Page 205 of On Wings of Blood

At first there was only silence.

Then,Medra?Orcades’ voice had changed over the last few weeks and this worried me. Her tone was softer. Each time she sounded a little more distant. As if she were speaking from a place further and further away. There was a dreamy quality to her words. A detachment that hadn’t been there before.

Were you asleep?I asked cautiously.Did I...wake you?

You know I don’t sleep anymore,she said with a sigh.But I... I was dreaming.

How could one dream without sleeping? But I didn’t point out the contradiction.

I was dreaming of the sky. I was flying over the sea.

You’re not in the sea or the sky, I reminded her, a little sternly.You’re here, with me. Remember?

She gave an almost wistful sigh.The blade. My prison. How could I forget?

I felt a stab of guilt.I’ll take you with me tomorrow, I promised.I shouldn’t have left you here all day without me.

My heart sped up as I suddenly wondered something. Was my mother on the same track as Aenia? A path leading to madness? Was she losing herself the longer she stayed in the dagger, confined and chained? I couldn’t imagine how horrible it must be.

Is being in the dagger worse than being stuck inside of me?I asked.

Worse, came the answer almost immediately.But it’s not so bad.I felt a warmth from the blade, as if it were pulsing slightly. I squeezed the hilt in my palm, wishing I was actually clasping the hand of a flesh and blood woman and not a piece of metal.You didn’t mean to, Medra. It’s not so bad,she said again.

Having her try to excuse my accident was almost worse somehow. It didn’t ease the guilt I felt.

I wondered if Professor Rodriguez would help me if I told him the truth. I looked over at the books about dragons he’d given me. I’d been going through them. I still wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to be looking for.

I slid the dagger under my pillow, my hand still wrapped around the hilt. It was the only comfort I had to offer.

Goodnight, Mother,I whispered.

I closed my eyes, sleep beginning to pull me under.

But my slumber didn’t last long.

A rough hand clamped over my mouth, yanking me awake. Filled with panic, my eyes shot open. But before I could scream or take anything in, a soft cloth was pressed against my face. A sweet, sickly smell filled my nostrils. I thrashed about but my limbs were suddenly heavy and sluggish.

Everything went black before I could even begin to fight back.

CHAPTER 50 - BLAKE

I sat in the stone bleachers of the arena, my body tense, eyes locked on the massive projection veil that hovered over the pit.

Beside me, Theo was fidgeting restlessly.

I resisted the urge to join him.

Here we were, safe in the stands. While somewhere out there, the woman tethered to me by blood and by fate would soon be walking headfirst into unknown dangers.

I hadn’t been able to stop replaying our meeting from two nights ago in my head. The image of her standing in front of me, tossing back the vial of my blood. Maybe it was weak of me, but part of me was regretting not telling her the whole truth.

But there was no point in thinking about it now.

The Consort Games were about to begin. I’d done what I could for her. Now I just had to hope it would be enough.

The Games were not supposed to be impossible to win. For most highblood consorts, they were a test of strategy, of the consorts’ ability to work together and to survive. Nothing more.

But Pendragon was going into them with a target painted on her back.

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