Page 35 of Claimed By the Sinful Dragon
Stop lying to yourself.
I’m not ly—
I silenced the thought with a shake of my head, and stalked from the room, making for the front door. For the first time in my existence, I wished there was some way to separate myself from my dragon’s soul, his incessant opinions.
You couldn’t fly without me.
He wasn’t wrong, and right now that was exactly what I wanted: to fly. In silence. I shucked my human form as soon as my feet touched grass, and launched myself into the sky, letting the darkness embrace me.
My dragon was grating on me like he never had before, not even after he had first become verbal—a rarity in my kind. And did I ever envy the others, not that I would ever let that on to them. Any sign of weakness, and even Gaheris would turn on me, seizing my lands for himself. There was a reason I chose a solitary existence. Dragons were warlike by our nature, butsomething had changed in me after the war. I would never run from a fight, never back down to an aggressor, but I no longer had the same urge to find trouble, to attack when I saw weakness.
We’re getting old,my dragon said wryly.
I snorted in amusement, sending puffs of smoke around us.
We’re immortal,I pointed out. Or close to it, at least. Not indestructible, but when we fell—and I had no doubt that one day we would—it wouldn’t be age that killed us.
I soared around my castle, high enough above the earth that it was a dot on the landscape below. My powerful wings let me slice through the night sky, soaring in near silence between beats. This could not go on. I couldn’t be at war with one half of myself. It’d drive me mad.
You are already.
If I am, you are, too,I retorted, and then, mentally shrugging off the probable truth of his words, I added,We need to make peace with each other.
We need to make peace with Kaylee.
The girl. Always the girl. I never should have claimed her as my Tribute.
I disagree.
Which is exactly my point,I ground out mentally.
He fell blissfully silent at that, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I flew. I had to find my focus. My territory was at risk from invaders, my way of life at risk from the rebels in the east, and my very existence at risk if another war broke out. And yet all I could think of was one mouthy shifter girl.Perhaps the best—safest—thing to do was send her away. Free myself from distraction at a time I could absolutely not afford to be distracted. It wasn’t just for my own benefit. She might have been born a shifter, but without an animal, she was not much less vulnerable than any human. Her heritage did nothing but put a target on her back, and her presence did nothing but cause me irritation. Not to mention creating a rift between me and my inner beast, something we could ill afford if we had to fight.
No. Safer—better—for everyone if I found some way to be rid of her.
Things were better before she came, and they would be again once she was gone. I just had to find a way to dispose of her without arousing suspicion—or my dragon’s ire.
Chapter 18
Kaylee
It was chasingme, and no matter how fast I moved, it just kept on gaining. The forest around me blurred into streaks of black and green. My lungs burned and legs screaming, but I couldn't stop. I could feel its presence like heat against my back, hear the rush of something massive cutting through the air above me. I stumbled, catching myself against a tree that felt too warm under my palms. When I looked back, golden eyes stared at me from the darkness.
I screamed, and—
“Kaylee. Wake up.”
I opened my eyes and rolled onto my side to find myself staring at an agitated Rook. This was becoming a bad habit. At least this time he was fully clothed. I offered him a shy, grateful smile.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this. People might get the wrong impression, you coming into my room all the time.”
It was the wrong thing to say. I wasn’t sure why, but it clearly was: his eyes darkened, and his lips pressed into a scowl.
“Um, sorry.” I ducked my eye, not quite sure what I was apologizing for, but I was too damn tired, and too shaken by the nightmare to be up for a fight with him.
“You wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving outside these walls,” he grunted, and I could hear the derision in his voice. I couldn’t keep from jerking my head up, and then I wished I had, because the disgust there was more than I could bear right now.
“Excuse me?”
