Izabel froze. Oh gods. She swallowed and forced herself to speak. “You killed them for their claws? Those people who died, you and Benja?—”
“Benja only killed a few, but I told him that was a good way to get caught. After that, we kept an eye on anyone who was sick and took them after they were dead. Bizarrely, the claws remain part of the skeleton, even if the person could never fully shift.”
“But why bring them here?” It didn’t make sense, and those bones looked far too old.
“I didn’t bring them here; that would be pointless. After Benja died and your brother stole his shop, I needed a new way to get bodies.” He waved a hand, gesturing toward the shadowy ruins around them. “There have always been stories about the temple here. The Pyre believes you can walk into the fire in the mountain and come out purified. I grew up hearing those myths. I decided to take a look for myself, and I found exactly what I was hoping for: dozens of mated drake skeletons.”
“Rayan found you,” Izzy whispered. “He figured it out.”
Dashiell grunted. “When I saw him at the clinic in Naos—just a few feet from where my mother met with the Pyre in the Temple of the Twins—I knew he was close. He saw me there. He knew me from the apothecary…. He had to go.”
Tears slid down Izzy’s face, but she couldn’t reach them to wipe them away.
I’m going to kill him,her beast muttered. I’m going to destroy him.
“And now,” Dashiell continued smugly, “I’ll have my own mated pair to sell. I already have a buyer for Luka, but when I tell him that I’ve captured both of you….” His voice rose gleefully. “What will twenty claws and a live dragon get me? Just about anything.”
“We won’t….” Izzy fought to clear her head, to find the right words, to find some way to deflect Dashiell from the truth. “We’re not mated.”
“Maybe not yet, but I’m sure you will be soon.” He flashed a snide grin at her. “And in the meantime, Luka will do as I say to protect you, and you will do as I say to protect him.”
Izabel let her head bow as far as the rope around her neck allowed. Her knees throbbed and her thighs ached from the unnatural position on the hard stone, but her heart hurt more. This was worse than anything she’d ever imagined.
And she knew, without doubt or hesitation, that Luka would come for her. Nothing would stop him. Dashiell was right; Luka would do anything to protect her. He might have denied their mating, he might have even denied her, but when it came down to it, she knew he loved her. And he was going to die—or live in a cage—because of it.
Unless we put an end to this nightmare first.
Izzy eased to one side, letting her knees fold beside her, trying to relieve the pain, and slowly extended her claws. She slid one against the rope and gently sawed, but the air was so still that she could hear the crash of waves on the rocks outside, and her tiny movements sounded loud—and close—in the heavy quiet.
Dashiell turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised, and she stilled, slowly retracting her claws. She couldn’t risk him seeing her talons. She fell into silence and concentrated on listening for Luka, instead.
For now, there was nothing she could do but wait.
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Despair crawledthrough Luka’s veins.
Izzy wasn’t on the path, and he’d been so certain she would be. Just like Rayan. Gods, he’d searched just like this, every second feeling more?—
The path looks different.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the path rather than looking for life. It was smoother here and somehow better preserved. A chill slid over him. It wasn’t like this when he’d searched for Rayan. He remembered circling this distant stretch of the Nabasberg so clearly. Three years ago, the path turned toward a high barrier of tumbled rocks and an impenetrable wall of brambles, ferns, and vines.
He banked, circling closer in the fading light. Since then, someone had cleared a small opening. The rocks that barred the path were gone, and from the air, he could see a tiny gap in the brambles. He soared higher. Lush foliage rose from a narrow chasm—only just visible from above—and something gleamed at the bottom.
She’s in there. It’ll be easier to sneak in as a man.
Luka flew a little way back to where the Nabaspath was more spacious and landed lightly. Whether it was because he was soclose to the heat of the mountain, or because he and his beast were utterly unified in their need to reach Izzy, his shift back to human was the smoothest it had ever been. He grunted as the pain washed over him, but he kept his feet.
The rising wind whipped around him as the first heavy drops of rain landed on his hot skin, and the waves crashed loudly on the rocks below. He hardly noticed as he surveyed the path ahead. He pulled on his armor, belted his sword at his waist, and sheathed one dagger at his back, one at his waist. Then he stepped silently onto the path, picking his way over the cracked marble, and scanning for danger as he slipped past the brambles.
The air was sweet and humid, and a pair of sun-gem birds darted to and fro, sampling the honey-bell flowers in the protected chasm. It would have felt magical if he hadn’t been so terrified of what he would find at the end of the path.
Ahead of him, bronze-plated stairs—the source of the glint he’d seen from above—led to a massive door, celebrating the Twins as drakes with gems and precious metals. There was no doubt that this was the entrance to the lost temple of the gods… and a trap.
The door stood open just a few inches, clearly meant to entice him inside. And he had no choice but to enter. Luka crept forward, taking care to make sure that his shadow never crossed the slim gap where the door stood ajar, and stilled, listening.
