Page 36 of Crown and Dragon

“I’m sorry. I’m…” He gritted his teeth and faced Tahlia. “I had a memory, or no, a thought about my sister.”

“The one who was killed by pirates.”

“Aye. I only had the one.” He cleared his throat.

“Are you all right? What can I do to help?”

Marius’s heart melted. She was perfect. “There’s nothing you need to do. Obviously, I have very complicated feelings regarding being around humans. I’m also wound up because that guard tried to kill you. It’s difficult being on a mission with you as my bonded mate. ”

She grabbed him around the middle as if they weren’t in a madman’s labyrinth with only the gods knew what facing them very shortly. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent. After a count of three, he released her.

“I can’t be this selfish. We must move on, and I need to stop being foolish. You are a knight and I am your commander. I can’t let myself falter.”

“You are allowed to have feelings.”

“Not on a mission,” he said.

“But what if said emotions motivate you to fight to the best of your ability?”

He growled. She made a decent point.

“See? You agree. That’s the agree growl.”

“Please stop cataloguing my sounds.”

“Hmm. I don’t know. How about you let me if I let you take notes on my noises when we get home,” she whispered, her tone sending all his blood south of his belt.

“Focus. Please.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s better.”

They walked on, the labyrinth taking them down neat ninety-degree turns and the torches giving just enough light to see.

A bang and a shuffling sound broke the silence. Tahlia immediately whirled to press her back to his so they were facing opposite directions and ready for a fight. He was glad to know her training had sunk in so effectively already.

“What is that?” Tahlia kept her voice to a whisper.

A rumbling shook the walls around them.

“Perhaps the storm they said was coming has landed.”

“Hell of a storm.”

“They do see some rough ones similar to those up north of us on the pirate coast.” The moment the wordpiratewas out of his mouth, he wished he hadn’t spoken it. He wanted to wash that imagined memory from his head and crush the dark feelings it grew inside him.

Tahlia resumed her spot beside him until the labyrinth narrowed—the first thing to change about the place. She stepped behind him. “Still want to lead?”

“Yes, I’m guessing any attack will come from where we haven’t yet been,” he said.

“You’re the?—”

Her word slurred into a gasp and Marius spun to see the floor under her give way. She disappeared into the black space below.

Heart locked in ice, he lunged for her, but he was far too late. A stale wind blew up from the hole in the floor. On his knees at the opening in the ground, he searched the darkness, but he couldn’t see a thing.

“Tahlia!”

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