The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter FORTY-FOUR: Dev

A thud and muffled oath pricked Dev's ears. He looked up, winced, then hung his head. It felt like a dozen dull blades were sawing through his skull. He couldn't remember how long he'd been awake or how he'd gotten... wherever he was. An old library or office? Bookshelves lined the walls, the narrow windows above them filtering weak moonlight into the room through pitted glass.

A lantern sat atop a desk beside the chair he was bound to, flickering candlelight across his cheek. Quiet, shuffling feet padded closer from somewhere behind him.

"I'm sorry about that." The voice was feminine and vaguely familiar. "I knocked over a book. I-I'm a little nervous."

She was nervous?

"Untie me." Dev grunted, twisting his arms against the ropes encircling his torso.

"I want to..."

Holding his tongue took every ounce of patience he had. It wasn't his style to raise his voice to women, but a woman had never tied him up before!

There was some grumbling, then a soft, "But I can't." Followed by more shuffling. "Not yet. We have to be careful."

We...? "What is this place? What do you want with me?"

The footsteps stopped. There was a long pause. "How much do you remember?"

"That I must have hit my head pretty damn hard, because there's no chance anyone would believe what I actually remember."

"A man with a melting face, and a dragon."

She'd said it so plainly. Dev tried to turn his head, but his skull threatened to shatter. He winced, sagging against his bindings. "Who are you?"

"The dragon."

Hona help him, she was serious. Was he hallucinating? Had escaping the valley plunged him into madness?

"It's true. I'll show you. Just... don't scream. He'll wake up."

A pale hand reached across him and pulled Dev's chair around to face the desk. A whiff of wood-smoke and a faint herbal aroma filled his nostrils.

There was no dragon, just a young woman leaning over him. Dev wished he could massage his temples, turn away, erase the first thought that popped into his head. Whatever she was wearing, there wasn't enough of it. The sheer fabric cascaded over her slender body, drawing attention instead of discouraging it. Her loose black hair glittered, brushing his knees before she stood back.

When the light caught her face, his stomach leaped into his throat.

"Don't scream!" Color blossomed across her dirt-smudged cheeks. She skewed her eyes to the floor. The strangest eyes Dev had ever seen. But he had seen them before. In a wild, delirious dream.

Was she real? This female enigma.

"My name is Ayer. Will you tell me yours?"

Dev raised his chin through the throbbing pain. "Untie me first."

"I... need a moment to think. Please." She twisted a lock of hair behind her ear. It was pointed, like an elven ear, but what did he know?

Not much anymore.

"If you really are the dragon..." Which sounded impossible, but yesterday he would have said an enchanted cloak was impossible. "Were you lying about helping me find my friend?"

"No!"

Those big gold eyes fastened on him, and it was like someone reached into his chest and injected a deep black ache into his soul. The kind he'd only experienced once before. He couldn't tell if the emotion belonged to him or the woman. There seemed no beginning or end to it, just an infinite, all-encompassing echo of pain ringing between them.