Page 73 of Dark Prince's Captive

“I—” She wets her lips with the tip of her tongue.“It’s not what you think.”

“The pixie dragon that knocked that poisoned drink from Aruan’s hand…” Kian starts in an uncharacteristically gentle way.“It wasn’t an accident.”

“It was protecting you,” I say in wonder.“Itknew.”

She shakes her head hard enough to bring on a dizzy spell.“You don’t know that.”

Kian pushes to his feet and makes his way to the door.“Come with me.”

I take Elsie’s hand, offering her comfort.

This is hard for both of us, albeit for different reasons.

She doesn’t object when I lead her into the hallway.We follow Kian to the banquet hall, where spiked pet dragons that hunt for scraps of food are always present.

“Call them to you,” Kian says, a spark of excitement breaking through the boredom normally reflected in his eyes.

She doesn’t ask what or who.It only takes a turn of Elsie’s head before the spiked dragons scurry out from under the tables and clack their way over the flagstones to line up in front of her.

The cooking and cleaning staff, who’ve come out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion is about, stare at the scene with transfixed faces.Unless there’s food, the pets shy away from us.They’re used to being shooed away by the brooms of the cleaners who are irritated with them for always getting under their feet.

Turning away from the curious and openly petrified stares, Elsie walks to the exit as stiffly as a wooden plank.The spiked dragons follow in a long queue behind her.Now that her power has been unleashed, it appears impossible to rein in.

Whispers break out among the servants.There’s no point in admonishing them.The rumors will spread.They can’t be contained.

Kian stares after Elsie as she crosses the threshold.We exchange a look before I go after her.

Spiked dragons pour from every crevice of the palace, the little scavengers forming a dark river down the hallway as they’re drawn to my mate.Pixie dragons burst through the archways and dive through the air.There are so many of them that their flapping wings stir a breeze inside the walls.One nearly gets tangled in my hair.

“Elsie.”I grip her shoulders and make her face me.“Let it go.That’s enough.”

She blinks once, twice, and sags beneath my palms.The animals linger, but their hordes don’t descend on us any longer.

The royals have peeled out of rooms and courtyards to gawk at the spectacle with a mixture of shocked awe and fright.Their urgent whispers are full of concern and more than a hint of terror.

When I take Elsie’s hand and quickly lead her to my quarters, away from the fearful scrutiny, the winged and four-legged pets follow.

I leave the creatures outside and seal us in my room.

For a moment, we simply stand there facing each other.Words are redundant.She needs time to come to terms with her discovery.

Dragons, so do I.

“Elsie.”I will her to look at me, to let me soothe the unease that has crawled into the hollowness that has settled in her chest.“You’ll learn to control it, my sweet.”

It’s a futile attempt at easing her disappointment.

She slides a look of contempt my way.She knows what I feel.My elation and pride at the strength of my mate’s power must be like a blade of betrayal through her stomach.

Her words are bitter.“Everything you told me is true.I’m not Elsie Barnikoff, am I?”

I soften my tone to make up for the blow I’m about to deal.“YouareElsie.But you were Laliss first.”

Just saying it brings back the old, incurable pain of losing her.I learned to live with it.It became a part of my very essence.But now my joy is my mate’s pain.She’ll grow used to it, like I did.In time, she’ll embrace it, and then it will be our shared joy in the way it’s meant to be for mates.

She lifts a wary, absent gaze to me.“I can feel it—the power.”

I nod my understanding, helplessness engulfing me for my inability to take away her suffering.“It’ll get better.”

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