Page 80 of A Witch and Her Dragon
“But—hey! Let go of me! I saidlet go!”
Alina is dragged away, and by the sounds of it, she’s fighting them all the way.
“Go, Your Highness,” I say, louder this time. “It’s the only way.”
Her grandfather mumbles to her, trying to calm her, but I can still hear the struggle he and the others have to get her into the wagon.
I need them to get her out of here. My dragon is roiling now, rising to fight. It wants her. It wants to kill anyone who dared touch her. It wants to thrash and rage and leave destruction in its path.
Not yet. Not yet.
I clench my fists and jaw, fighting my beast, feeling the scald of metal against my throat.
Not yet.
“Raelan!” Alina calls out one final time. But the wagon is already moving, the wheels creaking, and I turn a deaf ear to her cries until they drift away on the wind.
Because this is the only way. Even if it’s tearing me apart.
Finally, after what feels like a lifetime, her scent startsto disperse, and I can breathe deeply again without fear of getting drunk on her smell. Now I am in the dark, with midnight wrapped around me and the Veiled Hand at my sides.
“Get him loaded up,” the woman says. “And secure him fully. We can’t take any chances. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Hands grab my arms and force me forward. My dragon snaps and snarls. It wants to take their hands off, to remove their limbs from their bodies and delight in the violence.
But not yet. Alina is still too close. I need to give her time to get away from here.
Time to get away fromme.
I’m dragged forward and loaded into another enclosed wagon, this time with more chains binding me to the bench I’m seated upon. A set of shackles is clamped tight around my ankles.
The door slams and locks. In the quiet, I take a breath.
Soon. Soon, I will fight back with everything I have.
They wanted a dragon, and they got one.
Now they will feel a dragon’s wrath, and they will regret ever having set a finger upon Alina Ravenscroft. I’ll make sure of it even if it’s the last thing I do.
Chapter 35
Alina
“GRANDFATHER, NO! WE HAVE TO go back! We can’t leave him!”
Grandfather sits beside me on the driver’s bench, wrapped in a simple brown cloak. He doesn’t wear his crown, and instead, the hood of the cloak is pulled up over his head. If one didn’t know better, they’d think him an old merchant just passing through. He guides the horse as it trots down the winding road, lanterns swinging from the wagon, just barely illuminating the wooded path.
Overhead, the clouds are thick, and the dark of night feels almost impenetrable.
I twist around on the bench, staring back the way we came. I can’t see anything through the swath of darkness. But somewhere behind us, Raelan is blinded and bound in chains, and my grandfather willingly handed him over.
“Grandfather! Please!”
“He chose this,” my grandfather says. His voice is strained. I don’t think he derives any joy from this. “He wanted to exchange himself for you, Alina. He would’ve done it whether I permitted it or not. It was the only way... He did it for you.” His eyes meet mine, swimming with a concoction of sadness and rage.
My heart thrums in my chest. Then a spark of hope flares to life inside me. “His chain. Did you remove his chain?”
Grandfather gives a small shake of his head. “I tried. He wouldn’t allow it. He felt it would endanger you.”
