Page 62 of The Lost Prince
“Come on!” she yelled at me, not that I needed any more convincing. We burst out of the cave and Shava pushed D and me down to the side, out of the way.
“Now! Do it now!”
Zariah stuck his head in the cave’s opening and let loose a torrent of flames.
Disappointment welled in my gut. You couldn’t exactly study a pile of ashes, after all.
SMACK.
I clutched my face, shocked.
“What thefuckwas that?” Shava screeched. One arm hugged D to her side, which he seemed quite content with. The angry little face that glared up at me was deserved. Ihadbeen debating whether he’d be demon food or not.
Ignoring her question (because I didn’t have an answer that wasn’t embarrassing) I instead turned to Zariah, who shifted back into his human form. If he thought that would keep us from arguing, he had another thing coming.
“What wasthat?” I repeated, but directed at him, waving my arm towards the blackened interior of our cave. “Everything was in there! Blankets, food,and the experiment!”
Zariah scowled and bared his teeth in an animalistic expression. It didn’t look quite right on a little boy’s face.
“So I should have let him eat you?” he growled back.
I grabbed my hair in frustration. “No, not that. I just … sorry.” It slipped out before I could stop it, so I might as well roll with it. “We learned something after all, so it wasn’t all for nothing.”
Zariah frowned, and Shava hugged D closer to her.
“What did we learn, other than that you’re a coward?” she bit out. “That littleboyis more of a man thanyou. You panicked and froze.”
I hadn’t frozen. I had simply been weighing my options.Ignore it. She’s upset.
“Two things: we learned that the change happens quickly, and with little warning. I noticed his skin was gray yesterday, did you? That is an early warning sign.”
Shava frowned.
“And the other thing?” Zariah asked, curious.
I gave him a serious look. “The queen knows about it, and is sending you Nobles about to turn to clean up the evidence.”
Shava’s jaw dropped, then her face hardened. “That frigid bitch. Iknewit.”
She whirled around to Zariah. “And you’re just … doing what she says and killing them?”
Zariah glared and bared his teeth, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive with him out of his dragon form.
“I have to obey her. It’s … hard to explain. It’s a compulsion.”
Interesting. Was it magickal, perhaps?
Shava frowned, not buying it. I had an inkling of what he meant, though. Similar to my need to continue to do rituals, it wasn’t something that was entirely voluntary. Growing the latent magick inside my veins was an addiction—something I had no choice over now that I was aware of it. Perhaps it was similar to that.
Shava didn’t look impressed.
“It’s been a long night. Why don’t we get D settled?” I suggested, shifting her attention back to D.
Zariah jumped up. “I will scavenge for more blankets and materials, and we need more water. I’ll be just a moment.”
He shifted into his dragon form and took off into the air, his wings lifting the hairs on our heads as they beat furiously.
“I don’t need anything. I just want to sleep.”
