Chapter 24 A Man Who Would Die for You
I wake slowly, sluggishly. I remember that I was whipped for the wyvern escaping, but it was worth it. Had I known then what I know now, maybe I should have let Elsie kill it. Although wyverns aren’t dragons, they’d be related. And anything connected to those beasts is deadly.
I stroke Calder’s hair off his forehead and hug him close. If anyone makes it out of this, it should be the innocent young man.
Something is coming!
I grow stiff, looking around every which way. Is the dragon coming back to finish the job? Visceral fear stabs through me like a knife as I see flames slicing through the blizzard around us.
“That’s no dragon,” Alric whispers, turning and putting his back to us protectively.
The flames come again, lashing out like the whip. The flames lick away at the snow, carving a path to us, making steam rise and obscuring our vision even further.
“Anara! Fuck—Anara! Thorne, if you hit me with that thing, I swear to the gods—”
“What do you swear, prince? What do you swear?”
“Zaries! Thorne!” I scream, pulling myself to my feet and running toward the sound of their voices. I crash against a hard body, a stiff, rough hand gripping me and shaking me slightly.
“I hoped she wouldn’t be able to kill you,” Thorne murmurs.
My eyes rise slowly to the dragon slayer’s face. His whip solidifies back into his staff in his hand, still radiating enough heat to dispel the snow around us for a few meters. Once again, the blind man seems to stare at me through the cloth over his eyes, his knowing grin spreading wider as he steps back and pats my shoulder.
“What the fuck are you doing way down here, Anara?” Zaries roars, grabbing my arm and yanking me in front of him roughly. “Why weren’t you with the rest of us?”
Thorne turns away. “The prince would not rest until we checked if you were dead or alive. You three owe him your life. I would have let you freeze,” he says as he walks past us and grabs the donkey’s lead. “Let's get to the cave before the snow covers the path I cleaved, hm?”
“He came because you made him?” I ask, looking up into Zaries’ dark eyes. His lips are chapped from the wind, his skin red and raw, but it doesn’t take away from his sharp handsomeness. Or the way my heart squeezes. Or the anger in his eyes is as it flashes with fire of his own.
“You don’t get to die that easily,” he whispers venomously. He leans close, and for a second I think he’s going to hug me, but he freezes. “If you leave my side again, I’ll kick you off this mountain myself.”
I nod as Zaries pulls my hood back up over my head and urges me forward. I share a glance with Alric, who raises a finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture. He’s telling me to keep his secret. Alric and I have a bond now. He saved my life by revealing his power, and I will not betray him.
Zaries stops, turning to me sharply. “When we get to the cave, you will sleep beside me, do you understand? If Oberon comes anywhere near you I’ll—” His voice cuts off as his chin works, the muscles in his jaw twitching with irritation. “Don’t fucking touch him, do you understand?”
I nod mutely, ducking my head against the wind and leaning closer to him. His arm wraps around me reflexively, pulling me close to keep me warm. It's almost the hug I’ve wanted so badly, but not quite.
And as pathetic as it is, I’ll take it.
“Thank you,” I whisper, thinking the whipping wind will carry away my words.
“Don’t thank me, Anara. I only want to kill you myself.”
Nodding, I let my next words die on my tongue. I want to tell him how badly I miss him. I want to tell him how much it means that he came looking for me, but I can’t. He doesn’t care. He wants revenge against me just as much as he wants revenge against the silver dragon, even if his words and his actions contradict each other.
We climb the side of the mountain for what seems like hours. The wind and snow are merciless, the muscles of my legs scream for a reprieve. But we don’t stop, don’t slow the steady trudge up the mountain. Alric keeps Calder safe as he follows Thorne and the donkey, Zaries with his arm around me bringing up the rear. When the mouth of the cave comes into view and the smell of sizzling meat hits my nose, I almost collapse.
Zaries leads me into the cave and my jaw drops. The place is huge, so big that there's a pen for the donkeys and a hut that seems to hold everyone inside. As Thorne stows my donkey, Zaries leads me into the hut. Inside it’s warm, stiflingly so, and very quiet.
I lower my hood and get my bearings, seeing the attendants around the fire, roasting what suspiciously looks like the leg of a donkey. The slayer trainees lay in heaps on the floor all around the room, in various stages of exhausted sleep.
Malachi survived, unfortunately. He’s glaring at me now with all the fury his one eye can convey. Across the room is Sylvain, curled up in a ball under a thick fur blanket. Then I see him, far away from the fire, standing with his hands braced against the wall and his head hanging.
“Oberon?” I say, ignoring the way Zaries’ hand tightens on my shoulder.
He whips around, fury and anguish marring his handsome face. He runs to me, pulling me away from Zaries, spinning me around in a circle as joyous laughter slips from his chapped lips. “You’re alive! Oh, Ana, I thought for sure I’d lost you! I tried to get back to you, but I couldn’t. Having you so far away was killing me the entire way! You better never leave me like that again!”
“She’ll be staying with me!” Zaries shouts, shoving Oberon away when it looks like he’s going to kiss me.
I stumble back, confused as Zaries puts himself between us.
“You didn’t try and find her, I did,” he snarls. “You didn’t pull her off the side of a frozen mountain and bring her to safety, I did!”
“You wouldn’t let me go, you pompous son of a—”
“Queen?” Alric asks, breaking the tension with a scandalous grin as he and Calder enter. “He’s the son of the queen. Just…finishing what I’m sure you meant to say.”
“Catherine!” Calder yells, darting between us and racing for one of the other attendants who greets him with a warm hug. The woman turns to me, tears in her eyes conveying a silent thank you.
Alric moves toward me. “If you boys don't mind, Ana and I have been freezing our asses off out there. We’d really like to go defrost by the fire.” He’s chuckling as he tugs me away from them and walks me over to the fire.
“Remember, Anara,” he whispers. “You owe neither of them a thing. I’m the one who saved your life while they hunkered in this cave. We’re connected now.”
I nod, leaning my head against his shoulder and sighing. Somehow, after everything, Alric feels like my only safe place. Like a father where I’ve had none. He wraps his arms around me, rubbing my shoulders to try and warm me.
That man is not your father!
I suppress a startle at the ferocity of the voice inside my head.
Then who is? I challenge, even though it’s clearly the next step of descending into crazy. I’ve never known my father. Alric’s the closest thing I’ve ever had.
One day you’ll meet your father, and you’ll know the difference between a protective man and one who will lay his life down for you.
My legs give out and I sink to the ground, wondering if my mind is trying to give some comfort at a time when I need it so badly.
Because the voice in my head’s implying that one of my parents is out there. Alive.
And that one day I’ll meet them.