Dragon Blood (Completed)

Desma

Chapter 31

Zane ran through the wide opulent halls until he reached the walled-in tapestries where the hidden door was located. This area of the castle was deserted with everyone's focus on the attack at the queen's room, which was probably still burning.

There were no wet spots on the floor in the hall to indicate that Paige or Dean had left the security of the secret room. Zane slipped unseen behind the tapestry of the dragon flying over the lake and saw wet stones that looked like someone had recently stuck their head out, then returned to the hidden room without actually leaving.

He slammed his hand against the stones, calling out, knowing his efforts were futile. There was no way Dean would hear him through the thick wall. His only choice now was to wait for them to come out again.

He sat miserably in the shadows, hidden behind the long thick tapestry, his mind reliving in slow motion what had happened that day. From the moment he entered Lavender's room to when he saw the look of terror on her face.

It was that look that consumed him. The darkness that lived in him had manifested itself with cruel violence right in front of her. He knew she would never be able to see him as anything but a monster.

Balaan was supposed to be the monster, not him. Balaan was supposed to be the one that destroyed lives and hurt people.

How could he have laid a hand on Lavender? Nothing would ever be the same. He couldn't see any way back from this. She would probably never speak to him again, and he wasn't sure if he wanted her to.

But he loved her.

By all that burned, he loved her more than fire.

His heart ached in his chest. He could feel it fracturing as he sat by himself. He felt so alone. Even the spot where he sat was a fortress of solitude. There was no one in the hall, and the ones in the room on the other side of door couldn't hear the moans of pain that escaped his lips.

He wished he could find a way to end this agony, but only those who were dead would be able to escape it. He should have been dead. How many times in the last few weeks had he been on the verge of death? But he was alive right now to discover these betrayals, to endure this pain because she had saved his life. If she'd never saved him, he wouldn't have to feel any of this agony, to relive any of the horrors or know the dark things he was capable of. No one should have to know this about themselves. He hated himself, but most of all, he hated her.

The hatred was like a fast acting poison moving quickly, silently, throughout his whole being. Spreading from the recesses of his mind to the tips of his toes, infecting him until every pore ached. It splintered, weaving its way into his heart, latching onto his life force as if it could fuel him now that his heart was broken.

Paige, he thought her name darkly, like it was a curse.

Before her, his life was good and made sense. He'd never been put in the positions he'd been in since she came along. The way Lavender looked at him, like she couldn't trust him since she found out he'd hit Paige. How she feels knowing her future companion was a dragon that was willing to kill an innocent girl to save his own life.

Lavender had been right. What else would Zane do in the name of stopping Balaan? Where else would he have followed Paige?

If it weren't for Paige, Lavender would have never felt jealous or threatened. She would have never been taken in by Ryder's affections.

Zane's hatred for the Bluescale queen grew with each beat of his heart in those quiet, contemplative moments in the shadows, where he felt more like a lurking phantom than a mighty dragon. When Dean opened the door again, Zane wanted to hear him say that Paige had died in that dark room. So he was not surprised to see the boy's face wet with tears. "Come quick." He beckoned Zane into the hidden space.