Page 114 of The Wings That Bind

I felt the precise moment everything tipped. My hands squeezed, my fangs pulled blood from her veins, and her pulse … stuttered. I caught sight of my reflection in the broken mirror across from the bed. My eyes were burning red. My hands were covered in scales as they grasped Pendragon’s slender throat.

I.Am. Going.To. Fucking. Destroy.You, I snarled. Let. Her. Go! With a surge of my own will, I wrenched the dragon back, ripping my fangs free.

“Pendragon,” I gasped. “Medra!”

Her body slumped forward over the headboard. I pulled her into my arms, turning her over and gathering her close. She sagged against me, lips parted, eyes dimming. Her breathing was shallow. Her skin was cold and pale.

“Stay with me,” I whispered, my voice breaking as I cradled her, my wings sweeping back and forth in desperation, sending gusts of wind through the room. “Stay with me. Please, don’t leave me.”

Her head lolled against my arm, as I pressed trembling fingers to her throat, feeling her pulse, faint but there. I had no healing draft. Knew no curative spells. I had only myself. Only instinct. Lowering my head, I slashed my fangs along my own wrist, scarlet beads welling. I willed the healing power of my kind to the surface, stretching it out between us like a fragile golden thread. Tilting her head, I let my blood drip into her mouth, gently touching my fingertips to her throat and willing her to swallow.

“Come on, Pendragon. Take it. Take me.”

Crimson drops slid over her tongue one after the other. I held myself there, for one agonizing heartbeat after another, pouring everything from me into her, not caring how much it took.

Finally, she coughed, her lashes flickering. I pressed my thumb to her pulse, feeling an answer beneath my fingertips. She gave a thin, ragged breath, then another. Relief crashed over me. I let out a raw cry, holding her gently against my chest, my wings spreading out around us like a cloak.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I love you, and I’m so fucking sorry. I will never hurt you again. Never betray you. Do you hear me?”

But I knew she didn’t. Would I have said the words if I knew she would? Her lashes fluttered, but she didn’t open her eyes. Maybe it was for the best. I couldn’t bear to have her see me this way, still in the shape of a monster. I bowed my head, heart hardening, the weight of guilt crushing and unbearable. Then I wrapped her carefully in blankets and laid her back on the bed. A chill wind blew through the broken window. I pulled the curtains down and tied them over the hole as best I could.

I willed my wings back into my body, every muscle tensing as I forced myself to shift. Pain wracked my frame as bones cracked and realigned. But the pain had changed. It was less agony and more intensity. I gritted my teeth, clenching my jaw as my body convulsed, wings furling back inside in a strange and terrible way. The dragon wasn’t fighting me now—maybe because he had gotten what he wanted. If so, it would be the last time.

I crept out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind me, Rodriguez’s book tucked under my arm. I’d come within a heartbeat of killing the woman I loved. The one who meant more to me than anyone else in this entire godsforsaken world.

Now I was going to end this, end him. Even if it killed me.

CHAPTER 26

MEDRA

I woke from a dream of wings and blood. Cold air prickled my bare shoulders. For a moment, I lay there, tangled in blankets, blinking at the starlight that slanted through the tower window. Then the wind gusted again, carrying the scent of spring rain and blowing straight in through the casement.

I sat up, shivering. The glass in the window was gone. The curtains billowed in the wind. I looked around the room. Shelves had been toppled, the wood cracked and smashed, books splayed open in heaps all over the ground. A lamp lay broken on the floor. The mirror across from the bed was cracked, and the table in front of it had been knocked over. Pieces of glass were spread beneath the open window where the pane had shattered.

What the hell had happened here, and how had I slept through it? My memories slipped and slid. Flashes hovered behind my eyes. Red eyes. The scrape of scales. I shivered. It must have been a nightmare, a dream of Molindra in the Bonewood. I pushed the sense of foreboding away. Sliding out of the bed, I hunted for my gown. I found it beneath the overturned writing desk. As I started to wriggle back into it, a voice interrupted.

Medra, can you hear me?