Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(60)

But nothing happened.

I opened one eye, glancing around at the luminescent mold once more, disappointed to see my human hands. Why couldn’t I shift? I tried again, grinding my teeth as if pure effort could force my dragon.

But nothing happened.

Had the guys enchanted me to make sure I couldn’t shift? Was that part of the test?

“You’re a bunch of assholes, and I’m going to make you pay,” I sing-songed. But the words seemed to echo through the vast, empty tunnels, and I regretted ever speaking.

My heart was pounding. As a dragon, I wouldn’t have been terrified of these tunnels. But now I’d have to face my fears.

I just had to make sure I could find my way back to these doors. I ripped my shirt over my head, pulled my knife from my boot, and nicked the hem. I unraveled a line of thread, then began to pull it loose. I found a heavy, slightly slimy rock and wrinkled my nose as I carried it awkwardly back to the door.

I trapped one end of the thread under the rock, then carried the shirt with me, leaving a trail of thread.

As I slowly explored the labyrinth, I used the noise of water trickling to tell when I was further or closer away from the doors. Was there some way to unlock the doors? They seemed totally smooth from the inside, nothing but cold steel under my palms. But there had to be a way out.

Maybe this was just a hazing ritual, but I had a feeling with everything with the dragons was an intense, competitive game. There had to be a way to beat them. Even if it was a narrow chance and even if it was unfair. Dragons seemed to specialize in unfair. I began to search for ways to escape.

Then I tripped over the pile of bones.

These weren’t small bones either. And there was still a lot of meat attached to them. Something had been killed in this tunnel, and recently.

My heart froze.

A shuffling, snorting sound seemed to echo from down the tunnel.





Jaik



I didn’t exactly feel sorry for Lucien Finn, but I did wonder if he was ready for the test we were putting him through. We’d all had our night in the dark labyrinth after we found out we were dragon shifters, but it had happened so suddenly for him, and he was scrambling to catch up.

Despite the low opinion I had of him based on what he’d done to Alina, I had to admit that he’d shown a lot of grit and determination lately. I’d expected him to quit and run, to make sure he could never be dragged back to Joachim’s dungeon. Branok and Lynx still hoped that he would.

Well, one night in the cold stone labyrinth wouldn’t kill him. The worst case scenario was that he failed to find his way out, and he’d be humiliated in the morning when we let him free. He’d have a sleepless night, and be ill prepared for another day at the academy, which probably wouldn’t make a huge difference in his performance.

Instead, my thoughts turned to Honor. I really wanted to see Honor instead of going to this stupid engagement party. But Henrick was a powerful noble in our world, and since my father had given his permission to Henrick to marry, my father had told me to go in his stead.

It was easier to humor my father than to have him realize just how rebellious the younger dragons truly were. We were going to save that for a fun surprise in the future.

I longed to prove to Honor I didn’t find her boring. I would never let any of the other guys do what I was doing now. There was no future with Honor.

And yet, even though I usually denied myself and focused on whatever I needed to for the good of the others, or the good of our country, I didn’t have it in me to deny myself Honor.

I hadn’t been kidding when I said she was addictive to me. Her long red hair, the mischievous shine in her eyes, her soft lips, her leanly muscled body that hid so much strength. Oh and the beautiful sounds that had come out of her mouth, the way she’d moaned my name, the way she looked at me with a flash of admiration for just a second, breaking through her usual sarcasm and distance. I was getting hard in these moldy tunnels just thinking about her.

We climbed the stairs back to the basement.

“See you at the party,” I told them. “My father asked me to meet him for dinner.”

“Asked?” Talisyn arched an eyebrow.

“Well, ordered. He always orders.”

“You learned from the best,” Talisyn said lightly, and I ignored him, even though he had to know how much that grated me. I didn’t want to be anything like Pend Deragon.

I could have taken the tunnels to the castle, but instead I jogged down the long stairs that wound down the mountain from the academy to the street below. The breeze carried the scent of salt coming off the ocean, and the sun was sinking behind the academy, lighting the spires golden. People passing by greeted me respectfully. It was always strange to think that across the sea, other royals needed bodyguards; here, the nobility were the most dangerous shifters to walk the streets. That simply seemed right to me. How else could we lead?

Of course there was more security as I headed up the marble stairs of the palace, but I barely saw anyone as servants opened doors for me. Security watched unseen from the shadows. The palace was only a block away from my father’s precious academy, and yet I never came here. I preferred the dorm over the opulent house.

I didn’t care if I ever inherited the castle. It was supposed to be my brother’s before he fell from grace; maybe I would give it to him after I inherited it. It meant nothing to me.