A Pet for the Dragons

183.

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"Why did you do it?" I asked Arika.

We were back at the Gallow Castle. Our day out had been short because of Arika's sudden change in demeanour and the storm. It was disappointing. The day had started on a good note.

Arika seemed to be feeling better, and Zorge was doing his best to cheer up the mood while Ivret put up with his antiques without lashing out too much. It was after such a long time that she seemed to laugh freely. But it had been brief.

We couldn't understand what triggered it. Zorge told me that she was feeling guilty, especially after her past. That was pretty evident. She had turned into a sobbing mess and almost fought us when we told her that we were returning to the castle.

She said she wanted to find Myra, her half-sister. Upon urging her more, she finally told us everything about her relationship with her sister and what had happened between them. Something finally made sense after it, especially the wrecked, abandoned harbour where Arika was first found.

I'd always wondered what could've caused a destruction of that level at the abandoned harbour. It turned out that Arika had tried blowing that place up to get back to her sister.

"I just did it," Arika answered, sniffing. She had been crying since then. We couldn't stop it after trying a lot. Her face and eyes were red, and she almost looked as frail as the day she woke up. "I know that's a terrible reason to kill her mates, but that's how I operated back then, you know? I just did things because I could. It didn't help that I hated her. That makes me a terrible person. I bet it does,"

"Calm down," Zorge told her, but nothing was working. She was too emotionally aroused to listen to us properly. She seemed to be stuck in her head, being thrashed around by her violent, dark thoughts. I could see the chaos in her eyes. It reminded me of my time at Dacva. Those were pretty bad days for me.

I couldn't help but worry more about her.

"I bet that you all think I'm a terrible person, which I am, but yeah, you know the exact reason why now. But please don't hate me. If I could, I'd go back in time to fix it. I... I..." she trailed off for a moment as if she was trying to recall something but struggling with it.

I could see Zorge growing much more tense. He almost looked on the edge, and that was very rare for my brother. I could only imagine what might be going through Arika's head that was troubling her and my brother so much.

"Don't," I whispered to my brother. "Let her,"

"No," He hissed. "I can't leave her alone," I shook my head. It was starting to affect him now, and I couldn't allow that to happen. We needed to keep ourselves sane to look after Arika properly.

"Tell me that you hate me now. I need to hear it," Arika demanded, starting to shake. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be on the verge of going insane. I'd never seen her like this before, and it scared me to an extent.

"We don't hate you," I told her, but I wasn't sure if she could hear my words over the chaos in her head. "Put her to sleep," I told Ivret, who was holding her all this time, equally confused and shocked at her sudden change.

"Arika, drink this. You must be thirsty," Ivrte tried, but she slapped the sedated drink off his hands and grew more hysterical.

"No, tell me first. Do you hate me now? I need to know. I need to know if my sister is alive. I need to know where my ship is... I need..." She trailed off in a gibberish, fisting her hair while she violently shook.

I clenched my jaw. She was going too far, and it was starting to scare me more and more. Before she could say anything, I forced her down on the bed. She fought me as she had done before when I had hauled her into our truck before driving to the harbour. The scales on my arms now had scratches from her nails, but I didn't care.

"Give it to her." I hissed at Ivret before Arika could find a way to pry out of my hold. She was screaming and thrashing like a madwoman. As much as it hurt me to do this to her, this was the only option we were left with. Ivret looked deeply troubled. I could tell that he was struggling to come to reality with her, but we had to do what we had to do.

"You need to go to sleep, Arika," I told her, forcing her lips open as Ivret gave her the sedative drink. I ensured that she swallowed it. She kneed me hard in my chest and I almost felt one of my ribs crack, but I was sure that it hurt her more.

"I... I know you hate me now," she sobbed when we let her free. Zorge shifted to hold her and soothe her, but it wasn't working anymore. She seemed even more agitated and hysterical. "Don't you fucking touch me. I don't want to see any of you! I'm going to run away. I'm going to run away, and this time you won't find me, no matter where you look."

I'd been hearing her speak a lot of nonsense the whole day, ever since she started acting hysterical, and none of it ever got to me. I was shocked to learn that she tried to kill her sister's mates, but it didn't faze me much.

However, the last bit got to me. Her words went straight to the heart like a fine needle managing to find the gaps between the tough scales and penetrate deep.

My fingers wrapped around her throat where her collar used to be, my hold firm enough to get her attention but not rough enough to choke her. However, she sensed my tension through my touch. I hoped she'd feel my rage through my words next.

"We will tolerate your every tantrum and hysteria, but not those threats, pet. You are ours, and nothing changes that, not even your terrible past. You are ours until your last breath. We own you. Our poison runs through your veins, and you wear our marks. How dare you even think about running away?" I growled, our faces inches apart. I couldn't hold back anymore. Even if she was in the middle of losing her mind, she was listening to me and I knew she understood every word I said to her, judging by the haunted look on her face. "You scarred us, you ruined us for everything the moment you stepped into our lives. You're mistaken if you think you'd be free from us. If you believe you're going to hell for killing your sister's mates, then we're going there with you, whether you like it or not and whether we are allowed or not. It's not up to you to decide anymore... and don't you ever forget what will happen once you're caught after running away. I'll make you see the brightest stars and take you to the realm beyond hell all at once. We will be the hell you seem to yearn so much if that's what it means to be yearned by you. You are never getting rid of us. Ever,"

~

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