Liar. One more question and I had him right where I wanted him.
“Wren,” Fen breathed in my ear. A subtle nod and I continued knowing the only reason he hadn’t already scented her and Lichen is because the dragon was so distracted by our game.
Okay, you’ve gotten two questions right. One more and we can be done with this silly game and I’m yours forever. The male who raised me was tall, strong, brave, and bright. He was everything to me as a child. What was my father’s name?
Your father was Thassen. I win, he said, rising to claim his prize.
Relief flooded my ears. “Oh shoot,” I said out loud. “You’re wrong. Thassen was not my real father.”
“What?” he roared. “Liar. I’ve seen your memories, strange one. That male is Thassen.”
“Yes.” Fen stepped between us. “But she tells the truth. Thassen was not her real father. Search my mind for proof if you wish.”
The beast leaned down and breathed Fen in so deeply I thought he might suck him through the cage. “This cannot be!” he roared.
“A deal is a deal. You must let me and my friends go. You can show yourself now, Wren.” She and Lichen appeared, and I looked at her empty hands. She subtly pointed to her bag. She had the keys.
“I only agreed to give the ones in the cage passage, and I never said I’d release them from their cuffs.”
“No, the bargain was: if you lose, my entire group will be allowed to pass through this gap whenever we wish and you will owe me one favor, but I think we both know you will do as I wish now, don’t we?”Pathog the Unyielding.
He took two steps backward. “But how could you know of that?” He bent his long neck forward so he could press his enormous eye to the top of the magical cage.
“That’s my job, dragon. I know things. Remove the cage and the cuffs.”
He huffed and the cage disappeared but the cuffs remained. “Those cannot be removed unless one wields the keys. As it happens, I am out of keys.”
“No matter, let’s go,” Wren said.
Greeve and Fen lifted Kai, and he moaned in pain.
“Just let us get out of here and we’ll stop and help you,” I said to him.
“So, we just walk out?” Lichen asked, his eyes locked on the fuming dragon.
“Yes,” I answered, stepping away. “See you on our way back, dragon.”
We made it to the other side of the gap in careful silence. The other dragons watched us but did not move as we crossed. The minute we were out of their sight, Fen held his hands out to Wren. “Get these things off of me.”
We were all frozen, but Kai’s lips were blue. Our breaths filled the air, and even Greeve rubbed his fingers together for warmth. The cold caused Wren’s hands to tremble as she pulled the stolen keys from her bag and removed the golden cuffs from his wrists. She dropped them to the ground, moved to Greeve, and did the same.
“Extraordinary, aren’t they?” Lichen said, holding the contraption up to examine it. “I didn’t know such things existed.”
Fen rounded on me. “What were you thinking?” He roared louder than the dragon. “You carelessly ran in without a plan, and you did the one thing I specifically asked you not to do without even consulting me.”
“Back the fuck up, Prince. I am not one of your subjects. I couldn’t consult you. There wasn’t time. I admit I might have been a tad hasty in my rescue attempt, but—”
“A tad? You didn’t have a single weapon in your hand like you were going to fistfight a dragon.”
“I thought if I distracted it, Greeve would use his magic to help Kai escape. I didn’t know the cuffs were there. And did you see them? What the fuck was a sword or a knife going to do? Scratch them?”
“And the bargain?” he asked.
“If I had said anything out loud, he wouldn’t have taken the deal. I had to do the best I could with what little resources we had. My mind was the only thing I had.”
“What if you had lost?” Greeve asked, clearly still mad at me, as his constant wind circled through his hair.
“I only told him he could keep me. I didn’t mention you guys unless I beat him.”
