The Dragon Queen (Death #4)

20. Talon

Chapter 20

Talon

I was sent to do Bahamut’s bidding, shit that made me sick to my stomach. He did it on purpose too, knowing how it would torture my mind, body, and soul. My job was to take the soul of an innocent child because his mother had made the grave mistake of praying to Bahamut rather than Riviana, for forsaking the god of life and embracing the god of death. Like me, she didn’t understand the cost until it was too late to make amends.

And it killed me.

I returned to the little corner in the castle that had no visitors and sobbed, hating myself for what I’d done, but also granting myself grace because I truly didn’t have a choice in the matter. If I resisted, Bahamut’s magic took hold on my body and forced me.

With my knees to my chest and my arms around my body, I wept as my tears dripped into my clothing. I wondered how many times Calista and Khazmuda had cried like this over my death, and that made it worse. Made me hate myself even more for the decisions that I made. I’d sacrificed my future for the past—and it was the wrong choice.

Talon.

I stifled my tears at the sound of his voice. It was the light in my darkness, but that sunshine made the darkness harder to bear.

I know you can hear me, Talon.

There was no way for him to know the truth, so I held my silence. He would eventually give up and move on with his life. Learn how to live without me. To assume that I was dead and whatever he felt was a physical manifestation of grief.

Say something.

The tears balanced in the corners of my eyes, their release halted by my stillness. I was silent, as if Khazmuda would somehow hear my tears through our connection. If he could feel my soul, I feared he could also feel my pain.

I will protect your soul, Talon. He will not take it.

My lungs exploded with the air I sucked inside my body. I was in constant pain from the gloom of this place, from the misery of everyone trapped within it. A slow poison entered my veins like I’d been bitten by a hundred vipers. But I could never let him know that, no matter how hard he tried to provoke me into speaking.

I will never let him take it.