Page 105 of Dueling the Suitors

The man sneered at her, baring his yellow teeth. He looked her up and down. “You just got lucky we have special orders not to harmyou,but he did say if you fought back, we could use some force.” He nodded at the rest of the men, and they closed in on her and Cyrus.

The next few moments were a blur as Cyrus tried to fight them off single-handedly and failed, ending up separated fromher and thrown into the nearest cell. He landed with a thud that made Astoria’s heart lurch.

She broke towards him, but arms grabbed her from behind. They locked his cell and pushed her into the one next to his. She turned to them as they locked her cell. “I will make you pay, I swear it! I will make you pay!”

Rowan’s men waved blindly at her as they turned and walked away to guard the entrance.

“Astra,” Cyrus grunted from the other side of the wall.

“Cyrus.” She moved to the wall and pressed herself against it. “Are you alright?” The moment the question left her lips, she realized the irony of it and added, “What hurts? Is it your back?”

“It’s alright, I will be alright. Areyoualright?”

Astoria shook her head, pressing her forehead to the cold wall. Realizing he couldn’t see her, she said, “I want payback. They—they hurt you.”

Cyrus made a noise that sounded like a huff of laughter. “We were betrayed by someone we thought was our friend, who is currently preparing to take over our empire and divide it, not to mention he kidnapped you and held you hostage. And you want payback on the men who punched me and threw me into the cell?”

“Oh, don’t think I have nothing planned for Rowan for poisoning you. But right now, these men are my closest targets, so yes, I’m keen to have payback on them first.”

“Little Dragon,” he called with the same, weak huff of laughter. “Oh, my Little Dragon… You never cease to amaze me.”

Astoria’s fingers curled into a fist against the wall, burning with the urge to touch him. Warmth bloomed in her chest, and the burden weighing down on her heart eased a little. The scraping of the fabric against the floor and the rattle of chains told her Cyrus was moving towards the wall and trying to sitagainst it. She slid down and sat with her side pressed against it as well.

The dungeon was exceptionally quiet, as though they were the only ones down there.

“I missed you,” she blurted out.

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the wall, and Cyrus said, “I missed you too, darling.”

Astoria closed her eyes, drowning in the warmth of his confession. “How come you missed me when you were unconscious all the time?”

“What did I say about Spyrah projecting her mind to me so I didn’t miss out on anything about you?” he asked softly, sounding just the opposite from the man who had growled and glared and threatened Rowan and his men like a wild beast. “It was frustrating I couldn’t be part of that reality with you, but you were my anchor, my motivation to keep fighting when I realized my condition was only getting worse. Without you, I would’ve been lost to the darkness. Without you, I wouldn’t have lived, wouldn’t have been here. I… I missed you terribly. Especially when I woke up and realized you were taken… The weeks of my unconsciousness seemed like a daydream compared to the nightmarish reality.”

Astoria realized he was no longer talking about merely missing her.

“I was certain my empire was going to burn if I didn’t find you. I didn’t care about anything anymore. I…” He trailed off with a long, heavy sigh. “Astra… what have you done to me?”

Astoria didn’t know how to respond to that. She didn’t know what she had done to him either. But she wanted to know. She opened her mouth to ask but closed it as a familiar scurrying of paws reached her ears.

Cyrus groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Astoria was thinking just the same when Skylar appeared in front of her cell.

Skylar!She jumped to her feet at the rush of joy and relief at his sight.How are you here? How did you—

She stopped mid-thought as the blocking sensation registered. Oh. She couldn’t telepath with him.

Her face dropped, and so did Skylar’s. His eyes held more pain than Astoria had ever seen, and he wasn’t even bothering to hide it.

“I’ve missed you too, Sky,” she told him with a watery smile. “I’m so sorry for scaring you with my absence. I shouldn’t have gone alone that night, I should’ve called you, but I wanted to know who was behind this, and if I told you, you would’ve held me back—or woken up Joaquin or the General.”

Now that she thought about it, where were the two of them?

Skylar tilted his head and gave her a baffled look. On the other cell, Cyrus had paused talking to Spyrah. It took her a moment to realize that they didn’t know about the note that led her to Rowan’s trap.

Astoria launched into the story.

“… He told me only a Mage can free me from the cuffs. Since he didn’t specifically meanhim, it can be any Mage, right?”

---