Page 234 of A Dance of Water

Fire scorched his lungs, and he expelled it with a harsh cough, nearly choking on embers. The dragon grew quiet, and there were no sounds in the stone room save his labored breathing. Until a hissed warning broke through the silence:

Hide her. Tuck her away. No weaknesses. Do not let her hurt.

The dragon was desperate to take her to his den, wrap her in furs, and tie her up—just like she had been for the long night they spent together. She, unable to move; and he, the fearsome guardian.

His burning green eyes fell to her, where she lay on the bed. She shivered as he pinned her with his stare.

"Vale?" she hedged. "I—are you…"

The footsteps were near silent as the Temple Mothers approached. Vale jerked his head to the sound. Gods, yes. He could leave before his dragon got his way, but he tried to ignore how pleasing the beast’s plans appeared.

Vale walked to the door, allowing himself a moment of weakness as he stared back at her.

Flushed cheeks, tousled hair, wide eyes, the sheets pulled up to her chin, hiding the Binding mark on her chest. She was a sight.

In this bed, the Princess of Luna. And Vale could not let anyone take her from him.

Mine, the dragon boomed. Vale was barely able to hide his wince from the piercing claim.

It was a concerted effort to keep the strain from his voice as he said:

"I will see you at the altar."

Then, he fled from the room, passing the cloaked Temple Mothers in the dark, stone halls as he practically ran from Luella. Every step brought him closer to the skies. His skin itched with thedesire to shift, scales already overtaking his forearms and neck, traveling lower as he felt them on his chest.

Finally, the winding paths broke free as he stumbled out of the caves to the mountain gardens. Frost-tipped roses dotted the expanse, mingling with wilted, dead blossoms. The sky was ripe with Luella’s storm—he wondered what it would take to make it finally break.

The edge of the garden was a free fall off the side of the mountain, with no fencing or barrier. Vale tipped his head back, allowing himself to breathe in the rich mountain air, clearing himself of the traces of her scent that stuck to him, thatfilledhis very marrow. And he charged with unfettered prowess toward the edge of the mountain.

Air rushed around him, and he turned his body, soaking up the freeing feeling of being utterly weightless as he fell, staring up at the dark cover of her clouds, until his dragon could no longer be held prisoner inside him.

The beast broke free with a fiery roar. Flames lit up the evening sky with orange and red.

His large, onyx wings took him higher. Misty clouds evaporated against his skin as he ascended. And then, thick storm clouds enveloped him, obscuring his vision slightly. His green eyes slanted. Even high above, he could not escape her.

The dragon did not fly far, simply content to exist in the skies for a while and clear his head. He knew his duties kept him tethered close by.

His mate beckoned—Vincire, another word for what she was to him.

The dragon found himself recounting what his mate had shared about the betrayer, Caliban.

He had been a friend at one time, a true brother. Vale still remembered the day he showed up with stars in his eyes as he spoke of a human girl he had met. Caliban snuck away to see her as often as he could, and sometime in between jovial sparring matches between brothers and fanciful talks of running away to be wed, his half-brother hadchanged.

His soft heart had led to his downfall.

Pious to a fault, Caliban had been reverent in his worship of the gods, until the wrong god answered his pleas. The Tenebrae.

And now Caliban went by the same name as the dark god. It could not be mere coincidence.

To find out he had lied, that he had killed his human lover…

Smoke billowed as the dragon huffed.

The downfall of love and all its foolish tendencies.

72

OTHER GODS (TASTE ME AGAIN)

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