Page 452 of Kingdoms of Night

He danced his fingers down the muscles of her throat, then leaned in close. She could feel the heat of his skin against hers, almost as though he waited to press his lips to her.

“You should never be afraid to live, Tanis. You are still here, and they are not. That is sad, and it hurts to think of, I know. But that doesn’t mean you have to die with them.”

A breath fluttered out of her lips as though a butterfly had taken flight from her tongue. “I still feel guilty that I would even think of living without them.”

“You will live. I will make sure that you spend your days in the sunlight, experiencing everything that you desire to experience. You will live as all those dragons should have, and you will do it for them.” Finally, his lips pressed against her neck in a kiss that seared through her flesh right through her entire body. His lips lingered against her skin, gently moving up to her ear where he breathed, “You will see how vivid life can be. We will live for them together, my dragon. This I vow.”

She melted back against him, knowing that he wouldn’t push. Not too fast, because that wasn’t who he was. Rowan respected her to the utmost, and besides, there was a rather pressing and enormous problem between them.

“I need to find the Moonlight Caverns. They are the traditional nesting site of many dragons.” She swallowed hard, knowing her plan would only bring more sadness. “I need to lay my clutch, and then I need to seal the caverns.”

“Seal them?” He wrapped an arm around her, his hand hovering over her belly. “Why would you seal them?”

She blinked tears away from her eyes. “Because I will not hatch children into a world that wants them dead. They will remain in that cavern until there is a time where they are safe. When they can live as dragons are meant to live.”

And though it broke her heart to think she would have to stay away from them. To be the only dragon for many years to come. But Tanis knew it was the right decision.

CHAPTERELEVEN

CHAPTER 11

Tanis led them along the path she recognized, and then it became a guessing game. They had stayed in the castle for a few nights longer than she was comfortable, but she understood that the elves needed to rest. Without that, they would keel over and then what would she do? She couldn’t drag them to the caves herself, and she would need all the help that she could get.

Almost as though they knew what was happening, the eggs inside her had started to move. They jumped in her belly, and it made her wonder what they were like in this form. Had they shrunk down with her? Were they smaller than they would be once they were laid?

They had to be. She didn’t know how shapeshifting magic worked, but she knew the eggs weren’t the same size as they would be in her dragon form.

“Soon,” she told them every time they moved, and then rubbed her hand over her belly. “Soon you will be free of me. “

But they wouldn’t be free of their shells. Not until she or another female dragon hatched them in the way that only female dragons could. Or perhaps a male, if he was quick-witted. Though she never heard of a male dragon successfully hatching eggs.

Hopefully, it never came to that. She prayed to the ancestors that there would be a time soon when she reopened the cave and brought her baby dragons out into the light.

Weeks had passed by the time they made it to the caves. Even then, she wasn’t certain these were the right caves. It had been such a long time since she’d returned to this place, and her memory was more than a little hazy.

“These are the caves?” Rowan asked as they stood in front of them. “Are you sure?”

Was she certain that the howling winds coming out of this cavern meant they were in the right place? Hardly. Tanis hadn’t been here in a very long time, and the last time she’d come all this way, she’d been overcome with disappointment.

Just as she feared she would right now.

“I’m sure,” she replied. “This is where we have always come.”

For generations, the dragons had come to this place to lay their clutches. No eggs had remained longer than a few seasons, however. She didn’t think there would even be eggs here, considering the season. Winter was hard on eggs. Some of them didn’t survive the cold.

She squared her shoulders and resolved herself to that fact. Perhaps not all of her eggs would survive, but some of them would. And they would enter a world that had changed for the better if she had any say in it.

“Stand back,” she told the two elves beside her. “I have to change into my natural form, and that will take some effort. The magic is rather powerful. It might knock you unconscious, and I don’t have time to care for you while I prepare myself.”

Wise as they were, neither elf argued. The twins hurried away from her, giving her plenty of space to focus her magic in on herself and let the human form go. It took more effort than she thought it would. Perhaps because the fear in her chest still held onto her so tightly it was hard to breathe. If she was a dragon, then people could find her more easily. If she was a dragon, they would want to hunt her.

But another part of her was ready to rid herself of these eggs. She was ready to only worry about her own body and not the lives of other innocents. They didn’t deserve to come with her on this journey.

Amethyst wings spread out from her fingers. Her neck elongated. Everything expanded, growing larger and stronger than she had been for weeks now.

She hadn’t thought it would feel this good to be a dragon again. Yet, when she stretched out her wings, she had the distinct feeling of feeling as though she could finally move. As though existing in that mortal form was like she’d been crunched up in the same position for weeks on end.

A low hum rumbled through her throat. “Yes,” she breathed. “This is so much better.”

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