“All right,” Beryl said.
“All right?” I gaped at the queen.
That smile hadn’t disappeared yet. Beryl’s brows rose. She lifted her chin in Bri’s direction.
“Leave the other dragon here with me. I have no desire to keep her the way I keep the stormrider. I only wish to bask in her company for a while. Will you give me that, at the very least?”
I eyed Beryl, but she kept an unreadable smile on her lips. I didn’t dare look into the voids of her eyes for fear of falling into them.
Bri pushed past me and nodded. “I can do that.”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “You don’t have…”
Bri cut me off by putting a reassuring hand over mine. “It’s all right. I don’t mind. This lady seems nice. I don’t mind keeping her company.”
I clenched my jaw. I should have left Bri in the car. Ryder was going to kill me for this. My head spun with thoughts better left unsaid. My jealousy spiraled out of control. It told me that maybe Beryl would do me a favor and open a place for me in Ryder’s life by taking Bri out of it.
I shook off the cruel thought. There was no room for it in my life. Ryder didn’t belong to me. He and I had nothing other than this bond we could not break. At this point, I suspected the bond was a consequence of my lies. I rubbed the back of my hand where the lightning mark had been. It no longer flared with light, but I could tell it was there, nonetheless.
Because I’d failed to tell Ryder that I didn’t know how to help him, Fate thought it would be funny to bind me to him so that I would eventually have to figure it out.
I cast one last glance in Bri’s direction. If she was afraid of Beryl, I couldn’t tell. Bri’s composure was immaculate. She kept her expression friendly as she addressed Beryl. I couldn’t even see a hint of a tremor in her hands.
Maybe the dragon woman feared nothing. Sometimes, I thought being a dragon must be nice. It was bad enough that I was a hound surrounded by wolves. Now, the dragons had to come and remind me just how small I was compared to the rest of the supernatural community.
The pale, gaunt butler returned. He crooked his finger and led me away from Beryl’s couch. I didn’t look back this time. My heart thumped nervously, pumping icy fear into my veins. I checked in every direction but couldn’t find a hint of Ryder anywhere, not even a faint trace of his scent.
Led away from the open cavern, my eyes had to adjust to the darkness of the winding tunnels. I tried not to think about how much earth hovered over my head or how it could come crashing down and smother me. Beryl’s underground fae court had a nice, built-in fail safe. All she had to do was collapse the ceiling to destroy her enemies.
My skin crawled just thinking about such an uncomfortable death. The butler stopped suddenly. I nearly ran into him but managed to stop before I slammed right into his bony shoulders. This close, however, I could smell the stink of death on him. It was a good reminder that though Beryl was a fae queen, she led an Unseelie court. Her followers were the most twisted and unsettling denizens the fae realms had to offer.
And I’d just walked into a dark alley with one of them.
I backed up, nervous. My hound prepared herself for a fight. A growl rumbled in my chest. The storm that followed me would not be able to find me down here, under the earth. No lightning would touch down here. The same went for Ryder, too.
Down here, he was separated from the skies that his dragon called home. My heart fumbled as I thought of him trapped down here by himself. The halls felt too small, even for me. I couldn’t imagine how cramped and trapped Ryder must feel.
Rolling my shoulders back, I held my ground. I looked the butler in the eye and dared him to fight me. The presence that was my arcana unfolded itself and rose to caress my tongue. Though I was woefully inept with it, the new arcana allowed me to issue commands much the way an Alpha could.
But the butler didn’t attack. He reached out and ran one long, spindly finger down the wall. The earth shuddered and parted. Warm light spilled out of the room beyond it. I hesitated, barely a moment as I realized that the butler could easily close this door behind me. The sight of Ryder, sprawled out on a pile of pillows in front of a hearth, sent me rushing towards him.
I dropped to my knees and shook him. He didn’t wake. My breath hitched. Frantic, I fumbled for his pulse. I couldn’t find it, not at first. Then my fingertips felt the soft and steady beat of his heart. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
My hound rioted inside me. She slammed into my stomach and my lungs as if she were corporeal. My whole body turned against me.
“You’re going to be okay,” I whispered to Ryder.
He stirred at the sound of my voice, but only barely. As his eyes fluttered and closed, I caught a glimpse of gold in his irises.
I twisted, my jaw clenched when I glared at the butler. He paid me no mind.
“You fed him faery food,” I growled.
The butler continued to ignore me.
Ryder groaned. He snaked a fluid arm around me and pulled me tight to his chest before I could stop him. When he lowered his face into the crook of my neck and inhaled, my heart flipped excitedly. Ryder moaned deep in his throat. His splayed hand slid up my back before dipping dangerously low towards my ass.
I sprang out of his grasp even though the hound wanted me to lie down with him. Ryder growled and reached for me again. This time, he caught the front of my shirt and yanked me closer. He brushed his cheek along mine, our breaths mingling. I braced my hands against his chest but couldn’t bring myself to move.