Page 50 of Born of Blood and Thorns

Bella stirred fitfully, her lips forming my name in slumber. Gently, I brushed a strand of moon-pale hair from her lovely face, awed that one so pure and good despite her heritage and upbringing could be fated as the mate to a monster like me. She deserved a man unstained by centuries of violence and fury, not a dragon cursed to shadow.

Yet our souls were inextricably entwined, our fates woven past all unraveling. I had thought of remaining detached, denying love to spare us both. It was far too late for that. Against all reason, this stubborn woman had claimed my heart utterly.

So I would gladly embrace the fire and ash to save her, even if it meant defying the bitter prophecy written in her blood. Some prices were too steep, even for freedom from endless torment. If my defiance only damned us further, then so be it. We would face the end hand in hand, the cursed beast and his beauty. No power on this earth would take her from me.

With a tortured sigh, I turned away from Bella, clinging to this last shred of peace that remained in her sleeping, beautiful face. Tomorrow, blood and flame awaited us both. Tonight, my dragon called to me, and I could not force the pull of the change to stop. I would revel in the memory of her embrace one final time. Let the dawn scatter our ashes.

No, I would save her. I would find a way, no matter what.

I moved out into the nearly night sky and met it with anticipation, the feeling of the shift taking me on. Just as I felt the transformation, my dragon whispered to me before it was devoured in a hazy mist.

I will burn the world for her.

And then there was nothing.

CHAPTER 25

Bella

Iawoke warm and pressed against a rigid body in the early morning hours. The small window in the room filtered in the early morning rays, and the male behind me must have just snuck back into the room because I knew he couldn't stay the night with me.

His dragon needed to be released at night. A fear hit me, and with the dragon's memory loss, it seemed that one night, he would fly away and be unable to find his way back. I quickly brushed it aside, knowing the curse would not allow that.

I nestled closer to Lore's warmth, wishing time would freeze us in this perfect cocoon. Reality waited just beyond our doorway, ominous as the blood-red full moon that would crest tonight.

A sacrifice was coming. The prophecy foretold it, though its exact meaning remained shrouded in secrets. Lives lost centuries ago cried out for justice. The decaying curse sank claws deeper into Lore's soul with each passing day.

Tonight, the crimson moon would rise. With it came a reckoning written in the stars before my birth. I could only grasp tendrils of hazy intuition, unable to pierce the veil of hidden truth. Unease slithered up my spine as I gazed at Lore's beloved face. Sometimes, I caught him watching me with infinite sorrow as if memorizing each detail before losing me forever. It stirred nameless fears in my heart.

I shook off the ominous thoughts as Lore's eyes fluttered open, crystal blue in the muted dawn. He offered a drowsy smile that made my pulse quicken. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," I lied.

Lore saw through it, frowning.

I forced brightness into my tone. "Just bad dreams. I'm sure it's nothing."

Lore pulled me close, voice muffled against my hair. "Whatever comes, we will face it together."

I fell into silence, wishing I could just spend the day in his arms, but something was pushing on the back of my mind, a feeling of infinite doom coming. It was as if the end were nearer than we realized. What end, I wasn't sure.

Lore softly kissed my bare shoulder, nestling closer to me. "Let's pretend it isn't daytime yet, that the sun hasn't risen, and that I do not turn into a dragon that can't remember his name. Let's lose ourselves in each other's arms one more time."

I rolled over, a grin stretching my face, all thoughts of doom gone as I pulled him to me and lost myself in the feel of his arms and the sweetness of his kisses.

“Did you enjoy bouncing?” Alysha cackled as I walked into the kitchen with my hair still mussed. My stomach protested louder than my lack of propriety. She was busy kneading some bread flour all over her body and a little on her nose. Her deep blue eyes, far darker than Lore’s, sparkled in the dark as she pressed her lips together as if barely containing another laugh.

I grinned back at her. “I did, actually.” Though I felt the blush spreading across my cheeks and knew I was as red as the tomatoes settled next to her cutting board awaiting their fate.

“Well, at least some good has come out of all this thickness in the air,” Alysha mumbled as she kneaded the bread and placed it in a bowl with a cloth to watch it rise and bake later.

“You feel it too?” I asked as I sat across from her, taking a bowl of her special porridge as I began eating it.

Billy walked in and sat beside me, taking his bowl, only to groan a second later. "Ugh, this stuff again?" He tilted his head back in exasperation, sighed deeply, and shoveled the porridge into his mouth.

"It's good for you. It'll stick to your bones," Billy's mother chided.

"I could eat the entire pantry and nothing would stick to my bones," he muttered around a mouthful of food, much to his mother's dismay. She narrowed her eyes at him. After a moment, as they stared each other down, Alysha merely sighed, shook her head, and made another batch of dough.

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