Deception

31 ¦ True Devotion

After the battle, Dahlroth asked me to return to the maze and remove the medallion from his back. I cringed as the horrific process repeated itself in reverse until Dahlroth's humanoid form lay face-down on the ground, shaking and trembling before me.

"Dahlroth," I whispered. "Hurry, you'll catch cold."

"I'm an ice dragon," he said with a grunt. "I don't get cold."

"You know what I mean." I gathered his Shadow Rider cape and wrapped it around his shoulders. "Can you stand?"

"Exhausted," he groaned. "Give me a moment. The transformation takes a lot of strength."

I lay down on the frosty ground facing him, and his eyes widened as they gazed at me. "Even in this form, you are a gorgeous woman, Khrysakh. Why did you torture me by becoming a child?"

"I won't be a child forever," I said with a smile. "In a few months, I'll be eighteen."

"You know, I miss the astronomy tower, the stars, and the moon," he said, rolling onto his back and gazing at the stars. "I miss holding you, touching you, and nestling against your neck."

"Dahlroth, what's wrong?" I asked. "You sound upset. You can talk to me."

He turned and faced me. "I don't want you to fall for Lord Darius."

"What? He's you."

"Only the darkest part of me," he replied. "He wouldn't hurt you, but he wouldn't treat you right, either. I'm afraid of what he will do to you. To the Empire. For the Empire. You deserve better."

"I won't fall for the darkness, Dahlroth, I promise."

"Lord Darius has smelled the burning embers from you," he whispered in reply. "I know you're too proud to admit it ..."

"Don't worry about me," I said with a wistful smile. "I'll be fine."

"Lord Darius feels the Fire for you as well," he said in a strained voice. "It rages inside him even though he's too proud to admit it. When he knows you feel the same, it burns even brighter."

"Just trust me."

"Mutual fire can only end one way, Khrysakh."

I cupped his cheek in my hand, and Dahlroth leaned into my palm. "If I don't stay with Lord Darius, you're asking me to give up on your soul. I don't know if I can do that. Not now."

"Dahlroth the Protector will keep your true essence safe," he whispered. "He'll wake us one day--perhaps when all the humanoids have vanished--and we can live together again."

"Yes."

"How long must I wait?" His eyes stared at me, lidded and dark. "I want you so much. Now more than ever. Just one kiss before my eternal rest. Just one."

I scooted nearer to him, and he wrapped his hand around my waist, pressing me against him. "We've been mated for two thousand years, Khrysakh," he said in a husky voice. "I never tire of your affection, though. My desire and my devotion to you have only grown stronger with time."

His eyes burned into mine as he wrapped his hands in my hair, drawing me in slower, inch by inch. A fire blazed within the deepest parts of my soul, and eternity seemed trapped in this one second before we kissed.

Pins and needles spread down my scalp and into my neck, trailing down my spine and into every nerve. He paused before my lips, his familiar scent of pine and mint fanning the flames of my desire.

My insides pooled as he cradled my neck with one hand and my waist with the other, his eyes focused on my lips before they flicked up to my eyes, asking for permission.