Page 86 of Cruelly Fated
“You bear his mark at the base of your skull. I inspected it myself when I carried you in,” Torian said with conviction.
I inhaled sharply, my fingers flying to the back of my neck. The raised skin pulsed under my touch, and for one raw second, Ifelthim. His anguish lanced through the bond, a scream buried in silence. Then he severed the link with a whimper so full of agony, it stole the breath from my lungs.
Torian continued, “I didn’t think it was possible, but your father is an elusive creature. My best PIs can’t track him.”
Kyon thrashed harder, ramming his head and shoulders against the ceiling. The cave trembled, rocks falling in sharp bursts as he fought to break free. For me.
“Enough,” Torian snapped. He retrieved a small device from his back pocket and pressed a button. It emitted a clicking sound like that of a cricket. Kyon’s body stilled, his eyes rolling back. When he opened them again, they appeared more animalistic, devoid of humanity. Devoid of Kyon. The dragon peeledback his lips in a low growl, submissive and menacing at once, his gaze locked solely on Torian.
“What did you do to him?” I breathed.
“Cognitive disassociation,” Torian said coolly. “When our father trained Kyon to submit, he discovered how to shatter his mind, how to sever the human completely. Without his humanity, the beast never disobeys. Never questions orders…”
Torian strolled into the tunnel Kyon had emerged from, walking right beneath the beast’s jaw. Kyon no longer tried to lunge at his brother. Instead, he waited obediently for a command.
To hunt me down.
His mate.
Thirty-Eight
ALLIE
Alow, menacing rattle built in the dragon’s throat as his jaws parted, smoke curling between his teeth.
The padlock released with a hiss, and the entrance creaked wide open. I rushed to slam it shut again, but it wouldn’t budge.
The dragon’s eyes tracked my every breath.
I slipped out and circled the cage. The heavy cube between us gave me a sense of some safety. But his unwavering stare made my skin crawl. I had to move, or he’d crush me alongwith the cage. As if on cue, his wings twitched in the stale air, and a slow growl rolled out of his throat like a warning.
Adrenaline surged through me. This was real. Kyon’s dragon would hunt me through this underground maze like I was his prey. The odds of my outrunning the beast were nonexistent.
Oh, fae gods. When Kyon regained control—if he did—he’d never forgive himself for what he’d done. He’d fall to pieces. And that was exactly what Torian wanted. To destroy his brother’s soul, shatter his life and sanity, while he walked away with clean hands.
Coward.
I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
My gaze darted to the branching tunnels ahead. If I could hide, maybe with time, the dragon’s fury would fade. Maybe Kyon would break through the fog.
His chain hit the ground with a metallicclang, a deep snarl rolling through the cavern like thunder.
The hunt had begun.
I bolted, wasting no time to look behind. The tunnels swallowed me, dim bulbs short-circuiting and cameras blinking their watchful red eyes. My feet pounded against uneven stone, breaths tearing from my chest. A crash rang out from the cavern that sounded like the cage being mauled between his monstrous teeth.
His growl chased me into the tunnel, shaking walls, and I shrieked. A big mistake, as the sound signaled my location. The ground beneath my feet quaked. He was onto me now. Ipumped my legs even as the heat from his flame warmed my back.
His wings unfurled with a leathery snap, scraping the stone as he surged forward, the impact echoing like a cannon blast. I whipped around a bend, heart hammering, lungs screaming for air. The scent of sulfur wrapped around me. He was closing in on me again.
I ducked into a side corridor and slammed to a halt, facing a dead end.
Shit.Shit.
Spinning, I pressed my back to the wall, chest heaving and fingers curling into fists. My ears rang in the silence that followed. No clawed steps, no snarl, just the hum of danger nearing.
His silhouette rose at the entrance. A massive, unstoppable dragon. His claws scraped the ground like chalk on a board, his eyes wild with the chase. He had me cornered and at his mercy.
