“I’d tell a thousand lies to keep you in my grasp, my treasure.”
“I know. Typical dragon. You’re greedy.”
“For you, my treasure? Always.” He breathes a burst of golden flame, lighting up the clouds. “But I still don’t like returning here. Not after what they made you suffer.”
“You promised me we could do anything, remember?”
“Yes,” he agrees grudgingly.
“Well, I’m holding you to it.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t owe me in return.”
“Is that so? You want to make a bargain, dragon king?”
“The bargain is that when we return home, you’ll ride my face while I eat your cunt until you pass out from all the orgasms.”
“Hmmm. You are terrible at making deals. Did you know that? Done!” I giggle.
The priory bell rings out, and I can’t help but grin as the townspeople run screaming, panicking at the sight of a golden dragon flying above their heads.
“You’re enjoying this a little too much,” he says, though I know he’s enjoying it too.
“It’s sort of … what’s that word? There’s a word Brin would use…”
I catch a glimpse of the Widow’s Tower, the spot where I was chained and left for the DragonKin. The place I was left to die.
“I’m going to guess ‘nostalgic’ or ‘cathartic’ given the feelings I’m sensing from you.” He swoops lower over town. “Which one is your home?”
“Go left.”
He banks.
“Your other left.” I laugh.
He snorts sparks and turns.
“Up ahead. See the one with the black patch on the roof?” I’d helped my mother patch the hole two winters ago when the snow crashed through. It’s tiny. I knew we didn’t live in luxury, but looking at the town now, I realize we were barely surviving. The memory of tending the nobles’ gardens while being forbidden from eating their food sends a spike of pure anger through me. Maybe the diadem is giving me more dragon emotions, because I could swear my temper runs far hotter than it used to.
“Shall I burn their houses down?” Vander looks over his shoulder toward the ‘nicer’ area of town, though it seems only a slightly bit less shabby than my home.
“No.” I shrug. “Well, maybe later.”
He shakes, chuckling as he widens his wings and slows.
My nerves try to get the better of me. “What if she says no?”
“She won’t.” He maneuvers lower. “There’s not enough room to land. We’ll have to do it the fun way?—”
I jolt upright. “You mean the scary—” I scream as he shifts into his human form in midair.
Falling, I flail against the wind, then stop as he catches me and lowers me to the ground, his smaller wings slowing our descent with ease.
“I hate when you do that!” I smack his shoulder.
He laughs and kisses me despite my violence. “You know I’ll never let you fall.”
“Iwasfalling!”
