Page 89 of Cruelly Fated
Kyon’s emerald andhumaneyes stared at me. I threw my arms around him, my body quivering.
“You’re back,” I whispered into the curve ofhis neck.
His chest rose and fell in rapid bursts, his bare skin slick with sweat. He set me gently on my feet, his thumbs caressing my cheeks as his hands framed my face.
“How did you do it?” he asked, his voice raspy and uncertain like he doubted my existence.
I swallowed. “I had to try…”
“But it shouldn’t have worked… It’s the bond. Fae gods, our mating bond saved us. It allowed you through to my dragon.” He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, lips parted. He soon found them and reclaimed what was his. I rose onto my toes, begging for more and surrendering to his touch at the same time.
Regardless of the arranged marriage and his royal duties, what we felt was real. A wave of certainty washed over me as I realized, with a joyful ache in my chest, that my heart belonged to this man. And I let myself get lost in the moment.
The speakers crackled above us, the bulbs flickering. A guttural rupture tore through the cave system like a snarl trapped in a glass, warped and defying. The sound ricocheted off the cold stone walls, a deeper, more feral roar than anything Kyon’s dragon had ever produced.
The air thickened with sulfur, stinging the back of my throat.
Torian no longer lurked in the shadows of Kyon’s fire. His dragon sought the older brother.
I gripped Kyon’s arm and searched his eyes. His lips pressed into a grim line.
“Whatever happens, stay behind me,” he said.
A second roar rippled through the cave, fiercer than the last one. It slammed into my chest and knocked the breath from my lungs. A blood-soaked promise hurtling through the tunnels.
Scorched air and heat wrapped tighter around us.
A lump lodged in my throat as I looked at the man in front of me. His jaw flexed, nostrils flaring, hands curling at his sides. Rage poured off him in waves, but beneath it, I caught a glint of sorrow. And resolve.
He would protect me, even if it shattered his family.
I reached for his hand and squeezed. He stared ahead, his fingers curling around mine. Another snarl echoed, closer still. And he let go.
Fire kindled beneath his skin. His bones cracked and shifted, flames spilling through the seams of his ribs like light through fractured stone. His roar broke through the chamber, loud enough to shake the dust off the ground.
I darted for a crevice in the far wall, heart thrashing as I prayed to fae gods that this wouldn’t be the last time his soul-piercing emerald eyes looked back at me.
KYON
Steam curled off my scales. My muscles screamed in protest from another grueling shift, but I welcomed the familiar ache. It centered me.
Torian stalked out of the tunnel and into the cave. The bastard didn’t even bother with the courtesy of meeting me in human form. He crouched low, wings half-spread, his frame bloated with power. His scales gleamed darker than I remembered, charred and warped at the edges, like something rotting from the inside out. It had to be his soul.
I tasted his rage in the air—sour and metallic.
I didn’t need to see Allie to know where she hid. The mate bond zeroed in on her location, behind one of the stone outcroppings, trembling. Her fear brushed against my skin like static. I wanted to tell her to get out of the caves. Too late for that now.
I squared my shoulders and met the thing my brother had become.
“End this, brother,” I beamed telepathically, voice low, “before I have to.”
Torian answered with fire and zero hesitation. A column of flame exploded from his mouth, blasting the ground at my feet. Stone cracked and sizzled, and blistering heat washed over me.
I stepped forward through the smoke, baring my teeth.So be it.I launched into the air, the force scattering debris across the cavern floor.
Torian rose to meet me, his wingspan immense, his movements predatory and smooth as if he’d been preparing for this fight for years. We circled each other like storm gods, our wings cutting through smoky air with a whoosh that rebounded from the walls and formed howling winds in the enclosed space.
He dove first. I rolled, his claws grazing the scales of my chest. The sting flared hot.
