Chapter 10
Ican’t fight the shiver raging down my spine.
I take a step back, but this time, Thaden follows me, his arms finally rising as he reaches for me.
His scaled arm slides easily around my back while his left hand slips across my cheek and to the side of my neck.
I’m frozen in his arms, fighting the push and pull of my feelings, the need to stay where I am, colliding with the knowledge that I’m most certainly in terrible danger.
Despite the ferocity of his admission, he speaks softly now. “Only days ago, you told me that I am not a beast. You said you understood the battle I fight with the dragon whose soul I carry. You told me that since I came into your life, you have hope.”
His expression softens further. “I knew you were lying. I could tell from your heartbeat. You simply wanted your sister to understand your reasons for refusing to heal the Vandawolf.”
I’m stiff as I wait for him to continue, aware of the medallions sitting on my arm and the hammer resting in my pocket.
His thumb brushes my cheek. “But even in your lie, you gave me hope.”
“Hope of what?” I whisper, my voice a bare rasp.
“Come with me to the Shadow Beneath the Mountain,” he says. “Let me show you why the dragon died. Let me show you why I came to the Cursed City. Once you’ve seen, then you can pass judgement on me. I will welcome whatever justice you deem necessary. All I ask is that you give me this chance.”
I told him I wouldn’t go any farther with him, but the reality is that the alternative is death.
I have no water left.
I won’t survive the trek back along the mountain range.
I suppose I could scream at the sky in case there are still thunderbirds following us… even though I doubt they’d descend to scoop me up. It would be dangerous for them to do so, and they have no reason to help me.
As if he reads my thoughts, Thaden glances upward. “If I could pull a thunderbird down for you, I would.”
His eyes lower to mine as he continues. “I will carry you if you need me to, Tamra. I will do anything to get you to my village. I will fight whatever battles I have to fight and embrace any darkness I need to embrace so that you can see what I’ve been protecting.”
“What about my sister?” I ask. “You sent her in Milena’s direction. Where did you really send her?”
When he hesitates, I harden my voice. “Do not utter another lie, Thaden Kane Ironmeld. No matter how difficult it is to speak the truth, you will speak it, or I will choose to walk into that darkness rather than stay at the side of a liar.”
He exhales quietly and gives me the barest nod. “I have sent Asha into a trap designed to protect her from the wrath of the dragon king.”
My throat is tight, and my eyes narrowed.A helpful trap?Is there such a thing?
“Explain,” I command him.
He takes a deep breath. “It isn’t a short explanation. You’re thirsty. You need hydration?—”
“Explain,” I repeat, grinding the word between my teeth.
“Okay,” he says softly, his hands raised, placating. “First, you need to understand what I can do. I’m not left-handed like my father. I can’t wrap a medallion around my hand, touch a living thing, and command it to change its shape or nature.
“But when it comes to working metal and creating metallic objects of extreme intricacy, I excel.” His voice is matter-of-fact, not a hint of boastfulness in it, which surprises me. “I long ago surpassed Milena in metalworking skill. She said that I may have even surpassed my father in that regard. But even with that level of skill, I couldn’t do what he did. I couldn’t use my power to transfer the soul of a creature into metal and then transplant that metal into another living being.”
My thoughts are whirling. “But then… how did you take on the soul of the dragon?”
His expression becomes blank, wiped clean. “Dark magic.”
I try not to recoil, but it isn’t any use. I’ve flinched away from him, and he won’t have missed my reaction.
His voice becomes a deep growl, and it’s as if I were listening to the dragon himself when Thaden says, “When the fire dragon died, I had a heartbeat to make a choice. I knew that the dragons would come for me, and they would kill what I was protecting. The only way I could protect what I love was to turn to the darkness. To call on malice and cruelty and embrace Lysander’s death. With a single piece of twisted metal, I captured his soul.
