Page 94 of The Shadow Heir

The other dragons grew restless and emitted terrifying shrieks, distressed at the loss of one of their own—one of the largest I’d seen. I knew next to nothing about the lives of dragons, but their rage was clear enough.

In a frenzy, two other dragons descended on the platform, flames engulfing the king.

When the flames died out, the king still stood, unharmed. His magic was so much stronger than I had ever imagined. I shook Cas, praying he would wake up and create a shield around us, but he didn’t wake up. I had to do something.

While the king was distracted by the dragons, I stood and hooked my arms under Cas’s shoulders. I leaned my weight into tugging him toward one of the gated archways where the fae had watched our trial.

I had only moved him a body length before the king spotted us. As the king turned to face us, the honey-colored dragon hissed and sparks flew from its open mouth. It spun in the air, its hind feet landing just in front of us, tail whipping out so close that I flinched. But its tail never hit me. The creature was blocking the king from us.

“Dragons are protective of their meals. But you will not be safe forever!” Rykar shouted.

The dragon opened its mouth, and a line of white-blue flames shot toward the Shadow King. These flames were brighter andhotter than the rest—it must have swallowed the stone. I dove on top of Cas, shielding his exposed skin as best I could. From the corner of my eye, I watched. The blinding light of the flames illuminated the king as he fell to his knees, arms lifted above him. As his protective spell deteriorated, his screams pierced the night over the sound of the crackling flames and the click of dragon claws.

In a single moment, Rykar lay still. After another moment, his form shriveled into ash, which carried away on the harsh, cold breeze that whipped across the platform.

I pressed a fist to my open mouth, hardly able to believe what I had witnessed. My heart beat madly against Cas’s chest as I stared in shock. Then I slid off of him and curled into a sitting position, rocking as I held Cas. Tears dripped down my face as the dragons turned toward us, and I knew that we would be next.

Cas was finally free of his father, but he would never know it.

Except, his arms were a warm color again. The black had drained away the moment his father vanished. Carefully, I laid him back on the stones and stroked the edge of his face. His eyes fluttered open, and one of his hands, now warmer than my own, pressed my palm to his cheek.

“Cas!”

The corners of his lips twitched, but he still seemed mostly unable to move. His eyes flickered around the courtyard. I helped him sit up, and then I kissed him violently.

“I love you,” I said through my tears.

His large, warm hand stroked my face and then curled into my hair as he kissed me again. I didn’t want to stop kissing him, knowing that I’d rather not see the flames coming, but he pulled my face away and stared at the dragons who were still watching us.

He examined his hands, turning them over, then locked eyes with me. “My father is dead, isn’t he?”

I nodded, indicating the space where the king’s body had disappeared.

“What did you do to them?” Cas asked, a smile tugging at his lips as he nodded toward the waiting dragons. They hadn’t torched us yet.

“I didn’t do anything. I only danced to keep them from eating you.”

Cas’s brows lifted, and he smiled at me. Then he stood, slowly, his eyes on the yellow dragon nearest us. The creature shuffled side to side a little, its wings partially extending then resettling. Cas laughed and offered me his hand. “It seems they liked the show.”

His arm wrapped around my waist and tucked me against him. I didn’t want to let him go, ever. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and then looked out at the night.

The dragons faced us expectantly, as if waiting for us to say or do something.

“It looks like we have a new matriarch,” Cas said. He bowed politely to the dragon. I followed suit, but Cas shook his head at me. “Not the dragon,” he whispered. “You.”

The dragon dipped its head, not toward Cas, but toward me.

Cas chuckled as we stood. “To Zara, a tamer of dragons.”

With his thumb and forefinger, he turned my jaw toward his and kissed me again. When he pulled away, he stayed close enough that his nose brushed my cheek. “Tell them, Zara. Tell your dragons what you would like them to do.”

“My…?” The shock of the evening’s events was settling into my bones, and I started to shake uncontrollably.

“Dragon clans are ruled by a female, and it appears the blue one over there was the matriarch. Until she died, presumably protecting you. The rest of the dragons see you as their new leader.”

Once my head started to shake, I couldn’t make it stop. This couldn’t be possible.

Cas held me firmly. “In the thousands of years we’ve lived here, not one of us has ever attempted toentertaina dragon. Our ancient foes might be more like us than we realized, hungry for entertainment.” He smiled at me. “You’ve changed the world, little spark. No. I can’t call you that anymore.” His lips moved down to my ear and warmth poured down my spine. “Wildfire.”

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