Page 17 of Her Two Dragons

Maybe she suffered from the craze even now, even in death.

When she re-formed, her teeth looked longer, her claws sharper. The lapis witch carved runes into my heartstone. Twisted its fates, its magic, until none could heal it. Even now, it taunts me, whispers echoing all around, talking of the Obsidian Moon, of the keystone. You can’t have it, dragon prince. She lunged forward, and Darius gasped, his whole body rigid as her smoky talons flicked under the band of his cuff, making it clatter to the floor. I should make you suffer the same fate.

In an instant, she was gone. And so was his heartstone.

Only her words, echoing around him, remained. Find my heartstone or lose yours forever more.

Darius fell backwards, panting, as her words danced through the air, growing dimmer and louder, over and over, taunting him, teasing him.

He had to get back to Khalid, back to Michelle.

She was the only one who knew anything about the Obsidian Moon, and the only one who would have any chance at all finding the mystical heartstone before he was lost to the craze.

He didn’t remember anything about an Obsidian Queen or her heartstone in the dragon history he’d been taught. What exactly was his father trying to hide down there?

He felt nauseated, dizzy, as he made his way back to the main chamber, like the queen had somehow already poisoned his mind and body.

Darius? What’s wrong? Khalid’s voice was soothing, like an anchor to the living world, and he clung to it, hoping it would pull him from whatever twisted him up from the inside.

Something unbelievably bad happened here, Khal. We need Michelle. We must set this right.

He stumbled as he got to the main chamber, falling forward and almost smashing his face into the stone floor.

Luckily, or unluckily, no one was in the room. The lights were all dark, and for a second, Darius couldn’t figure out where the door was that would lead him back into the open air.

Fuck.

The room spun around him like an old carnival ride, dancing up, down, and in ever faster circles as he bumbled his way to the door, fighting to stay on his feet, fighting to keep the little he’d eaten all day in his stomach.

He needed a real meal.

He needed his friend.

But more than that, he needed his mate.

He had no doubts in his mind that her heartstone could’ve righted whatever magic affected him. If only she had one.

Khalid met him at the door, and almost as soon as he was outside the structure, his head cleared, and the world righted itself.

He looked around, almost expecting Michelle to be standing there, waiting.

“What happened?”

“We have to find the Obsidian Moon. We have to set the queen free.” Darius looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“It’s after midnight. You’ve been in there for almost ten hours. I was just about to come find you and drag you out.” Khal’s brow furrowed as he looked Darius over. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe we should take you back to your father.”

“No. Not until we know the truth about what happened here. We can’t take any of this back to the Lapis Clan.” He shook his head. “I need to talk to Michelle, and then the three of us need to go into the depths of this hellhole together.” Darius paused, realizing that the only reason he was feeling better out of the underground structure was because Khal was there. “I don’t want to fight over Michelle with you. I didn’t want to tell you that my heartstone lit up when I touched her, because I couldn’t crush your hope. I don’t need to know whether yours will light up too. I don’t feel like she belongs only to me. My dragon is a possessive ass, but I feel it now. It doesn’t work without you.”

Khal blinked at him and then his shoulders eased. “Are you sure? You know I wouldn’t stand in your way.”

He let out a slow breath. “You’re not my blood, but you’re my brother. Michelle needs us both. I’m dragon enough to know that. I can’t stand in your way either.”

Khal grinned and clapped his hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s go find our mate and solve this mystery.”

Darius and Khalid made his way toward Michelle’s tent as purposefully as he could, but every step felt wobbly. Khal quickly caught on that something still wasn’t right, and he wrapped his arm around the prince’s waist, helping him limp across the sand in a more or less upright position.

The tent was quiet, and Darius leaned close, whispering Michelle’s name. He didn’t want to startle her awake, and he didn’t want to just barge in unannounced.

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