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Chapter 2: Bound by shadows

Riders’ Keep loomed against the mountains like a fortress carved from shadow. Towers of black stone rose jagged into the mist, spires crowned with dragon perches that crackled with heat and wingbeats. The air smelled of ash, iron, and the wild musk of beasts that ruled the skies.

Elianna stepped from the carriage and felt dozens of stares cut across the courtyard. Whispers hissed like snakes through the crowd.

The Amethyst.

The prophecy.

She’s not meant to be here.

Her jaw tightened. Let them whisper.

Then his voice cut through the noise. Smooth. Sharp. Infuriating.

“Try not to trip over your own boots, freckles. Wouldn’t want you embarrassing your new destiny on the first day.”

Dominic leaned against the stair rail, arms crossed over his chest, tattoos coiling like black flame down bronzed skin. Shadow perched above on a spire, eyes burning molten gold.

Elianna’s pulse hammered. “You’re in my way.”

His mismatched eyes flicked over her, one blue, one brown, both gleaming with disdain. “I’m always in your way. Get used to it.”

Amethyst’s growl rumbled behind her, low and dangerous.

Shadow answered with a roar that shook loose dust from the stone.

The dragons were drawn together—twin flames bound by fate. And because of them, so were she and Dominic.

Her stomach turned. She hated him. Gods, she hated him.

And yet, when the High Keeper’s stewards pushed her forward, she realized with horror exactly where they were sending her.

Her chamber.

Besides his.

The corridor felt narrower with him walking behind her, his long strides eating up the distance like he owned the world. Maybe he did. Everyone bowed when he passed. Everyone whispered his name like a warning.

Dominic Draven. Rider of the Black Dragon. The Shadowbound.

And now her shadow too.

The steward stopped before two iron-banded doors. “Your chambers,” he said, tone stiff, as if he too tasted the tension boiling between them. He gestured to the left. “Lady Elianna.” Then to the right. “Lord Dominic.”

Of course. Of course they were side by side.

Dominic’s smirk curved slow and lethal as the steward retreated. “Hope you don’t snore, freckles.”

Elianna spun on him. “Hope you choke on your arrogance.”

“Sweetheart,” he drawled, leaning one shoulder against his doorframe, “if arrogance could kill me, you wouldn’t have lasted long enough to bond that shiny lizard of yours.”

Amethyst’s tail slammed against the stone outside, the sound like thunder. Shadow’s answering rumble rolled through the Keep, a dark and deadly warning.

Elianna shot a glance to the balcony where dragons perched like living gods. Their wings twitched, restless, scales shimmering in the dying light. They hated being apart. She felt Amethyst’s agitation burning in her veins.

Why do they keep us from our mate? Amethyst hissed in her mind, voice edged with hunger and fire.

“Because apparently,” Elianna muttered under her breath, “fate has a twisted sense of humor.”

Dominic c****d his head. “Talking to yourself already? That was fast.”

She gritted her teeth, turned the key in her door, and slammed it shut behind her.

But even through the thick walls, she could hear his laugh. Low. Wicked. Like smoke curling through the cracks.

And beneath it, the deep, echoing growl of dragons who would not be kept apart.