Treasured: A Fantasy FF Romance by Poppy Woods

Author:Poppy Woods [Woods, Poppy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Niressa

I roll over toward the heat source, yawning sleepily as my eyes slowly flutter open. A small fire burns on the ground beside me. I reach toward it, to touch the flames and bring more of that precious heat inside me, but a sharp pain draws me up short.

They attacked.

I sit up straight, ignoring the searing pain in my chest that the quick movement causes. My head turns from side to side, glancing to make sure there are no soldiers or knights waiting in my nest. I glance down at my chest, thin strips of cotton—from one of my blouses, I think—wrapped around it like a bandage. I remove those, craning my neck to see the damage.

A fresh burn mark covers what should be at least half of a hole in my chest. I brush my fingers over the raised skin as my eyes fall to the princess where she lays on the ground nearby. I peel apart my blankets and wrap one around myself, before laying the other across Taryn. She rolls toward my hand in her sleep and my heart clenches in my chest. I brush a stray strand of hair from her face, tucking it back behind her ear. Her smooth skin feels like silk beneath my fingers and I shake my head.

Why did she stay?

I must have shifted from the blood loss. I cringe as I stare down at her, my heart beating in my chest—my very sore chest. She knows I have two forms. Oh, Gods.

My eyes widen as I rear back, pulling the blanket about my naked shoulders. I move closer to the fire, letting it soak into my bones as I ponder the situation.

Humans aren’t supposed to know about our shifting capabilities. The old dragons would be furious if they found out. I wince at the thought, putting it from my mind. They would want her murdered and I just—I shake my head even as my stomach twists. Despite what the girl thinks of me, despite what she thinks I’ve done, I’m no murderer. I’ve only ever killed in self-defense. I would never harm her unless she harmed me first . . . and even then, I’m not so sure I could do it.

Not now.

Not after she saved me. Not after she stayed.

My fingers graze over the wound on my chest again. It’s healing. It will take more time than most wounds, because of its proximity to my weakness. I shudder as I realize just how close the king’s men had come to ending me today.

And that begs the question . . .

Why did she stay? She could have fled when I passed out. I wouldn’t have blamed her. This situation is hardly fair to the princess, after all. I’m owed what I’m owed, but she’s just a vessel I’m using to get what I want. Her presence here has been an inconvenience to her, traumatic even, perhaps.

Her kind can be so delicate—especially the royal ones.

She could have found her way out of the mountain, eventually.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.