29

NAT WALKED TO THE SUFFERING CREATURE and stroked its neck and removed the iron chains, letting them clatter. Easy, she sent, soothing the drakon. Easy. She is gone. We are free.

The drakon bowed and Nat walked to the place where its shoulder met its neck. She nuzzled upon the creature’s shoulders. She was whole at last, bonded once more to the creature, and she had Wes to thank for that.

“Eliza?” she asked when she saw Wes.

He shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and she was. She knew that the loss was a blow, no matter what kind of person Eliza had become. She ached for him, for what he had had to do. He had killed his own blood for her.

“She died in peace. She came back to me, in the end. She wasn’t . . . Lady Algeana anymore.”

Nat nodded, knowing there were no words that would make the grief easier, but she could offer comfort and succor nonetheless. “Come,” she said, opening her arms to him.

He fell into them, putting almost all of his weight on her, but she stood firm, holding him, wrapping her arms around him so that his grief flowed out and into her, so that they shared it, so that he knew that he was safe, that he was loved.

Her shoulder became wet with his tears, and she was crying as well. Eliza’s was not the first death and would not be the last.

After a long silence, he rocked back on to his feet and pulled away slightly. “Is Mainas all right?”

“The drakon will heal.”

“And you?”

“I can bear the pain.”

“But you don’t have to bear it alone,” he said.

She was silent.

He put his arms around her once more and put his mouth next to her ear. “I was thinking about what Emrys said. About the sacrifice that’s part of the spell,” he said.

She tensed, wondering what he was going to say next. It was not what she expected.

“I know what it is,” he said. “It’s me. That’s why you pushed me away. Because you thought you could make me leave you.”

It appeared she was the only one who had been in denial about what the sacrifice entailed. “How long have you known?”

“When you stopped talking to me,” he said. “I knew there had to be a good reason. And there could only be one reason for it. You’re trying to keep me alive. Because you can’t live a second without me.”

“Cocky boy,” she whispered, but she was smiling even as she said it.

He tightened his hold on her as the drakon lifted its wings and flapped toward the sky. “I wanted you to tell me yourself. But you really are stubborn. So I have no choice but to tell you now.”

“Tell me what?” she asked, as they flew from the ruins, looking down on the devastated cityscape below.

“I’m not leaving you. Ever. I’m right here. Whatever that spell wants, whatever it needs, I’m here. If you die, I die with you. You’re only trying to save me somehow and that’s not going to work. We’re in this together. I share your burden. I’ve seen the weight you carry. You can’t do it alone.”

Nat let the tears flow down her cheeks, letting the wind carry them. “But you’ll die,” she whispered, shaking in his arms.

Wes leaned even closer, so that his lips were against her wet cheek now, and he knew she was crying. “If that’s what you need from me,” he said.

“Ryan,” she said. “I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I can’t let you die. I won’t.” She was sobbing now, her shoulders shaking. “I wanted you to think I didn’t love you, so you would leave me. But I love you so much. I can’t let you go.”

Wes kissed the tears as they fell. “You don’t have to let go. You can’t anyway. I’ll be there till the end. Remember my promise? I’m never leaving you.”

Even as they stood at the edge of the precipice, she felt a lightness and joy to know she wasn’t alone. She had Mainas. She had Wes. Their friends were still alive and would help them secure the tower.

“I knew you never stopped loving me,” he said, his voice as shaky as hers. She twisted around so that she faced him, raising her chin so that he leaned down and they shared a brief but sweet kiss.

“I’m sorry we wasted that time apart,” she said.

“I’m sorry, too.” He cleared his throat. “But there’s no time to dwell on that now. I spoke to Shakes and Liannan. They’ve reached New Dead City. Avo’s troops have surrounded the tower. They’re going to blast it with nukes to try to get inside,” he said.

“Let’s go then.” Nat lifted her foot, placed it upon the drakon’s spine, and swung up onto its back. The scales felt warm beneath her, like coal rustling in a fire. The sound of the scales moving across one another was soothing, familiar. She was back where she belonged. She offered him her hand and he took it, swinging to sit behind her.

They flew away while, below, Apis gave one last sigh and collapsed completely. Its walls caved in, one after another, falling upon each other, shooting up towers of dust and sand that the drakon deftly avoided.

“I’m scared, Wes. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know it’s not going to be good.”

He murmured into her hair. “Emrys said there was always hope. I’m going to cling to it.”

Hope was a thread as fine as drakonscale. Nat decided she would do the same.