Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1)

Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

M orning light hits my face. Raising my left hand, I rub sleep from my face and then blink my eyes open. At first, my brain can’t process what I’m seeing.

There is a black barrier between me and the rest of the world. Pale light streams in through the gap between it and the thick grass I’m lying on. Then my mind at last catches up.

Oh. Right. The fight. The fall. The underground forest. Draven’s wing. And his body pressed against my back.

My heart jerks.

It takes all of my willpower to stop my body from doing the same.

Lying completely motionless, I draw in breaths that have suddenly become unsteady.

I’m curled up on my side with Draven behind me. He is pressed so tightly against me that I can feel his chest expand against my back every time he breathes. His left arm is still underneath me, locked to my right one, and his other is draped over my side. His right hand rests possessively on my chest, right over my heart. Which is now beating erratically. I wonder if he can feel it.

Twisting my head, I glance over my shoulder. Draven’s eyes are still closed, and his chest rises and falls with the deep rhythmic breathing of sleep. My gaze flicks down towards his belt and the pouch that contains the ring.

I scowl in annoyance when I notice that that particular pouch is pressed against the ground by his left hip. And since my right hand is trapped to his wrist on the other side, there is no way that I will be able to even reach the pouch. Let alone steal the ring from inside.

So I turn my head back and instead try to scan the area around us. But all I can see through the gap between his wing and the grass is the bottom of a few trees. I heave a sigh.

My gaze drifts over his wing instead.

It blocks out a lot of the light, but from in here, when the light shines from the other side, it’s a little more translucent. It makes the veins that run through the membrane more visible. Intrigued, I follow them with my eyes as I study the wing intently.

I don’t think I have ever been this close to a dragon shifter’s wings before. From a distance, they look hard and severe. But this close, the inside at least looks like it might actually be soft to the touch.

Completely fascinated by my discovery, I raise my free hand and gently draw my fingers over the wing. I suck in a small breath when I find it soft and smooth. Almost like velvet.

A moan rips from Draven’s throat.

And his cock, which I only now realize is pressed against my ass, hardens immediately.

It sends a jolt through my spine.

Stunned, and more than a little curious, I trace my fingers over his wing again.

A strangled noise comes from the back of his throat, and he snaps his eyes open.

“Selena,” he says. It sounds like it’s supposed to be a warning, but his voice is choked and rough. “What are you doing?”

My heart begins pounding in my chest, but I keep my eyes fixed on the wing before me as I reply, “I was just curious about what your wings felt like.”

Before he can respond, I brush my fingers over the soft membrane again.

This time he actually gasps. His cock hardens even more, and he squirms on the ground.

The reaction shocks me so much that I can’t help but to slide my fingers a little farther down the wing.

Draven’s hand shoots up from where it was resting over my heart to instead circle my throat.

“Careful,” he warns, his voice still rough.

With his hand around my throat, I can’t turn my head to meet his gaze, but I try to catch sight of his face from the corner of my eye. “Are they sensitive?”

“Let’s just say that there are only two reasons to touch a dragon shifter’s wings. To inflict pain. Or pleasure.”

My pulse thrums underneath his hand as he flexes his fingers around my throat. He angles his head slightly, and now his breath caresses the shell of my ear as he speaks.

“So unless you plan to torture me or fuck me, can I suggest that you stop tracing your fingers over my wings like that.”

Pulling my hand back, I clear my throat while heat sears my cheeks. “Sorry.”

He lets out a low humming sound in acknowledgement. It makes his breath caress the shell of my ear again, and a shudder of pleasure rolls down my spine. I swear I can feel him smirking behind me.

Apparently satisfied with that little revenge, he finally releases my throat and pulls away.

The sudden loss of his warm body against mine is almost jarring.

I drag in a deep breath to center myself again while Draven folds his wings back in. Then they disappear with a small cloud of smoke as he shifts into his fully human form. That surprises me, since I have almost only ever seen him in his half-shift form before, but lingering heat still sears my cheeks from when I touched his wings, so I decide not to be even more intrusive and ask about that too.

A faint metallic click sounds as Draven unlocks our handcuffs. I raise my eyebrow at him in silent question.

