Page 137 of Courting the Dragon Prince
Onyx rested his head against Luther’s. “I don’t want to be angry with you or blame you for things that happened during the war. I’m sorry for what I said,” Onyx said softly. “I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad I met you, married you, and fell in love with you.”
Luther let out a breath, allowing Onyx’s words to wash over him and warm his entire being. He clutched at Onyx.
“It’s such a mess. It’s all such a fucking mess.” Onyx sighed. “We are making peace with the enemy. We literally were trying to kill each other not that long ago. And now … here we are.”
Luther wished he could look into Onyx’s face once more before he died. “Now here we are, married, in love, buried beneath stone, and about to run out of air and die.”
“No.” Onyx squeezed him. “We aren’t defeated yet.”
Luther huffed. “I had no idea you were such an optimist. I thought we were resolving our issues before we died in each other’s arms.”
“I mean, I can get this stone off us. I can get us free. Earth elemental, remember?” Onyx released Luther.
“Oh.” Somehow Luther had completely forgotten in his panic. “Of course. Why haven’t you done that, then?”
“Well, my uncle and the others are still out there. I have no idea what Warden Flint is doing. He won’t be able to tell if we are alive or dead under here. At some point, I assume he’ll start trying to dig us up to find out. So we should make a move soon.” Onyx paused. “I have a plan. It’s not a good one. But …” Onyx trailed off.
“A bad plan is better than no plan,” Luther said. “Let’s hear it.”
“How’s your leg?” Onyx asked. “Is it bleeding badly?”
“It hurts. A lot. I’m pretty sure the bone is broken,” Luther said. “I can’t walk or stand. But I don’t think the skin actually broke that much. So I don’t think I’ll bleed to death, at least.”
“That’s something,” Onyx said. “Can you fly on a broken leg?”
“I don’t need my legs to fly. Just my wings.” Although, Luther knew he wasn’t supposed to shift with a broken bone. “But I still can’t shift. Shackles. Remember?” Luther lifted and shook his manacled wrists. The chain rattled.
Onyx didn’t answer him. “What about with broken wrists or hands? Do you need your hands for flying?”
“Nooo,” Luther said, drawing the word out. “Onyx, what are you planning? Are you going to cut my hands off?”
Luther paused. “I guess cutting off my hands is actually not the worst idea. Losing two hands to get the shackles off is better than dying here. Although, I’d probably bleed to death. How are you going to cut my hands off anyway?”
Luther glanced around in the darkness. Of course, he could still see nothing. “Is the dagger in here? I had one of them when I was running but dropped it when they hit me with the rock.”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see it before the rock avalanche.” Onyx shuffled around. His fingers touched Luther’s. “But that isn’t my plan.” Onyx held Luther’s hands. “However, since you seem open to getting your hands cut off, you’ll hopefully be open to my plan.”
“The uncertainty in your voice does not make me feel confident.”
Onyx let out a breathy laugh. “That’s fair. To be honest, I’m not feeling particularly confident.”
Luther held his breath, waiting for Onyx to continue. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes in the darkness to no avail.
“I can try and break these cuffs off using my power,” Onyx said.
Luther frowned. “Can you control metal?”
“I can’t. But I plan to try and smash the shackles with rocks,” Onyx explained. “Using force, I can bring down a stone onto the shackles. But I might injure you in the process.”
Onyx rubbed the skin of Luther’s wrist beneath the shackles. “As I’ve told you, I’ve never been that precise with my power. I’m a brute-force type of earth elemental. So I might use too much force and bring the rock down too hard. I could end up crushing your wrists.”
Luther blew out slowly. “Well, if I’m going to be visiting a healer for my leg, why not get my smashed-up wrists fixed at the same time?” Luther gave a weak laugh.
“I’ll try my hardest not to harm you. Obviously. But honestly, my strength lies in just smashing with rocks at full force.”
Luther flinched, imagining the full force of Onyx’s power pulverising his wrists.
“I’m sorry,” Onyx said softly.
