Page 49 of Merciless Is My Crown

He was starving. Dangerous. Feral.

From the sound, I wasn’t even sure what form he was in—dragon or Fae.

“It has to be me. He’ll tear any of you apart. Even you, Simon.”

“Zorander’s right. Torin…” Simon blocked my path, gripping my arms with unbreakable strength. “You can’t.” His breath mingled with mine, fear shining in his eyes. “You can’t go in there…I cannot lose you. Not even to save him.”

“You won’t lose me.” I licked my lips then told the worst lie I’d ever told in my entire life. “I’ve seen this, Simon. Zeph’s in there and he needs me and I’m the only one who can convince him to come out safely. He won’t hurt me; I swear he won’t.”

No, I hadn’t seen this in a vision. But I knew in my bones this was the truth. Fate had brought us here once only to split us apart. But the world was different, and this time, we’d bring Zeph home.

The Oracle’s foul magic ebbed and flowed all around us, spilling freely from the broken obsidian pillars, coating every surface around us with a glimmer of dark magic. This foulness that kept Zephryn—one of the most powerful beings I’d ever known—helpless and contained for three centuries was steadily sapping our magic. If we stayed here much longer, we’d never escape.

I had to go into his den before Zeph decided to burst out of there in his dragon form and tear everyone to pieces. Before Zorander and Raziel’s magic disappeared. Before we were all trapped here.

A low, throbbing growl crept out of that dark hole and every hair on my body stood up.

Long ago we’d bound ourselves together, and for three hundred years we’d been cleaved apart. But…if I went into that dark pit and Zephryn was so far gone he didn’t recognize me…

“I saw this, Simon.” My voice came out steadier this time. “Zeph was willing to give up his life for me, and this is how I repay him. This is how we finally bring him home.”

I watched emotions war inside Simon, his eyes filled with fear, his mouth working to tell me no, but in the end he stepped away. “You don’t think after all this time I know when you’re lying, Tor?” he said softly before he shook his head. “Fine, then. You go first, but I’ll be right behind you.”

Raziel and Zorander scanned the jagged cliff surrounding us. “We’ll guard your backs.” The skittering of feet and claws grew even closer. “Buy you as much time as we can, but it looks like we’ve got a pack of these things to contend with, so convince your friend we’re leaving and fast.”

The opening was a gauntlet of slivered obsidian, every edge sharp enough to slice through my gown, my skin, until I was covered in a thousand tiny screaming cuts. Oh gods, I’d end up down there in the darkness with Zephryn, and all he’d smell was blood, and he had to be starving.

An owl’s claws skated shrilly over rock and a soft hoot had me pausing long enough for Simon to catch up, my feet slipping on this cursed, glossy surface. Light flashed, then his warm hand tightened around my arm.

“The passage widens out in a few more feet. Then there’s a straight drop to the floor. I don’t think it’s far, but you’ll have to land on your feet. Do you have the knife?”

I nodded and he caught my wrist. “Please let me go first, Tor. This is no time to be brave, and you’ve got nothing to prove. This is not your fault. Zeph made his choice a long time ago.” As if on cue, a low growl beneath us set my nerves on edge.

“Zeph was willing to give everything up for me, and look where that got him, Simon.” Another cautious step sent me sliding downward, caught at the last minute by Simon’s hand around my arm.

“I have to do this.” I peered through the hole, picking through the various shadowy forms and fuzzy images in my mind until I’d mapped out a clear path down. I might not be able to see like everyone else, but I could navigate my way through this maze of stone just fine.

If I concentrated, I could see the darker shadow moving across the floor, smell the faintest hint of Zeph’s smoky, wildfire scent wafting up from inside the den.

“He’ll know me. He will.”

I prayed that was true, sliding down and down, toward the drop I sensed but couldn’t quite gauge in the darkness, the silence waiting to swallow me up. When my slippers skidded another inch and found nothing but air, Simon’s hand ripped off my arm and I fell straight down.

The plunge didn’t take long, but the off-balance landing rocked my bones, ankles screaming when my body folded beneath the impact. I caught myself on the stone floor with one hand, the other thrown out for balance, sending the knife spinning away. I remained crouched, trying not to count the piles of bones illuminated by the single shaft of light.

Thousands. Small, white, most of them splintered.

At least we knew what Zeph had been eating for three hundred years.

I could hear my own ragged breathing and Zeph’s deep, rasping breaths coming from the shadows, puffs of hot, humid air curling around me, followed by a growl that was all beastly hunger. I still couldn’t tell if he was in dragon form or Fae, couldn’t tell anything except how my skin crawled from fear because the weight of his intense stare crushed me to dust.

But I had to say something. This had been my idea, after all.

“Zephryn. It’s me, Torin. I’m here to take you away from this place.”

I didn’t dare look away, didn’t dare glance up to where Simon waited, praying to all the gods he didn’t drop down beside me, because if he did this would be over.

“I came for you because we were meant to be together.” I pushed to my feet carefully, strained muscles twinging, blood trickling off the ends of my fingers. “Remember what we promised? You and me, Zeph. Nothing will ever keep us apart.”

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