Chapter twenty-seven

Lucian’s POV

The thing about dragons was they were wild.

I should have known they’d put something in the chocolates and pastries. I kept a close eye on the wizard in front of me, making sure he didn’t try any more luck.

Tessa slept peacefully in my arms and I felt like breaking something. I’ve put my mate in danger. What kind of mate does that make me? I’m supposed to protect her, not throw her to the wolves, or dragons in this case.

Needing a distraction, I linked my mind with Tessa and broke down her mental walls.

I closed my eyes and leaned back, looking through the eyes of my wolf who wandered in the dreams of my mate.

She was walking through a field of sunflowers in a white dress and she was laughing. She spun around and saw me standing there.

She giggled and ran, jumping up and hugging me.

I laughed at her.

She hopped down and grabbed my hand.

“Come with me.” She said and pulled me over the hill of sunflowers to a waterfall that was too high for any normal person to jump.

But this was Tessa. She was afraid of nothing.

She jumped gracefully over the edge and I tried grabbing her hand but missed it.

I scrambled to the edge and looked over at her.

She popped up and smiled with a toothy smile. She laughed a little.

“Jump in, Lucian. The water’s great,” she yelled.

“I’m sure it is,” I mumbled and threw off my t-shirt and jumped over.

The wind rushed past my body and the water crashed against rocks.

I hit the water and swam to the surface. Tessa was looking frantically for me and I picked her up from behind. She yelled with laughter and I threw her up before catching her again with a splash.

She looked at me and her eyes twinkled with mischief. Her hands ran up my chest as I brought her closer and she gave me a warm smile.

I leaned down to kiss her but as soon as our lips touched, a spark of electricity shot between us and I felt myself being pulled back into my own mind.

I jolted awake and realized the sun peeking from behind the distant castle.

I covered my eyes with my arm and felt Tessa shift in my arms.

As if she was stabbed, she shot up straight and looked around with wild eyes.

“Waterfall, Lucian, ohmygod,” she said and began sobbing into my shoulder. Confused, I wrapped an arm around her and stroked her hair.

“Okay. Okay. Come now, Tessa. Look.” I said and pointed to the approaching castle.

She turned her head, sniffing and I looked at the Castle. The sight gave me a stab in the stomach, and I swallowed, swearing not to throw up in the carriage.

“Wow,” she whispered and leaned closer towards the window to get a better look at the grey stone walls of the King’s Castle.

The moss had grown up the walls along with vines that had foot-long thorns, threatening anyone who wanted to enter unannounced.

I remembered climbing these walls, trying to escape the clutches of my father.

I spat. He wasn’t a father. He abused me until I decided that it was enough and finally got free, murdering a dragon in the process.

I never looked back.

“Lucian, what’s wrong?” My mate’s soft voice interrupted my thinking. I frowned.

“Nothing,” I snapped, and she looked hurt. I mumbled a curse and she sat back quietly looking down at her hands as she played with the fabric of the dress.

I was waiting for her to snap back, to tell me that she was my equal and I should stop treating her like a child. But it didn’t come, if I waited any longer for it, I’d probably wait for a very long time.

“You messed up,” my wolf said, and he laughed like the sly snake he was.

“Will you just shut it?” I told him and he gave me a smile before running away somewhere into the back of my mind as the carriage pulled to a stop.

“We have arrived,” the wizard said, opening the door and I snorted.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I mumbled, and I heard Tessa laugh behind me as we climbed out.

I grabbed her waist and lifted her up, placing her gently on the paved ground outside the giant doors of the castle.

I swallowed, as I looked up at the building casting shadows around us and my dragon senses were telling me something was not right.

I pulled Tessa closer.

“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,” I whispered to her.

“Don’t be silly, Lucian. We’ve come this far to find out what the asshole’s problem is so let us see what he has to say.” She said and looked at me, her brown eyes held a small speck of fear, but I knew she was doing this for me.

She grabbed my hand in hers and turned it over to kiss my palm. This was something only the ancestors did, and I stood there, feeling the warmth from her lips travel through my body.

“The comfort kiss,” I murmured, and she looked at me through long lashes.

“You need it.” She said softly and linked our hands before asking the wizard to lead the way into the place I once called hell…