Chapter 3 AN APPRENTICE TO DIE FOR

"Take your hand off me," I choked out, my pulse hammering against the hollow of my throat.

Keith didn't let go immediately. His thumb lingered on my lip, tracing the tremble there with frustrating leisure before he dropped his hand. He stepped back, his golden eyes scanning the devastation of my shop with pure disgust.

"Filthy," he muttered. "A sovereign of the skies, trapped in a cellar smelling of wet moss and dried weeds."

"It's not a cellar, it's an apothecary!" I snapped, my fear giving way to sheer exhaustion. "And if you want to leave, help me clean this up so I can search my grandmother's grimoire. The answers are in the pages."

"I do not sweep floors, witch."

"Then prepare to get cozy on that broken floorboard, Your Highness," I retorted, grabbing a broom from behind the counter and thrusting it at his chest. "Because if Bramwell comes back with the Guild Enforcers at sunset, they won't just arrest me. They'll bring iron-core nullifiers. If they find out what you are, they'll lock you in a cage and harvest your scales for potion ingredients."

That struck a nerve. Keith's jaw hardened. He snatched the broom from my grip with such force the wood creaked in his palm.

"If any mortal attempts to lay a hand on my scales, I will gut them where they stand."

"Great. Start by gutting that pile of broken glass."

For the next two hours, the most surreal scene of my life unfolded. Keith, Lord of the Obsidian Spire, grumbled under his breath in an ancient, thunderous language while sweeping up shattered moon-orchid jars. He moved with lethal precision, looking absurdly out of place among bundles of chamomile and mint.

I scrambled into the back storeroom, throwing open my grandmother's chest of rare tomes. I flipped frantically through yellowed parchment, looking for summoning reversions, ancient pacts, anything about dragon cords.

Finally, in a torn, soot-stained diary at the very bottom, my eyes caught a heading: The Sovereign Tether.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I read:

"When primordial dragon flame fuses with an open, untrained mortal ley-vessel, an ancient blood-lock forms. The sovereign cannot shift, fly, or return to the Rift until the mortal's magical core reaches absolute balance. To sever the bond forcefully without balance will shatter the souls of both dragon and witch."

"Absolute balance?" I whispered in horror. My magic couldn't even keep a seed alive without tearing a hole in the sky.

The chime above the front door rang.

I froze. It wasn't sunset yet.

I rushed into the front room just in time to see a high-ranking Guild official stepping inside, escorted by two armored guards. It wasn't Bramwell. It was Lady Vespera, the Chief Inspector of the Arcane Guild, notorious for sending unlicensed witches to the work camps.

"Wendy Thorne," Lady Vespera said smoothly, her sharp gaze sweeping over the shop. Her eyes landed instantly on Keith, who stood near the counter with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on her throat. "We received reports of an unregistered creature causing violence on Guild property."

My blood ran cold.

Keith shifted his stance, his muscles tensing to strike. I knew if he attacked a Guild Inspector, the entire imperial army would descend on this borough.

Without thinking, I lunged forward, grabbed Keith's large, scaled hand, and forced a bright, sunny smile.

"Inspector Vespera! What a terrible misunderstanding," I chirped, digging my nails into Keith's palm to warn him. "Bramwell must have exaggerated. This isn't a creature. This is... Keith. My new apprentice from the northern provinces!"

Vespera arched a plucked eyebrow, stepping closer. "An apprentice? Without an official Guild seal? And dressed like a savage?"

She reached out with a silver mana-rod to test Keith's magical aura.

If that rod touched Keith's skin, his dormant dragon signature would ring like an alarm bell across the entire continent.

Keith's slit pupils narrowed to razor threads. A low, killing rumble vibrated in his chest. His right hand twitched, ready to snap her neck.

Desperate, I yanked on our soul tether, pulling him down by his collar.

Before he could summon an inch of violence, I threw my ar

ms around his neck and pressed my lips firmly against his.