Page 151 of Iron Hearts and Dragon Magic

This place would be the last he’d choose for a romantic moment. It had no bed, no soft carpet, no pillows. The solution was to hold her again, this time against one of the few parts of wall still standing. He’d wanted this for so long. With each thrust, he let go of his anger, let go of his shame, his regret, his sadness. As much as he’d said it was all his fault, he’d still been angry, carrying that dreadful grudge like a rotten treasure. He wanted to let go of everything, let go of all parts of the past that had hurt him. He was letting it all go. Back where he belonged.

When it was over, it was like waking up from a long daze again. He took her face in his hands and kissed her lips quickly, then said. “I missed you. Every day without you was a torture.”

“I missed you too.” She was serious, though.

Of course, they had more important things to do. He grabbed all of their clothes, then took her hand. They were back on that strange beach he’d ended up after escaping the deatheyes.

“Nothing like the ocean to cleanse our souls.”

“Souls? I’m pretty sure that’s not what that word means.” Ursiana chuckled, but ran to the waves.

Azir followed her, but soon they were back, and got dressed. Part of him wished he could take her somewhere safe and then go on his own, but part of him felt she would be important to help him. Hopefully Ursiana was right, and all that he needed was a clear, unburdened heart. He didn’t think he could ever feel lighter.

* * *

Where hadher pain led Leah, other than to emptiness? The great empty, the space between spaces where nothing existed—not even loss. This wasn’t the land of the dead, the bridge to the other worlds, that place of waiting in the long line before the next life. It wasn’t living or dying, just an infinite numbness.

Leah felt no difference with her eyes open or closed. She had to leave this place, she knew it, and yet her body didn’t want to move. She tried to think about her kingdom, think that perhaps it needed her, but maybe it would be presumptuous to believe that it depended on her. What had she done so far? It had fallen to Ironhold, had its dome used as a horrific portal, and she had foreseen none of it. Not to mention her father and Kasim…

Those were the thoughts she wanted to escape, the thoughts that had led her here, where nothing hurt as much. And yet nothingness also hurt. That big emptiness. The world was about to fall apart, and here she was, unable to go back and fix her mistakes. And then again, could she even fix anything?

Her breath was slow. There was still air here, even if she felt suffocated in her thoughts.

And then there was also some light, faint at first, then brighter. Leah would run if she could. Perhaps she should. And yet all she did was stare as that light approached her.

All she could see was brightness and a hand in it. A hand to pull her out of that place, and yet she did not know whose hand it was, did not know where it would lead her, did not know how much it would hurt if she left.

“Take my hand,” someone said. A man. Leah didn’t trust men. Didn’t trust anyone.

“Leandra,” the man repeated. “Your mother wants to see you. She’s alive. She’s here.”

Leah reached out at once, and then was pulled away, pulled away from that darkness and even from those dreadful thoughts that kept telling her she was useless and everything was meaningless. They hadn’t really been her thoughts.

She realized she was holding King Azir’s hand. How would she tell him what had happened to Fel? And yet the shame and regret wasn’t as great as before, when in that strange place. Another hand found hers, and she recognized it at once.

“Mom?”

“Yes, darling.”

So much weight was lifted from Leah all at once, so much relief inundated her heart. Her mother was here, was alive! Leah wanted to hug her, but didn’t want to let go and risk getting lost again.

They moved to a dark place that had brilliant circles in the distance and an eerie light all over it.

Azir said, “I’ll take you to Umbraar, to the Royal Fort. For now.”

Slowly she recognized the same room where she’d spoken to the Umbraar King a few days before. So long ago. Naia was sitting there, her head resting on her hands. And then Leah sensed something else, a familiar pull. Fel. He was alive, he was. She wanted to hug her mother, she wanted to talk to Naia, and yet, it was as if she was being dragged out of that room.

“I’m going to Fel,” she muttered, before disappearing into the darkness.

Perhaps she heard something likenoorwait. While she understood why she should be cautious, she had no strength left to fight the pull of his magic—their magic.

She saw herself in a strange room where four people stood. Among them, Fel, in human form, looking regal, powerful, and beautiful, as if all his might and power as a dragon could be condensed in that form as well.

“Fel,” she said, or rather choked the word. Tears were running down her eyes. Purifying tears.

He pulled her into a hug. “Leah.”

She held him tight, so tight, she wanted to hold on to him and never let him go. “I thought you were dead.”

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