Page 74 of The Lost Princess

“Wherever you came from, draken, I advise that you return. There is nothing here for the draken race. Not any longer.”

She gestured toward the sea, but a rising panic took hold of me. I grabbed her wrist, afraid of losing the only person who knew anything.

“Wait!” I implored her.

The sea witch paused, her eyes narrowing.

I swallowed and released her wrist.

“Sorry. It’s just … I remember so little. But I do remember that not every draken was here on the island when the volcano erupted. Our fighters were on the continent for the war. And I know a few other drakens must have escaped because—”

I cut off there, not wanting to reveal Kaida’s existence. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt important I guarded her, even from this strange witch.

The sea witch eyed me, pupils the color of the sea piercing my soul.

“No one has seen a draken in Dorea. Not for nearly five hundred years.”

Five hundred—I choked again. Clearly she was mistaken. Drakens lived long lives, but the oldest elder I’d known had been two hundred and five and that was a feat in itself. We lived longer than humans, but not that long. That would mean I was almost five hundred years old. I glanced down at my arms, my skin still tight with youth and vigor.

“I don’t understand. I don’t—”

“Things are at play here that none of us understand,” she shot back, though not unkindly. Still she continued to study and judge me. “I miss the drakens. No one threw a better party. I miss the fish fries. You guys knew how to cook tuna.”

Sorrow blanketed me in a wave, flashes of colorful tunics, fires and faerie lights. And witches dancing with drakens.

It was all gone. Forever.

My hands balled into fists, my claws gouging into my own skin. I ignored the blood that dripped from my wrists.

“Then why are you here?” I growled. “Go away and leave me to my fate. I would join my people wherever they are, even if it’s the afterlife.”

The witch huffed and crossed her arms over her breasts. “You’re not the only one who lost friends and family, dragon boy.” Her gaze hardened, her face twisted in agony. “I guard this island from the demons and any other creature stupid enough to come near. I take great pleasure in drowning anyone who gets too close because that’s what I can do to honor my friends and fallen mate. If I’m fated to share his curse, it’s all Icando. No one knew about us, so I couldn’t evenmournhim properly—”

Her voice broke and she looked at the ground. My anger dissipated in the face of her pain.

I thought hard. Five hundred years of living? And a curse? That would explain why there were still drakens being found despite most of us dying during the volcano. But why? And who set the curse? I wondered how old I truly was and how old Kaida’s mother had to have been. Were we contemporaries, or was she centuries older? I might never know.

The sea witch shook her head, breaking whatever spell held us together. “Go home, draken. Sea witches don’t make prophecies like the blood witches, but even I can figure out that you won’t find what you’re looking for here or at the bottom of those rocks.”

My wings flared in irritation, indignation bitter on my tongue. She spoke again before I could retort.

“There is nothing in this life left for you at all? Absolutely nothing?” she challenged.

I paused, my tongue suddenly thick in my mouth.

Kaida.

Quite possibly the only female draken alive, not that it mattered. There could be a million alive, and I’d still only pick her. I’d only ever choose her, even if she didn’t choose me. Even if she didn’t want me.

“I suppose there is one last thing I could check on,” I admitted gruffly, irritated by the smirk on her face.

The sea witch reached up on her tiptoes, and gave me a patronizing pat on my head. I growled, and she leaped away giggling.

“Good draken. Goodbye now.”

She jumped off the cliffs, magick whisking her far enough out that she avoided the rocks, swan diving gracefully into deep waters. She didn’t resurface.

I sighed, steeling my resolve.

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