Page 116 of Her Tortured Beasts

“I cannot.”

“We endured for millennia together. We endured betrayal and death. We endured through blood and fire. You are the last of your kind in this world. Do not leave it lying in a pool of your own misery. Leave it fighting. Leave it with the blood of your enemies in your teeth. Leave it raging. Get.Up.”

Chapter 70

Xander

You’ll Be in My Heart — Phil Collins

The next day, I rise at dawn and look over to see Aurelia still curled up and sleeping in cobra form. My hand still rests on her, and with a grunt, I realise she’d been soaking up my power all night. Tentatively, I whisper her name, and to my surprise, her eyes open.

Something lurches in my stomach to see those blue king cobra eyes staring back at me. Her forked tongue sneaks out, tasting the air, and I observe her condition. She doesn’t uncoil, nor move any other muscle.

“Are you hungry?” I ask. “I still have some clams.”

I remove myself carefully from the nest and retrieve the starfish-safe food I’d brought back yesterday. I put it on a clean plate and set it down where she can see it.

“You can eat it in your own time,” I reassure her. “I won’t watch you if you’d prefer me not to.”

Turning around and pretending to tinker with other plates, I listen carefully for signs of her movement, but she remains still.

I turn around and look at her again, right in those eyes. This is her anima I’m looking at, not human Aurelia. I know what I have to do.

Chapter 71

Aurelia

The cursed dragon watches me with those supernatural, golden eyes. He is eager to care for me, eager to allow his ancient powers to heal my broken body and mind.

I accept it hungrily.

Much has been taken from me. Much is owed.

He lies next to me, his massive heat comforting to my cold bones, and he curls his big wing around my body as if he’s trying to shelter me from the pain. Old, volcanic power seeps through my scales and down my long spine. It settles into the crevices, the fractured places, and soothes away the pain that lies so deep into my core. Like lava moving in the hollows of the earth, it moves slowly and deliberately.

Under his power, the screams in my mind fade away until they are faint, as if smothered by a heavy blanket.

It allows me to peep past my anima and see what he does in between staring at me.

The cursed dragon nudges forward food on a tray with his big snout. It has the air of a disciple setting down an offering to his patron goddess.

Sometimes I choose to take it. Sometimes I do not.

One day, alongside the fresh, dragon fire-seared meat, he sets down something wrapped in red foil. A small, familiar sweet.

I rear up and hiss at it.

White smoke streams from his nostrils and he uses his power to snatch it up and take it away from my sight.

Handsome bastard creature.

His massive head snaps towards me as eyes flare a brilliant gold.

I go still, staring at him because I had not meant to communicate.

The cursed dragon edges closer on those big claws, sniffing the air. Sniffing me.

With no intention of entertaining this, I lower myself to the floor and coil up, ignoring him.

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