I shook my head, overwhelmed. “You spent your entire life building your reputation and your collections…”
“And they’re just things,” he interrupted gently. “You’re worth so much more than that.”
I laughed weakly, a sound that was half sob. “You shouldn’t have done that for me.”
“I absolutely should have.” His dark eyes burned with intensity. “And I’d do it a hundred times over.”
“But your career?—”
“Careers can be rebuilt,” he said firmly. “I want a life with you, not a life as Parliament’s scapegoat.”
My chest ached. “Zafir, I don’t even know how to thank you.”
“You don’t need to.”
All my fear, panic, grief, and guilt collapsed. He had given up everything. Not because he had to, and not because I was chained to him or had tricked him or drugged him.
Because he loved me.
I didn’t remember moving. One moment I was staring at him in stunned silence, and the next my hands were clutched to the front of his coat, pulling his face down to mine.
I kissed him.
It wasn’t careful. It wasn’t practiced or restrained or in any way polite. It was messy and desperate and full of everything I hadn’t been able to say—the terror of losing Nadia, the fear I’d felt in prison, and the sheer, overwhelming gratitude that he had chosen me.
Zafir’s hands slid up my back, pulling me closer until there was no space left between us, as if worried that if he let go for even a second, I may disappear. His mouth was warm and insistent, the kiss deepening with a low, broken sound in his throat that made my knees go weak.
I pressed my forehead to his when we finally broke apart, breathing hard. “I love you.”
The words tumbled out before I could second-guess them, and the way his breath caught told me they’d landed exactly where they were meant to.
Zafir’s expression became utterly undone.
He cupped my face like I was something precious and breakable. “Alia,” he murmured. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that. And as much as I want to stretch out this moment, we need to go now.”
My panic surged back. “Nadia?—”
“I know.” His expression hardened. “That’s why I didn’t just pay your bail. Like I said, I got Parliament to agree to deport you back to Brisden immediately.”
My breath hitched. “They’re just…letting me go?”
“They’re washing their hands of you, and I bribed them handsomely to do so,” he said grimly. “They don’t want further entanglement. I suggest we hurry before they change their minds. The dragon will be waiting for us.”
My stomach lurched. We were going by dragon. Would it be soon enough to save Nadia?
I gripped his hand like an anchor as we turned toward the doors.
I was terrified, but I was no longer alone.
CHAPTER 29
I’d seen pictures of dragons before, but I didn’t expect it to be this large or this monstrous. The creature stood taller than any house, with smoke furling from its nostrils and steely talons digging deep furrows into the sand. A distinctly sulfurous scent hung around the dragon, so strong that my eyes watered. Its scales were a deep maroon color that might pass for black in the right lighting.
I stared at the massive dragon in front of me. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I hissed to Zafir. “You expect us to ride that thing all the way to Brisden? I’ll fall off.”
“Ah, no. Dragons don’t let humans ride on their backs; they would find it demeaning. We’ll be in that.” He pointed to an enormous wooden box about half the size and height of his study. “And the dragon will carry us.”
“We’re going to be in a cage?” My voice squeaked a little higher than I intended, and the dragon heard. Its long, snake-like neck slithered around so its enormous head turned to look at me.
