Page 107 of The Death King
“I propositioned him for a week, and he was too stubborn to listen. But you just changed his mind?”
“I probably wouldn’t have succeeded without that groundwork. He admitted that spending all this time alone was no way to live, so I think he became introspective after your conversation.” I stopped where our campfire had been, the burned logs and rocks in the center of the clearing.
“I’m still surprised. But I guess I shouldn’t be.” He looked at me, a long and hard look, his eyes so focused, it was like he could see through me. “The moment I saw you in the Arid Sands, I knew you were different.”
The look was too much, so I looked at the fire.
But he continued to stare.
“What now?” I wanted to change the subject because of the sweltering guilt. If I hadn’t told Inferno my secret, I wasn’t sure we would have connected so profoundly. His words sat in the back of my mind, and it felt like they had a hard grip on my throat.
“It’s late.” Talon looked up at the sky, but there was no brilliant sunset. It was just gray. “It’ll be dark soon. We’ll camp tonight then return to the castle in the morning. Only one more night and we’ll be home.”
Home. I hadn’t had one of those in ten years. “Yeah.”
“Make a fire. I’ll handle the tent. The dragons can hunt.”
“Alright.”
We separated in our tasks, and I worked to get the campfire lit. It was harder this time because the wood had turned damp from the moisture in the air. I had to replace them with newer logs, low-hanging branches I cut from trees that stayed dry since they didn’t touch the ground. I got the fire going, and it immediately lit the clearing.
It made it easier for Talon to build the tent.
I sat on the log and waited, listening to the sound of the fire and the silence. Sharing my secret out loud somehow made it truer than it’d been before. I’d never spoken it to a living soul, and now Inferno knew my truth.
When Talon finished with the tent, he sat on the log across from me. “How do you feel?”
The palpitations started.
“Now that you’ve fused.”
“Oh…” I’d been dreading this interaction so much, I hadn’t considered it. “I feel the same. But I guess my body feels lighter, the armor isn’t so heavy. Or I’ve just gotten used to it. I’m not as cold—that’s definitely true.”
“It’s because fire burns in your blood now. That’s why I don’t get cold the way others do.”
“I guess I don’t have to worry about hypothermia anymore.”
“You shouldn’t need as much rest either.”
“That’ll be nice too.”
The conversation died. Talon continued to stare at me.
I kept my eyes on the fire.
“Is there something wrong?”
My eyes immediately flicked to his.
“You seem off.”
“It was all a whirlwind, and I guess I’m overwhelmed.” I lied through my teeth. Lied to throw him off my scent. I needed a moment to myself, a moment to gather my thoughts and bury them…alive.
He seemed to buy it because he looked at the fire again.
“So, what’s the next part of the plan?” I asked. “You said you believed there were dragons in these lands. How do we find them?”
He looked at me before he stared at the fire again. “I’ve been looking for these dragons ever since I came to these lands. I believe they’re here, but I don’t know how to find them. They’re very well hidden.”