really believed in the Underworld, but at this point...
M'Ordant materialized in front of her. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes."
Nodding, he led her through a deep, dark cavern that reminded her much of the one V'Aidan had used to torment her. They walked for what seemed like miles before they came to a small cave.
A light was shining inside and she could hear a man's voice speaking. "You're thinking of her again, aren't you?"
She looked inside and saw the once-proud dragon lying weakly on the floor with his back to her. Someone had chained his neck to a large boulder. His shoulders were slumped, his wings lying broken and useless on the earthen floor. His reddish skin had an ashen, dehydrated look and every inch of his body was covered with bleeding welts.
Erin swallowed at the sight. Could that monster really be the man she loved?
"What's her name?" the man asked. "Elise? Erika?"
"Erin," the dragon rasped, his voice both familiar and yet foreign to her. "Her name is Erin."
"Ah, yes, Erin." The man shook his head. "Tell me what kind of worthless fool gives up immortality for a woman? Especially a woman who threw him so quickly to his death?"
"She was worth it."
"Was she? M'Ordant told me she was dreaming of a man last night. Some golden-haired type. Got to figure that if she's dreaming of someone so soon, she's probably already got him picked out and is ready to sleep with him. Bet she's giving him the high hard one even as we speak."
The dragon let out an anguished cry that tore through her.
The man didn't seem to care. He dumped food and water into two containers and moved them away from the dragon. "You'd better hurry. I don't think you've made it yet before your food evaporated." Then he vanished.
Erin watched as the dragon struggled to reach the food and water. His wounds bled anew as he limped, straining against the boulder that would only barely budge. He held one to his heart, and when she saw what it clutched, her own heart splintered apart in pain.
It was that stupid wreath of wildflowers she'd made.
V'Aidan collapsed just before the water, his claw reaching out desperately for it.
Tears streaming down her face, Erin ran to where he lay. She grabbed the water, noting half of it was already gone, and as she touched the container, she knew why. It was red-hot. It burned her hands, but she didn't care.
V'Aidan needed the water.
Kneeling down, she helped him sit up enough so he could drink.
V'Aidan gasped at the liquid as it soothed his parched throat. His eyes were so swollen from his beatings that he couldn't see who helped him. All he knew was that at last he had a moment of peace from his burning thirst.
"Thank you," he breathed, laying his head back down.
"You're welcome."
He froze at the voice that had stayed with him all these weeks. The voice that both soothed and tortured him.
It was then he felt her gentle touch against his scaly flesh.
Erin cried over what they'd done to him. She ran her hand along his rocky flesh, unable to believe they had reduced him to such a state.
He tried to push himself away from her. "Go. I don't want you to see me in this hideous form."
She laid her cheek against his and held him close. She now understood what he'd meant that night at the carnival. "I don't care what you look like, V'Aidan. I love you as you are."
Those words tore through him. "You're not real," he said, his voice ragged. "My precious Erin can't love a monster. No one can. She is goodness and light, and I... I am nothing."
He looked up and roared at the ceiling, "Damn you. Hades! How dare you mock me like this, you bastard! Isn't it enough for you that I ache every minute of every hour for her? Just leave me to suffer in peace."
Erin refused to let go of him. "It's not an illusion, V'Aidan. I want us to go home. Together."
Tears welled in his swollen eyes, stinging them unmercifully. It was a cruel lie. He'd never had a home. Never had love.
He pulled against the chain that choked him, wishing for one moment that he could be with Erin again in her dreams. It had been the only time in eternity he had ever known happiness. "I am damned here, Erin. I have no powers. Nothing to offer you at all. You must go. If you