“What do you mean ‘ours’?” I take another step back.
“Do you not speak the common tongue adequately?” He cants his head to the side. “Or perhaps they’ve offered me a halfwit for this sacrifice?”
“What?” I say a bit sharply. “I understand just fine. But I’m not sharing a bed with a complete stranger, especially not in Oblivion, especially not one like—like, like?—”
“Like me?” he sneers.
I go silent, my bluster fading under the heat of his scowl.
“Youwillshare this bed with me, mortal. You will shareeverythingwith me.” His tone leaves no room for misunderstanding.
I shrink back until I hit the wall behind me.
He looks up, the scales along his throat rippling in the light, then he sighs. Some of the tension in his shoulders seems to relax, and he drops his arms. A shudder races through me at the sheer power in him, in the easy way he commands the room, the air, my entire world. The easy way he could hurt me, kill me. He’s easily the largest man I’ve ever seen, head and shoulders taller than the tallest man in my village. And broad, so broad and muscled that I know it wouldn’t take any effort for him to end my life with nothing but his bare hands. I wrap my arms around myself at the thought, my stomach dropping and my mouth going dry.
“In time. You’ll understand, and …” His voice has gentled the tiniest bit. “All that in time.” He turns and walks away, the bony spikes along his shoulders making him an even more imposing figure. I see no trace of the wings he’d had earlier. Pushing through another set of doors, he gestures. “This is the bathing chamber. I’ve already had a bath drawn for you.”
“A bath?” I’m still plastered to the wall.
“Yes, I assume you had baths in your dim little village?” He turns back to me, and though his words are sharp, his tone is even, as if he’s nottryingto be insulting. He still is, of course. “Though I admit you smell as if you’ve drowned yourself in perfume rather than cleaning properly.”
I gape at him. The prioress rubbed me down with cloying oils and heavy perfumes, perhaps to make me a tastier snack for the dragon coming to claim me. But the way I smell is the last thing on my mind right now. Escape is the most pressing need, one that I’m still foolish enough to entertain. I glance at the windows along the side of the room, all of them giving me the same view of snowy mountains.
“The drop is breathtaking.” He’s followed my gaze and stalks over to me, his long legs eating up the distance as I cringe against the wall once again. “However, when you hit the bottom, I suspect you might not like it as much. Nothing but death lies out that window for you, little mortal.”
I crane my head back to meet his eyes. The pupils change from round to slitted as he stares down at me.
A gasp catches in my chest.
He blinks, and the pupils have returned to normal, but I know what I saw. “Bathe,” he snaps. “Then dress. When you’re done, we will eat.” Walking to a separate, smaller door, he opens it and disappears inside. I hold my breath. When he reappears, he’s wearing a smart white tunic with green embroidery along the collar. He doesn’t give me another look as he brushes past and out the heavy doors, closing them behind him with a loud thud.
I sink to the floor, my body shaking and covered in goose bumps. My hands have gone cold, my ears on fire, and tears sting in my eyes.
The prioress said nothing about this. In fact, all the tales I’ve ever heard about the DragonKin have never mentioned them living with other immortals, especially not ones covered in scales and spikes. Not ones with wings. I’m dazed—both from the journey and from what just happened. I’m in a strange place, and I still don’t know what the DragonKin intend to do with me. I have more questions now than ever before.
I glance at the luxurious bed then look toward the windows again. Forcing myself back to my feet, I set my resolve. Iwon’tlet that creature, whatever he is, force me. I’d rather jump to my death than submit to being abused by an immortal.
My end of the Bargain is done. I’ve allowed the DragonKin to steal me away to Oblivion. My mother is safe and will be well cared for.
What happens now is up to me and me alone.
Chapter
Five
VANDER
Ishould’ve brought her to the keep right away, but I admit, I was curious about what she’d do in the cave. Plenty of others in the past made fatal mistakes in those first moments of freedom. They didn’t live to see the sunrise.
This girl, however, didn’t act rashly. Didn’t reach for a handful of treasure, didn’t pull out a hidden blade in a pathetic bid to end a DragonKin. She picked her way across the cavern, looking for an escape. It was foolish, of course. Oblivion is death for any mortal caught traipsing through its forests, glades, or towns. She has plenty to fear here, not the least of which is me.
“What is it?” Fyan struts into the dining hall, a smirk already plastered on his face. “And is it still alive?”
I ignore him.
But Fyan, my youngest brother, isn’t the sort who lets me discount him for long. A blade flies past my ear, whistling faintly through the air as it embeds in the stone wall behind me.
“You don’t have to be here for this.” I glare at him. “Your presence is neither necessary nor requested.”
