"You said you were going to help us," Skylar tried to understand what was happening. Her brain couldn't comprehend the sight of Orion unconscious, defenseless and vulnerable to a couple of shop owners. He was unstoppable, he was an impenetrable wall, and yet there he was. It was her turn to protect him, and she would do whatever it took.

Ashley's hand shook slightly, but was otherwise steady in her grip on Skylar. "I lied."

Skylar debated overpowering Ashley, she knew it would be easy enough, but she didn't know if she would be fast enough to stop Alexis and Bonnie from hurting Orion. All it would take was a flick of the wrist to send the knife in Bonnie's hand slicing through the soft flesh of his neck. She wouldn't risk that.

"Why?" Skylar asked. "If you're afraid of Draco, we can stop him. I don't know what he did-"

"It's not what he did," she snapped. "One of his knights recognized your father's knights leaving the shop. One of them was Jonathan. They put a target on our backs, on my sisters's backs. Draco's knight beat them for consorting with the enemy, because your men brought attention to them. I won't risk their lives for you. Draco promised us safety if you were delivered to him."

"So you knew about Adam," Skylar sighed. "You knew what was in that package."

She felt Ashley nod. "I'm sorry about the knight, but I have to protect my sisters. They're all I have."

"If I don't go with you?"

"We kill Orion," Bonnie snapped. She pushed the knife a little harder against your neck and Skylar watched as it convulsed in reflex.

Alexis ran her hand down the side of his face. "Which would be a shame. He's a very handsome one. Ashley, you're sure we can't keep him?"

"As if he would go for you," Bonnie rolled her eyes at her sister and Alexis gasped indignantly.

"Focus," Ashley snarled at them. Then she turned her attention back to Skylar. "I really don't want to do this, you have to know that."

"We can protect you!" Skylar promised. She inhaled sharply when Ashley pressed the knife harder into her neck.

"Not against Draco. Whatever you have planned against him, you should give in while there's still a chance."

Skylar stared down at Orion. His entire body was slack, only his shoulders held up by Alexis as she rested his head in her lap to hold the cloth over his mouth. She understood Ashley's drive; Skylar would do anything for Orion.

"You and I both know he can be stopped, Ashley. Help us save Jonathan and we'll protect you. We'll take you with us, you and your sisters. You'll be safe with us, I promise."

"No! You don't understand how powerful he is. You can't stop him, nothing can stop him," Ashley sounded genuinely terrified and Skylar sensed the fear radiating from her.

"It might seem like that, but dragons are powerful. Dragons can stop him."

Ashley's hand began to shake, the knife against Skylar's skin biting into her neck further with every tremor. "No, Skylar. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I won't risk my family when the outcome of this war is easy to foresee. Now stop talking. It won't be long until they're here for you."

Neither Skylar nor Orion could fall into Draco's grasp. She prayed she would be fast enough to stop Alexis and Bonnie from doing anything to Orion.

She spun in Ashley's grasp, reaching for the knife and pushing the maid away as she did so. Luckily, the element of surprise was on her side and none of the sisters had anticipated her calculated move, which gave her enough time to tackle Bonnie to the ground and getting the knife away from Orion's neck.

"Get off me!" Bonnie screeched as Skylar held her down. She felt her eyes flash and her teeth sharpen to points as she snarled at the young woman. Bonnie's eyes widened in fear and she froze beneath Skylar. Satisfied she was appropriately afraid, she pushed off Bonnie as she rose into a fighting stance and spun to face the two other women, and immediately realized her error. She'd underestimated them.

Ashley shook her head and bit her lip as she held a smaller, but no less threatening, knife above Orion's chest. "I warned you," she whispered.

Then she drove the knife down with as much force as she could muster. The sound of the blade piercing through soft flesh was all Skylar heard.

"No!" Skylar screeched, diving toward them, but something caught her around the waist and slammed her into the hard ground. She hardly noticed; all she could see was Orion with a knife sticking out of his chest and the blood that had started to pool there. His body convulsed when Ashley pulled the knife out, causing more blood to gush from the wound. She struggled against whoever had tackled her, but the weight on her back pressed her down. Whoever it was, it was heavier than any of the girls. And they desperately needed to bathe. But Skylar noticed none of that. Orion was dying and she couldn't do anything to help him. Her dragon keened in her head and Skylar began to shift to set her free, but a set of shackles were locked around her wrists.

