“I don’t like it.”
“I know. How much time do you need?”
Caldren looked as if he wanted to curse, but he didn’t waste the time. “If you can delay the dragons for five minutes, I can hide us. Then we can make the rest of the way to Morick once they’ve passed.”
“Don’t tell me where you’re going,” I said. “Just in case.”
“Just in case they torture you,” Caldren filled in, his gaze agonized. “This is a terrible plan.”
“All my plans are terrible. But they always work out.”
“You really are something, and I love it and hate it all at the same time.” He kissed me once, fiercely. Then he changed into the wolf and bounded away into the forest. The way he trusted me made me happy.
Lucien Finn, Lucien Finn, Lucien Finn, I chanted to myself, worried that I would turn into Talith, and then I turned to face the dragon royals.
The dragons broke through the treetops and the world seem to explode around me
Chapter
Fifty-Three
Honor
The first dragon dove through the sky and then floated above me, his wings outstretched. He was the biggest dragon I’d ever seen, his face massive and horned, his eyes glowing red. I was engulfed by his shadow, by a sudden claustrophobic feeling that made it hard to breathe, as if I were trapped underground again.
Pend shifted in midair, landing lightly on the ground, his angular face all hard lines and a dangerous glint in his eyes. Fear curdled in my stomach, something primitive and deep responding to him.
“I’ve been around for over a hundred years,” he said coolly. “I’ve seen the rise of the dragons, fought the Scourge longer than you can dream. But you think you can outsmart me, Honor.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
He smiled, though it was more a baring of his teeth. Even in human form, I could see the dragon in him now, and I took an involuntary step back.
“Can’t blame a dragon for eating,” he snarled. “Won’t Jaik be devastated when he realizes the peasant whore he loved ran off with Lucien Finn?”
My blood ran cold. Had I played into his hands by rescuing Lucien? Would he let Lucien go, so he could convince Jaik that Honor had run away? So he could finally kill me with my men in agreement as they watched me burn?
If they could stop me from telling my men, surely they could also stop me from shifting between Lucien Finn and Honor.
As if on cue, Teris dropped to his side, and Joachim on the other side.
“How are you so cruel to your son?” I demanded.
“I love my sons,” he said. “I want what’s best for them. That means preserving the kingdom and Jaik’s throne.”
“And how exactly does my existence endanger the kingdom? You know what I really am! You know you don’t have to fear Jaik will have an heir who isn’t a dragon! Your grandchildren will never have to go through what Jaik and Cal have!”
Pend stared at me with a gaze full of hate.
“What’s really so wrong with me?” I demanded, my voice coming out soft, begging him to answer.
“You signal the end of an era,” he said. “If you love your kingdom, if you love these people like you claim, Honor Hannaby, you’ll throw yourself into an ocean. If you live, the kingdom dies.”
“I’m going to need a little more information than that, Pend.”
“When a female dragon rises, so does the Lord of the Scourge,” Pend said. “Your fate is twined with his. Together, the two of you destroy everything that matters.”
“Enough,” Joachim said. “Where’s my daughter?”
His eyes blazed with fury.
“Long gone with the man she loves,” I said recklessly. “For once, someone in your cursed family won’t be miserable.”
Joachim took a step closer to me. “She wouldn’t have been miserable if she’d just accepted her role in the world. What is wrong with you girls who can’t accept your places?”
“Maybe it’s not a problem with the girls,” I said. “Maybe it’s a problem with the places. I don’t fit anywhere in this world. So I’ll just have to make my place.”
“Or a grave. Teris, have her—” Pend glanced over his shoulder at the whistle of wings overhead, then swore. “Gorion was supposed to hold them off.”
The royals landed, saving my life. Jaik’s face was a mask of icy rage when he transformed, but my heart still leapt at the sight. Branok and Lynx landed flanking him, Talisyn a heartbeat later. Talisyn caught my gaze, his eyes worried.
I let out a breath of relief. Either the Olds had to reveal the truth to my men, or they had to play along that I was Lucien Finn—and that Alina was on the run with Honor.
“How did you catch this one and not the two girls?” Branok demanded roughly, and I wanted to punch him in the face, not that this was an unusual sentiment for me.
The next second, though, Branok decked me in the face. The world went red as I flew back and slammed into the nearest tree. I almost crumpled to the ground, my knees wobbly for a second, but I managed to straighten. The agony in my head cleared in a second.
Branok had given me a lot of practice taking blows to the head. They no longer disoriented me like they once had.
“What did you do to Alina?” Branok demanded.
“I tried to help her! She was trapped and you did nothing to help her. You abandoned her!” My own anger was building.
I was furious at Branok, mostly furious because I actually liked the stupid jerk and I was disappointed in how he handled everything with his sister. I would’ve expected Branok to be the first to rescue her from her cage. Lucien’s enchantment had tricked him, but Branok was so clever that it was impossible not to be pissed off that he let himself fall for the stupid trick. Branok saw through everything else; he seemed to see through me far too easily. He let himself believe the lie about Lucien instead of applying his usual sharp mind.
“Alina is in danger,” Branok snarled. “She’s a royal daughter, the child of a Lord. Do you know many people would like to get their hands on her, to leverage her as a hostage? But you’re so gods damn selfish, Lucien, you would let her put herself in danger for your own selfish desires.”
“Every minute you all spend arguing,” Lynx said, “Alina gets further away and so does Honor.”
“I can’t believe Honor would do this.” Jaik looked sick and it made me feel guilty. I didn’t like the thought that Jaik was hurt when it had nothing to do with him
“Teris, can’t you force him to tell us?” Teris’s gaze shifted toward Pend.
This time, the Olds were trapped by their own lies. Pend couldn’t easily put me under a spell to tell the truth because he wouldn’t want me to reveal who it was that had really run away. It would only confuse things when they wanted the young royals to believe that Honor was with Alina.
Arren landed lightly on his feet, looking to Jaik. “Caldren is missing too.”
“Of course my dickhead brother is involved.” Jaik swore. “I thought he cared about Alina and Honor.”