Page 47 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
His amber eyes flick down to mine. A bolt of cold moves through me, and I can’t help the trembling that follows. There aren’t many things I fear in this life or the next. But Kalel has become one of them.He truly did drain me of all my blood.
His eyes darken before looking back ahead without saying a word to me. I want to ask him where we are and how long I’ve been asleep, but I decide to wait until Tessa or Nikolai come to check on me.
Is this my life now? Being consumed with fear every time my husband looks at me?Gods, what have I done?
After a few minutes, I feel strong enough to sit up. I try to straddle the horse so I’m not burdening Kalel anymore. But he presses his hand against me, making me lean into him.
“You need to rest more, little godling. You’ve only been asleep for three days. Most demigods take four or five days to recoup after the bloodletting,” he says gently. He looks defeated in the way he stares longingly at me. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that he feels guilty about it. I’ve never seen him look so melancholic. The dark circles under his eyes must be from sleepless nights. Did he worry about me? Did Nikolai stay by my side as he promised? My mind is heavy with the thoughts.
I ignore his advice and struggle to sit up again. He lets me straighten in the seat this time, but dizziness falls over me, making me slump into him again.
A rumbling, soothing purr rolls from his chest. I hate how warm and inviting it is, but I greedily lean into it. My hands rest over his wrists, and I can’t help but notice how small my frame is compared to his. The sleeves of my cloak are gilded with my blood. I’m guessing they ran out of spare clothing for me.
For once, I’m glad my blood is not red.
“Where are we?” I rub my eyes, trying to brush the drowsiness away to no avail.
“We are approaching the gates to the Devicitian Kingdom.” He secures his arm around me like he’s worried we’re about to be attacked. My brows quirk, there’s nothing out here except black molten rock and a thick fog or mist that’s curling around the cliff’s edges. We must be close to the eastern coast cliffs.
“Commander! On the west side, three Vorntails banking and circling back to us,” Tessa shouts from somewhere off to our left.
“Four Skelihearts on the bridge!” Gabriel, one of Kalel’s elite knights, calls from ahead.
“Full charge ahead until we reach the gates. Don’t stop for anything, is that clear?” Kalel orders his knights. They let out a battle cry from all around us. It’s then that I realize we’re positioned in the center of the fleet.
We’re thrust forward, hundreds of hooves pound against stone in a split second. The wind bites at my face. Everything is happening so fast, and the visibility is too low to see much.
“Hold on to me,” Kalel growls in a low voice, unsheathing his sword and lifting it into the darkening sky. The blade reacts to him, thrumming with bright light before pulsing a strong magical wave of power that casts away all the fog surrounding us.
Instantly, I can see the hundreds of knights, racing on horseback toward an enormous bridge. A wall of sharp black rocks juts up around the entire kingdom on the other side of the steep drop-offs. It’s as if we are racing on ebony ice, shiny and slick like glass. I’ve never seen such a lifeless land before. I’ve never even heard of a place like this in our tomes that describe Faultore.
I’m so taken aback by the landscape and the battle cry of knights that I overlook movement to our left. My eyes snap in that direction when a flash of red whirls through the sky.
The blood drains from my face as three giant creatures swoop through the air, diving down toward the knights.What in the name of the gods are those?My eyes are dry from not blinking as I watch the creatures take out ten men at a time with a single swipe of their tails.
Shouting and chaos unfolds, but those who aren’t caught in the beasts’ radius remain charging straight ahead as ordered.
Wait, those are… “D-dragons?” I stammer, my voice nothing short of a rasp, torn from disuse.
“Yes, and they are here for you.” Kalel keeps his eyes ahead, clearly not worried about the big, red-scaled dragons that are tearing up the left side of his fleet.
Tessa.Isn’t she over there? I desperately search for her but can’t find her anywhere. Wait, did he say that the dragons are here for me?
“Why would they be here for me?” I ask, searching the other side of the group for Tessa or Nikolai.
“I’m assuming because the gods don’t want this union, and they will do whatever it takes to put a stop to it. We will be safe once we reach the city. The veil protects Devicit, even from the dragons.”
Why would the gods send such abhorrent creatures after us? It makes no sense. First, the wisp, now dragons? I reach for the necklace Korin gave me and clutch it tightly.
Screams erupt from ahead, banishing all thoughts from my mind and forcing my attention to the bridge. Four black dragons with skeleton markings on their scales blow turquoise fire over the stone, destroying everything and everyone who’d already made it to the bridge.
“Shit!” Kalel yells and urges his horse to go faster. “Stay clear of the bridge!” He relays to his knights, and they all shout their battle cries, moving away from the dragons’ reach and staying nearby Kalel’s horse, ready to push through the last of the trek to the gates.
My breath curls in my lungs as we ride straight toward the dragons. Their eyes are as red as the blood that spills over the drains from slain men. Fire crackles on both sides of the bridge beneath their feet.
Kalel brings his horse to a slow gallop. He lifts me by my waist and tosses me as gently as he can off to the side. Imiraculously land on my feet before crumpling down to my knees from the weakness in my limbs.
“Kalel! What are you doing?” I cry out after him. He ignores me and lifts his sword to the magical beasts.
