The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 82

CASSIAN

I don’t remember deciding to move.

One moment the dragon’s roar was tearing the air apart, the vast shape lunging forward, heat and fury and ancient grief crashing toward us, and the next, instinct took over.

“No,” I snarled, and the word carried power I hadn’t consciously summoned in years.

The wards answered me.

They surged from my chest, from my blood, from the bond that tied me to stone and fire alike. Invisible force slammed into the dragon’s advance, stopping her mid-lunge. The impact shook the chamber. Dust rained from the ceiling. The dragon reeled back with a furious scream that rattled my bones.

I didn’t wait to see if she’d try again.

“Lira, move!”

She stood frozen, eyes wide, face pale as death.

I crossed the distance in two strides, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her against me just as the dragon’s claws scraped where she’d been standing a heartbeat before.

“Cassian...!”

“Run,” I ordered. “Now.”

The passage sealed behind us as I dragged her through it, stone grinding shut with a sound like a tomb being closed. The dragon’s roar echoed even after the way collapsed, rage and something else tangled beneath it, pain, maybe. Loss.

I didn’t stop moving until we were deep in the palace, my heart hammering, my grip still iron-tight around Lira’s wrist.

Only when my chamber doors slammed shut behind us did I let go.

Lira staggered, bracing herself against the table, breathing hard.

I turned on her immediately.

“What,” I demanded, “in the seven hells was that?”

She flinched.

“Cassian, I...”

“You were in a sealed passage beneath the palace,” I snapped, pacing once before stopping in front of her. “You were standing in front of a dragon that...” I cut myself off, jaw tight. “That should not exist.”

Her lips parted, then closed again.

“How long?” I pressed. “How long have you known about it?”

She hesitated. Too long.

My suspicion sharpened.

“Lira.”

She swallowed. “A few weeks.”

The words hit like a blow.

“A few weeks,” I repeated flatly. “You’re telling me you’ve known there is a dragon beneath the palace for weeks, and you said nothing?”

“I didn’t know what it was at first,” she said quickly. “I just, I heard something. A voice. Calling my name.”

I stilled.

“My name,” she insisted softly. “I thought I was imagining it. Or losing my mind.”

“That doesn’t explain why you were down there tonight.”

Her hands trembled as she clasped them together. “Because it wouldn’t stop. And because I was scared.”

I studied her face, really looked at her.

She was pale, shaken, eyes too bright. Whatever she was hiding, fear was real in her. That much I could tell.

“You expect me to believe you wandered into a forbidden passage and confronted an unknown dragon because it… whispered to you?”

“Yes,” she said, meeting my gaze. “Because I didn’t know who else to tell.”

“That’s a lie,” I said quietly.

She sucked in a breath.

“It’s not the whole truth,” she admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “But it’s not a lie.”

I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration coiling tight in my chest.

“I’ve lived in this palace my entire life,” I said. “I’ve walked its wards, studied its foundations. I know all the names of the dragons of Aurelia by heart. There is no record of a dragon beneath it. None.”

She said nothing.

“And yet,” I continued, voice low, “there she was. Furious. Powerful. Old.”

I stopped pacing again, facing her squarely.

“What does she want from you?”

Lira shook her head. “I don’t know.”

That one rang false.

I stepped closer. “What did she say to you?”

Her gaze dropped.

“Cassian,” she whispered, “please. I can’t...”

“You can,” I cut in. “And you will. Because you just put yourself, and possibly this entire palace, in danger.”

She flinched as if struck.

“I didn’t mean to,” she said fiercely. “I didn’t know she would react like that. I thought...”

“You thought what?” I demanded.

“That she needed help,” she said.

The words settled heavily between us.

I exhaled slowly, forcing my temper down before it burned everything in its path.

“You are not to be involved in this,” I said. “Whatever this is.”

She straightened, wounded pride flashing briefly through her fear. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“I absolutely do,” I snapped. “When you’re sneaking into sealed passages and nearly getting yourself killed by something even I don’t fully understand. You must never go down there again!"

Silence stretched.

Finally, she spoke again, quieter now. “Can I leave?”

The question caught me off guard.

“You’re… leaving?”

“I need air,” she said. “And sleep. And distance from..." her voice wavered “...whatever that was.”

I hesitated.

Every instinct screamed to keep her here. To demand more answers. To not let her out of my sight.

But she looked like she might shatter if I pushed further.

“Fine,” I said at last. “But we’ll finish this conversation later."

She nodded quickly. “Yes.”

I opened the door, peering into the corridor first, then motioned her forward.

We’d taken no more than a few steps when a voice cut through the quiet.

“Cassian?”

I froze.

Evander stood at the far end of the hall, eyes widening as he took in the scene, me, with a loose shirt and tense, Lira pale and shaken.

“Lira?” he said sharply, striding closer. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

She stiffened. “Evander—please...”

“What is she doing here?” he demanded, turning on me. “In your chambers? At this hour?”

“Now is not the time,” I said flatly.

His jaw clenched. “Then when? Because from where I’m standing, it looks very much like..."

“Stop,” Lira whispered urgently. “Please don’t..”

Evander’s gaze flicked to her, hurt flashing across his face. “Have you been with him?”

“That’s not.." she began.

I stepped forward. “Enough.”

Evander laughed, sharp and brittle. “You don’t even deny it.”

“This does not concern you,” I said, irritation flaring.

“Oh, it does,” he shot back. “When the woman I..” he stopped himself, jaw tight "...care about walks out of my brother’s room in the middle of the night?”

I didn’t have patience for this. Not now.

“Go back to your chambers, Evander.”

He stared at me. “Excuse me?”

“Now.”

His eyes hardened. “You think you can just order me away?”

“Yes,” I said coldly. “I do.”

He shoved my shoulder.

I didn’t even think.

My hand fisted in his tunic and slammed him back against the wall, lifting him just enough that his feet barely scraped the floor.

“Calm. Down,” I growled. “Before you do something you'd regret."

His eyes widened, more in shock than fear.

Lira gasped. “Cassian...please..."

I released him abruptly.

Evander staggered, coughing, fury and pain warring on his face.

“Get her out of here,” he said hoarsely. “Before someone catches you with her."

I ignored him, turning instead to Lira, I leaned in so only her could hear me.

“Go,” I told her quietly. “Straight to your room. And don’t tell anyone what you saw tonight. Anyone.”

She nodded, eyes wide, and hurried away.

I waited until her footsteps faded before stepping into the courtyard, the night air cool against my overheated skin.

My hands still shook.

Too much. Everything was moving too fast.

I closed my eyes and pressed my palm to my chest, focusing inward, on the bond that burned there like a living thing.

Taheer.

The call wasn’t spoken aloud. It didn’t need to be.

It cut through distance and sky and stone, a summons woven from blood and flame.

Come, I commanded silently. Now.