As the cuffs locked, she felt the magic spread throughout her body. She felt her dragon get pushed so far back she could barely feel her. Even her dragon senses and strength disappeared. Whatever the cuffs were, they were meant to keep her dragon from surfacing at all, and they did the trick.

"Orion," she whispered. But it quickly worked up to a scream. "Orion!"

"Shut up," the voice above her snapped and a boot collided with her side. The air fled her lungs and then refused to reenter. She gasped for breath, but even then her eyes never left Orion, searching for any sign of life. She found nothing. The only sign was that the wound in his chest still gushed blood; she couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

Two other men walked over to Orion and stood over his prone form. The first one laughed and nudged him with the toe of his boot.

"Pathetic," the man chuckled. "Three little girls took him down. If they're all like this, this should be a piece of cake."

His partner nodded in agreement. "Sort of a disappointment. I was looking forward to fighting the big guy."

"Leave...him...alone," Skylar managed to gasp.

"What did I tell you?" the third man yanked her to her feet. "Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you." He was repulsive with a mangled face and an eye patch pulled over one eye. He was older, probably in his fifties, but his grip was like iron.

"What do you care anyway, missy?" the first knight taunted. "He's dead. He isn't any good to you anymore anyway."

Skylar's stomach dropped as she looked down at Orion. She sniffed the air, but she couldn't smell anything beyond the body odor of the man holding her. She would have been able to smell more, but the cuffs wouldn't let her dragon sense of smell through. She had nothing.

She looked up at Ashley, who had taken everything from her, and vowed to kill her. She was surprised to find the maid crouching in the corner with her sisters. They were terrified of the knights, but Skylar had no pity in her heart for them. They'd hurt Orion. She refused to think he was dead. He couldn't be dead. She'd just met him, just found him, he couldn't be taken from her so abruptly. It wouldn't be fair.

But as she looked at him, the blood that stained his shirt, creating a ring around the center of his chest, she found it hard to be optimistic. This was all her fault. She brought him here, she left him alone. She felt a part of her soul slowly die as she slumped toward the ground.

The knight holding her grunted in surprise, but adjusting his grip to keep her upright. He nodded at the other two.

"You imbeciles take that one. Bury him somewhere outside the city. We don't need him stinking up the castle or our ride there," he snapped. The two groaned but did as they were told. They each grabbed one of Orion's arms and began to drag him out. Skylar knew that if he'd been alive, that would have woken him up. No one could stay silent through that amount of pain. No one could stay still through that amount of pain.

As she watched the men drag the body of her mate out, all feeling left her body. Going numb was better than letting any pain in. It was easier than reacting to the streak of blood Orion left on the floor as he passed over it.

The knight reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin purse.

"The gold, as promised," he stated as he tossed the purse in their direction. Ashley caught it, but wouldn't meet Skylar's eye as she was propelled past. They walked out just in time for Skylar to witness the two knights tossing Orion's body into a cart. It landed with a loud thump, but there was nothing to follow.

Skylar let the knight lead her to a horse, but she didn't remember a lot after that. She didn't remember their trip to the castle, she didn't remember the villagers staring at her as they passed. All she remembered was focusing on the numbness inside of her. She knew what the numbness meant, and that it wouldn't take long for it to disappear, when she would have to face the truth of what had happened. Of what had happened because of her.

She felt no drive to save the dragons. No determination to kill Draco. No fear because she was being delivered to the king on a silver platter. Anything would be better than what she would feel once she was reconnected with her dragon, and the beast began to mourn. Her dragon felt everything more intensely than Skylar, and grief would be no different. Skylar knew it would be hard enough to grieve on her own, once what happened finally sunk in, but with her dragon it would be unbearable.

"Get down," the man snapped. Skylar blindly obeyed. There was no reason to argue at this point. She was in the fortress. A fortress meant to keep her in. She shuffled forward, powered by periodic shoves from the man behind her. Five more knights greeted them as they walked through a set of black doors. Most of them would recognize her, they had been to her father's castle and had met her when she was a little girl. She wondered what they thought about her status as a dragon, but then realized she didn't care.

