Page 37 of Cursed with the Dragon Prince

I close the distance between her and me—she notices and laughs. She treats my role in this as inconsequential, like I’m pretending to have any power over this outcome.

Now I am certain—this isn’t about me. She’s too ensnared by the past to have a vision for the future.

The smoke rising from her nostrils darkens, and she focuses her sight on Drakon. Her body braces, ready to charge.

He’s not fighting back.

I don’t know what comes over me.

Maybe I’m just tired of others making decisions about my life. First, Wisp made me different. Then there was my father, my former husband, and finally, my brother.

And now Scorpia. She tries my patience, and when she charges Drakon…

Fire bursts from me.

My jaw unhinges, and the caustic flame streams forth, uncontrollable and unstable. It’s not painful, not compared to everything else I’ve endured, but once it’s started, I can’t stop. I can barely aim.

The sensation is confusing and overwhelming and—

“She needs help!” Drakon shouts, his voice sounding far, far away.

Instinctively, I seek his advice and turn to him. In my confusion, I face him without orienting my flame. He rushes to me, and…

…and…

Sparks kiss his scales. I watch, helpless, as the tongues of my flame whip up around his form. My fire consumes him.

He falls from the sky, dropping past me and into the magma. Terrified, I dive after him, and only then does my fire stop.

Except I’m tugged away. Scorpia grabs me by the tail, pulling me back.

“He’s gone, you fool,” she says.

My throat lodges, and I tremble.

Scorpia braces me against her, whispering in my ear, “This is your fault.”

I watch, helpless, as he falls into the lava pool, the magma splashing. “Drakon—” I seize up.

“Dead, because of you. Now go. Fly to your home and return to your human form—that will end this once and for all. Fly home, and don’t you dare return.”

Endings

Reina

I’m screeching, sobbing.

Scorpia’s right. I can’t stay. Not after this.

I crane my neck and let the wingbeats take me away.

Flying south, I aim for Valterra, in the direction that once was home. A new type of remorse fills me with the thought of returning there. After what I’ve done, I don’t know how to continue with the clan, but I’m not ready to return to my family.

All my life, patriarch’s logic has dictated my future, and since becoming dragon fae, my fire burns hotter than before. Drakon treated me with more respect than any male, and I fear I’ll no longer fit into my former life.

My fire starts to taste like revenge, destruction and grief hot on my tongue, and I wonder how the fishing village might fear me as I’ve become.

The thought of returning home and showing off this form… itdoesappeal to me. My dragon has a fury that’s entirely her own, and in the wake of losing Drakon, she’s ravenous to use that pain to destroy those who have hurt me. I didn’t deserve their wrath, and it’s tempting to reward them with vengeance.

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