I held his hand gently, noticing his magic had somehow spared the flesh there.
“I love you...Titus, you can’t leave me again, I love you!” I cried.
He looked at me with a faint, heartbreaking quirk of the lips and softened brow. His eyes became watery, as if he had been waiting a lifetime to hear me say it.
“I’d burn for you,” he whispered—my own words, returned to me with a heavier weight than I ever thought possible.
His fingers loosened around mine—once, twice—then not at all.
And then his body went limp.
My heart began to hammer with such violence that I could no longer distinguish my beat from his. The slack in his hand sent an icy panic down my spine.
“NO, NO, NO, please stay with me! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR SECOND CHANCE! I love you…
I finally found you; you can’t leave me…Titus NOOOO!!!!” I sobbed manically, screaming as if I begged hard enough he would come back—but he didn’t move.
Suddenly—
(BOOOOMMMM ROAR CRUSHHHHH CRUMBLE!!!!)
Stone crumbled, debris fell, and dust blew as the roof of the Temple was ripped from its walls, as if a giant sledgehammer had swung across the top of the building. I hunched over Titus’s unmoving body.
Sunlight poured into the dark room. My eyes took a moment to adjust. My ears rang, but through it I heard the guttural roar of a dragon.
A shadow blotted the light—wings.
A massive yellow beast I didn’t recognize perched atop the wrecked wall. It swung its mighty tail across the stone, sending what remained of the roof into rubble.
A male dismounted. He was tall and clearly a Fire Fae, with blond hair. He rushed toward me.
“Delilah, my name is Antonias, you are supposed to come with me, but we have to go quickly, Holy Guards will be here soon.” He ordered.
Antonias? Wasn’t that the name of the council member Titus was friends with?
“I’m not leaving him!” I snapped, psychotic.
Antonias gave me a sympathetic look, then to appease me he crouched down and checked Titus’s pulse. Antonias’s eyes widened and sparked. “It’s weak, but he’s still alive!”
I hesitated—unsure if I could trust a member of the Temple’s Council—but I didn’t want to be here when the Holy Guard army arrived.
Antonias grimaced at the High Lord’s condition.
“It’s a good thing he is unconscious, otherwise this would hurt like hell,” he said as he carefully picked up the High Lord’s massive frame and hoisted him onto his dragon, securing his unconscious body across his lap.
He stretched out his hand and swung me up to the front saddle. I fastened the buckles quickly.
“We need to make this look like a rogue dragon attack,” he informed.
Then he non-verbally commanded his dragon to blast the entire Temple to ash and rubble, destroying any evidence of what actually happened.
And then we flew off into the sky.
CHAPTER 38
Half Breeds
DELILAH
