It’s raining ash and several nearby trees are charred and smoking. When my legs hit the earth, I call the power back, then collapse to the ground.
I haven’t done that since...I can’t remember the last time. But I only did it once in Pendralia. I thought nobody had seen me, but Caiden showed me his father’s captive dragon the next day. It wasn’t a shifter, but the poor creature was a prisoner. With her clipped wings, even if I released her, she’d have no life beyond that dungeon.
I should have realized he saw me. I understood it as a warning, but I didn’t want to believe it. All these years, he never told his father. I shove that thought down so I can unpack it a different time.
The wounds that tore open on my back while I was using magic in my human form are already healing. As a dragon, none of the bindings hold. I’m free to use everything I have. But my kind were hunted to extinction. My father was very clear that we never needed to shift. I used to dream of traveling to Safira where there’s more of us, possibly the last place where dragonshifters can find freedom. When my sister’s magic manifested, my plans changed.
Caiden approaches, Anya cradled in his arms. His clothing is torn and blood seeps from the cuts on his face and arms. I’m sure he’s got more injuries I can’t see.
“They would have killed us both,” Caiden says.
“I know.”
“You could have been done with me. But she’d never forgive either of us if something happened to her.” He glances down at Anya.
“That’s why I did it.” I groan as I stand. Every single muscle in my body protests the movement. I forgot how fucking much this hurt.
“You saved my life, even if it wasn’t out of kindness to me. I will continue to keep your secret, but nothing else changes.” Caiden glances toward the tower, then looks back at me. “I’ll send more guards after I return with Anya. If this happens again, I can’t let her live. We both know that.”
“It won’t. Something must have happened. There was no reason for her to change the future.” I shake my head. Even as I say the words, I don’t believe them.
The old emperor, Caiden’s father, had no problems demanding she change the future. Every time she did, shadow dragons escaped into our world. Without that, there shouldn’t be any, but I know the stories. I know that everyone with her gift eventually loses touch with reality. Then they begin to summon the monsters either unintentionally or to purposefully create chaos. But I don’t want to believe that of my sister. The stone mutes her power, she shouldn’t be able to call that many at once.
“You have until the guards arrive to figure it out. It’ll be kinder if you’re the one to end it,” Caiden suggests.
“I’ll fix it,” I promise. “She can be cured.”
Caiden shakes his head. “You and my father spent years searching for that cure, hoping it was hidden with those relics you hunted. Don’t you think you’d have found it by now?”
“I can take her away from here,” I suggest.
“Where can you go where they won’t kill her the second they discover what she is?” he asks.
My shoulders slump. He’s right. There’s nowhere left for us with her condition so advanced.
“What happened?” Anya’s voice is weak. She winces, her eyes squinting against the sunlight. “Wait, emperor?”
“You were attacked,” he says.
She squirms. “You can put me down.”
“I don’t know—” Caiden’s brow furrows with concern.
“I’m fine,” she insists.
He sets her down and as soon as she collapses, he’s there to catch her. He lifts her again. “I don’t think so. I am not letting anything happen to you. You are not allowed to die, you hear me?”
“You need to work on your bedside manner,” she snaps.
I chuckle at that and Caiden glares at me, then his attention snags elsewhere.
I follow his gaze and see Roselyn standing in the doorway. She watches us, expression impassive.
“Go,” Caden says. He turns and starts walking toward where we last saw our horses. Hopefully, one of them is still nearby.
I head toward my sister. Every time I see her, it’s getting harder to convince people that she’s not a monster. If I’m being honest, it’s getting harder to convince myself.
Twenty-Nine
