“You don’t know?” she asks, sounding slightly surprised.
“No…but I’m going to find out.”
“Couldn’t you turn into a dragon and fly us back?”
“Unfortunately, no. It’s a potion and it was the last of my stores,” I grumble, not looking forward the lengths I’ll have to go through in order to retrieve more.
“So, they’re real? Dragons?”
“Yes, they’re real.” He pauses. “Did you think they weren’t?"
“I…” She shifts, hand grazing up my chest. It comes to a sudden still like she’s suddenly noticed what it is she’s doing. “I didn’t think anything that was rumored outside the Wall was real. I thought it was all made up to keep us trapped in there.” She’s quiet for a beat before admitting in a sheepish voice. “I didn’t think you were real.”
“Bit of a rude awakening,” I admit.
“Most definitely…rude,” she mutters.
“Me?” I ask in feigned shock. The barest of hoarse laughs spills out of her and my entire body seems to jolt. That’s new.
“You probably think that’s stupid.”
A little bit…nah, it’s not her fault. “What? No, I don’t think it’s stupid.”
“You don’t?”
“I mean, you’ve lived behind the Wall your entire life. It’s a bit unnatural, isn’t it? Living like that? Isolated from the rest of the world?”Completely freakish. I’m surprised she’s as coherent as she is.
“It is,” she agrees quietly.
We slip into silence. With the dread of the theurgynate fading in the distance a different feeling takes root in me.Hunger.I suppose it has been a while since I’ve eaten. Hunger is a normal effect of dispensing a lot of magic like I had to alter my state. Yet somehow this feels different. Sharp, overbearing.
Carnal.
Her grip around me suddenly tightens, nails digging into my chest. “Are you alrig—“ I break off with a grunt as a sharp, slicing pain lances me.What the fuck.I palm at my neck to find her—the nought there. She’sbitingme.
Again?
My magic wells and dispels, launching her off of me in an instant. She smacks roughly into a tree and slumps to the ground.
As soon as she starts to stir, I feel it, too.
Her skin looks supple…soft. I want to lick the salt from her neck and then sink my teeth there, imagining the way her flesh will break apart around me.
She’s right there.
All I have to do is tread forward…and take it.
I shake my head to dispel this overwhelming want compelling me totake, eat.
It’s the effects of the Bonewalker, I realize. But why is it only affecting us now? She scrambles to her feet and her head snaps in my direction, eyes wide and wild.Fuck. She starts forward. “No!” I say, pointing a finger back in warning. She lowers herself into a crouch, watching me. I don’t even trust myself if she gets too close. She lunges. “Divine fucking mother!”
I grab her by the shoulders and whip her back, holding her as far away from me as possible as she continues to snarl and thrash. Even now, my body is screaming at me to bring her forward andbite. I shake my head vigorously.
The locket.It must’ve been staving the effects of the Bonewalker, but we crossed the boundary. I sprint back the way we came as she continues jerking in my grip. Thank the Gods, she’s small, or this might be difficult. No sooner than the thought crosses my mind, her teeth clamp around my arm. And she fuckingmeans it.
The effect of the Bonewalker’s magic wanes and I stop. She’s still clamped tight around my arm. I fling her off of me for the second time. She takes the chunk of my arm with her.
She hits the ground and rolls, and I immediately feel guilty for tossing her so hard. But damn, that hurt. “Princess?” I ask cautiously, breathing still ragged. She rustles with a moan before righting herself on the ground. She comes to, blinking wide, dazed eyes. “I’m sorry. Are you alright?” I seal the missing chunk from my arm and neck to stop the bleeding.