“If you try to steal the ring and escape now that we’re awake, I will catch you,” he explains. “So there’s no need to keep you shackled to me.”

I scoff in annoyance but don’t argue since I’m pretty sure that he’s right.

“Alright, let’s go,” he says as he pushes to his feet. “We need to scout the area and figure out if there is another way out of here.”

After raking my fingers through my hair and retying the string that holds some of my hair back from my face, I stand up as well and give my body a good stretch to ease some of the stiffness after sleeping on the ground.

Then Draven and I set out to explore this strange underground forest that we ended up in.

Just as I surmised last night, the area around us is mostly filled with trees of a kind that I have never seen before. There are no fir trees or pine trees. Instead, all of them are covered in leaves of different shapes. Some are round and some are long and thin while others are jagged. The actual trunks vary as well. They’re either straight or twisting, thin or thick, tall or short, covered in vines or mushrooms or nothing at all. There is no real unity. Even the ones that look to be of the same species have some features that differentiate it from the others.

The longer we walk, the more I get the feeling that not a single tree is exactly like another in this forest.

But the strangest part of all is the colors.

There are normal green leaves, of course. But a lot of the trees also sport foliage in colors that simply shouldn’t be possible. One twisted and gnarly tree that we pass has leaves in a bright pink color. Another, a tall and proud tree with a straight trunk, has leaves the color of a roaring fire. Yet another displays leaves that glitter silver in the daylight.

I gaze around me, wide-eyed, as Draven and I travel deeper into the forest.

How these trees can even grow down here is beyond me. Daylight filters down through the layers of thin trunks that make up the ceiling above the entire forest. It illuminates the landscape and paints it in a warm glow. But there are no direct rays of sunlight that reach down here.

“Do you hear that?” Draven suddenly demands.

Stopping dead in my tracks, I whip my head from side to side. Then I hear it too.

“Water,” I say, relief washing over me. “Running water.”

We hurry towards the sound and find an entire river cutting straight through the forest. I drop to my knees at the bank and gulp down water. Draven does the same.

Once we’ve slaked our thirst, we push to our feet again. A considering look blows across Draven’s features as he looks up and down the river.

“This is the River Andunir,” he says, staring out at the water.

The River Andunir is the river that runs through the thorn forest and into Lake Andun outside our city before it continues into the woods on the other side.

I squint at the water too. “How do you know?”

“It runs all the way from the Peaks of Prosperity to your city, and it cuts underground in several places.” His eyebrows are furrowed as he looks up at the strange forest around us. “I had no idea that there was something like this down here, though.”

“Huh.” I glance in the direction that the water is flowing, which must then naturally be south since the river runs that way. “So if we just follow the river, we will eventually reach the part where it flows back up again.”

“Exactly.”

Excitement ripples through me. Alright, we finally have a way out. Now, I just need to figure out how to steal the ring before we get there.

After drinking some more water, we set out along the river.

Neither of us speaks. I can almost feel the tension vibrating through the air between us. But I also don’t know what to say. After what happened this morning, I suddenly feel uncharacteristically uncertain around him in a way that I never have before.

Draven’s gaze flicks to me.

I glance towards him, but by the time my gaze finds his face, he is already looking at the grass and trees ahead. But I know that he was glancing at me. I could feel it.

Only the sound of softly running water fills the air as we continue walking.

Draven glances at me from the corner of his eye again.

“What?” I huff, turning my head to stare at him while we continue walking.

He starts in surprise and then twists his head towards me as he echoes, “What?”

“You were staring at me.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Seriously? Now you sound like a child.”

“Why does everyone else’s dreams matter more than your own?”

I jerk back, stunned by the drastic change of topic. Frowning in genuine bewilderment, I hold his gaze and shake my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He blows out a forceful breath and rakes his fingers through his hair. Then he slides his gaze back to me, his golden eyes now full of something like exasperation. Or maybe frustration.

“I’ve seen how powerful you are,” he says. “Back during that first trial, when Tommen almost killed you, you blasted him with your full power, right? Manipulated his fear?”

I nod in confirmation.

