Dragonlands(261)

They left the bone dice on the patchy ground, forming a circle around Jarrett. They chanted in unison, in a language Tressa couldn't understand until Jarrett stirred and groaned.

Tressa bolted under their arms, landing on the ground next to Jarrett. "It's time," she said. "We need you."

Jarrett sat up. His eyes were alert. Jarrett pulled Tressa in, his lips landing on hers, kissing her with a hunger she'd missed.

"Jarrett," she said, pulling away, "I have something to tell you." He had to know before he went any further that the woman he was fighting for had betrayed him.

"There isn't time," he said, standing and brushing the dirt off his pants. Jarrett looked up into the sky at the ebony and emerald dragons attempting to yank the fighting ruby dragon to the ground. "They are coming. The dragons are coming to me. I have to be ready for them."

"But..." she sputtered, annoyed at herself and the urgency she felt. They needed Jarrett, yet it wasn't right to ask him to fight. When he heard the truth, he might want to leave Tressa standing there to get roasted by the incoming army. "That night in Hutton's Bridge," she said, breathless, "I didn't spend the night alone."

"Bastian?" he asked, his voice stony and his eyes vacant.

She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You don't have to stay and fight. I'm so sorry. Don't put yourself in harm's way. Not for me." And then she knew the truth. She hadn't waited to tell him because of fear of rejection. No, it was fear of Jarrett losing his life on the battlefield. She wanted him to reject her. She wanted him to leave now. To save himself. To live, instead of facing an army that would try to rip him to shreds. "Go," she pleaded with him. Her head swam. Confusion wrapped around her thoughts. She’d promised herself she would keep the secret, and now she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

One of the mages coughed.

Tressa started, forgetting they'd been standing there the whole time. They'd heard her confession.

"They are coming," a mage said, pointing to the sky.

In the distance, the Red horde vibrated in the air.

"Step away," Jarrett commanded. "All of you. Step back." He raised his hands to the sky.

"You don't have to do this," Tressa said, tugging on his arm. She'd lost everything. She lost her life in Hutton's Bridge. She'd lost Bastian. She'd lost her humanity. She'd lost her self-respect. Now she would lose Jarrett, if only he would listen to her.

Jarrett shook her arm off of his with surprising strength. Tressa stumbled backward. He turned, looking at her, his eyes red and glowing.

Tressa's hand flew to her mouth. He had changed without changing. The differences were subtle, but striking. His eyes, his stance, the hunch of his shoulder.

"Tonight I feast on the flesh of the dragons! Come to me!" It wasn't Jarrett's voice, but another's. One Tressa knew and feared. The thing that had controlled him did so once again.

Jarrett's hands were pointed toward the red cloud. Balls of fire exploded from his hands, mixing with a chortle dripping from his slack lips.

Tressa could see the Red’s individual wings now. Some alighted with fire. They lost altitude and crashed into other dragons in flight, knocking them to the sea below. The concentrated mass of dragons in pursuit didn't hesitate. They flew harder, faster, swerving to avoid Jarrett's fireballs.

"To the sky," called out one of the leaders behind Tressa. Uncountable numbers of Black and Green dragons with riders on their backs burst into the air, flying toward the Red army.

Tressa stood still, her hands shaking. She should take to the sky too. Join the Black dragons in locating the queen. She clenched her fists, her arms trembling at her sides. But the change wouldn't come. The dragon inside slept. Or hid. She wasn't sure which.

She glanced at Jarrett. Everything inside her screamed. Stay with him. Jarrett was her only concern. Her thoughts were confused, erratic. Tressa clamped her hands over her head. She only knew that for the first time since stepping into the fog, she doubted every decision she'd made until that very moment.





Chapter Forty-Four


Bastian ignored the gnawing pit in his stomach. He and Connor had left Hutton’s Bridge shrouded in fog the day before and headed north to meet Tressa’s army. He couldn’t shake his anxiety at leaving Farah with Elinor. The woman wasn’t the sweet, young healer he thought he knew. She was obsessive, controlling, much like her father. She’d claimed to be very different from the man who’d stolen the dragon eggs, but at their core, they were much the same.

And now his daughter was trapped in Elinor’s clutches.

Bastian and Connor had waited in the meadow, camping and watching for any sign of the army. Once the Black and Green dragons had appeared above them, Bastian had leapt on Connor and they took to the sky.