenient facts like you do,” I shoot back. Gods, I think I’m losing my mind. The stress, the fear—all of it has finally gotten to me, and now I’m snapping at an enormous enemy DragonKin.
He answers with a grunt and pushes through two metal doors. “In here.”
I follow, giving him a wide berth in case he tries to strike me. Not that I can escape it. I’ve long since accepted that the DragonKin could kill me as easily as look at me, not that it’s any comfort.
“The queen will return once she’s done with our unwanted guest.” He swings the doors closed, and then I hear a lock click over.
I don’t bother trying the doors, not when I get the sense he’s waiting right outside. Instead, I turn and survey the room. A small sitting area with threadbare furniture, and beyond it a bedchamber. I creep inside, my eyes and ears attuned to any sounds within as well as without. The thunder and rain cover whatever is happening in the sky. When I catch sight of the bed, my stomach turns. There are metal shackles on the headboard, and along the wall behind it are various whips and other implements I don’t recognize but can surmise their purpose.
Vander, please hurry. I repeat this little litany in my head as I wander into the bathing chamber. When I spot a window, I rush to it and look out. Gods, this fortress is high on the side of a mountain, just like the DragonKeep. The window is barely a dent in the wall, far too small for me to climb through, but at least I can see the sky. Lightning streaks in the distance, almost blinding me with its bright flash. The thunder is instant, shaking the stone all around me. When I blink, the reverse image from the flash on my eyelids has two dragons in it, one with its jawswrapped around the other’s neck. A gut punch, one that makes my gorge rise. Was it him?
“Vander?” I whisper and slide to the cold floor. No, it couldn’t have been him. He’s too big, too strong. He can’t be … There’s no way he’s fallen. He’ll fight.
An agonizing screech mixes with the next peal of thunder. It can’t be mistaken for anything else—that sound means death for the creature pained enough to utter it. I curl into a ball, tears streaming from my eyes as I try to breathe. Just breathe.
Chapter
Twenty
VANDER
Pain. Echoes of suffering. Ofhersuffering. Rage builds inside me, the kind I haven’t felt in centuries. The clouds near me sizzle and burn away as I descend.
