AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Too soon?” Fynn asks.
Even though Fynn is messing around, my heart twists at the image of Draven suffering on my account. Drinking through his pain in an attempt to not feel it…to not feel me. I turn on my heels and grab Draven’s hand, squeezing it. Reassuring him I’m here and that I won’t… I refuse to fight this between us because that won’t make him safer like I thought it would.
I may have an idea, but I’d need help.
Draven watches my hand link with his, making his chest rise and fall in two long breaths. I turn back to face everyone, as I try to mentally prepare myself for what’s to come.
“I need to speak with you all.” My voice is steady, but I can feel the slight dip to it as I face them. They all silently nod their heads as if they have been waiting for this moment. As if they have been ready.
We are all sitting on the chairs and sofas that curve in front of the fireplace. Glasses filled with wine and bourbon decorate the table in the center.
I begin speaking but leave out the villainous tasks that will haunt me until my blood bleeds dry. I explain where I’ve been since the battle, and they tell me it’s been three months. It’s the second time to hear it out loud and, once again, that piece of information feels like another blow to the chest.
I steel my spine and pin my gaze on Draven’s. “Whiro told me I have until the full moon to bring you to Gehendra, or else the entire world will fall prey to his whims. I don’t know what he plans, but I know it involves the Sea of Souls and that nothing good will come from it. He said you have his power running through your veins, because no one can unlock the chains in his cells—only his power can.”
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, but I don’t waver. I watch as Draven turns my words over, giving nothing away as he remains calm.
He takes a generous sip of the golden liquid swirling in his glass, and I watch his throat move as he swallows it down. “Is that all?” he asks.
My mouth opens and closes multiple times with no words. Then I give my head a small shake to clear it. “What do you mean, is that all? He wants me to betray you and to play you right into his hands. Aren’t you even curious what the Sea of Souls is?” How can he act like Whiro targeting him is not a big deal? I just dropped a huge boulder on him, and he’s not fazed. Not even a little bit.
Draven shrugs, choosing not to answer, and my jaw drops. As always, Fynn finds the right moment to lighten the situation. “Told you. If you thought he was broody before, it’s nothing compared to now.” I look to Fynn and catch him winking to Draven as he reclines back, his arms resting behind his head, and props one leg up on his knee.
I stifle my smile as Cora, who is sitting next to Fynn, smacks him lightly on the leg. “Not the time,” she whispers sternly, but there’s a twinkle in her eyes that gives away her amusement. “Do you think that is the only reason?”
“I doubt it,” Kye pipes in. His large frame consumes the entire chair he’s sitting in. “But this also means he likely knows Draven is part dragon.”
Draven nods solemnly. “Remember when I told you that the God of Darkness miscalculated his power when creating the first Fae?”
His crystal-blue eyes meet mine as I recall the conversation we had the first time he took me to the Caves of Tsisana. “Yes.”
He looks down at the bourbon in his glass and tips it back and forth in thought. “He didn’t have to see my true form to know I was a descendant from his creation. He just needed to see the shadows.” Once again, his eyes pierce into mine. “Having the ability to wield shadows is rare. So, unless you are an heir of his—which was never heard of until you—the only other way to have them is to be one of the chosen in the dragon bloodline. And, like I said before, my father said it was a gift, but it just keeps proving to be a curse.”
“So, what is your idea?” Cora adds in after we all fall quiet.
“When the Masiren spoke to me, it said something about me hiding my light from only those who wish to destroy it. So, I think… I think I need to let Whiro keep believing that I am consumed. Sticking to his task of standing beside Aiden and Calloway, to lure out Draven.” A growl vibrates low and deep from his direction, but I keep my gaze fixed in the direction of Cora, Kye, and Fynn.
“I have until the full moon before I’m supposed to drag Draven to Gehendra. So, maybe if I push this as long as possible, it will give us enough time to figure out how to destroy him. That is…if you are with me?”
Multiple scoffs fill the room, followed by Kye’s masculine chuckle. “You don’t ever have to ask, Princess. Even if you said you didn’t want us to help, we would have forced it upon you.”
“He’s right,” Cora chimes in with a gentle smile. “You are stuck with all of us. I’m just proud that you are asking us instead of trying to protect us by putting yourself in danger and doing it alone.” She shoots me a raised eyebrow.
Heat scorches my cheeks as I glance away for a second since that is exactly what I was going to do at first.
“We know,” Fynn says with tender amusement, seeming to sense where my thoughts were headed. “Cora read you like a book when we were spying on you a few days ago after you tied Draven up like your own personal sex toy.”
If my cheeks could turn any brighter, then they do from that comment alone. So, that must have been the presence I felt.
I tilt my head as I look at Fynn.
“You spied on me?” I ask.
Fynn scratches the back of his neck with a scrunch of his face. “Maybe I should have left that part out,” he huffs with a hesitant chuckle. “My mistake, but you only proved how powerful you are by sensing my power and eliminating it. Fucking badass.”
“Do you think the wyvern weapons will hurt him?” Kye asks, switching the conversation as if he’s been thinking about this idea for a while.
“There’s a chance they could,” Draven muses. “Wyvern iron can kill Scavengers that are created from his power, and it prevented Emma from using hers—being his daughter. At the same time, it only subdued her power. The touch of the wyvern iron never burned her like it did me.”
