Page 134 of Throne of Ice and Blood
“That’s what they did tome, and I’m someone they need,” Draven continues. “To them, you are all expendable. So what do you think they would have done to you if you had gotten caught helping the human rebels?”
Everyone just stares at him, their eyes wide.
“But now it doesn’t matter anyway,” Draven continues. “Because they have figured out that I’m the Red Hand. And they will punish you in order to teach me a lesson.” A hint of panic bleeds into his voice as he shoots a glance at the clock on the wall. “So you need to go. Now!”
Clothes rustle as everyone begins to move. But then they all stop again when Lyra speaks up.
Her eyes are intense as she holds Draven’s gaze. “You keep sayingyou.”
Dread crackles through my veins like ice, and I snap my gaze to Draven. Because Lyra is right. I hadn’t even noticed it until now. Draven isn’t saying ‘weneed to leave’. He always says ‘youneed to leave’.
“Why aren’t you saying ‘weneed to leave’?” Lyra demands.
The other soldiers, now frozen mid-step, also turn to Draven.
He forces out a frustrated breath and flexes his hand as he growls, “Because I can’t leave.”
“What?” I snap. Pushing off from the wall, I stalk towards him while panic rips at my chest. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I’ve already told you,” he replies, his voice tight, as he turns to meet my gaze. “I can’t leave.”
“Why the hell not?”
He opens his mouth to reply but then just closes it again and forces out yet another frustrated breath. “I can’t say.”
“That’s not good enough!”
“I literally cannot say!” Desperation flashes in his eyes as he stares down at me. “So you either have to figure it out in the next thirty seconds, or you leave without me.”
I jerk back, stunned by the pure desperation on his face.
Panic and dread rip at my chest at every second that ticks by, bringing the Icehearts closer to finding us. But I’m not leaving without Draven.
My mind churns.
He can’t leave, but he can’t say why. What the hell does that even mean?
Something he said weeks ago, the day that I had a panic attack, resurfaces in my mind. Something that I thought was about something else.
I need you to start questioning things that don’t make sense. Please.
That’s what he said to me.
So what is it that doesn’t make sense?
Everything. Nothing makes sense.
Draven is one of the most powerful dragon shifters in the world. The leader of the Black Dragon Clan. Storm powers. Capable of a half-shift. Why would he be unable to leave?
In fact, why would he even serve the Icehearts in the first place? And why would he just bow to them without a fight when they came to his islands? Everything I know about Draven tells me that he would never do that. He’s proud and arrogant and domineering. He would never willingly bow down without even putting up a fight. So why did he?
His words clang through my skull again.
I can’t say. I literally cannot say.
Memories flood my brain. Memories of all those times when I asked him a question and he opened his mouth as if to reply, but then only closed it again. He has been doing that a lot. As if he wanted to reply but… physically can’t.
And then the biggest question of all.
