Page 11 of The Bond That Burns

I nodded. “Mind to mind. Yes.”

He stared at me for a long while. “I will accept that pitiful answer for now. But it is greatly lacking. You will go over every detail that occurred leading up to the first tremor and you will come up with more. I will know how this happened. The answer lies in your mind and I will have it. Willingly or unwillingly.”

I nodded. What else could I do? “I’ll try to recall more.”

“Why was it the House Avari dragon that awoke? Why Nyxaris and not Vorago?”

I licked my lips, tasting the blood.

“That’s a good question,” I said carefully. “I’ve been wondering that as well.”

“You climbed atop the creature one day, so I am told.” Viktor’s lips curled with distaste. “Miss Pansera had you under her control then.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “She used thrallweave on me.”

Viktor scowled. “Yet suddenly you are not so susceptible. Strange.”

“The headmaster and my professors—” I was careful not to specifically mention Rodriguez but I knew Viktor would find out anyhow. “They all agreed it would make sense to tutor me in thrallguard. Like riders of old.”

Viktor’s face flushed. “The fools. I should have been consulted. Blocking me out should have been impossible.”

I said nothing but the words sent a warm heat through me, as if they had been praise. So not many could block out Viktor? He wasn’t used to being thwarted. Not for the first time, I felt a surge of gratitude that he had not been consulted before Headmaster Kim made his decision.

“You touched the black stone dragon. You mounted it.” I felt my cheeks redden. There had been absolutely nothing erotic about what Regan had made me do that day and yet the way Viktor said the words made my stomach turn.

“Perhaps that was all the connection that was needed,” he mused. “A touch between rider and stone. So stupid. So simple.”

Sure, that and a few drops of my blood and a ritual poem. I wasn’t so sure Viktor was right about my touch being the key. After all, I had climbed Nyxaris long before doing the ritual. But let him think whatever he wanted.

Viktor’s red eyes clouded as he studied my face. “Now let us get to the heart of the matter. And do not think I will not know if you lie, girl. Can you control it? This creature you’ve woken from stone?”

Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet, drawing myself up and lifting my chin defiantly. “Yes. Nyxaris will return to me when I call. He is mine to command.”

Viktor’s eyes narrowed. “You think you can control a dragon? A child with no knowledge of real power?” He leaned in closer, and I remembered the blood on my lip. “Do you really think I’d believe such an audacious lie?”

My heart pounded but I held my ground. “It’s the truth, Lord Drakharrow. If you want Nyxaris under your command, then you need me. I may not have full control yet—” I made it sound like an admission. “But with time, Iwillestablish it.” My pulse hammered with every word. “If you push me too far though, he’ll sense it. Are you willing to risk losing both of us?”

He grabbed my chin roughly, forcing my face closer to his.

“Let me be very clear.” His voice had dropped to a whisper that sent a shiver through my bones. “If you fail to do what you’ve just promised, if you embarrass this house... I’ll make sure your suffering is unending. Do we understand one another?”

My throat felt tight with fear, but my resolve hardened. This man was bluffing as much as I was. He needed me.

I pulled out of his grip and stepped back. “Keep your hands off me. I’m the only one Nyxaris will come back to. I’m the only one who can bring him to heel.” I narrowed my gaze. “If you can’taccept that, then kill me now, Lord Drakharrow, and watch your dragon disappear into the clouds forever.”

Viktor’s nostrils flared. He stepped forward and shoved me hard. With a gasp, I fell back into the chair I’d been sitting in when he’d arrived.

“If you plan to torture me, then just remember my dragon will know of it when he returns,” I said boldly.

I highly doubted Nyxaris would care. What was it he’d said? Oh, yes. That he’d have scorched Blake and I if I hadn’t happened to be the one who’d awoken him. The black dragon didn’t seem the particularly kindhearted sort.

“I’m not afraid to get the truth out of you, girl,” Viktor snarled. “If I have to...”

“Uncle, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

Blake stood in the doorway breathing hard. His gaze immediately went to me. I could sense him taking in my disheveled state, the blood on my lips.

Viktor straightened, his hands falling back to his sides. “You’re interrupting, Blake.”

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