Einin lost the ability to breathe. Not until this very moment did she realize that death might not yet be the worst fate that could await them.
Chapter Nine
Draknart could not takehis gaze off the goddess, for the goddess would not release him. But from the corner of his eye, he saw Einin on her feet again, taking one stumbling step after the other toward Belinus as the god drew her.
“Your gift pleases me, dragon,” the god said.
Draknart struggled to move, muscles popping, sweat pouring down his body, but he was as weak as a pup in his human form.
“No!” he roared. “She’s not to be taken!”
The swirling column of light that was the goddess suddenly stilled. The great pressure that held Draknart to the ground eased. Not enough for him to get up, but enough so he could breathe easier.
“You’d be willing to face a god’s displeasure for her?” The goddess’s sharp tone was tempered by fascination. “You claim her as yours?”
“She is her own,” Draknart growled the words, baring his teeth.
The goddess laughed. “Dragon, are you in love?” The column of light bent at the top as she gave him a closer look. “You angered me for many years. Centuries. Now I suddenly find you amusing. Never before have I been surprised by one of your kind. Maybe all of you are not as dreadfully predictable as I thought.”
He bowed his head deep, nearly to the ground. “I beg you, goddess, do with me as you wish, only save Einin from Belinus.”
A gale of laughter filled the clearing. “You are in love. How delightful.” She considered him for a long moment. “Let us make a bargain.”
“Aye.” He would agree to anything as long as Belinus didn’t take Einin into Feyland with him.
“You accept my curse. You will remain a halfling until your death. Neither in man’s world, nor in dragon’s, reviled and hunted by all. A permanent curse, willingly taken, that cannot ever be lifted.”
Every cell of his body protested, everything that he was and had ever been screamed No! inside him.
Cursed forever. Gods, but forever was a long time for a dragon. He could live another thousand years or more. Cursed. The thought made him want to rage, made him want to hurl himself from the nearest tall cliff.
“Aye,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Long after the human woman is dead and gone, you will be halfling still. For centuries and centuries, until one of your kind finds you when you’re weak and devours you for breakfast.”
“Aye.”
“This woman might not want you. She’s filled with anger now. She might leave you as soon as Belinus releases her. But you will still remain a halfling forever.”
“Aye.”
The pillar of light that was the goddess drew back. “You surprise me, dragon.” Her stillness dissolved into movement, a swirling column of white. “So be it.”
Her next words echoed in his head, and he knew she spoke them to him alone. Nobody else could hear them.
“I curse you anew, yet balance must be kept, so I will bless her. For each day she willingly stays with you, a day will be added to her short human life. But she must never learn about this blessing. She must stay with you for love, not to extend the number of her days. Should she ever find out, my blessing will end.”
“Aye.”
For a single moment, the air shimmered and Draknart could not draw a breath. Then the terrible wave of disorientation passed, and the goddess’s attention turned to the god. Power pulsed from her in waves, the air becoming heavy and potent.
“Jealous, my love?” the god teased.
The goddess expanded. “Enough to burn the world.”
This time, the deep chuckle that came from the god sounded pleased. He shone brighter. His boundaries grew and grew, until Draknart could no longer look at either one of them. He only sensed them moving toward each other. When they touched, the explosion of energy knocked him on his back. The hold on him was released.
Pure divine power blew through the clearing like a storm.
