Holy hell, get ahold yourself Monahan. Kai swallowed. “I’ll be fine.”
Deryn muttered something about idiot brothers. Ignoring her, Rhys set Kai on her feet, his fingers lingering. Kai’s shirt had hiked up to around her belly button, but with his hands on her waist, just above the hem, she couldn’t pull it down.
He cleared his throat. “Good.”
His hands fell. His fingers grazed her right hip, no more than the whisper of skin against skin.
A pulse throbbed through her body, like standing too close to speakers at a concert. A wave of power threw her back against the wall. She managed not to hit her head, but the rock dug bruisingly into her back.
“Ow! What the—?”
Rhys staggered as if he’d felt the blast of power, as well. His eyes had gone as dark, as blank as a TV without a signal. An uncomfortable prickling started in Kai’s stomach. “Rhys?”
Deryn had cut off mid-mutter. “Rhys? Oi!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face then looked from him to Kai’s pushed up shirt. Her face went white. “Oh, sunder me.”
Rhys stared at Kai, his pupils dilated so far only the barest hint of blue iris could be seen around the edges, glowing bright.
“What’s wrong with him?” Kai asked. The thunderstorm feeling had swollen, and the air felt chokingly thick. Though he wore a man’s body, there was nothing human in Rhys. Only the dragon looked out of those eyes. Fear climbed Kai’s throat. She swallowed.
Deryn ignored her, still looking from Kai to Rhys.
Rhys lunged.
Kai shouted and threw herself to the side, bracing for impact, confusion and fear overwhelming higher thought. The expected attack never came. She opened her eyes.
Deryn stood between them, braced against her brother. She grunted, teeth bared, muscles standing out in taut cords on her slender arms. Her eyes were ablaze with turquoise light; her face drawn with some inner conflict Kai didn’t understand. “You don’t want this, fy mrawd!”
Deryn heaved Rhys backward. He staggered, but only fell back a step before feinting left, then lunging right. Kai tensed to run, but Deryn moved like a striking snake. Somehow she was between them again, shoulder in her brother’s chest, blocking like the skinniest football player who’d ever lived.
Deryn shoved, throwing Rhys back again. Before he could recover, she flung out her hand the way a police officer might command traffic to stop. With an ear-splitting groan, the floor cracked. A fissure opened at Deryn’s feet. Kai flinched as a geyser of water burst into the air, drenching them all in cold spray. It fountained higher, stretching and spinning until it formed a translucent bubble-like shield of swirling water that surrounded her and Deryn, blocking them from Rhys.
Rhys raised his hands in front of him, blank face contorted by the water shield. Light sparked between his fingers, growing into a ball of spinning flame. Deryn swore. She set her feet, raising her arms above her head like a priestess summoning a long-dead god. Kai cowered behind her, nearly hyperventilating and so utterly confused. He’s trying to kill me. I’m going to die.
She couldn’t stop her scream as Rhys flung the fireball. It exploded against the shield, denting the bubble inward. Clouds of steam billowed upward. Deryn made a strained sound somewhere between a screech and a growl and thrust her hands down and forward. The bubble sprang outward, the last of the flames curling away to nothing on its surface.
Distorted shouts came from the sleeping room. Cadoc, Ffion and Griffith sprinted toward them, their words unintelligible through the water. Relief washed through Kai. Rhys would stop now. He had to stop now.
Instead, he raised his hands again. This time, instead of forming a fireball, a jet of flames spewed from between his splayed fingers. Water hissed and turned to steam, the air becoming unendurably sweltering in seconds. Deryn’s stance grew unsteady. Flames raged outside the shield, which shrank by the instant. Kai hunched, damp hair clinging to her forehead and the back of her neck, another scream building inside her. She shoved it down, catching Deryn and supporting her as the taller girl sank to one knee, sweat beading on her forehead. The bubble of water continued to shrink. Soon it would be gone. Kai’s throat closed in terror, her breath coming in rasping gasps. Rhys was going to burn them alive.
Her enchantment with dragon magic dried up as completely as a desert in the summertime. One coherent thought flitted through her otherwise nonfunctional brain.
I want to go home.
