Page 28 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
A loud roll of thunder sounded, taking my attention for the moment. We were so much closer to the mountain and the storm than I’d thought. It was right there, all around us.
“Misha,” Azurus said, a note of hopelessness in his voice as he turned to me. “I want to help you. With everything in my body, heart, and soul, I want to help you. I wish I had the power to banish your father from your life and your thoughts completely…but I don’t have that power.”
I knew it. I’d known all along that the bulk of the burden I carried was mine and mine alone. Azurus had made things better. He’d helped me to heal and feel hopeful again. He was so important and meant everything to me, but he hadn’t been honest.
“I’ve been losing my power bit by bit since we came together,” he admitted with a sigh, dropping his shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that my father’s specter instantly vanished with Azurus’s admission of the truth. “That first, bonding heat fated mates are supposed to enjoy when they meet isn’t just for the benefit of the omega or for having children. Without it, an alpha dragon’s powers start to fade.”
His words struck me to the core. “It’s my fault,” I said, the hurt of it all sweeping through my body. “My brokenness has broken you, too.”
“No, my love, it’s not that,” Azurus said, taking a step toward me. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”
“But it is,” I said, the tears streaming down my face joined by the rain that began to pummel us from above. “If I wasn’t so broken I would have gone into heat when we met. We would have an egg, we would be happy, and you would still have your magic.”
“I promise you, love, the moment will come,” Azurus said. “We just need to be patient.”
I shook my head, knowing the time for patience was long past.
“I’m never going to get better,” I wept, taking a few backwards steps away from him. “I will be like this always, and I will bring you down with me.”
“No, Misha, that’s not true.”
“It is, it is,” I wept. “I don’t deserve to be with a dragon like you. You deserve more than me.”
“I love you, Misha,” Azurus said, stepping closer to me.
I couldn’t let him reach me and pull me into his arms, though. I knew the truth now. I was broken and I always would be. If I stayed with Azurus, I would only ruin him as well.
“I love you, too, Azurus,” I sobbed, “but I cannot do this to you.”
I did the only thing I could think to do. I turned and ran away from my beloved. The mountain and the storm loomed all around us now. The jagged walls of rock that thrust up into the lightning-filled sky were living personifications of the wall I’d felt all around me for so long. They seemed to close in on me, keeping me prisoner, stopping me from ever healing or seeing the light.
“Misha!” Azurus called after me.
It broke my heart. I wanted to be everything good and light for my alpha, my mate. I wanted to make him happy, even if I couldn’t be happy myself.
But maybe you can, a celestial voice whispered through the storm.Maybe together you can make the path to healing easier.
I caught my breath as hope flickered in me, like the first sparks of a tinderbox.
Maybe.
I swallowed hard and turned back, searching for my beloved mate. But as soon as I spotted him running toward me from what felt like such a long distance away, lightning struck hard between us and a massive wall of reflective black glass slammed down, separating us. The Black Mirror.
Chapter
Ten
Azurus
“Misha!” I called after my love, trying to catch up to him. He’d run ahead, and within seconds, he was so far out of my reach. Mother had to be involved, but I couldn’t imagine why she would choose that moment, of all moments, to separate us.
Unless it was some sort of lesson for me. I shouldn’t have kept the truth about my magic from my mate. I shouldn’t have lied to him and told him not to worry. I didn’t want him to ever have to worry about anything else again for the rest of his life, but that didn’t mean keeping him in ignorance of a serious problem was the right thing to do.
As hard as I ran after him, the distance between us only seemed to grow. It sent panic through me. I needed to keep my mate safe. That was the core of what it meant to be an alpha, especially a dragon alpha. Whether I had magical abilities anymore or not, my first and only concern was to wrap Misha inmy arms and stop the world from causing him any more harm than it already had.
And then Misha turned to look back at me. I could feel him. I could suddenly feel the fear and the doubt, but also the love and courage under that. It was as if our bond suddenly snapped into place and we were one.
But only for a moment.
