Page 82 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

“It will be okay,” Rhea continues quietly.

“You don’t know that. I can’t lose anyone else,” he whispers. I might not be the most fond of the mage king, but I hear the devastation in his voice. The heartbreak. “And not you. Never again you.”

“Then come with me,” she says, pulling back and reaching for his hand. “Because that is my sister, and I will not leave her to die because of fear.” The hair at the back of my neck rises as glittering white magic begins to glow around Rhea. “Mine or yours.”

Nox hesitates, a war clearly brewing within him, but then he grabs her hand, leaning down to whisper something in her ear. Whatever it is, it makes her blush, and I wonder how much more of this I’ll be subjected to before I decide returning back to the Mortal Kingdom is a better fate. Amber eyes flash in my mind, longing piercing my chest so harshly that I lay a hand over it. It catches Rhea’s attention as they pass, but then Nox’s shadows sweep in behind them, painting the ground in darkness as they walk towards the agitated black dragon.

Xander

“I guess we should follow?” Daje asks in a low whisper, his dark blue eyes meeting mine.

“I guess so.” Together, we fall in line behind Rhea and Nox, doing our best to avoid stepping where the shadows writhe in front of us. “Do you ever get used to that?” I jut my chin out in the direction of the shadows, some of them curling like smoke around Rhea’s ankles, though they don’t seem to be inhibiting her steps.

“He hasn’t really been known to use this magic before her,” he says, swallowing roughly as the heat and scent wafting from the dragon suddenly wash over us. “Well, not really since she was taken. He’s been… different since then.”

Brushing the loosened strands of dark hair that have slipped out of my half-up bun from my face, I contemplate a response, only to snap my jaw closed as the dragon releases a deep, gravelly sounding noise that vibrates down to my very bones. “This isn’t a good idea.”

Daje huffs in agreement. Rhea releases Nox’s hand, turning to look over her shoulder to signal for us to stop.

“Hello,” she says softly, magic flaring from her hands as she holds them out in supplication to the dragon. The beast’s serpentine eyes narrow as it tips its snout down, smoke curling from its nostrils as it snarls in her direction. Nox’s hand moves to the small of Rhea’s back, his other gathering shadows as they wreath around his wrist. “My name is Rhea.”

“She is not talking to the dragon right now.” Daje’s magic sputters in his grasp, like it too can’t believe what is happening.

Rhea and Nox move to take another step, but that is apparently too close for the dragon. It swipes one foot forward, claws puncturing the ground mere feet from where they are forced to halt. Angled over the fae and the siren, the dragon makes it clear that it does not trust them to get any closer.

“I want to help your rider,” Rhea continues, steeling her spine as she lifts her chin. “And her… friend. I can heal them with my magic.” She draws more of that white light to her palms, the magic glowing so brightly, I can’t make out the details of her fingers.

The act garners the dragon’s attention, and it moves, sniffing in their direction. Nox curls his arm around Rhea protectively, and the dragon peels its lips back, flashing those horrifying teeth in what feels like disapproval. Shit.

“He won’t hurt them,” she calls out, looking at Nox quickly before stepping forward and out of his embrace.

The shadows behind Nox stir, coiling away from the ground as they gather around him, a cape pulled from darkness itself. “Rhea…” he drawls in a low tone, and I’m apt to agree.

This is dangerous. I know her magic is powerful, but against a dragon? Against dragon fire? Would she even hold a candle to the monstrous flames a creature like this is capable of producing?

“I promise, I will help them,” Rhea insists, more confident than before. “If you let me near enough.”

I blow out a steady breath, rotating my sword in my hand—useless as it may be. Siyala’s voice plays in my mind, her love for Rhea so evident in the way she spoke. I had failed to keep Rhea from enduring the worst from King Dolian—and I have no doubt that there are many things my cousin isn’t telling me regarding her time with him, things that I’m not sure I even want to know—but with the resistance now in shambles, with Siyala back in her own kingdom, what good is my life anyway? I’d happily lose it to protect someone like her.

“If she heals them, will it make it possible for them to pass through the Spell? Like she did with you?” Daje asks.

I meet his eyes and nod silently. Rhea had been forced to heal mortal armies and siren legions. She knows the risk associated with what she is proposing. Though I have no doubt the motivation for healing Aria is love, healing a dragon-bonded fae could be disastrous.

Perhaps Nox is questioning the same because he turns his head down to look at her, a silent conversation passing between them. Whatever they’ve decided, it propels them forward until the dragon snaps its teeth together, a clear warning in the huff of sulfur-tainted air that mists past its nostrils.

“It wants me to go alone,” she says, looking at Nox. “It’s alright.”

“The fuck it is,” he grumbles, running a hand through his onyx hair and holding the strands hostage. The shadows rise higher behind him, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say they nearly look like wings at his back. Rhea’s braided hair swishes behind her when she stands on her toes, her hands clutching at his cloak as she promises she will be okay. With a reluctant nod, he plants a kiss on her lips and then stands back, and the three of us hold our collective breath as Rhea tentatively makes her way to the bodies at the dragon’s feet, her magic still flaring brightly from her palms.

My heart is a rough beat against my chest, and when the dragon draws one of its front legs in, the three of us tense. Even the people waiting in the buildings surrounding us gasp in anticipation of what will happen next as Nox’s shadows still behind him, waiting for their next command. But Rhea throws her hand out behind her in warning, eyes firmly set on the dragon as she edges closer and closer.

“I’m going to heal your rider first,” she says, kneeling as she places her hands over the cloaked fae. The dragon’s maw opens, those glistening sharp teeth mere feet from Rhea’s head, but she doesn’t hesitate to use her power. White magic fills the female until it cascades out of her, a white outline that shines off the dragon’s black iridescent scales. It lets out another noise that could be mistaken for a whimper were it not for the fact that it is coming out of a creature that size, and Rhea carefully shifts so that she is facing Aria. “It might take some time for her to wake up.” She shifts her eyes up, finding mine. “When I healed Nox, it took some time for him to wake up, didn’t it?”

Clearing my throat, I step up so that I’m at Nox’s side, dipping my chin in agreement. “Yes. He slept for a short while after you passed out.”

Sadness briefly flashes over her face before she turns her attention back to Aria, gently peeling back the fabric covering her body before letting out a soft noise of surprise.

“What is it?” Nox asks.