The jet of flames faltered. For a split second, Kai could see. The others had reached Rhys. Griffith was trying to drag him away. Deryn’s shoulders relaxed. The bubble became less stable. Then Griffith’s clothes caught on fire. He let Rhys go to beat at the flames. Rhys renewed his attack. Deryn shuddered and let out a sob.
The flames faltered again. Through the wall of water, Kai could see that Cadoc stood behind Rhys now. Instead of trying to pull him away, Cadoc had his hands clasped over Rhys’s wrists. A glowing trail twisted between Rhys’s fingers, over his wrists and into Cadoc’s hands, shrinking the jet of fire.
Ffion hovered, gesturing sharply at Cadoc to stop. Cheeks flushed and eyes glazed, Cadoc shook his head. His lips moved, but Kai couldn’t hear over the rush and sizzle of water and flame. She thought he looked at her and nodded reassuringly, the ghost of a grin on his lips, but it was hard to tell.
The flames fell away at last. Rhys struggled, but Griffith had his arms around him, pinning him in place. Cadoc had fallen to his knees, his hands curled against his chest. Deryn collapsed. The water bubble fell, soaking her and Kai.
Kai looked up and found herself locked in Rhys’s flame-blue eyes, filled with rage and desperation. Her heart seized. What. The. Hell.
With a roar, Rhys threw Griffith off. He raised one hand, aiming at Deryn and Kai. Fire sparked between his fingers.
Suddenly his arm fell. His eyes rolled back in his head. Griffith caught him and lowered him to the floor, unconscious.
“What happened?” Ashem’s deep voice echoed in the silence. He strode toward them from the kitchen. Some still-functioning part of Kai’s brain registered that Ashem must have knocked Rhys out with his magic. She swallowed.
“He’s heartsworn.” Deryn’s voice was blank. She pushed herself up, teetered around the two-foot wide crevice she’d ripped in the floor, and bent to touch her brother’s face.
“He’s what?” Cadoc stared at Kai, all humor gone. “He can’t be.”
Ffion’s brow creased. “A Wingless mate.” She glanced at Ashem. “How many do you think will go to Owain over this?”
Ashem frowned and shook his head.
“Heartsworn?” Kai echoed. “Isn’t that what Ffion and Griffith are?” Her stomach clenched in a sudden, hard knot. She flashed back to falling. Rhys catching her. The tips of his fingers brushing her skin. “Heartsworn to me?”
“He can’t be,” Cadoc repeated softly.
“Oh, can’t he?” Deryn shouted, “I saw him. Just like when it happened to Ffion and Griffith. Blank eyes and a second later it looks like he’s trying to eat her!”
“I am not heartsworn.” Kai tried to sound commanding, but her voice shook. Her hand went to her carabiners. Open, closed, open, closed.
Rhys moaned and stirred. Kai tensed.
“Why is he waking up?” Deryn demanded.
Ashem scowled. “Because I want him to.”
Cadoc looked at Rhys, then back at Kai. She’d expected concern. Instead, he seemed detached. She gave him a questioning look, but he turned away. Kai felt like she’d been slapped.
Rhys took an unsteady breath and opened his eyes. The incandescent light was gone. No longer blank, they fixed on Kai.
Chapter Ten
Burn
Fire had always belonged to Rhys: a weapon, a tool, a toy. He had never felt what it was to burn. Now an inferno
raged where his heart used to be.
Kai stared at him, wide-eyed and fidgeting. He’d thought she was pretty before, but now...he suppressed a groan. He wanted to know her in every sense of the word. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally. It was as if he’d been living in a dark room, and when someone finally turned on the light he’d discovered half of him was missing. The stories lie. This isn’t love. This...
It was need. Pure, incandescent need.
Griffith hauled him to his feet, and Rhys shook off his friend’s steadying hand. He hadn’t meant to touch her. Ancients, he’d barely registered the smooth softness of her skin before a wave of magic had rolled over him. The world had gone black, then white, then red. A vast emptiness of soul yawned open inside him, an emptiness only she could fill. Instinct had screamed that if he didn’t possess her in that very instant, he would be consumed. Gone into ash, into dust, into nothing. Rational thought had been demolished.
