Page 87 of Heir of Draga

The rock doors sliding open sounded like an avalanche, but once they opened she gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

A waterfall of lava poured down from above. It was halved by a natural rock formation. Directly below that was a bridge that arced over a pool of molten rock which oozed slowly out of the mountain like a river. It was one of the most beautiful natural phenomena she’d ever seen. And gloriously warm.

For the first time since she’d met him Kaiden offered her his hand, but palm up unlike her people. She took it, nervous as he led her out and onto the bridge. All it would take was a single misstep or a push and she’d fall over the narrow bridge into a fiery death.

“Don’t worry,” Kaiden murmured as he pulled her in closer to his side. “I won’t let you fall.”

His words made her heart flutter, but Adelina took advantage of the moment to slip in as close as she could until she was right up against his side, heart pounding as she stared down into the river of lava. It would be so easy to slip and fall – why were all the cula’ting bridges on Hai Delta so narrow and without rails?

Kaiden must have sensed her fear because his wings expanded and then tucked around her, shielding her from the magma for a moment. “You’re safe with me,” he promised.

The rumble of his voice echoed through her bones and Adelina allowed herself to relax as she pressed into him, taking a deep breath to ease her anxiety and fear. “Why did meeting me change your mind?” she asked again, closing her eyes for a moment to smooth her breathing and regain some sense of strength and control. It took monumental effort to ignore how exhausted she felt.

“Despite your small stature you were fierce, but more than anything you had the strangest mixture of people with you, and each and every one of them is loyal to their death. You were telling the truth when you said there is no record in Draga of the disease and I realized it made no sense to hold onto a grudge when this new generation was not the ones at fault…though if you were to find the perpetrator I would gladly gut them before dropping them from the highest peak into a river of fire.”

Adelina shuddered at the image, wondering if that’s what Vasili wanted to do to all the people in Draga. If he wasn’t the only one, how would she possibly convince them to aid her in a war they wanted nothing to do with?

She looked up into Kaiden’s blue eyes, dark like Nadyah’s, but nearly black as his wings. It was a wonder the Drakesthai accepted her presence at all. “What can I do to repair the relations between our people? Even if the Council decides not to assist us, I want to reopen our borders. There is much we can learn from each other.”

Kaiden cocked his head and then peered down at her, bending slightly so their faces were only a margin apart. “Why? We cannot assist you. We are mostly barren and therefore useless in marriage. Our tech is not much better Khara’s whom you’re already aligned with, and our medicine is generations behind what you’ve accomplished. Our focus on fertility has stagnated our progress. We have gems and jewels, but is that really all you want? I’ve heard of your obsession with them…” Kaiden trailed off and Adelina called the recorder to her and then deactivated it.

The conversation was turning too personal and she didn’t even want the vid tech to hear it.

Adelina was sweaty in her coat and covered by Kaiden’s wings though he was careful not to touch her with them. But she ignored all of that and slowly stepped towards him, giving him every opportunity to move away from her. He tensed, but didn’t move a muscle.

When her hands met his waist she marveled at the strange feel of his armor, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It was similar material to the way his wings looked. The armor was conformed to his body so left nothing to the imagination. Then she reached up for his face and barely touched his chin, enjoying the soft, black hair of his trim beard. It framed his jaw well, but it was odd he had no hair on his head. It appeared as though he’d shaved it.

Adelina took a step back to get a better look at his face and bumped into his wing. Instantly she pressed forward so as not to make some cardinal mistake. Touching his wings…it seemed so personal. “I apologize,” she said. Then realized she was pressed up against his chest. She released him as though he’d burned her. “I am so sorry.”

His brief smile relieved her, but Kaiden stayed quiet as she regained her composure. He tucked his wings back into his body and Adelina removed her coat before heading to the other side of the bridge as quickly and safely as she could manage.

When she was securely on the other side she stopped and watched the way Kaiden walked towards her, wings extended for balance. He didn’t stop until the toes of his boots brushed against hers, and even though he didn’t touch her she felt ensconced by his presence.

“Do you feel this connection as well?” he asked. His voice had such a deep timbre she felt it echo and rumble against her skin.

His question made her belly flutter with nerves and it left her breathless. Kaiden cut straight to the point and Adelina could barely comprehend what was happening let alone how she felt about it.

“What if I said no?”

“I would know you’re lying.”

Adelina couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. “How?” she breathed, not once questioning that what he said was true.

Kaiden took another step closer. “It’s one of our gifts. We have our strength and the ability to know a lie by the taste it leaves on the air.” His hands stayed at his side but a wing brushed gently against her arm.

“I feel it as well,” she admitted, wondering what it all meant. “Like I’m somehow tied to you.”

Kaiden frowned. “I wasn’t sure when I first met you as you didn’t react, but perhaps your sense of smell is somehow different than ours. Now it couldn’t be more obvious.”

She frowned, confused by his words. “What do you mean?”

He leaned down and closed his eyes as he breathed her in. “This sensation is the mate bond. We can recognize it by scent alone.”

Adelina’s heart leapt into her throat. She took a step back and stumbled. Kaiden caught her before she could fall. “Mate bond? That’s impossible.”

He frowned and cocked his head. “Not so, as the Unchanged Humans can end up mated with a Drakesthai. We all have common ancestry through the Ancient Humans.”

Adelina yanked her hand out of his and strode outside, careful of the river of fire. She clutched her coat to her chest and contemplated the ramifications of such a revelation.

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