Page 108 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

Clenching my jaw, I squeeze my hand into a fist. “It’s our only shot at a better life.”

She cocks her head again, and that considering look blows over her beautiful features once more. The silence around us is so loud that I can hear the air rushing in my ears.

“You hate them,” she says at last. It’s half statement, half question. “You really, truly, hate the Iceheart Dynasty, don’t you?”

Since I’m fairly certain that she isn’t going to run and tattle to Empress Jessina, I answer honestly. “Yes.”

“Hmm.”

I just hold her gaze, not sure what else to say.

“You’re following the river to get out,” she says, and once more, it’s somewhere halfway between a statement and a question.

“Yes,” I answer. “I want to get out of here as fast as possible.”

She watches me in silence for an uncomfortably long time, as if she’s trying to read the sincerity on my face. Then she finally nods.

And without another word, she turns around and begins walking away while all the bows are lowered.

“Wait,” I blurt out. “You’re just… letting me go?”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know that it’s a really dumb thing to say. I was just ambushed by a horde of dryads after I trespassed on their territory, and they’re letting me just walk out of here. I should have just taken my miracle and run. But meeting them, meeting a dryad, threw me so far off my game that my brain is still scrambling to catch up.

The leader turns back to me.

A spike of fear shoots through my spine as she smiles. It’s not a comforting smile. It’s the sharp smile of a predator who’s about to rip someone’s throat out. Age-old fury burns in her eyes as that smile slashes across her lips.

“You hate the dragon shifters,” she says. Malice, potent enough to sear through the very ground beneath us like acid, seeps into her voice. “We hate them more.”

Just looking at the vicious rage on her face steals the breath from my lungs. And before I can recover it, she has already disappeared into the magical forest with the rest of her companions.

For an entire minute, I just stand there, staring after her while my heart pounds in my chest.

Then a sudden realization crackles through me like lightning.

Whipping around, I stare in the direction I came from. The direction where I leftmydragon shifter.

My heart pounds as the dryad’s words echo in my skull.You hate the dragon shifters. We hate them more.

Dread and fear wash over me.

Draven.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Fear twists in my stomach as I race back towards the river. What if the dryads managed to overpower him? What if they’re torturing him? What if he’s already dead?

My heart clenches at the mere thought.

I stumble and almost crash into a twisting tree as a sudden question flashes through my mind.

Why do I even care?

Why should I care if Draven gets hurt or killed? He has done nothing but sabotage me ever since he first saw me on the Dragon Field. I should be hoping that he’s hurt or dead, because that would make it so much easier to steal the ring back and win the trial. So why is dread and panic currently twisting between my ribs and strangling my lungs?

Deep down, I know the answer to that question. And the truth is as shocking as it is disturbing.

I have started to care about Draven.

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