He remembered attacking Deryn, but barely. He clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. He would have killed his own sister for keeping him from his mate.
Mate. He thought he’d be ready when it happened. He’d thought he was prepared. He’d been a scalebrained fool.
Human. She’s human. Like mother. She had no idea, like mother. Then, panicking a little, Ancients, the Council. Everything will fall apart.
The others stood around them in a loose semi-circle, tense and waiting. Cadoc swayed next to Rhys. He’d taken Rhys’s power and drawn it into himself to save Deryn. Rhys could channel far more magic than Cadoc. “Twp. You could have died. Are you all right?”
Cadoc’s grin was a shadow. He wiggled his fingers. The skin of his hands was red, but no permanent damage had been done. “As long as these work, boyo, I’m golden.”
Guilt and embarrassment burrowed into Rhys’s chest. He’d never lost control before. He turned to Deryn. “Are you hurt?”
She put a hand on his shoulder, her expression pained and knowing. “It’s not your fault. No one can control heartswearing.”
“You guys keep saying that.” Kai’s voice was filled with anger, but she clenched the carabiners hooked through her belt loop with a shaking, white-knuckled fist. “It had better not mean what I think it means.”
He met her gaze for an instant before she looked away, but it had been long enough to see her fear. I could have her. I could complete the bond. All it would take was a kiss. Even weakened, he was probably five times stronger than her. If he wanted, there would be nothing she could do.
The thought turned his stomach. Curse instinct and biology. I will not be my father. He rubbed his chest over his heart. The need was turning into an almost physical ache.
He switched to Welsh and forced his face to relax. “If she’s to swear to me, I want her to do it on her own. I will not have a repeat of my parents’ relationship.” He gritted his teeth, hoping Kai wouldn’t notice. He met each of their gazes in turn. “Don’t tell her anything that will put pressure on her. Absolutely nothing.” Suddenly, the need was pain, a white-hot spear through his heart. He fought not to double over. Blood of the Ancients.
“What’s wrong?” Ashem asked sharply.
Rhys shook his head.
Ffion toyed with her armband, responding in Welsh. “Rhys, if she’s going to be your heartsworn, she needs to know what she’s getting into.”
The ache in his chest sharpened, and Rhys swore. It was bad enough that he had to try and convince Kai to heartswear to him when she thought he was a soldier.
It would be a thousand times worse to convince her to heartswear to a king.
Not only a king: a target. One of two people standing between Owain—his own cousin—and the murder of the human race. Kai wanted freedom, and the only things Rhys the king could offer were responsibility and war.
Perhaps, if she could be convinced to heartswear him—just him, not his crown—she might find it easier to adjust. And, Ancients, was it so wrong to want to be wanted for himself?
Ashem didn’t bother with Welsh. “You don’t have a choice, Rhys. Do it and be done.”
“Do what?” Kai looked pleadingly at Cadoc.
Rhys closed his eyes, clenching and releasing his fists at a burst of sudden, unreasonable rage that she would look at Cadoc for help instead of him. Another sharp pain speared through him, worse than the last. With massive effort, Rhys focused on Ashem. Do it and be done. If he kissed her now, without explaining, she’d have no idea what was happening until it was over.
“Do what?” Kai glared, but her voice shook.
“Kai...he...” Ffion, who always had an answer for everything, closed her mouth and shrugged. She gave Rhys a you-need-to-tell-her look. Rhys pretended not to see.
“He what?” Kai’s voice was growing more desperate, more frightened.
Rhys stepped toward her, wanting to comfort, but she scuttled back.
“Oh, hell no! Don’t you come near me.”
“I shouldn’t have stopped you,” Deryn murmured in Welsh. “I just...our parents.”
He shook his head. “I’m glad you did.” With a hope he didn’t feel, he added, “Maybe it won’t be like it was with them.”
Ashem glared, and this time he spoke Welsh, as well. “It’s stupid to act like she has a choice. It’s selfish. The Council won’t like it, but they’ll live. You might not. Even if you insist on this idiocy, you can’t give her more than a few days.”
“Then I’ll give her a few days,” Rhys growled.
