House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

“He’s fine,” she said with a shrug, anxious to escape. “I should go get the rest.”

“I’ll take the left side if you take the right.”

“You don’t have to help me.”

Audria’s smile broadened, her beautiful eyes widening. “But I want to.”

Kerrigan nodded, and then they walked down the hallway, knocking on doors and issuing instructions. It took Audria longer to move down the hall since she actually knew all the competitors, and she seemed to be friends with them all, addressing them by name and making small talk. Kerrigan was quick, efficient. Until she came to Fordham’s doorway.

She knocked once. “Fordham.”

And then Kerrigan’s pulse began to race. Everything around her turned to liquid. Oh gods. She could feel her power pulsing and then slivering out of her like a snake. She knew what it meant. She knew all too well the feeling of helplessness that accompanied one of her visions.

But scales, this couldn’t be happening. Not this close together. Five years ago, one year ago, a week ago, and then now. No, it didn’t make any sense. This was… this was impossible.

She was going to black out at any moment. And if she didn’t get into a room, away from the rest of the competitors, everyone would know. They’d know something was different about her. They would find out. Then, her life would be in danger.

So, she did the first thing she could think of as her power all drained like sand through a sieve—she twisted the doorknob to Fordham’s room, and she fell forward into the depths.

17

The First

One minute, Kerrigan was free-falling into nothing, and the next, strong arms caught her and kept her from face-planting.

“Halfling?” Fordham asked, his tight voice laced with surprise and possibly revulsion.

“Ugh,” she groaned.

She wanted nothing more than to push past the pain and the vision that was hovering on the periphery and not have to deal with Fordham right now. But she only had one choice—have everyone witness her pass out or just him. She chose him.

“Gods,” he growled. He hauled her up and dropped her onto his bed. “What are you doing in my quarters?’

She just shook her head. She wanted to say more, but what had been hanging at the back of her mind, stealing the life of her magic, was now crashing over her in full force.

Then, it was there.

She saw a circle of colors. They drifted around and around, blurring at the edges before settling to reveal the four elements—blue water, green earth, red fire, and yellow air. The elements pulsed and then disappeared. The tournament arena full to bursting. A fight was taking place with all the competitors. She immediately recognized Fordham and Audria among them. It almost looked like… the Dragon Ring fights, but that didn’t make sense. A girl came at Fordham with a bright, glowing arc of blue fire. The scene shifted again. The surroundings were murky. She could only see a competitor coming forward and the sharp glint of a knife.

Then, it all disappeared.

Kerrigan slumped backward. Her head pounded from the vision. She could barely focus, but she needed to tell him. More than the breath in her lungs, she knew that she had to tell him what she had seen. This wasn’t just any vision. This one actually made… a bit of sense.

Fordham was leaning over her on the bed. His hand against her throat, as if to check her erratic pulse. His head was dipped low, near to her chest, but at the sound of her voice, he jerked back up. The defiant, dark prince was still there underneath it all, but in that moment, she saw something that almost looked like concern etched on his face. And he looked younger, impossibly younger for someone who had likely committed years of atrocities upon her kind.

His eyes were so dark gray like storm clouds on an ever-approaching rainy evening. A lock of his dark hair had fallen forward across his forehead. Her fingers itched to reach up and brush it aside. An absurd notion. This was Prince Fordham Ollivier.

No matter what her visions had shown her, drawing them together in some tangled weave, she couldn’t feel anything about this. She could find him attractive. She wasn’t blind. But that was all.

“What happened?” he asked roughly, jerking back as if he had just realized how close together they were.

“You need to listen to me,” she said as evenly as she could. “I don’t have much time. I’m going to black out.”

“Are you ill?”

“No,” she told him roughly. “You are about to go to your first task.” He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn’t want to hear the sarcasm or bite. She didn’t have time for it. “It’s hand-to-hand combat with the elements. Your first task, you’ll only be able to use one.”

“How do you know this?” he snarled, his eyes darting around the room as if anticipating the trick.