Page 76 of Trial of Bronze and Blood
She clears her throat. “What happened to the burns?”
“The plumeria ashes. You were brought here with them covering your hands and forearms. That’s all I know.”
Her voice trembles with her next words. “How could you not tell me the Durevolians have a Viverna?”
He would laugh at her presumption, but anger overtakes him: anger at her for going off on her own last night, anger at himself being the reason she got into this situation in the first place.
“And how could you let yourself be ensnared by the Tredici magic?”
Dru’s gaze snaps to his, the gold in her eyes sparking.
“I didn’tletmyself be ensnared.” Venom spikes her words. “I had no choice in it. So, I ask again: Why did you not tell me the Durevolians had a dragon?”
Breathing out through his nostrils, he nearly lies to her again.I’m already keeping so much from her. And this secret has already been spoiled.
“As far as I’m aware, the Viverna you met in the cave is the last one in existence. He’s so sacred to the Durevolians, only the Tredici keep him now, protecting his very existence with their magic.”
She leans against the alcove of his balcony, listening in silence.
“At one time, all Viverna came from Anziano,” he continues. “But many sought to use them as weapons, to chain them rather than allow them to roam free. And when the Viverna fought back, they were slaughtered. The Viverna you met last night was the last dragon egg found in the last female’s clutch.”
Confusion mars her expression, like she’s trying to gather the bits she remembers from her studies. “Why didn’t it kill me?”
Emotion constricts his throat, and he swallows. “I don’t know. Dragons’ fire is poisonous; it would’ve killed you if they hadn’t healed you right away.”
She barks out a humorless laugh. “But dragons aren’t real, Marcus—they’re monsters of legend meant to scare Phaedran children at night. No.” She shakes her head. “I must’ve dreamt it.”
Stubborn woman.“What other explanation could there be?”
“I don’t know.” She presses an ashen hand to her forehead. “I was inebriated and upset, and I can’t trust my own mind.”
Upset because of me.
He gestures to her arms. “Then how do you explain the ashes?”
She glances up at the lightening sky. “I can’t.”
The silence grows between them. He watches her, hair tucked behind her ears, the skin beneath her eyes puffy.
“What price did I pay?” Dru whispers.
“Why do you think there’s a price?”
“Because this world doesn’t give something without taking anything in return.”
Acceptance of whatever fate she believes the healing ashes bestowed upon her flashes across her face. She’s stronger than he would be in this moment.
“None that I know of.”
Her shoulders loosen a fraction. “And you? What did all this take from you?”
My strength. And my sense of safety for you on this island slipping away with each passing day.
“The high priestess claimed the ashes are merely a conduit, that the magic needs a life force to pull from.”
Shock widens her gaze. “And you agreed?”
He would’ve agreed to so much more—even taken on the dragons’ fire himself— ifit meant Dru lived.
