And now Yuto could go home.
Epilogue
Aradia
We stood before the shimmering portal, a mortal girl, three dragons, and a non-horse named Cleatus. Yuto gripped my hand tightly in his gloved fist, but I did not feel the crushing weight of it as I once had. We’d fought hard to get here, and we may have won, but there was far more fight ahead. Lysandra would not be pleased to feast her gaze upon Yuto five hundred years sooner than planned.
We’d pieced together the mysterious puzzle of Panos-Orion during our journey, comparing notes, pondering his nature. In the end, we’d come to understand the truth. The Panos that we had known was not merely Panos at all. He’d had a twin all this time, and they’d led all of us to believe that we faced off against one male.
It would explain what Callista had tried to tell us—that there was more to Panos than met the eye. It explained how he got to her in the first place. One twin distracted us with a battle while the other sneaked inside to steal her away.
When Orion had gone searching for firewood, Panos had killed him and then created an illusion of his form. One that had even worked on the dragonlords. That was why Orion had tried to stop us from storming the castle. It hadn’t been Orion at all. Panos had been in our midst the whole time.
Grief had shaken our group. Yuto had already lost so much, and now another of his dragonlords was dead. He scarcely said a word until we reached the portal.
“Thank you, Aradia.” Yuto drew my hand to his chest and yanked me against his towering body. “If you had not come back, I would have died in this place.”
My chest burned with need. We’d come straight from the battle to the portal without stopping for a rest at Drakon Castle. My body begged for sleep, though rest was the last thing I truly wanted. All I wanted was one more night with Yuto before the world tipped out from beneath our feet. It might be a very long time before we were alone together again.
If we ever were.
“You look sad,” he murmured, searching my eyes. He rubbed a steel thumb against my cheek. “I thought you’d be pleased. Panos is defeated. You’re safe now.”
“What happens next?” I whispered. “For us? You’ll send me off to the fae, and you’ll fly straight to your lands?”
His gaze hardened. “That’s how it must be, Aradia. Pira is not safe for mortals. Not until I’ve reclaimed the Court of Dragons as mine. I will come fetch you once we’ve won our war against Lysandra. We won’t have to be apart for long.”
Yuto’s words should have soothed me. He spoke promises that I longed to hear. My feelings for him did not go unmatched. But that did not make the parting any easier. I’d only just gotten him back again. I wanted to hold on for far longer than this.
“I don’t care if Pira is dangerous,” I said. “You’ll keep me safe.”
“I’m not certain I could even keep you safe from myself, little métoikos,” he murmured.
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just means,” Eryx said, striding closer, “that there is more to our nature than what you have seen. Once we step through that portal, the bindings holding back our full power will be broken. There is far more to us...toYuto...”
“Enough, Eryx. You don’t need to speak in riddles,” Yuto said. “She already knows the truth of me.”
The truth of his dragon form. When we stepped through the portal, would he transform into the beast, into its feathers and its claws, right before my very eyes?
Shaking off those thoughts, I turned back to Yuto. “I want to go with you.”
“You can’t.” He gave me a sad smile and tweaked my cheek. “But I will come for you. One day.”
One day.To Yuto, one day meant everything. To me, it meant nothing. He would live thousands of lives. I only had the one. If he waited too long to return to me, I might be hobbling on my cane, my grey hair frizzing around my ears. Or I might be ash.
“Come,” Yuto said, taking my hand. “We can say goodbye on the other side. I’m eager to see this library of yours while the sky is dark and your prince is asleep in his fortress.”
I grinned. Yuto was every bit the warrior lord. Brash and strong, stubborn and brave. But he also liked to tuck into a corner and read. There was a softer side of him, one he kept to himself. It hadn’t escaped my notice.
We approached the portal slowly, hand in hand. Aleka and Eryx waited just behind us, still and wary.
“Let’s go through together,” Yuto said.
I nodded, swallowing hard. I’d already done this three times, but nerves still clanged in my belly. Magic could be terrifying.
Yuto pulled me forward, and suddenly, we were stepping through the shimmering shield and straight into the darkened library room. Except...I blinked as a blinding light speared my eyes. The light was so bright I could barely see. Heat enveloped me. My bare shoulders burned.
