Page 72 of Taloned Heart

Guiding Lore up a rather large boulder, he tumbled into the hoard with her, sliding over the molten gold and realizing it didn’t matter. He would build another hoard. Perhaps something less metallic and easily melted. Someday he would have a collection of new items to be proud of. A new gathering of objects that brought him peace.

Because this no longer brought him any happiness at all.

Lore stood in the center of it, right where Beauty had tried to hide in her golden gown, and grinned. “It is as beautiful as I remember.”

“It is useless,” he grumbled, kicking a rather elaborate crown away. “And it will all fade someday. Just like the rest of me.”

“But not our legend. Not the elf and the dragon who changed the fate of this kingdom. The goddess and her dragon who tore her from the sky.” Lore’s lips twisted as she looked at him. “Now, we get to decide what legend the rest will be. Do you want to be the villain? Or the hero?”

His heart thudded in his chest and he knew what she was asking. Would he want anyone to remember this thusly? He didn’t know. He didn’t care how anyone remembered him as long as they remembered that he was devoted to her.

Abraxas shook his head. “Lady of Starlight, I care not for what anyone thinks of me but you.”

“Then let’s go meet with a rather evil woman and prove who the real villain is in our story. If they remember her as such, then we have won.”

Together, they climbed up the cliff’s edge that led to the small platform where Zander used to stand. Where Lore herself had sat after a bridal trial, holding what she wasn’t supposed to hold.

All these memories filled this place. This was where he had first met his dearest friends and those who would change the course of his life.

Together they slipped through the cold passageway with wind that whistled down from Zander’s personal quarters. And when they stood in front of the door, he pressed a finger to his lips and listened for anyone on the other side.

They were alone. No one stood in Zander’s bedroom, and that worked exactly as they had hoped it would.

They slipped through the shadows of the castle like they were born to it. Abraxas remembered all the hidden passageways that the servants still likely used, and he hid her to their advantage. No guards saw them. No one suspected that people were watching them from within the walls and through the eyes of paintings or tapestries.

And when they finally reached the Great Hall, he could hear Margaret’s soft voice speaking all too convincingly.

“We need to find them,” the Darkveil elf called out. “I know you do not see the value in it, but if Lorelei and her dragon are in this kingdom, then they need to be brought here. I will not tolerate any more of their meddling.”

“Understood.” The clacking sound that followed made him think the soldier had clicked his heels together. “I will find them.”

“You said that last time. Do I need to remind you what the threat is? That I will not tolerate any more failure.”

“No, my queen.”

Lore looked at him and mouthed, “Queen?”

Much had changed indeed. Wait until Zephyr heard that Margaret was calling herself queen now.

Abraxas gestured for Lore to walk into the room in front of him. He’d make sure no one attacked her from behind. And if they did, he would explode into a dragon and devour them all in an instant.

Not that she needed him to protect her. He did because it helped his ego, and she allowed him to do so because she knew he wanted to.

Lore slammed the doors open so hard they hit the walls and shuddered with the force of her anger. He waltzed into the room behind her, the same massive columns and pillars lining a long walkway all the way to a throne. With an elf draped over it as though she had been born to sit there.

“Margaret,” she called out. “I don’t think you need to threaten any more of the few elves that remain alive. I’m already here.”

He had the distinct pleasure of seeing the Darkveil elf’s face go pale before she controlled herself. “Lorelei.”

“In the flesh.”

“And your dragon has come with you, I see.” Margaret’s gaze turned to him, and he felt as though she were trying to pull him apart with a single look. “I thought you had gone to the dragon isles to seek your end.”

“Clearly, I survived.” He swept into a low, mocking bow. “You have set yourself on a cursed throne, I see.”

A muscle jumped in her jaw as he watched, and then Margaret dismissed him. She didn’t want to talk about what she’d done, but ah, that was what they were here for.

“So the goddess returns to us,” Margaret called out. She swung her legs off the arm of the throne and stood, holding her arms wide as though she’d been waiting for Lore this entire time.

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