Page 53 of Severed Heir

I leaned back against the red brick of our home, letting the silence settle.

Then a cold voice slithered into my mind.

“Oh, you’re full of secrets, aren’t you?”it purred.“I know all of yours. Yet you still don’t know who I am.”

I stiffened.

Cully noticed. “You okay, Sev?”

“Yeah,” I lied, smiling faintly. “I’ll just miss you.”

And then, to the voice, I asked, silent and sharp,“What are you going to do about it?”

Their answer coiled through my mind likesmoke.

“Control you.”

Chapter Ten

Naraic and I left for Demetria an hour after my talk with Cully.

His scales shifted beneath my palm, cold and familiar. Above us, the sky vanished into white, snow whipping in sheets as the blizzard turned the world into a blur of ice and teeth.

I leaned close, voice barely more than breath. “Ready?”

Hot breath snarled from his muzzle, smoke curling with each exhale.“I was born ready.”

“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked. “Because I don’t.”

“What did they teach you at that school?”he hissed back.“I’ve lived over seventy years. I know the lands.”Naraic lifted his wings, and we took off.

The clouds parted, dusted in smog and silver, and we launched into the heart of the storm. “I—I’m slipping!” I gasped, fingers scrambling for grip. Dragon scales weren’t meant to be coated in ice.

I clawed higher, hands searching for a better grip along Naraic’s neck as the wind screamed past us.

He let out a guttural roar, wings pumping hard as we broke through the clouds toward the last dying flicker of the sun.

The air stilled, just barely.

“It will get easier the farther we fly,”he said, voice rumbling through bone and sky.

But peace didn’t last. That damned bond snickered in my mind.“My, oh my... that was close. I could feel your heart beating inside me.”

I hissed, clinging tighter.“Why do you keep using my voice?”

“Because I enjoy it. And you enjoy the company more than you admit.”

“Go ahead,”I snapped through gritted teeth.“Tell the entire continent who I am. You’re all talk.”

“We’ll see,”it purred.“Maybe after I break you a little more. After a few years of this bond, you’ll grow to enjoy my company.”

Years? Not a chance in hell. I forced up a wall, smothering the connection in ash until silence fell.

Below, the terrain shifted into deep greens unfurling into dying brambles. Mountains loomed ahead, veiled in mist. The horizon faded from violet to indigo as night swallowed the last of the light.

The flight dragged on. I could feel my body fading.

“You need rest, Blanche,”Naraic rumbled beneath me.“I need rest.”

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