“Translation?” Kai snapped.
No one answered.
Rhys wanted to sit. He hadn’t recovered from the Azhdahā venom yet, and now this.
Kai was still twisting her carabineers. “Listen, it’s been cool, but it’s seriously time for me to go home.”
“Home?” Rhys had to fight the urge to stride forward and grab her, tie her down, do anything to make sure she didn’t leave him. Ever. If she didn’t complete the bond, his fate would be insanity and death. He couldn’t afford to die. Ancients, this is monstrous.
Ashem must have been listening to his mind, because he clamped a firm hand on Rhys’s uninjured shoulder. “Your departure has been delayed,” he said to Kai. “Things have become complicated.”
“Complicated?” Kai’s voice rose to a near-shriek. “I don’t give a damn about your complications. You are going to take me home!”
Ashem gestured at Ffion. “Take her outside and explain what you can.”
Ffion pursed her lips. “Rhys needs to explain. They’re in this together.”
“You are all insane!” Kai shouted, backing away.
Ashem indicated Rhys’s injured shoulder. “He’s bleeding, Ffion.”
Rhys tore his eyes from Kai. Blood soaked his sleeve, dripping down his arm. As if it had been waiting for him to notice, the wound throbbed, joining another pain in his chest. This one lasted longer than the others. Suddenly light-headed as well as exhausted, his knees gave out.
Cadoc caught him. “Steady, boyo.”
Rhys pushed Cadoc away and forced himself to stand straight. He could not be weak.
“Hang on,” Ashem spoke into his mind. “Griffith, take Deryn to the kitchen and get some food in her. Cadoc, help me get Rhys to his room.”
Cadoc nodded, but shot a long look at Kai, an emotion swirling behind his eyes that made Rhys want to growl and flame him to char. He stamped it down and straightened. “I can manage.” He forced himself to turn from Kai, heard Ffion murmur to her in her soft, chirping voice.
He left the main cavern, the fire inside him burning hotter with every step. The pain no longer stabbed—only stayed. Burning. Raging. The farther he got from her, the stronger the agony grew. He made it to the archway before he collapsed.
* * *
Cadoc, Ashem and Rhys w
ere barely out of sight when the others began to whisper frantically to each other in Welsh. Ffion turned to Kai, concern furrowing her brows. “I’m going to explain. One moment.”
“Gee, thanks.” Too full of furious, terrified energy to wait, Kai strode out onto the ledge and sat. The rain had turned to snow. Big, fat, slow-falling flakes that were far too soft for her mood. She pulled up her hood and yanked her hoodie tight around her, and then stomped to the edge and sat on the wet stone, her feet dangling two hundred feet above the ground. She glared out over a landscape quickly disappearing behind a curtain of white, replaying the moment in her mind. The touch of Rhys’s fingers, the burst of energy, the attack, the sweltering heat inside Deryn’s water shield as it shrank and Deryn fell to her knees—
Ffion settled on her left. “What a morning.” Her voice was high and sweet and calm.
“Yeah. What a morning,” Kai repeated, her voice dry. She kicked her feet, bouncing them hard enough against the cliff to send little shocks of pain through her heels. “What did Ashem mean, ‘do it and be done’? Was Rhys trying to kill me?”
“Kill you?” Ffion sounded appalled. “Ancients, no. You’ve never been safer in your life.”
“Safe?” The word came out high and harsh. “Really? Because having fireballs and flame-jets aimed right at me sure didn’t feel safe.”
“Hmm. Perhaps not.” Ffion tapped her fingers against her lips. “Do you know anything about heartswearing?”
Kai shrugged, irritable, trying to cover her boiling emotions with nonchalance. She wished, now, that she hadn’t let Cadoc off the hook so easily the other night, or that she’d asked Rhys about heartswearing before he’d turned into a terrifying dragon berserker. “It’s basically dragon marriage, right? Except ‘more.’ You and Griffith are heartsworn.”
Ffion sighed, the light, breathy sound sending a puff of fog into the air. “When humans say they’re married, it’s symbolic. Words and paper. Heartswearing is magically and physically binding. It’s real and permanent. They are not the same.”
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