Page 76 of The Dragon Queen

“Why didn’t he tell us?” Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Khazmuda began to cry too, tears the size of boulders in the corners of his eyes.

“He wanted to spare you the pain of his misery.” She looked at Khazmuda again. “You said that you could still feel him, Khazmuda. That it feels like someone is trying to rip your insides from your body.”

He blinked, and that was when the tears rolled down his snout.Yes.

“I suspect that Bahamut is trying to harvest Talon’s soul, but the bond between you is too powerful. For as long as Talon’s soul remains fused to yours, it can’t be taken. The strength of your love is what keeps him free.”

I looked at Khazmuda, seeing the only being who could understand the depth of my despair.

“Bahamut’s attempts will not cease,” Queen Eldinar said. “He will continue until he has Talon’s soul in his grasp.”

He can try all he wants—I will not yield.Khazmuda halted his tears and straightened.The harder he pulls, the harder I fight.

“Why are you telling us this?” I asked. “Because he’s right. We’re better off not knowing.” I could barely breathe, knowing he was a prisoner in the underworld, condemned to suffer for all eternity. Even if he’d made that choice freely and without manipulation, it killed me. It killed me because I would never see him again, not even in Caelum.

Queen Eldinar turned her blue eyes on me. “Because there’s a chance we can save him…”

Chapter 20

Talon

I was sent to do Bahamut’s bidding, shit that made me sick to my stomach. He did it on purpose too, knowing how it would torture my mind, body, and soul. My job was to take the soul of an innocent child because his mother had made the grave mistake of praying to Bahamut rather than Riviana, for forsaking the god of life and embracing the god of death. Like me, she didn’t understand the cost until it was too late to make amends.

And it killed me.

I returned to the little corner in the castle that had no visitors and sobbed, hating myself for what I’d done, but also granting myself grace because I truly didn’t have a choice in the matter. If I resisted, Bahamut’s magic took hold on my body and forced me.

With my knees to my chest and my arms around my body, I wept as my tears dripped into my clothing. I wondered how many times Calista and Khazmuda had cried like this over my death, and that made it worse. Made me hate myself even more for the decisions that I made. I’d sacrificed my future for the past—and it was the wrong choice.

Talon.

I stifled my tears at the sound of his voice. It was the light in my darkness, but that sunshine made the darkness harder to bear.

I know you can hear me, Talon.

There was no way for him to know the truth, so I held my silence. He would eventually give up and move on with his life. Learn how to live without me. To assume that I was dead and whatever he felt was a physical manifestation of grief.

Say something.

The tears balanced in the corners of my eyes, their release halted by my stillness. I was silent, as if Khazmuda would somehow hear my tears through our connection. If he could feel my soul, I feared he could also feel my pain.

I will protect your soul, Talon. He will not take it.

My lungs exploded with the air I sucked inside my body. I was in constant pain from the gloom of this place, from the misery of everyone trapped within it. A slow poison entered my veins like I’d been bitten by a hundred vipers. But I could never let him know that, no matter how hard he tried to provoke me into speaking.

I will never let him take it.

Chapter 21

Calista

I stood before the Great Tree, the very place where we’d almost lost the battle with the dark elves. Queen Eldinar had been stabbed so many times, it was a miracle she survived. With Talon’s sword and his powers, he’d singlehandedly saved this forest from destruction. He’d protected the lives of the living as well as the dead.

Queen Eldinar stood in front of the tree before she looked at me. “Are you ready?”

I nodded.