Page 88 of Cruelly Fated
I smacked into the wall erected in my mind, the command obliterating my control.
I saw through eyes no longer mine.
Smelled her.
Heard her pulse.
And worst of all…feltthe dragon’s lust to maim and kill.
My limbs moved without me. My fire coiled without mercy.
Torian’s voice slithered from the speakers, pleased. “Showtime.”
The dragon crouched low, his tail lashing. Ready to finish the hunt.
ALLIE
I had no weapon, no defense tactics. Nothing that would work against him. Against the beast. In their animal forms, shifter fae repelled all magic. Yet I had to try to reach him. Even if the illusion worked only for me, I’d die happy, immersed in the moments we’d shared.
My magic rose on instinct, frantic and crude, slithering through my veins as I met the dragon’s molten eyes. His pupils thinned into slits, and his shoulders coiled like a predator preparing to strike. I pushed against the dragon’s barriers, harder than I’d ever tried.
The world melted away.
We stood beneath the gray, smoky sky of the prison yard, where I had first dared to approach him. His human form leaned against the chain-link fence, seven feet of brooding danger and impossible strength, his daring stare slicing through me.
My heart had thundered that day; it had taken every ounce of nerve to approach him, make the deal, and pretend I wasn’t terrified. And fae gods help me, the way he looked at me… Like I was a mystery begging to be unraveled.
The illusion shifted. We were closer now—curled together, my body in his lap, my fingers tangled in his hair, lips grazing. My heart ached watching it. The truth of what we were had started there. I’d felt dizzy with something I couldn’t name.
The moment that shattered walls between us followed. Me, kneeling by him in the cave after his first shift. Him, devastated and broken. But even then, Kyon’s eyes had sought mine, not with the hunger of abeast, but with the quiet plea of a man lost in the dark, begging for a tether.
Tears slipped free, hot and fast. I let him see them in the illusion. I wanted him to feel this. All of it.
“You saved me before,” I whispered. “You fought the dragon to protect me. You didn’t let it take over then… Don’t let it now.”
The cavern flickered into view for a breath. The dragon trembled, claws scraping stone, smoke spilling from his nostrils in shallow bursts. The beast huffed, its snout only inches from my face. Heat swelled around me.
I closed my eyes and unleashed everything on him. The grief over my mom, the fury at what Torian had done, the ache that bloomed in my chest whenever I imagined losing him before we ever had a chance to become…something real.
The dragon reared with an agonizing wail. The ground vibrated.
Please. Please come back.
My knees hit the stone. My heart pounded so violently it drowned out everything else. A strangled breath echoed through the chamber, hoarse and human, like something breaking the surface after nearly drowning. The dragon’s pupils dilated. Kyon was fighting his way back.
I surged to my feet and sprinted toward him. Gripping his front leg, I scrambled up his writhing back, inching toward the collar. That cursed thing was choking him, interfering with his shift.
I slammed my fists against the polished metal. It didn’t help that Kyon kept swaying and snarling, jerking beneath me like a live wire. I fell out of sync with his movements and my momentum flung me sideways. I slipped, legs dangling, my grip on the collar the only thing keeping me from falling.
My fingers scraped along the underside, finding an indent hidden beneath the metal. I jammed both thumbs into it, praying I did it right. With a sharp click, the collar split open at the top.
Cursed metal in hand, I fell.
Thirty-Nine
ALLIE
Iscreamed, limbs flailing, before my body hit something hard. My eyes snapped open with a gasp. Strong arms, like logs, caught and supported my back and legs.
