“Well, she is the opposite. She is the harbinger of death. Of pain. Of destruction. He can’t cure the armies she can fell. No one can. The few who knew what she was as a girl, who sold her information, are dead. I killed them myself—”
“Goddess tickle my pecker, and here I thought you were sweet and innocent,” I said in surprise with my hand pressed to my chest. “Fuck me, but you are good at deceiving.”
“Those who knew of her…animal are also dead,” she continued, mostly talking to Vemar now. “She had that privilege. Right now, she is a ghost. Better yet, she is a useless faerie to all but me. There are only four people in this world who know for certain what she is and that she is still alive, and they are standing within this bubble.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I held up my hand as Vemar shifted his stance, ready to strike or shift. He’d apparently taken that as a threat. “First, let me get something straight.” I pointed right at her face. “You weren’t actually spying for your king in Wyvern, you were spying for yourself?”
She blinked at me in utter confusion, just long enough for Vemar to snatch Calia by the throat, reel her in, and spin her around. He wrapped his arm around her neck in a chokehold and yanked her off the ground.
“You have to meet my eyes, basilisk,” he said with his eyes closed, not at all troubled about Calia whipping her legs and scratching at him, trying to escape. “Before you shift or bite, she’ll be dead. Let’s talk about this.”
Dessia stared at him for a very long moment before sliding her gaze my way. Her eyes had turned a nerve-racking shade of red.
I lifted my eyebrows and my hands.
“Can you really blame the guy, though?” I asked in my most disarming voice. “She threatened him. That was a threat. You’ve been inappropriately spying for long enough to know how dragons react to threats.”
“It did sound like that, yes.” Dessia nodded, then turned to the dragon. “Vemar, easy. She won’t kill you. I won’t kill you. Let Calia down so she can explain. She handles the maneuvering.”
Vemar looked between Dessia and me before lowering Calia until her feet touched the ground. He loosened his hold, and she sucked in a deep breath, holding on to his corded forearm. But he didn’t let her go.
“I think that’s good enough.” I winked at Dessia. “That’s good, right? Let’s go with that. He’s touchy about the threat thing. Dragon, remember? He’ll loosen up when she tells him the plan. You do have a plan, right? Because I’m also a little nervous about the threat.”
“It wasn’t a threat,” Calia said with a red face, sucking in breath. “She shouldn’t have told you, Hadriel. We fought about it after the fact. But she did, and Vemar overheard. Fine. There are four of us right now who know what she is. I ask that we keep this quiet until after the summit. Please. Once they hear that the legendary phoenix again walks the magical world, they’ll know a basilisk must also exist. And then the search will be on. Rumors will start. Various little threads of knowledge we’ve left behind without realizing it will surface. Eventually, they will find her.”
“Well, then who is her savior?” I asked. “Hannon has one, so who is hers? The king, right? You’re in good with him. Tell him.”
Vemar released Calia, giving her a small shove to force her to step away.
“Basilisks don’t have a savior,” he said, dropping his hands. “Basilisks, in all the stories, are the villains. They are the ones to defeat.”
Now it all made sense. She’d be used, or she’d be killed. Her story was never meant to have a happy ending.
“Fuck,” I said on a release of breath.
“Now you see,” Calia said. “Finally.”
“Let’s not get hurtful.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “So what are you asking of us? Obviously you know that Vemar won’t be keeping this a secret forever.”
“I’ll tell you what you should propose,” Vemar said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You should propose that we all go straight to the king and queen of Wyvern and come clean. Dessia can’t help what she is, and we all know what it’s like to be used. They’ll protect Hannon, and to keep him safe, they’ll have to protect Dessia, too. And they will, because they won’t fear you. The golden dragon king would rather die than bow down to the pain you could inflict on him. If you’re looking for safety, you should be looking his way. And if no one here knows you’re important, then they won’t stop you from leaving this kingdom.”
“They’ll care if I leave,” Calia said.
Vemar slowly swung his dark eyes her way. “I wasn’t inviting you. Finley’s going to be mad as hell that you lied about what you were doing in the kingdom not once, but twice. She’s the forgiving sort…kinda, but everyone has their limits.”