She turns her head, looking at me over her shoulder. Her eyebrows lift. “That’s such great advice.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be careful. I’ll go and see my mother, and then I’ll leave. It will be easy.”
“Hardly.” I take a step toward her. “You can’t trust your mother. You shouldn’t trust her, even if you want to.”
“Don’t trust anyone, even myself. The words you live by. I’ve got it.” She pulls her hood lower over her face. “I’m going now, Sebastian. Have a good life.”
I open my mouth to say something else. Something that might make this better. Something that might bridge the distance between us.
“Isla.”
“What?” she yells, not turning back. Her voice echoes across the dead landscape.
“Goodbye.”
There’s a long pause. Then she lifts her hand in a small wave. Just like the day I first officially met her. The day she waved hello. So damned sweet and kind. So full of life. So full of sorrow, too, because she feels like she’s alone in the world. Like she doesn’t belong.
I wish I could change that, but I can’t.
I turn away and walk back to the dragon. The beast is still in a crouch, making it easier to climb. I take two bounding strides and swing myself up onto its neck, gripping the ridge with both hands.
I watch Isla for a few moments more as she hurries toward the Shadow Court.
The dragon makes a low rumbling noise. It vibrates through its entire body and into mine.
“I’m ready,” I tell him.
The dragon’s wings unfurl. The other five beasts rise with us, their bodies lifting into the air with powerful downbeats.
We fly for a while. The other dragons stay close, their formation tight and protective.
I can’t stop thinking about her.
She’s alone down there. Walking into danger without anyone at her back. She might possess magic, but she isn’t equipped for this. She has no idea what she’s walking into.
My broken soul recognized hers that day in the tent. I felt something shift between us when she freed me. Something that connected us in a way I didn’t understand and didn’t want.
I still don’t want it.
But that doesn’t make it any less real.
I’m letting her walk into danger, and I can’t do it.
“Go back,” I shout into the wind, sounding desperate, but I don’t care. “Please, I need you to go back.”
The dragon doesn’t respond. Its wings continue their steady rhythm, carrying us further from where I left her.
“Please,” I shout. “I have to help Isla.”
For a moment, I think the beast has chosen to ignore my request. Then it lets out a series of sharp clicks. A sound that rolls through its body and somehow communicates with the other dragons in the formation.
Slowly, impossibly, the beast begins to turn.
The other dragons follow, banking wide before circling back the way we came.
I need to help her. That’s all there is to it. I need to follow her into that castle and make sure she comes out alive. And then… Then I need to try to fix what I’ve broken between us.
I need to apologize.
We still can’t be together. There’s too much at stake, too many lives depending on my focus and my mission. But we can walk away from each other on better terms than this. We can at least say goodbye without all the hurt and anger and unspoken things festering between us.
