Page 107 of The Storm of the Empire

“Six months,” Hazel said.

“So we have a little bit of time.”

“A little, yes,” Hazel spoke, but I couldn’t focus on her.

Flickers ate at my vision, almost making it seem frosted, like ice crept from the corners of my sight, threatening to engulf it all. I blinked, trying to follow the direction of the conversation but unable to. The room grew cold.

“Luka?” Hazel put her hand on my shoulder.

“Sorry, what?” I asked, blinking a few times until my vision cleared.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Over-tired, I think. We didn’t sleep much.” I offered her a smile.

“I need to wrap my brain around all of this,” Nyx cut in, shaking his head while lacing his fingers behind his neck. “We know we have priests smuggling Dragon’s Bane and eggs, and Octavian was definitely involved in the Dragon’s Bane but doesn’t seem to know about the eggs. I killed him myself, but now, he’s somehow alive and hiding out with the priests in their temple. Magic has been declining for years, as have dragon numbers, but if eggs are being stolen and moved to Kerani, that would explain the decline. And now we know two pendants were keeping mates apart?”

“In a nutshell,” Jaxus said, sounding almost defeated.

“There’s something we’re missing here, and we have to figure out what. Somehow, it’s all tied together.” He pushed to his feet. “Don’t go spreading this mate thing around until we figure out what to say about it, and I’ve got to explain that to the King as well.”

Jaxus stared at him like he was losing his mind. “Dragons are going to know. Can’t you smell it?”

“Sure, but most dragons are out on patrols right now. The King is extra twitchy about this Damona Island situation, so I’m pretty sure we can keep it on the down low until I figure it all out.” Nyx crossed his arms over his chest. “So where am I going to say you two disappeared to?”

“Just say our bond suddenly kicked in, so we melded and then fucked our way through the last twenty-four hours. You know dragons—we can’t really help ourselves,” Hazel said casually. I shot her a glance, shocked she would be so flippant about telling the King something like that.

Jaxus clapped a hand over his mouth, but his bellowing laugh was too much to hold back. “Can’t deny them that.”

“Thankfully, that’s something the King will believe.” Nyx shook his head, and I was sure he wasn’t looking forward to telling the King we’d been fucking all this time. “Jaxus, you fill in Kiera and see if she has any insight. I’m going to tell Zaria. No one else. This circle is already too big for my liking. Not because I don’t trust any of you, but because the more people who know, the more dangerous this gets. I don’t like any of it.”

Nyx left, and Jaxus excused himself to find Kiera, leaving us to our own devices.

“What now?” Hazel asked when we left the healer’s wing.

“I’m starved. Want to nick some food and take it back to your suite?” The fog lingered in the back of my brain, and I really didn’t want to deal with anyone else until I’d had some rest.

We barely made it back to Hazel’s room before the ice was creeping back in.

“What’s wrong?” Hazel turned towards me.

“I don’t know.”

She crossed the room and put her hands on my face. “Are you feeling ill?”

“Do you think I could have caught something?” But it wasn’t exactly feeling ill. “I think I’m just tired.”

We sat, leaning into each other and sharing our meal, and I felt better. Then we fell into bed, exhausted, and sleep took me quickly.

But the deeper I sank into sleep, the further I fell into the ice.

THIRTY-FIVE

HAZEL

The sun filtering through the curtains of my suite woke me the next morning. It felt good to be home, Luka beside me.

He seemed better. Less tired and with the same mischievous light in his eyes I’d come to adore.

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