Page 35 of I Dream of Dragons
“You’re welcome.”
“I won’t be requiring your aid again, however. My power is returning and?—”
“You’ll be all powerful again. I see.”
He’s silent as we fly level for a while, circling over the arena… then spiral downward again.
Toward the palace.
“Hey.” I frown. “What are you doing?”
“I told you, I’ll fly you to the palace.”
“And I told you, not without the other contestants.”
“Jai wants you alive and knows you will die if you go after them, so no.”
“It’s not up to you.”
“What will you do to stop me?” he asks mildly. “Your magic is buried deep, as deep as I was buried when Jai died in the water just now.”
“He didn’t die. I saved him.”
“If you say so.”
Frustrated, I glance down at the surface of the arena, trying to locate any survivors. “Stop with the riddles, just…”
“It won’t be the first time he died, if it’s any consolation.”
“Consolation? No, it’s not.”
“And it wasn’t a riddle. I speak plainly.”
“Sure you do.” I unlace my arms from around his waist. The water shimmers below, studded with the white towers bobbing on its surface. “Here are some plain words for you, too: if you won’t look for the survivors, I’ll jump.”
He flinches. I feel his body jerk against mine. “You will do no such thing. You know I will stop you if you try.”
“With the weak tendrils of shadows you can command at this moment? Because Jai cares about me?”
“And because the king does, too, and I serve the king as long as he serves me.”
I freeze. “Phaethon?—”
With what sounds like a mumbled curse, he digs his knees into the sides of the drak and leans forward, pulsing with power. It’s all I can do to throw my arms around him once more and hold on for dear life as the drak turns around and dives down.
Toward the top of the platform.
CHAPTER TWELVE
RAE
The drak slices through the air until it slams down on top of the platform with a deafening crash, then skids. We spin, with me clutching at Jai like a starfish on a clam, until we plough into a cluster of rocks.
The impact breaks my desperate hold and I scream as I fly off the drak—but shadows rush, grabbing me and ramming me back into the saddle.
I wrap myself around Phaethon’s back once more, shaking like a leaf.Oh Gods…We’re still spinning.
The drak lets out a plaintive scream, squirming, as we finally come to a stop.
