Page 38 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
“Where’s Maelena?” I rasp, my stomach twisting in answer.
Erax wouldn’t have left her here. He’d burn the kingdom to the ground before he let that happen. But maybe… maybe she escaped first.
“Gone,” Nymala says. “With the Dragon King. He knocked her out, too. But something tells me she’ll put up one heck of a fight when she comes to.”
A hiss escapes through my teeth. I never wanted this for her.
Nymala watches me with a faint smile on her face. “I warned you that you and your brother would fuck this up,” she adds breezily, stepping over a broken sconce. “And look! You’ve managed it quite spectacularly. The only way this could be any worse is if your dragon bonded to the king instead of you.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“Oh, I fully intend to. Once I save both our asses from being incinerated. You’re welcome, by the way.”
She grabs my wrist and yanks me down the hall. I’m too weak to fight her, and the little witch knows it. My dragon, Sakaris, isn’t happy with me, and she isn’t listening. I know asking her to come here and fight for me won’t happen. I hoped, with time, she would forgive me. She believes I betrayed my own kind.
I let Nymala guide me through the corridors, filling up with smoke. It reminds me of the night we invaded Maelena’s palace and destroyed her home. Now it’s my turn to lose everything. The gods are really fucking with me now.
“What happened to Loch?” I ask, following close behind her.
She doesn’t look back. “I don’t know. I was with him at the gates when Erax arrived. When I saw him heading for Maelena’s chamber, I followed him, but by the time I arrived, he was already gone. And you—you were unconscious on the floor, groaning like a baby.”
“Fuck off.”
She laughs at that. In all the years Nymala has been my prisoner, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh. I hate that Iknow that. Hate more that I’ve missed her laugh. Why did she have to go fuck everything up? We could’ve had something if she didn’t become my father’s mistress that day. She could’ve beenmine.
Shit, I must’ve lost a lot of blood to be thinking like this.
“Let’s get one thing clear,” I say, sharpening my voice as best as I can. “You’re still my prisoner for what you did. No matter what happens today, I still own you.”
Until her debt is paid. One hundred years for the life of my father. She still has decades to go.
She stops and looks around the corridor with a smile on her face.
“I think you’ll find, my lord, you don’t own anything anymore. Not even me.”
Before I can say anything, she keeps walking. I stare at her back for a moment, the ground tilting under me again, before forcing myself to follow. She really believes she’s free now, doesn’t she? If the little witch thinks I’m letting her off so soon after killing my father, she’s as daft as my brother.
I don’t forgive easily. And I am rarely merciful.
We move through the smoke-filled hallways as fast as we can, Nymala using her magic to clear the air.
The silence is deafening. Either everyone has died or they’ve been evacuated. We pass no one on the way to the ground floor. Not even when we reach the hidden alcove near the library.
My father built the passages in case we ever needed to escape. They’ve never been used until now. It’s a shame the library has most likely been destroyed. Hopefully, some of the books will survive.
We weave a path through the rubble, careful of the falling stones. I cough up more blood again, but I don’t stop. Guided by the amber light cast from Nymala’s hand, we move as quickly as we can. It’s only once we’re inside the safety of the tunnels do Ilet myself breathe for a moment. I lean against the wall. Water drips somewhere overhead.
“This place smells like rot,” I mutter.
“It’s your home,” Nymala says.
I wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “You have a real gift for comfort.”
“You have a real gift for nearly dying. Let’s go.”
The tunnel narrows. We move single-file. Somewhere behind us, a distant boom echoes through the stone.
“The library,” I say quietly. Why is Erax still attacking? He got what he wanted.
