“What did he do to you?” Shale growled.
“Maybe I shouldn't tell you.”
“Sebastian!”
I cleared my throat. “There was darkness, and then I saw a light. It was pink. I knew it was your love. I tried to reach it but couldn't. I ran and ran, and then the ground turned to water. I went under. Your love hovered just above the surface, but someone was pulling me down. I fought, but couldn't get loose. I was drowning.”
Shale started to growl.
“Then I saw that it was you. You were below me, holding my ankle.”
The growling stopped abruptly. “What?”
“I realized then that it wasn't your love I had to chase, it was you. Or rather, I had to stay with you to find your love.”
“You held on,” Shale whispered, his eyes tearing up. “To me.”
I nodded, “Just as I promised. And Ranu did everything he could to make me let go.”
“What, Sebastian? What did he do to you? What did you endure for me?” A tear slid down his cheek.
“Nothing I wouldn't endure again.”
“Tell me, Mate. I must know or it will eat me alive.”
I sighed. “It wasn't really you, Shale.”
“Oh, Gods. What did I do?”
“It wasn't you. It was Ranu. But he made it look like you. Your dragon came to me. He wasn't pure dragon though, he was shaped like a man but covered in scales.”
“My half-form,” Shale whispered.
“You can do that?” I asked. “You can be partially dragon?”
He nodded, and several Dragons made surprised sounds. Shale glanced at them before saying, “Only the strongest of us can achieve a half-form.”
“Then I'm not surprised you can do it.” I grinned.
“Thank you, but finish your tale.” Shale wasn't about to be sidetracked.
“The half-form that wasn't you beat me as I held onto you. He crushed my legs, my back, and my skull. But I wouldn't let go.”
Gasps circled the terrace as my mate went so pale, his skin matched his hair.
“I couldn't understand how I held on, how I stayed conscious. I knew then that it wasn't real. And I kept telling myself that. Then it stopped. The half-dragon disappeared, and I healed. I opened my eyes and saw that we were in a clearing. The jungle surrounded us. Vines grew out of the ground by my feet. They covered me and tried to crush me. But again, I held on.”
“My doll,” Shale whispered and cupped my cheek. “You are stronger than I knew.”
“Thanks. Try to hold on to that feeling, love, because you're really not going to like what happened next.”
Shale's face fell into suspicious lines. “What happened next?”
“I saw King Vaxarion.”
Shale's hand dropped. “What?”
“Ranu created his image to tempt me. King Vaxarion said I could be his mate, that I could have love and immortality with him.”
