“I would rather serve a leader who places the needs of his people above his greedy heart,” said Kipling, the guard with the cut eyebrow. “You’ve become weak, Lothair. How can we trust you to carry out your promises once you perform the Lycan ritual? What are we even supposed to do once you become Lycan?”
The atmosphere within the mine became heated. I worried that Kipling’s fury was still attached to me. I felt nothing for my father anymore, no desire to protect him from the anger brewing in the dragons, no determination to prove myself to him, not since he had forced me to choose between killing Aislin and Billie. As the argument intensified, I backed away, slipping among the bodies in search of my own freedom.
“The Inkscales will integrate into the ranks of Dalesbloom. You already kn
