The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 150

LIRA 

The door to my chambers closed behind me, and I collapsed.

My back hit the wood. My legs gave out. I slid down until I was sitting on the cold stone floor, my knees drawn to my chest, my hands pressed over my face.

*He knows.*

*He knows everything.*

*And he loves me.*

*He still loves me.*

*And I'm going to lose him anyway.*

The tears came before I could stop them, hot and fast and *useless*. I cried until my throat burned, until my eyes ached, until there was nothing left inside me but a hollow, echoing emptiness.

‘You are pathetic.’

I froze.

The voice wasn't mine.

It wasn't Luna's.

It was deeper. Older. Colder.

*Veyraxis.*

No.

Not now.

Please, not now.

‘You thought you could hide from me?’ The dragon's voice slithered through my skull like smoke, curling around my thoughts, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. ‘You thought you could make promises and then break them? You thought you could* ***betray*** *me?’ 

"I'm not…” 

‘ You are.’  Her voice sharpened, became a blade. ‘You stood in my prison. You took my egg. You bonded with my hatchling. You swore to help me burn this kingdom to ash. And now…” 

She laughed.

It was not a pleasant sound.

It was the sound of stones grinding together beneath the mountain. The sound of fire consuming everything in its path.

‘Now you want to play the hero. Now you want to warn your precious prince. Now you want to ***save*** *the people who destroyed me.’ 

My chest tightened.

I couldn't breathe.

‘Lira?’ Luna's voice was small, frightened. ‘Lira, what is happening?’ 

‘Stay away from my mind.’ I thought. ‘Stay hidden.’ 

‘What…’

STAY BACK. I forced the words down the bond between me and Luna. 

‘You cannot hide from me, little liar.’ Veyraxis's presence pressed against my mind like a physical weight. ‘I have been listening. Watching. Waiting. I heard every word you said to your prince. Every tear you shed. Every pathetic, weak,* ***lovesick*** *thought that passed through your traitorous heart.’ 

"Please spare him," I gasped. "You promised…” 

‘I promised you nothing.* Her voice dripped with contempt. ‘I told you I would consider it. But that was before you tried to betray me. Before you ran to him like a dog begging for forgiveness.’ 

"I wasn't…” 

‘You were.’ The pressure increased. My vision blurred. ‘You were going to tell him everything. The attack. The tunnels. The* ***plan***. *You were going to warn him so his guards could stop me. I was in your mind. I heard your pathetic thoughts.’ 

My hands clawed at the floor.

‘I should kill you for this.’

"Then kill me."

‘What?’

I lifted my head.

Tears still streamed down my cheeks, but my voice was steady.

"Kill me," I said again. "If you're going to threaten me, do it. But I won't help you murder innocent people."

‘Innocent?’ Veyraxis laughed again, louder this time, more terrible. ‘There are no innocents in that palace. The King. The Queen. Their heirs. Their courtiers. Their* ***guards***. *Every single one of them has benefited from my imprisonment. Every single one of them has drunk wine from cups bought with blood of my magic.’ 

"I don't care."

‘You* ***should*** *care.’ 

"Why? Because you'll kill me?" I pushed myself to my feet, swaying, gasping. "Go ahead. I'm not afraid to die."

‘You should be.’

"I'm not. What else do I have to live for?” 

Silence.

The pressure in my chest eased, just slightly.

Then Veyraxis spoke again, and her voice was soft.

‘I cannot kill you.’

I blinked.

‘Not yet. The bond protects you. If you die, Luna dies. And I will not lose my only hatchling.’ 

"Then you can't hurt me."

‘Oh, but I can.’

The fire returned.

Not in my chest, in my *blood*.

I felt it burning through my veins, hot and terrible, setting every nerve in my body ablaze. I screamed. Fell to my knees. Clawed at the floor as the pain consumed me.

‘Lira!’ Luna's voice was panicked. ‘LIRA!’ 

‘I can hurt you’, Veyraxis said calmly. ‘I can hurt you for a very long time. I can make every moment of your life a living nightmare. And when I am finished, when you are nothing but a broken shell begging for death…’

"I won't help you anymore," I choked out.

‘You will.’ 

"I won't."

‘You will. Because if you don't, if you betray me again…I will kill him.’ 

The pain stopped.

I collapsed, gasping, my forehead pressed against the cold stone.

‘Your prince, Veyraxis continued. ‘Your precious Cassian. You love him, don't you?’ 

I didn't answer.

‘Answer me.’

"Yes."

*Then listen carefully.*

Her voice filled my mind, dark and terrible and *final*.

‘I will spare him. For you. Because you asked. Because you carried my egg. Because Luna chose you.’ 

A pause.

‘But I will make sure every other Valemont will die. I shall eradicate the scourge that is the Valemont bloodline from the face of the earth. The King. The Queen. Your Evander, who you used so cruelly. The princess. Every single person who shares their blood… or partook in their crimes.’ 

"No."

‘…will burn. And anyone else who had a hand in my imprisonment. The entire bloodline of the mages who forged my bonds. The secret soldiers and every last one of their bloodline who stood guard over my prison for four hundred years.*

"I said NO."

‘You don't have a choice.’

"I won't let you."

‘You won't be able to stop me.’ 

She was right.

I knew she was right.

And that was the worst part.

"You're a monster," I whispered.

‘Yes’, Veyraxis agreed. ‘I am the monster they made. And now…’ 

‘Now I am going to destroy them.’