Dragonlands(183)

There was no answer. Only silence.

She cursed herself. She'd gone too far. He'd see through her ruse. Sweat dripped from her palms.

"If you join me, you will meet my masters. But only if you drink all of this. Every last drop." He snarled just in front of her face.

Tressa leapt backward. How could he move so quickly without a sound?

He snapped, the braziers coming to life again. Her father stood in front of her, dressed in a robe, holding out a cup carved from a bone. Grotesque figures writhed across the body of the cup, their mouths open in agony, eyes bugged out and fearful. "Drink this, and be my daughter again in every way."

She took the cup in shaking hands. A liquid splashed in the cup. She took a sniff, recognizing the coppery scent. Blood.

Her father smiled, his teeth filed into points. He hadn't looked like that when she'd met him in the forest. He hadn't seemed so evil then either. Now, though, he was beyond her help.

She thought of Connor. He was out there somewhere. He'd become a dragon, yet he still fought for good. The madness she'd seen in her father, Stacia, and Jacinda hadn't swallowed him. Maybe it wouldn't swallow her either.

"Drink from the cup of life, my daughter." Fenn’s voiced dripped with malevolence.

Tressa looked up. Her eyes met his. Red and slitted, bloodshot and angry. If giving in would save the children, she’d take the risk.

"If I drink from this cup, will you take me to whoever controls you?"

He laughed. "No one controls me. I fight for what I believe in. The power here is beyond anything you can imagine. You've only seen a bit of what I can offer you."

Tressa stood still, feeling her heart thud in her chest. The cup touched her bottom lip. She tilted it, a droplet of blood washing over her lips as they parted. The thick liquid ran down her throat like silk over her naked body. Luscious. Sexy. Perfection.

The cup flew out of her hand at the same time a sword cut into her father's abdomen.

Jarrett kicked her father, pushing him off his sword. He crumpled to the floor. "Did you drink any of that?" Jarrett asked. He stabbed Fenn another time in the chest, just over the heart. Fenn didn’t even have a chance to fight back.

Tressa shook her head no. It had only been a little. Not enough to matter. Not enough to make her feel any different. No one needed to know.

“How did you —"

"I followed you and snuck in a window. Let's go," Jarrett said, grabbing her hand. "Connor, Elinor, Bastian, and Avital have already flown off toward the Drowned Country. The black dragons are still here. One has agreed to fly us there too."

Three women emerged from the back of the building, holding hands with the children of Hutton’s Bridge. Hazel held onto a fourth woman, shuffling past Tressa and Jarrett. She offered Tressa a small smile.

Tressa followed Jarrett blindly, stumbling through the building. They emerged into the night, a black dragon with blue eyes waiting, down on one knee. Jarrett lifted Tressa on its back and mounted behind her.

“The children,” she gasped, pointing to the huddled mass of dirty orphans. Hazel sat on the ground, her two boys in her lap and Bastian’s daughter sleeping in front of her.

Jarrett waved to a woman with black hair, black eyes, and porcelain skin. She nodded, waving to the other dragons. They were hissing at the townspeople who cowered in fear at the edges of the square.

"Fi will make sure they’re brought back with us.” Jarrett said.

Fi? Who was Fi? The world swam in front of her eyes.

Hang on to its scales," he whispered in her ear. "I've got you from behind."

She nodded. She felt so strange. Maybe she’d swallowed more blood than she thought. Tressa leaned her head back, resting it on Jarrett's chest. Her heart danced in the cold night as they ascended into the sky.

"We have to thank the gods that the black dragons showed up. I don't know how they knew or why they chose to help us now." Tressa could feel Jarrett shake his head behind her. "We thought the Black had died out. Now rest. Sleep if you can. I have you."

Tressa agreed. She needed sleep. She was suddenly and overwhelmingly exhausted.





Epilogue


Jarrett laid Tressa down on the fluffy bed in the room Elinor had shown him to. He'd carried Tressa in his arms after the black dragons left them and the children of Hutton’s Bridge at the castle at Ashoom. They’d flown into the dark of the night, leaving behind only one of their kind.

Elinor had greeted them with a whisper, telling Jarrett the rest of the castle was asleep. She snuck them through the hallways to an expansive chamber.

She didn't ask if Jarrett wanted a separate room. He didn't request one. It would take an army to pull him away from Tressa now.