Yes, the medallion is dangerous, but right now, I am even more so.
“Will you make me fight you, Thaden Kane?”
He exhales heavily, his shoulders sinking a little. “I’ll do as you ask.”
The room is so quiet now that I clearly hear his retreating footfalls, then the soft, metallic clatter as he picks up the toolbox, then his approaching footfalls once more.
He crouches to place the toolbox beside me.
“Please open it,” I say.
His lips press together for a moment and his voice is low. “Asha, what are you doing?”
“Open it.”
“Promise me you’re not giving up.”
So that’s his fear. I meet his eyes. “Don’t worry. This is not about me.”
“Okay, then.” He pushes the lid open to reveal the single medallion lying within it. The titanium band is imprinted with the pattern of scales that exist across Thaden’s palm.
“Whatever you need this for, let me use it for you,” he says, still gripping the box’s lid. “I can at least do that much for you.”
He was the one who convinced me not to destroy this medallion. As he said, heisthe dragon. Its rage and pain are part of him. He told me that if I ask him to, he will use the medallion to defend me.
I meet his eyes. “You kept my family safe, as you promised. For that, I will be forever grateful. But I could never ask you do this for me.” I shake my head. “I’m the one who has to finish it.”
He studies me for a long moment, searching my eyes, before he gives me a solemn nod. “I’m sorry, Asha. I truly am. This isn’t how I thought things would turn out.”
He rises to his feet and steps back toward Tamra, who has retreated even farther away from me. The throne is directly behind her, and her figure is so brightly backlit in that position that I can’t see her expression.
I turn away from her and retrieve my hammer from my waist.
Gone is the silvery sheen that would come over my body when I used to pick up this hammer. Now, my skin remains like an unloved pot.
To use the medallion in the box, I must first awaken it by tapping it with the hammer, which I do. Just once.
A spark of dark light shoots up from the medallion, a fierce glow, and the sound it makes is terrifying. It awakens with a roar, a dragon’s voice that rises all the way to the high ceiling and rushes around the room.
The watching fae flinch and draw even farther away from me than they already were, some of them knocking over glasses and chairs as they seek to take cover.
The Queen darts behind Elowynn, who takes up position in front of her like a shield.
My family braces as the roar rages around them.
Only Gliss rises up, her head tilted to the side, as if she’s listening intently, appearing unafraid, her forehead creasing slightly.
I’m not sure why and it’s not my main concern.
As the sound finally fades and the onlookers settle warily back into their seats, my heart only beats faster.
Touching this medallion could kill me. I suppose that’s why Thaden was so concerned.
However, a medallion wasn’t already fused to my left hand the last time I touched this dragon-imprinted band.
Now, I’m counting on it to protect me.
Carefully, angling my hand so that one medallion will press neatly against the other, I close my fist around the imprinted metal.
