Black Crown (Darkest Drae, #3)(103)

I sighed and got to my feet then hobbled to the top of a black dune. Looking out over the endless desert, my gaze fell over the tents spattering the area beneath me. The bohemian material was strung out to provide shelter from the beating sun, but all in all, the Drae liked minimizing the layer between them and the twin moons, especially at night.

I didn’t blame them.

I scoured over the area, and my attention snagged on a lithe Drae as he pulled off his aketon.

He leaned over and returned to his effort, digging what appeared to be a massive hole in the ground. His tall frame was all lean muscle, and his skin, the color of Mum’s burnt sugar, smoothed when he stretched. Although currently, he dug through the sand and rock with his talons. Sweat glistened and beaded, rolling down his back, disappearing into the top of his black trousers.

He was perfection.

Having a good look? Tyrrik asked.

I grinned, not the slightest bit ashamed of being caught. Well, if you’re going to put on a show . . .

Tyrrik wiggled his hips slightly, and I snorted, his antics chasing away the last remnants of my bad dream—as he’d no doubt intended.

Same nightmare? he asked even though he already knew the answer.

Yep . . . I wish you would’ve moved me out of the sand.

I wish you would’ve walked another six feet to our tent before you lay down for a kip, Khosana. I don’t like when you go flying without me.

I winced. Is that why you didn’t wake me?

No. He brushed his hand over my face, wiping off the residual sand. I was focused on our cave.

What he meant was he hadn’t noticed I’d fallen asleep until the nightmare was almost over. Otherwise he would’ve done something to help me. I eyed the hole he was digging. There was a natural entrance to his old treasure cave two dunes over, but apparently that entrance wasn’t big enough. Probably because he knew I wanted a sapphire the size of a Drae. Yep, yep. Keep digging.

I flicked my gaze over the rest of our kind. All but two of the females in Draedyn’s harem were here as were five males Tyrrik had found in the emperor’s dungeon before blowing it up.

Draedyn had told me I was only meeting most of our family when I met the female Drae, and I’d never put two and two together—even after he told me the extinction of our species had never been his design. On some level, underneath all of the cruelty and depravity, he’d still possessed some loyalty to our kind. I was grateful for that, no matter what elitist belief his loyalty had stemmed from.

Three of the males found their mates in the group of female Drae and were making a shockingly rapid recovery. The other two males were coming along, just not as fast. Starvation and dehydration might not kill the Drae or Phaetyn, but it could still weaken us. I was grateful Tyrrik found them and they’d been strong enough to get out before the mountain blew.

All in all, we had the makings of a nice little family although I was finding my Drae kin were a bit more serious than I was accustomed. I was one hundred and ten percent certain all of them thought I was six short of a dozen, but I’d killed Draedyn, so they accepted my eccentricities even if many still kept their distance. We had time. Lots of it.

The area under the left side of my ribcage pained with a blossoming ache of loneliness. More and more, I missed my friends, human and Phaetyn alike.

I was the Most Powerful Drae. But after a year here in the realm of the Drae, I wasn’t sure what that meant.

Do you want to talk about it, my love? Tyrrik asked.

I tilted my head back to the sun and took a cleansing breath. I’m fine, I said, both to assure Tyrrik and because it was the truth. The battle just comes back to me at the weirdest times.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over the feeling of staring at my mate and believing him dead. Nor would I forget the anguished search and soul-crushing confirmation of his passing. I’d knelt at his side, despite the void I’d felt in Tyrrik and the panic in me, and scoured him for any hint of life that I could cling to and use to drag him back into being.

In another existence, whether in my head or a spiritual realm only mates could access, I’d found an onyx wisp of life, or maybe it found me. I’d latched onto that strand—not knowing if it was real—and I’d refused to let go. I’d poured everything into my mate, even more than when I’d obliterated Draedyn, for Tyrrik’s life was more meaningful than even my own.

If he hadn’t come back, I’d still be there now—wherever there was—with him. I can’t believe I found the last trace of life in your little toe.

Everyone you tell that story to is aware you’re making it up.

I bit back a smile. When the scholars write our history, they’ll say little toe. Because that’s what happened.

Tyrrik continued his laborious digging. We won’t be in any history books. At least not that part.

No, we wouldn’t. Only a handful of people knew the truth.

To the rest of the realm, Tyrrik and I had died in each other’s arms. That was the decision Tyrrik and I had made, our hearts sick of the conflict, desperate to just be with each other. In the aftermath of the war, I’d known with single-minded surety I wanted a life with my mate. No more banquets, politics, platitudes, and discussions about what everyone else needed. Our duty was done; the realm was saved. We’d sacrificed so much, and now it was time for us.

A year ago, that decision felt so easy.