A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 3)

“Here we go, Hadriel. I hope this isn’t the end of our friendship.” I started out.

“Ah, you admitted we’re friends. That’s so great! Except I am a butler, my love, and I am not friends with princesses locked in towers who—”

The magic of the bridge washed over me like a sack of stone. It clawed at my middle and tried to drag my ribs out of my body. My vision blackened then spun. Hadriel jerked and started screaming—or maybe that was me—and struggled to get off my shoulder. He punched my back, scrabbling to get closer to the ropes and likely throw himself over.

I staggered that way. Or maybe I meant to take that step. I wanted to throw myself off with him. To chuck him over and jump in after him.

This is a real gut-bender, folks, I thought desperately, tears streaming down my face. Will she give in to her baser desires and jump?

I struggled him closer to the end of the bridge, only to realize I was listing toward the ropes at the side.

Get a grip, my dragon screamed inside my head. Fight your way back. Use Nyfain. He is our lifeline. Use him to keep you grounded.

I did. With everything I had, I reached out for him through the bond, desperate. Terrified. Ready to end it all.

Like when I’d been brought to Dolion and his people tried to claw the bond from me, I felt Nyfain reach out. I felt him reel me in possessively, holding me tightly to him. The mark he’d given me burned and then tingled, like he was refreshing it, claiming me body and soul.

Mine, the sentiment seemed to say. You belong to me. No one and nothing else can have you. Nothing will take you from me.

The feeling from before, like his dragon’s wings spreading over me protectively, eased some of the crippling anxiety and broke through the chaos of my mind.

When I blinked into semiconsciousness, Hadriel was dangling from one of my hands, his feet above the lava, and I was looming over him, one leg bent as if I were about to climb over.

The bridge shook and wobbled, and as I hauled Hadriel back, I saw Hannon hurrying toward me with terror screwing up his expression. He couldn’t go too fast, though, or the bridge would shake enough to dump me over.

“It’s okay,” I said, out of breath, as I dropped onto the safety of the bridge, bending to him. “It’s okay, folks. She seems to have narrowly avoided catastrophe.”

“What?” Hadriel asked, flailing against me.

Oh great, now everyone will know you’re crazy, my dragon thought. And I’ll be considered crazy by association.

“Nothing.” I punched Hadriel to get him to stop struggling and then just dragged him behind me. I didn’t trust myself to sling him over my shoulder again. “I’m okay.”

I wasn’t, of course. My vision wobbled, and the desperate urge to jump didn’t ease. But Nyfain kept his grip on me and I fell into it, clutching him through the bond and forcing my legs to keep moving.

On the other side, I let Hadriel go, wiped my nose and then cheeks, and started back across.

“Wait, Finley—” Tamara said, but I didn’t hang around to see what she’d say. We needed to hurry.

“Many hands make light work,” I muttered, over and over, reaching the other side and grabbing the next victim. No one wanted to go with me after seeing Hadriel’s near miss with the lava, but time was ticking, and they relented. I took the next, Hannon following me. Then we did it again. And again. We continued on that way until it was done. Each time I crossed, I wished I would die. I was having a hard time dealing with the agony, not of the body—I was used to that by now—but of the soul.

What seemed like hours later but hopefully wasn’t, I fell to my hands and knees on the stone on the safe side, sobbing.

“Carry her,” someone said. It sounded like Micah.

“I’m a little short on strength right now.” Hannon panted. “There was a lot of fight in those last couple of dragons.”

“I can’t force myself close, not with the power pumping into that alpha’s scent,” Vemar said, clearly frustrated.

“I’m fine,” I said as someone else said, “I can.”

I was so twisted up in my thoughts that it took me a moment to register it was Tamara. “I…don’t mind the smell,” she said, pulling me up and giving me a supportive smile.

I shook my head and put a hand to her shoulder. “I’m good. It’s fine.”

“We gotta get moving, Strange Lady,” Vemar said, and for once, he wasn’t smiling. “That took longer than it probably should’ve.”

“It’s okay. We started a little ahead of schedule.” Calia drifted closer and rubbed my back. “That took great bravery. She deserves a rest.”