They herded her toward the throne room, where she knew he would be waiting. She pictured the smug smile on his face. She was exactly where he wanted her. Alone, vulnerable, and in his clutches.

The doors to the dark throne room opened with hardly a whisper or a groan, and she was shoved through. As she suspected, Draco sat on his throne, his chin resting on a long fingered hand. He almost appeared bored.

The knight with the eye patch shoved her to her knees in front of him and pulled her head back to she looked up at the king. A corner of Draco's mouth tilted up.

"Skylar, lovely to see you again," he said in his sickening voice.

She said nothing, but he wasn't discouraged. "You got my letter then? And my package?"

Silence.

"What did Hal think? Was he surprised?"

She simply stared.

He let out an impatient sigh. "Skylar, this is more fun if you play along."

Why not? She had nothing to lose.

"If it weren't for your letting and... package, my father wouldn't have agreed to help the dragons."

Draco's eyebrows rose slightly. "Did he now? I suppose I wasn't expecting that turn of events, but it won't change a lot. I know where your clan is, my armies are preparing to march there as we speak. And I have you here, so how is Hal going to find it?"

"I suppose he isn't," she growled quietly. "Who is your contact in the castle?"

Draco rose from his throne and shook a long finger in her direction. "Tut tut," he clucked. "I can't tell you that just yet. But I can show you your home for the rest of your life. I want to let you rest before we get started on the real fun tomorrow. Come along."

Once again, Skylar was yanked to her feet and shoved along behind Draco. She wasn't the least bit surprised when they reached a hidden staircase and began to descend to the bowels of the castle. She'd been in her father's dungeons once, and it was an experience she didn't care to repeat. She hadn't even been a prisoner then.

A knight lit torches along the wall as they went, lighting up the narrow, damp, stone tunnels. She shuffled along behind Draco, keeping her eyes to the ground. The smell was enough to let her know that this was exactly what she deserved. Orion was gone because of her, she deserved nothing better than this for what she did. She didn't want anything better. A single tear slid down her cheek. She was all alone, and this was what she deserved. The hole in her heart grew bigger the deeper they went into the dungeons, as it began to sink in what had really happened. That Orion was dead.

"Here we are," Draco finally stopped in front of a set of bars. "I'm sure you'll recognize your cellmate."

She looked up to meet a set of hazel eyes. They were set in a bloody face that looked like it had been used as a punching bag, but she recognized them nonetheless.

"Jonathan?" she whispered.

The hazel eyes widened and he inhaled a shaky breath. His arms were pulled away from his body in spread-eagle fashion. He hung weakly from the chains, his legs bent useless beneath him from exhaustion. He wore nothing but ratty pants and his torso was covered in more blood and a canvas of black, purple, and yellow bruises. Even breathing looked like it hurt.

"Skylar?" he whispered through a broken nose and tried blood. Her heart broke even further, and she hadn't thought that was possible. Jonathan was like this because of her. He was here because of her. Orion was dead because of her. It all weighed down on her like the sky suddenly decided to collapse and she couldn't take it. She began to fall to her knees, but a knight caught her.

"I'm sure you'll be happy down here together, rotting," Draco sneered. "Jonathan can even been witness to the fun we'll have tomorrow." The king waved his hand and a knight stepped forward. The shackles around her wrists were unlocked and her dragon came rushing back to her in full force. A full force she hadn't been prepared for. She felt the shift come over her and she roared in pain as the dragon forced herself past.

"Ah, ah, ah," the king warned. His hand closed tightly around the juncture where her neck and shoulder met. "We'll have none of that yet." The pressure forced her to pause mid-shift, and she slowly coaxed her dragon to back off. Another tear escaped as her dragon began to realize what was happening. What she had witnessed. Pain ripped through her as her dragon roared in agony.

Here knee gave out once again, but this time the knight let her fall. She crumpled to the ground as the door to the cell slammed shut and locked behind her.

"Skylar," Jonathan said again as darkness fell over them. The knights were carrying the torches away, and with them, the light. The dark was so pure that even with her dragon eyesight she was blind. His voice echoed against the stone walls, but it was somehow gentle and optimistic, despite their position. "Skylar, it's going to be okay."

Those words and the lie they held were all it took to break what was left of the dam inside her. A sob tore through her and she curled up into ball on the ground, letting the pain consume her.