“What?” Galen said in disbelief. “Why? We have them both.”
Draven cuffed him upside the head. “Do as I say.”
His brother undid Dyna’s bindings as the dwarves put shackles around Cassiel’s ankles. His expression remained indifferent and withdrawn. He had yet to look at her. The dwarves shoved him into the phoenix cage. He flinched when the heavy metal door slammed shut behind him, and they quickly latched it with a new padlock. Only then did Cassiel’s poise unravel. He hunched forward, his wings trembling on his quivering back. He feared cages, and her actions put him one.
She fell before it, hitting the bars. “Why did you do that? Why?”
Cassiel shifted to kneel in front of her. Instead of anger, he tried to give her a brave smile. But he couldn’t hide the panic in his silver eyes. He wrapped his hand around hers over the bar she clenched. “I’m sorry for what I said. It was not your doing.”
“But this is my doing.”
He sighed and wiped her eyes. “I told you not to cry for me.”
But Dyna couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “Why did you do it?”
“Since the moment I saved your life, you were mine to protect.”
His words in the woods outside of Hilos came to her.“I’ll be damned if I’m the one responsible for poachers returning to hunt my kind because I saved a stupid human.”
She had damned him.
Her head dropped against the bars. “You should never have come. How did you know I was here?”
“You are my bonded, Dyna. Wherever you are, I will always be able to find you.”
She didn’t fully understand, but a part of her did. They were connected.
“You must go. Your journey does not end here.” Cassiel removed the chain around his neck and put it over her head, the sapphire ring now resting on her chest. “It belonged to my mother. Will you please find her for me?”
“No, you have to be the one to find her. You made promises to me.” She pressed a fist over her chest. The weight of the oaths he made last night weighed on their bond. He placed a hand on his chest, too. “I can’t leave you.”
“You can and you will.”
Sobs heaved out of her. “I want to stay. No matter the consequences, I want to stay with you.”
She couldn’t bear to lose him.
A broken look entered his eyes. He reached through the bars and pulled her close. With a soft sigh, he gently brushed his lips against hers. It was hardly a kiss, a light flutter, but it sent a bloom of heat through her veins and hummed on the surface of her skin. A caress of farewell.
No, she wouldn’t let him go.
Through the wide bars, Dyna weaved her arms around Cassiel’s neck and kissed him. He stiffened for a moment before his arms wound around her, one hand slipping into her hair and the other around her waist. Cassiel’s mouth took hers, slow and tender, caressing every curve of her lips. He kissed her like he needed her to breathe.
Every part of her electrified with a fiery energy swelling through her, leaving her breathless. It was like falling off a cliff again, floating through the air, trusting his soft wings to catch her. His hand wove in her hair, his lips so tender and urgent against hers. She wanted this moment to last forever, but it was over too soon. His shaking hands released her, and his arms slipped away.
“Go,” Cassiel whispered. He moved to the center of the cage and curled over his knees as he enveloped himself in wings.
His wings!Dyna threw her arm in to grab a feather, but Draven jerked her away from the cage, pulling her against him.
“Oh, how sweet.” His fur cloak stank of rank meat and his breath of sour rum. “I allowed you to say your goodbyes. Now, off with you. Unless you need a man to care for you, my offer stands.”
She recoiled, but then spotted a small key peeking out from the leather straps of his fur cape. The key was the perfect size for Keena’s cage.
“You can’t take him!” Dyna pummeled Draven with her fists, snatching the key unnoticed. The poacher shoved her, making her trip on the deck. She crawled backward, keeping him and his dwarves in her sights. Her hands landed on Cassiel’s enchanted coat and her satchel. She gathered them in her arms.
“The deal is finished.” Draven’s menacing shadow fell over her and he brandished his ax in her face. The grindylow scales glittered among the tassel of charms. “Get out of here. Be quick about it before I change my mind.”
She ripped off the tassel and sprinted off the ship. Draven cursed, but he didn’t chase after her. People stopped to stare at her as she ran through the pier. She had to find her friends.
