Page 87 of The Dragon Queen

I never want to be apart again.

“Then we shall live together, side by side, man and dragon, for eternity.”

Yes.

Talon opened his eyes and rubbed his snout, trying to console his dragon’s sadness.

I didn’t let him take you—and I will never let anyone take you.

Talon paused his hand as he looked into Khazmuda’s large eye, seeing a love so powerful and visceral. Talon’s eyes were still misted with emotion, and he swallowed as he tried to find the words to convey everything he felt. “I’m here because of you.” He looked into his dark and glistening eye. “I’m here because you forced me to live when I wanted to die. I’m here because you carried me across oceans and defeated Constantine so I could defeat Barron. I’m here this very moment because your love is more powerful than the might of the gods. Some have hailed me a hero—but the only one who deserves that title is you.”

Chapter 24

Calista

Riviana returned to the Realm of Caelum through the doorway in the Great Tree. Queen Eldinar and my uncle silently excused themselves when Talon returned, understanding that Khazmuda and I were the ones who needed this moment most.

The three of sat together near the bonfire, the flames warm on an already warm evening full of fireflies and music. Riviana’s music was louder than it’d been in a long time, the tune ethereal, light, but still powerful.

Talon sat with his arm propped on his knee, holding my gaze for several minutes straight.

Khazmuda lay with his chin upon his claws, his eyes locked on Talon’s face as well.

I hadn’t looked away either, studying his face and memorizing it like I might lose it again. The weeks that passed had been so horrible that his return wasn’t enough to erase it. I still needed time to accept he was truly there with me. Tears left my eyes and slowly dripped down my cheeks, remembering the long journey home across the sea, the nights I’d slept alone in my tent, thetimes Queen Eldinar and others had tried to comfort me but failed.

Sadness would enter his gaze at the sight of me, but he didn’t try to comfort me. Hours were spent in silence as we sat together, all of us getting used to the time that had been stolen from us.

I had questions, but I was too scared to ask them.

It seemed like he didn’t want to talk either.

A reunion should be blissful and passionate, but we were both so broken in our own ways that we needed time to accept this was real. To accept that we’d really come back together.

Khazmuda was the first to speak, projecting his mind to both of us so we could both hear his thoughts.You should have told us.

Talon’s eyes dropped for the first time.

We could have helped you.

“I didn’t see how.”

You carried this secret for a long time. It must have eaten away at you.

“Yes,” Talon said quietly. “It did.”

I started to connect the clues from the past, to piece together a puzzle that hadn’t been solved. “You knew the whole time.” He’d said the battle would claim his life, because it would. He’d pushed me away to spare me. He’d told me he wanted to marry me, knowing he could never keep that promise.

Talon looked away in shame.

“In the castle at Shadow Stone….and in our quarters on the ship…I heard you speak to someone.” I’d assumed my interpretation of reality had been false because it didn’t make sense. Talon didn’t seem like the kind of man to talk to himself like that. But I never saw anyone in the room. “You weren’t speaking to ghosts. You were speaking to him.”

Talon didn’t lift his chin to look at me, his silence his confirmation. “He gave me the power to take back the Southern Isles—in return for my soul. I made the exchange when I had little to live for. When I wanted to be punished for the way I’d failed my family. But then I met you…” He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “And knew I’d made a grave mistake. I asked him to free me of the arrangement, but I couldn’t accept his terms.”

“You could have prevented all of this, and you said no?”

A hint of pain flooded his eyes. “It was a deal I couldn’t take.”

“I don’t think you understand how Khazmuda and I have suffered.” How neither one of us had wanted to live anymore.