A roar echoed through the cave, and I winced. That wasn’t just a growl. It sounded pained.
33
Charon is pure chaos. He’ll sense things you won’t.
— ALARIC SARE’S PAPERS FOR EMBERLINE ARKOVA
Iheard Charon’s roar like I heard the snap of Alaric’s neck in my head. An echo of someone else I cared for, whom I was unable to protect. The sound of the pained growl had sent me sprinting toward the exit. Hart had slipped my bag of gemstones over his own head. Now, it beat a steady rhythm against his leg as he kept pace with me.
My lungs burned, my breath came faster and faster, and every step took me closer to Charon. I didn’t physically feel his pain, but my anger raged nonetheless at the sound I’d heard—his roar of protest against whatever harm had befallen him.
What had he expected? There were likely hundreds of workers who had been called to the surface by his distraction.Though they were humans and, as Hart had pointed out, he was a dragon, what was the old adage? Throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick? They were bound to get lucky if he stayed in place at the mine’s entrance long enough.
My legs lifted faster. I pushed deep breaths in and out through my nose as I sprinted. Hart kept pace. Each time I slipped, each time I nearly fell, he didn’t tell me to slow down or relax. He just pulled me back from the edge, steadied me, and followed me in my wordless mission.
I’d been so close to having the discussion we needed to have.
Fucking Chaos. Things couldn’t remain calm for more than a few moments between us.
My mind circled on how close I’d come, how much more I needed to say. These trials had pushed me so far in learning how to truly express myself, but they’d also made me realize I had so much farther to go.
A deep breath escaped my lungs as we broke through the copse of trees that hid the old mine entrance. Panic flooded me as I considered how long the hike to Charon would take. It’d be hours before we arrived.
“You seem to be sending thoughts of both anger and worry in my direction, Champion.”Charon landed heavily outside the trees at the mine entrance.“I’m not sure which to hope for at this moment.”
Relief swelled in my chest even as I snapped, “What were you thinking?”
Smoke billowed from Charon’s nostrils.“Wasn’t it only yesterday that you demanded I make my own choices? Leave if I wanted to?”
Hart cleared his throat, but I had no illusion that it didn’t cover a laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he made a valiant effort to smooth his features.
Then it occurred to me what Charon had said. “I sent you emotions?”
Charon dipped his head.“You worked so hard when we first left this place to bury your feelings. To hide them like Kavios had taught you to.”His wings folded into his body, mirroring his words. “It’s nice to see you share this. Even if it’s anger at my choice.”
Both he and Hart sounded like broken records on this topic, but I had to acknowledge that something had shifted in me. I’d shed the skin of the girl who fought only for survival in a city set against her. My goals aimed higher. I wanted better, not just for myself but for all humans in Kavios.
“I am … trying not to suppress everything,” I said carefully. “But truly, did you have to take on the entire mine to buy us time?”
“Were you successful?”
I realized his wing wasn’t only tucked into his body to illustrate his point. He draped it strategically over his leg. “Why don’t you show me what your wing is hiding and let me decide if it was a success?”
His wings snapped open, and my hand flew to cover my mouth at the gash down his back leg. It was large, the length of my arm or longer. The liquid that oozed from the gash was dark. I couldn’t tell if it was the cloud-filled night or the fluid itself.
I ran to him to get a closer look. I touched his blood and held it to the light the adamas cast. It wasn’t red like my own would be. “Your blood is black?”
He dipped his head in acknowledgement.
I wanted to heal him. While my father had made a show of giving us anger, another member of the camp had offered lust, healing magic for my adamas, just in case.
“We don’t have time, Champion. They will notice I landed soon. Climb on.”
I clenched my teeth, but realized he was correct. No footsteps echoed through the forest yet, but the last thing I needed was the discovery of this mine entrance. Charon wasn’t inconspicuous.
Hart boosted me up Charon’s front leg, giving me space to scramble to the back of his scaled neck. Then he followed, our bodies flush as if in the saddle of a horse together.
I couldn’t believe how much I’d hated this when we first fled Kavios. Being forced to sit so close to Hart had been my nightmare. The man for whom I’d fallen. The man who’d kept so much from me. The man I had been forced to work with by the whims of a goddess.
