Page 89 of The Soul of the Dragon

His eyes widened and he took a step forward. “Where is it?”

The intensity in his gaze frightened me. Now that I actually had it, how far would he go to take it from me? He’d called me his mate, but in the face of his goals, what did that even mean? I raised my arm and slowly opened my hand, holding it up for his appraisal. We both stared at it.

The amethyst stone set in the middle of a dark gold coin with symbols etched all around it didn’t seem like much more than a trinket. But the sense of magic from it still surged through my veins, calling out to me. I wanted to speak the spell that would break the binding of my magic and set my mother’s free as well.

“Hard to believe such a small thing holds so much power.”

“I think it holds more than we even knew.”

His right eyebrow arched. “How so?”

“I—I think it contains my mother’s magic.”

ChapterThirty-Five

Isaac

“Excuse me?” Surely I hadn’t heard her correctly.

“My mother left me a note, but I didn’t read it all yet—I couldn’t. I’m not ready. But the minute I touched the amulet, I felt the familiar caress of my mother’s magic against my senses. It’s practically begging me to set it free.”

I growled. Not in anger at her, but because so far, this Fae realm bullshit had been nothing but one complication after another. How could my father have sent me here with so little knowledge of how things worked here?

When you are king, you have to expect the unexpected, and be willing to pivot quickly.

The fact I heard that spoken in my head, as if he still stood here, was enough to make me grind my teeth. His little life lessons had been annoying back then, and I didn’t want to accept them as fact now.

He also failed to revealhow he was connected to this realm and why he knew so much about it. I’d been a fool not to ask more questions.

Not that I’d believed a word that asshole Magnus had said. Why he would claim to be the firstborn son of my parents, I couldn’t fathom. If I hadn’t sensed Kitra’s distress, I would have finished him.

And if that amulet contained her mother’s magic and the solution to free hers…

My head ached with what it would do to her if I took it now.

“I told you I’m not a hero,” I murmured as weight settled in my chest. “But you are my mate. It’s my duty to do anything and everything to protect you.” I looked around this shit hole of a room. They may have moved her things up here, but they were still going to lock her in. And do what?

Breed her?

My dragon roared to life, letting me know that no other man could be allowed to touch her let alone hurt her.

Her eyes shuttered closed and pain pinched her face.“Neither one of us asked for this,” she said, opening her eyes again. “And it’s not your duty I want.”

“What then?”

She didn’t answer and I really did want to roar until the rest of this castle crumbled to the ground. Or maybe I should just set it on fire and go ahead and let it burn.

“You could go back with me. Take your place at my side as queen. No magic necessary.”

“My magic is who I am. Without it I am nothing.”

“That’s not true. Your fierce determination, you unerring loyalty, and your love of family is who you are. None of those have anything to do with magic.”

I don’t know whether I was trying to convince her or me. I was asking her to make too great of a sacrifice and I knew it. She deserved to get everything her heart desired, including that connection to her mother.

Suddenly a roar sounded from several floors below and the entire house shook again. I rushed to Kitra to steady her before she lost her footing and pitched forward.

“We’ve got to go. This pile of stone and iron won’t last through another round of me and Magnus.”

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