Page 18 of Taloned Heart

And now he had to figure out how to get them through Tenebrous without anyone realizing who was walking among them. It wouldn’t be easy. Lore had grown up here, and there were a lot of magical creatures who would recognize her face. That meant he had to keep her hidden, and of course she wanted to walk through the city at the very peak of daylight.

“Absolutely not,” he snarled. “You are going to be recognized the moment we walk through those gates. You are too familiar to these people, Lore! If you are not careful, you’ll have Margaret coming down here riding a broom like a witch out of a children’s story.”

Lore snorted. “Witches don’t ride brooms.”

“They do if they want to cut the head off their rival, let me make that very clear.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood in front of her as a physical barrier between her and the people beyond. “We have to be smart about this, Lore. If we aren’t, then we’ll end up in a very difficult position. Beauty is in there, yes. And that means there are others who could use our help, I’m certain of it. But we do it my way, or I throw you over my shoulder and we go back to the dragon isles.”

She glared up at him with so much fire in her eyes, it made him catch his breath. “I could make you do whatever I want you to do, you know. You aren’t stronger than me anymore.”

“I’m physically stronger than you, and I think even your power would have a hard time controlling a dragon.” He hoped, at least. He felt confident she wouldn’t use her magic on him without him wanting her to. It just wasn’t in Lore to do so.

But considering the look in her eyes, he thought maybe he was wrong.

Sighing, Abraxas uncrossed his arms and tugged her into his heart. “Hush, Lore. A day won’t change anything.”

“What if Margaret knows we’re here, and she’s hunting down Beauty?” she muttered into his chest. “We could already be too late.”

“You can’t save everyone. And Beauty is much more sly than that.” He’d always found that the human girl had been able to startle him. And he was a dragon.

He’d never forget the way she had manipulated them all into thinking she was just a goofy potential wife who never should have been sent into the king’s bridal event. But she’d stepped in front of an arrow for the king, knowing that it wasn’t the right time for him to be killed. She’d secretly been working with the rebellion the entire time, as well. Margaret wouldn’t kill such a loyal person.

At least, he hoped she wouldn’t.

He felt Lore nod against him. “Fine. We’ll wait until nightfall.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. And you’ll sleep while we wait for the darkness, yes?”

Another small nod. He dragged her off to make sure they had a safe place to rest, which ended up being little more than a discarded pile of hay against the walls of Tenebrous. But they’d slept in worse than moldy hay. And she slept hard.

He held her against his side as he listened to the sound of her breath. Abraxas had taken to counting each inhalation. The sound meant she was alive and well and still with him. Even if he didn’t trust that sometimes.

The sun set on the horizon and still he waited. He gave her as much time to sleep as he could before gently shaking her awake.

“Lore,” he said, hovering his hand over her mouth in case he needed to keep her quiet. “It’s time to go.”

She woke in a rush. Her eyes snapped open and her heart raced against his side. But she locked her gaze on him without a single question of what was happening or who he was. She always woke like that these days. As though she’d never been asleep.

Sitting up, he watched as she shook herself out and prepared for their entrance to Tenebrous. At least now he could pull her hood up over her head and the shadows covered almost all of her face. All he could see was the point of her chin and the pretty pink bow of her lips.

He couldn’t help himself. Abraxas stole a kiss before he nodded toward the city. “Let’s go.”

“We’ll need an excuse for being there.”

“Trade.”

“What are we trading?” Her voice sparkled with laughter. “We don’t have a cart.”

He had no idea, but they’d come up with something. In the end, they didn’t have to. The guards took one look at his massive bulk and her flash of a pointed ear and let them straight through.

That had changed.

But many things had changed since they’d first come here. Abraxas could see that. The rickety homes that had once made him wince with their strange architecture were now split into two very different kinds. The ones that were still standing, and the ones that had been torn down.

It took him a while to understand what had happened. After all, he’d seen Tenebrous at its worst. The very foundations of these homes were ready to break apart at the slightest wind. And if there had been any kind of battle here? All the houses would fall at the slightest rumble.

But that didn’t appear to be what had happened here. Some houses were fine. Others? They were in complete and utter ruin. The ones right next to each other as well, and that made little sense. If one house had fallen, it should have taken others with it. Not simply shattered, like a spell had been cast to hit it.

Once they stood in front of Beauty’s father’s manor, the one he’d only seen from afar, he realized what had happened.

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