Page 71 of I Summon the Sea

I find myself staring.

He snaps me out of my daze when he clicks his fingers. “I’m the dragon speaker, remember? No need to worry.”

He clicks his fingers again, and the little beast produces a kind of croak, then pads closer to us, leathery wings still half-unfolded, the white tips held out for balance.

I keep a wary eye on it. Darakin may be small but they are still dragons, wild beasts, never truly tamed. Besides that, I’mstill shocked to have a darakin so close to me. They always keep their distance.

The darakin growls and grumbles, sniffing at Jai’s long fingers. A forked, blue tongue darts out to lick them. I stare at its blue eyes, azure marbles that refract the light.

“See? He won’t bite you. It’s fine,” Jai says, sounding reassuring, one side of his mouth tipping up in that crooked smirk I’m becoming familiar with, and I realize I’m still gripping his forearm.

I release it as if it’s a piece of burning coal.

The darakin makes another croaking sound, sniffs Jai’s fingers one last time, and flaps its wings, getting airborne again. I watch it fly off, a low skim over the waves and then the ascent high up into the sky.

Jai leans back, straightening. His gaze shimmers. Wistfulness, I think. Longing.

Then he blinks, and it’s all gone.

It had probably never been there in the first place. I’m imagining things, and I shouldn’t linger any longer. He brings out weird feelings in me, feelings I have no use for anymore.

I’m about to get up and go back inside the palace, implement my plan, and finish what I came here to do, when he returns that intense gaze on me.

“Rae… Why can’t you speak? Were you born this way, or is it a spell?”

I shake my head.

His hand closes around my wrist, and a beat goes through me, shaking me. “Who are you? Who sent you here?”

Jerking away, I get up, but he’s still holding my wrist, his fingers like steel bands and just as cool.

Let me go.The touch, the feel of him, the strength of his hold, they send pulses through me, making me feel faint.Just let me go.

“You’re here for him, aren’t you?” He slides onto his feet in a single, elegant move, towering over me. “Don’t do it.”

I glower.What?

“Don’t go after the king,” he says, and the shock sends me back a step.

No, no…He can’t know this; he can’t be reading me this easily. I’m just a human contestant. I only survived the first trial thanks to him. He can’t know why I’m here.

Not the King’s Sword.

No!I yank my arm away, and he lets go, the dark swirls on his cheekbones standing out against a flush. I stagger two more steps back.

A shudder goes through him. His broad shoulders hunch. Gold flashes in his dark eyes.

“Have it your way, little human,” he hisses, his handsome features rearranging themselves into something unfriendly. This time, his grin is a curved blade when he says, “Enjoy the celebrations.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Enjoy the celebrations.”

His words ring in my ears as I make my way back inside. I don’t even try to shoo Arkin away when he falls into step behind me once more.

My head throbs as I try to make sense of the sudden shift in Jai’s expression, the cruelty flashing in his eyes. His sudden departure. His mercurial moods are hard to follow.

He had somehow figured out I’m not your average contestant, that I’m here to kill the king. How did I give myself away? I suppose my story didn’t convince him.

---