Page 24 of The Lost Princess

I didn’t have any clothing either.

This didn’t bother me, but I knew how humans were about such things. And for all I knew she was a draken, Kaida had to be treated like a human. So I left her dress on her, even as it floated uselessly around her body.

I needed to leave and fetch her a few things.

Don’t you dare leave her like this! You are a bad mate!

I hissed at my inner draken, telling him to shut up. I glanced down, noticing that Kaida had stopped crying and closed her eyes. Her muscles relaxed against me, and I felt relief. So many questions swirled around me about her parentage. How could she think she was a human this whole time?

“Kaida,” I rumbled, not sure if she was awake.

Her eyes opened to mere slits.

“You need clothes. Food. Nice things. I will return?”

I phrased it as a question because if she didn’t want me to leave I wouldn’t. Simple as that.

Her brow furrowed. “What things? Why?”

I gestured helplessly at the large cave. “More furs. Blankets. Good food. Dresses. Things to live with.”

Her lips grew tight, pinching together to form a thin line. Those jewel-like, indigo-blue eyes were pained. Indigo. Somewhere in her blood line she must be distantly related to my king. Wait. A king? Myking.Where was he? Where were the rest of my people? Why was I here?

The thoughts spun crazily in my mind. When I tried to find answers, the darkness crept toward me, threatening to claim me again. I pushed it away. I didn’t need answers immediately. I only needed Kaida.

“You stay here? I get … clothes. Food,” I clarified, unsure if she would appreciate being left alone so quickly after a first transformation.

She nodded quickly against me, but didn’t loosen her grip on my neck. I gently pried her off of me. I would have gladly stayed and held her for hours …days, but the need to provide was stronger. I guided her gently to a little raised stone that could be used as a bench in the pool.

“I will return soon,” I whispered into her hair.

I left there against my better judgment, and flew off in search of the nearest farm.

ChapterNine

KAIDA

Nasi turned abruptly and left me alone in the pool.

Well, I couldn’t do much about that. He’d left me here in mere scraps of fabric. I wasn’t decent enough to get out if I’d wanted to. Perhaps I’d soak for a while and let the dirt and grime wash away from me along with whatever I’d just gone through.

I closed my eyes, remembering how gentle his hands had been wiping down my back. That was nice. He was nice, but certainly didn’t look it.

Though I didn’t think him a savage beast anymore, it was clear he had no concept of propriety or niceties. A large part of him was still wild. Would he snap on me one day? Go feral again and hurt me? The cave was small, and the cavern here with the pools only a little bigger. I couldn’t run, and there was nowhere to hide.

But he needed me. Needed me in a way that no one back home did. There were servants and errand boys around every corner. Here, I mattered. Had anything back home even changed since I’d been kidnapped? Probably not. Just one less mouth to feed and clothe.

An empty hollow opened in my chest. Just another tick in the box of why returning might be pointless. Tears gathered in my eyes.

I took a deep breath, and dunked my whole head under. The water felt heavenly around me, washing away the blood and the lingering sting in my back.

No. There was no sting. There was no blood. Nothing had happened. It was all a trick of some kind—a hallucination. Perhaps Nasi had given me his sickness, because admitting that it happened meant admitting I wasn’t human, and that everything had been a lie. My verylifewas a lie.

I wasn’t ready for that.

I tried not to think about his arms around me. Or how he’d kissed me, the feral rage in his eyes awakening something inside of me and pooling heat in my belly.

It wasn’t like he remembered any of it anyway.

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