Page 16 of Betrayed By Dragons

But in this moment... In this aftermath...

He told me to go.

I'm free.

I take off, not following my father, but racing for the tower. I speed past my rooms and out onto the balcony. There's no one here. Rafe is off using some meeting space to conference with his staff, and Ember is at the temple, and I'm alone.

I climb onto the banister. Fifty feet up, standing on a ledge of stone, I look out over my kingdom.

I close my eyes.

And step over the edge.

The wind rushes up to meet me, and I breathe it in. Plummeting into free fall, I replay the conversation with my father, and there's no other way it could have gone. He's the king; I'm a prince. I can't speak up. I can't defend myself. I can't change the destiny of my people or my kingdom.

But the beast inside me?

He can roar.

Chapter Five

EMBER

I'm sitting in the courtyard at the Grand Temple with Amy, Jett and Sister Grace, about to bite into a strip of delicious barbecue pork, when a bolt of black lightning sears through my skull. My chopsticks fall from my hand, and I grip my head with a barely suppressed cry.

Anger, rage, a self-loathing so hot and bitter it scorches the back of my throat. For a second, I can scarcely breathe.

The pain is a rope, though, and instead of shying away, I latch onto it with both hands. I haul myself along its length until I find...

"Jianyu," I whisper, snapping my eyes open. My heart spasms, and I lurch to my feet.

"Damn." Amy whistles, but she's not looking at me.

None of them are.

As I follow their gazes to the sky, a giant shadow falls over us all, blocking out the sun. The broad, majestic wings of a dragon spread themselves wide, and the sharp ache inside of me twists. Those feelings of loss and rage swamp my senses, coming in flashes so intense they nearly bring me to my knees.

Jianyu's dragon hovers over the temple for a moment before beating its wings once more and descending in a spiral. I summon my mental map of the surrounding area. Just south of the Grand Temple is a strip of forest, leading toward a stone outcrop overlooking the river. There's more than enough room for even a distraught dragon to land.

"I have to go."

"What?" Amy looks to me with concern.

I shake my head. "I'm okay, just--" I flap a hand uselessly in the direction the dragon was heading. My heart screams at me to follow him, to find him. To pull him into my arms. "It's Jianyu," I manage to get out.

It's all I have by way of explanation. Amy, bless her, gets my meaning right away. "Go. I'll tell the High Priestess."

"The High Priestess already knows," an imperious voice sounds from behind us.

I glance back to find High Priestess Fang standing in the archway. Her gaze connects with mine.

"There's a path through the forest," she tells me. "The earth will guide you."

Well, that's not cryptic.

And yet somehow, I completely understand. Deep in my soul, I can feel my mate's anguish, and in my bones, I can feel the stone beneath my feet, leading me toward him. Around my wrist, the Shadow Queen's Bracer hums with quiet power, and I lean into it.

Without another word, I launch myself across the courtyard. Not for the first time--and almost certainly not for the last--I wish I could shift. My dragon could find our mate without the slightest hesitation, across borders and across oceans.

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