Sela flicks her forked tongue at me. “That little mortal is so sweet. Like honeysuckle, isn’t she?”
“This is your end, Sela,” Brin chides. “What have you gained from your treachery?”
He’s distracting her. Without a sound, Rivon lunges from the shadows and drives his dagger into the soldier at the very rear of her formation.
“I’ll gain your head on my mantle.” She shoots back right as her soldiers launch themselves at us, their swords and claws hungry for blood and battle.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
LARELLIN
Roars and the sounds of battle shatter the stillness as I frantically search the wall for the secret compartment Vander told me to find. He failed to mention the royal bedchambers is enormous with several rooms. Which corner is the right one?
I dart past what’s left of the bed, the blankets moth eaten, the wood rotten. On the floor beside it I find a jeweled dagger. Without hesitation, I snatch it into my grasp, the golden blade still flashing brightly despite centuries of disuse. I slide it into the loose britches I snatched from Vander’s closet, the belt at my waist the only thing holding them in place.
Vander is blocking his thoughts from me. I can’t reach him, an impenetrable wall where our bond should be.
My heart sinks at the loss of our connection. Is he all right? He has to be. I’ve seen what he can do, the sheer strength of him. The thought of him falling seems impossible, but I can’t help my fear. Not when I already feel like our two souls are entwined.
A guttural roar from far away in the palace raises my hackles, and I know Brin has shifted into his wolven form.
I keep searching the rooms, the sounds of battle receding a little as I try and fail to locate the hiding spot. When gold fire lights up the already-sunny sky outside the wide windows, I gasp. Vander swoops past, his golden scales shining brightly as he incinerates another dragon. It shrieks, its wings turning to ash as it plummets to the overgrown gardens below.
Vander wheels and rises, flapping furiously as he chases another dragon, this one with sickly yellow scales. I don’t see his brothers, but if the roars are any indication, they’ve all shifted into dragon form and taken the fight to the air.
My hands are cold, my entire body covered in anxious sweat as I listen to the ongoing battle—screeches and roars, the thud of heavy dragon bodies slamming to the ground. I say a silent prayer to the gods that none of them are my dragons. I would examine that thought—of Vander and his brothers beingmydragons—but I’m far too worried. What if they get hurt? We’re far from any other towns or someone who could patch them up.
All I can do is pace helplessly, my worry rising with each moment that I can’t sense Vander.
Gods, I feel like I could crawl out of my skin! I creep to the bedroom doors and listen. The noise from outside rages on, covering whatever sounds may lie beyond these bedchambers. Should I stay here? That’s what Vander said. I wish I could fight, could dosomething. But the creatures of Oblivion are far too powerful for me to challenge. It would be suicide. I have no fangs, no claws.
“Larellin.” My name. Whispered in a familiar voice. One that burns through me like acid.Sela.
I scramble away from the doors and run into an adjoining room. Clawing at the back corner, I search for the hidden compartment. Ithasto be here. Somewhere.
“Vander thought he’d ended me. Tore off my wing and fed me to the tempest.”
The outer doors creak open as I dart to the next chamber and feel along the walls. A tapestry beside me crumbles to dust as I brush it aside.
“But I’m not so easily destroyed. Not like his mother.” She laughs, the sound eerie and full of malice. “Her blood was warm in my hands. Yours will be, too.”
I grit my teeth and check behind me. She’s in the rooms, but I can’t see her. Not yet. Where is she? With what courage I can muster, I take a chance and dart into the next room, this one with mirrors along one wall and piles of motheaten fabric along the floor.
“I smell you, little one.” She sounds closer.
All-panic sets my veins alight as I dash to the back corner and feel along the seamless wall. There’s nothing.Nothing!
With all my might, I shove at the white stone. A soft click and a whir, and the wall slides open, revealing a coffin-sized space. It’s a false wall. Not stone at all but some sort of plaster. It’s cracked where I pushed it, but still mostly sound. I slip into the crevice, the wall closing behind me with a soft thud.
Dark and cold, the hole has just enough space for me to scoot back half a step before I hit the true stone wall. I lean against it,chilled sweat soaking through my clothes as I listen. The battles outside continue, the wall shaking as something thuds against it somewhere above.
“I can smell you.” Sela’s voice is close.
I cover my mouth with my palm and force myself to breathe slowly.
“Hiding from me? Playing a little game? I like games.”