Draven holds my gaze with dead serious eyes. “Did you know that he pissed his pants?”

Shock pulses through me, and I draw back a little.

“Yeah,” he confirms. “You made him so afraid that he pissed his pants.”

“Oh.” I blink at the colorful forest before me as that thought swirls inside my skull. “No wonder he had such a grudge against me.”

Silence descends over us for a few seconds.

Then Draven heaves another sigh. “You can do things like that, and yet you always hold back.”

“I don’t always hold back,” I retort, my voice coming out sounding petty and defensive.

“Almost always. Instead of fighting at full power, you make yourself less. Why?”

His words echo what Isera asked me earlier as well. Why don’t I use my powers to make other people lose so that I will have a better chance at winning?

“I don’t know.” I squirm a little as uncomfortable feelings snake through my chest. “It’s just… We’re all trying to get out of this town and I just…”

“You always put everyone else’s needs and wants ahead of your own. You always take care of everyone else. But who takes care of you?”

“I do.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. And as soon as I’ve spoken them out loud, my heart clenches in pain as if an iron fist has squeezed it. I drag in a strained breath, and rub a hand over my heart, as if that can help ease the tightness inside my chest.

It’s the painful truth. I always try to make sure that everyone else feels comfortable and at ease. But no one ever does the same for me. No one has ever put my needs and wants first.

Clearing my throat, I try to sound normal as I repeat, “I do.”

But the words come out like a frail whisper. And I hate it. So I shove the ache in my heart aside and instead reach for something else. Some other kind of emotion. Anger. Why did he need to ask something like that? Here? Now?

“Why do you even care?” I snap before he can respond. Anger laces my voice, making it a little less brittle. “Why do you care if I fight to win or not? You are the one who is trying to make sure that I lose. So what gives you the right to ask me something like that?”

He opens his mouth to retort, but then he just draws his eyebrows down in a scowl and snaps his mouth shut.

We continue walking in incredibly tense silence after that.

The hours drag on.

Once we’re past what must at least be midday, my legs wobble with every step. I’ve had precious little to eat in the past two days, and my body consumed most of the energy from the fruit yesterday when it healed the burn wounds on my arm. I stumble a little as I take another step.

Draven’s hand shoots out and grabs me before I can fall.

“What’s wrong?” he demands.

I don’t want to admit to any weaknesses, especially since he doesn’t even look tired at all, but I know that hiding it out of stubbornness and pride would just be plain stupid.

“I haven’t eaten a lot,” I admit. “And I had some burn wounds that needed healing, which consumed most of the energy from the food I found yesterday.”

His eyes flash like lightning. “Burn wounds?”

“I was in a fight for the rings.”

Anger flickers across his features. Then he abruptly grabs me by the arm and starts pulling me deeper into the forest instead of continuing along the river.

“What are you—” I begin, but he cuts me off.

“We’re finding you some food.” He shoots me a look. “I can’t have you passing out because I’m not going to carry you.”

A question that I have been pondering all day is right there on my tongue. Why haven’t you already left? Why haven’t you just shifted into your half-shift and flown away along the river without me? But I don’t dare to ask that question out loud. Not yet, anyway. So I simply follow him deeper into the woods.

Eventually, we find some fruits and berries that look vaguely edible. Draven tries them first, claiming that he will better be able to withstand poison or other unwanted side effects. When he deems them safe, he hands them all to me. I practically inhale them all.

Once I reach the end of my little feast, I slow down and instead study Draven’s face while I chew.

Noticing my staring, he frowns and meets my gaze. “What?”

“I was just thinking that I’m kind of glad that you managed to evade the knife that I slashed at your face before.”

The confusion in his eyes deepens, and he shakes his head at me in silent question.

I flash him a grin. “It would have been a shame to damage such a pretty face.”

A surprised laugh rips from his chest.

He snaps his mouth shut almost immediately, cutting it off, and shoots a stunned look down at his own chest. As if he can’t believe that that sound came out of his own body.

There is still a hint of amusement playing at the corner of his lips as he looks up and meets my gaze again. “You have an uncanny ability to?—”

An arrow shoots right past his face.