The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)(65)

Before he could filter it, he thought of himself, cut off from everyone, trapped with only his dragon heart, a collar whose power was barely held in restraint by Lorelai’s, and the inability to share his thoughts with anyone at all if Lorelai blocked her mind from his.

She pressed her lips together, and drew in a deep breath, but he already knew what she was going to say before she said it. The truth was in the way her thoughts softened toward him. The compassion that unfurled in the midst of her weariness and grief.

He couldn’t ask it of her.

Yes. Block me. He forced himself to focus on the words. To be resolute and to bury every shred of longing for his final piece of connection with another person. That’s what I want.

You’re a terrible liar.

He laughed, though it wasn’t funny. He’d gone his entire life fooling everyone around him—with the possible exception of Brig—into thinking he was nothing but a charming daredevil who couldn’t take anything seriously, because it had been easier to take his father’s disappointment when Kol could tell himself he’d courted it on purpose. But there was no hiding from Lorelai. She’d already seen the worst he had to offer, and the longer they stayed connected, the more parts of himself he accidentally put on display.

You aren’t the only one who is uncomfortably vulnerable here. She sat up and braided her long hair with swift fingers. You can see me just as much as I can see you. If this is going to work—

It doesn’t have to work. Block me.

She rolled her eyes. If this is going to work, we need some ground rules.

Or you could just block me.

She stabbed a finger in his direction. Stop arguing with me. I’m not leaving you trapped inside yourself with no one to talk to.

His thoughts warmed toward this girl who kept surprising him at every turn with the size of her heart and the strength of her spirit.

You keep rescuing me.

Don’t let it go to your head. She gave him a crooked smile. I’m sure one of these days you’ll have the chance to rescue me instead.

I hope not. He got to his feet and offered her his hand. I hope you stay completely out of danger.

She took his hand, her palm sparking against his with the tingle of her magic, and rose to face him. Her dark eyes were steady.

Ground rules. No poking into each other’s thoughts on purpose. No digging deeper into things we accidentally show each other. And no dumb thoughts about kissing when we have so many other things to worry about. All right?

All right. He leaned away from her as his collar whispered to hurt, punish, kill, and the pain that lingered in the wake of Irina’s magic throbbed dully.

And you have to immediately show me if the pain gets worse, or if you start to lose control. She flexed her fingers and looked at his chest, now covered with a shirt borrowed from Gabril. Now, let’s go eat. I’m going to need my strength.

For the barrier in Eldr? He didn’t bother trying to hide how much her answer meant to him.

Yes. Her eyes were on his again as he held the tent flap open, letting in a gust of cold air and a peek at an indigo sky slowly fading to black.

And then do you have somewhere safe to go? Somewhere to hide from Irina? You can always go to Eldr if you want.

She lifted her chin. I’m not the one who needs somewhere safe to hide.

Images spun through her mind—a bridge collapsing into the water, communication towers toppling, and Irina clutching her heart as every spell she used against Lorelai’s onslaught weakened her further. His collar’s whispers skittered and screamed as the princess’s plan unfolded before him.

He met her gaze. You’re going after Irina.

Once Eldr is safe, yes.

Lorelai, what you’re planning . . . you’re going to war.

Her eyes were fierce. That’s right. I’m going to destroy her defenses, provoke her to use magic so that she grows weaker by the day, and then I’m returning to my castle, and I’m taking it back.

His dragon heart thundered, a vicious tempo that lit the fire in his chest. Irina tricked me.

Yes, she did.

She stole my human heart and trapped me with this collar.

Lorelai leaned close. Want to help me?

He bared his teeth in a smile every bit as fierce as hers. I thought you’d never ask.




TWENTY-SIX


IRINA CLENCHED HER mirror with a white-knuckled grip and glared at its surface. It was the morning of the seventh day after she’d flooded the Eldrian king with her magic, taken his human heart, and sent him, wild with rage and pain, back into the Falkrains to find and destroy the princess.

It had been a simple command. The strength of the collar’s painful spell combined with the viciousness of his dragon heart should have compelled him to obey her.

And yet he defied her.

She hadn’t been sure at first. She’d scryed the surface of her mirror several times a day, but she’d seen nothing useful. He’d been walking, sometimes crawling, sometimes hanging on to tree trunks as if he needed their help to stand.

Without allowing him to see her thoughts through the connection her magic had forged between them—something no one but Raz was ever allowed to do—she couldn’t be sure of his intent. She’d assumed he was hunting the princess, slowed by the injuries she’d inflicted.

The truth set her blood ablaze with rage.

She stared at the mirror’s surface, her teeth clenched so hard that little shocks of pain reverberated up her jaw as the swirling clouds of the mirror’s surface parted to reveal the princess walking through a forest of hornbeam trees with the king by her side.