“Ryn,” I whispered. “Who are you?”
“Ash. Are you here to drain me?” When I shook my head, she sagged, smiling slightly, or maybe that was a grimace. “I haven’t seen a female Drae for probably twenty years.”
I swallowed the emotion that clogged my throat, sure I couldn’t have heard right. “Twenty?”
She shrugged, her sack-tunic sliding off her shoulder. “Maybe more, maybe less.”
“Ryhl?” I asked, my heart fluttering with anticipation. “Did you know Ryhl?” I pressed my face between the bars.
The Phaetyn straightened. “Did you know her?”
I nodded. “She was my mother.”
The Phaetyn stood and hurried over to the bars. “Is she still alive? Has she come—”
“She . . . died,” I said. “But she sent me.” Maybe not in as many words, but because of her, I was here.
The woman’s gaze narrowed as she studied me. “To end his reign?”
I gave the tiniest nod in answer. “With my mate. The Phaetyn queen, Lani, Luna’s daughter, is outside the mountain, fighting with the others of your people.”
She smiled. “How would you kill him?”
This time, I grimaced. “Permanently. That’s the plan. I’m Phaetyn and Drae,” I joked, weakly. “Draedyn doesn’t stand a chance. I’m actually referred to as Most Powerful Drae in some parts of the realm.”
Ash reached through the bars, slapping her bony hand to my mouth. “He can hear you.”
I shook my head and pulled away so her hand dropped. “I have the ancestral power from Queen Luna. I’ve covered us. He can’t hear a thing. No one can.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
I shrugged. “You don’t,” I answered honestly. “Anyway, I wanted to know if my friend is here. I’m looking for Kamini. Do you know her?”
Ash sucked in a breath, and her eyes widened, making her cheekbones more prominent, and her entire frame appear even more wasted. “How do you know Kamini?”
I rolled my eyes. Hadn’t I just said she was my friend? Ryn the magnanimous needed to make an appearance here in Draedyn’s dungeons. Al’right. I could totally do that.
“Yep. I met her in Zivost a few months ago. Is she here?”
Ash shook her head. “No, Draedyn took her to his private prison a few days ago. Up by his rooms.”
Dungeons were commonplace, I supposed. But surely owning a private prison near your personal rooms meant for sleep and relaxing was a sign you should check your sanity levels. “Where’s that?
“In his tower.”
Of course it was. “Umm, any chance there’s a prisoner named Dyter here?”
Ash shook her head again. “Is he Phaetyn or Drae?”
“Neither. Human.”
Her lavender gaze darkened. “The only humans the emperor tolerates are the ones willing to work for him. If this Dyter is human and against the emperor, Draedyn wouldn’t have him here. If he found him, he’d kill him.”
“He doesn’t keep human prisoners?” I asked, my voice catching. “Ever?
She pursed her lips. “Not in the seventy-five years I’ve been here.”
Drak.
“Let me have your knife,” she said, pointing to the Druman’s blade.
“It’s not mine. I pulled it off a Druman.”
She waved at me to give it to her.
“Just don’t cut yourself,” I cautioned. “It might have Drae blood on it.”
This time it was Ash who rolled her eyes. “He wouldn’t waste his blood, and the mules’ blood isn’t strong enough to hurt us.”
I handed over the blade though my skin crawled at the wide-eyed excitement on her face. I gulped in horror as Ash buried the blade into her belly, all the way to the hilt.
“What the hay!” I shouted.
“Don’t,” she snapped, hitting my hands away as I reached through the bars to heal her. “If I’m lucky enough to die, it would be a release from this place, a blessing from the stars.”
She wrenched the blade from her body and then held the hilt out to me, shaking the dripping knife when I didn’t take it right away.
“What are you doing? What do you want me to do with it?” I asked, my voice hoarse with shock.
“Stab him. At some point you’ll be close enough, and I would love to have my blood help poison the emperor.”
We’d been talking just seconds ago. I’d given her the blade to protect herself. Shaking, I accepted the weapon, holding the gruesome knife between my thumb and forefinger. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t need her sacrifice, that I had everything I needed inside. “I’ll do my best—”
Ash reached through the bars and yanked me to her, hissing in pain with the movement. “Don’t do your best. Your best won’t be good enough. You need to stab him in the chest, right near his black heart. Kill him for all of us. Avenge us.”
Ryn! Tyrrik bellowed.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling away from her desperate clawing, trembling as my eyes took in the silvery blood covering the ground.
“Go now and do it,” she shrieked.
I backed away, my eyes wide.
“In the heart,” she screamed after me, followed by a wet cough.
Gasping for air, I sprinted out of the dungeons, up to the bath chamber, and up the stairs to the main hallways of Draedyn’s castle. The castle seemed eerily empty; everyone was probably asleep. The moon’s silvery light seeped in through the windows, highlighting the blood on my fingers and the knife.
Retracing my steps to my room, I asked Tyrrik, Is everything okay? What’s happened?
He didn’t respond, but I could feel his urgency through our bond.
Not that I needed the extra motivation. The walls became hazy as I released my Drae power to aid my speed. I burst through the door, and Tyrrik blurred as he leapt from the bed to meet me.
I dropped the knife just before he crashed into me, the force throwing us several feet back. He cradled the back of my head, preventing it from crashing into the stone as he pressed into me.
Whoa.
Tyrrik muttered under his breath, and I only glanced at his heated gaze before he crushed his mouth to mine.
Surprised by his desperate drive, I struggled to respond. He growled possessively and then trailed kisses down my neck while he inched the edge of my tunic upward with his hands. He stroked up and down my thighs, kneading from my hips to my waist as he repeated, “Mate.”
“Wait, Tyrrik. What’s wrong?” Chills danced over my skin with his feral want. He’d always been measured and careful with me before, but this . . . This wild need felt animalistic.
He nipped my lower lip, and I opened my mouth to him. Our tongues tangled, and he pulled my arms overhead, trapping my wrists in his grip. Foggy desire pounded through our bond, clouding my mind with his singular focus.
He pushed my neck to the side.
“Tyrrik,” I gasped. “What’s happening?” This wasn’t him. Something was wrong. I felt the pressure of his fangs on my skin, not just anywhere but on the exact space where he’d first touched me. Over our mate mark.
He bit hard and I shrieked, his teeth piercing my skin. Hot fire coursed through me, making me moan with the surging swell of desire.
Mine, he growled.
“I-I.” I clung to the wrongness of a moment earlier and pushed back. “No, Tyrrik. Stop.”
Tyrrik stilled.
Holy-drae-babies. I blinked through the fog and croaked, What’s going on?
Ryn?
Who else would it be? I clutched the side of my neck and swam through some serious waves of I-want-to-jump-Tyrrik. You just bit me!
His mouth dropped. I bit you? He seemed genuinely horrified.
The tremor in his voice made me freeze and my heart pound. An ominous weight pressed on my chest, and terrified of what I might find, I turned my attention to his Drae energy, my abdominal muscles clenching as my stomach turned. I studied his onyx power, comforted when I saw only rich black. Even so, I said, Please tell me you remember what just happened.
He ran his hand over my hair, stroking my head and back. His heart pounded in his chest, never slowing, even minutes later. “Yes, at least I think so.”
What’s the matter? I asked. Talk to me, please.