Mikolas

by Saranna Dewylde

He’d been so wrong. She’d never take another mate if she survived losing him.

  Voshkie had always thought that being joined, being mated, that it took something from the female, but it had taken nothing from her in the moment. It had only built her up, increased her strength. Made her more powerful.

  She tried not to think of how she’d have to surrender it all.

  For the greater good, he’d said.

  He was right, but there was part of her that didn’t give a damn about the greater good. It only wanted Mikolas and forever.

  But with an army of ghouls, forever might not be on anyone’s plate.

  Voshkie didn’t want to think about this. She only wanted to touch and be touched, she only wanted to drown in the now with Mikolas.

  Only the now was over much too soon. Something burst inside of her and the pleasure ebbed all too soon, leaving their bond electrified in its wake.

  He held her close.

  “Forgive me for this, Voshkie.”

  “I will.” She kissed at his neck. “After I’m mad for a century.”

  His arms tightened around her. “I love you.”

  Before she thought about what she was doing, she bit his neck hard, her nymph teeth much sharper than they should’ve been when they tore into his neck.

  He breathed fire.

  And when she pulled back, she saw that her bite stayed on his skin, healing with scars that seemed to be infused with gold.

  “You’re mine,” she murmured against his skin.

  The seconds ticked away and each one was a death knell.

  That was when she decided this wasn’t the end. She wouldn’t allow it to be. She’d do what he’d asked of her, but she’d save them both.

  She was Voshkie of the Orlaith. She could do anything.

  “If we’re going to do this, we better get started. If the horde is coming, we’d best be prepared.”

  Mikolas nodded. “That’s my girl.”

  “You better be thinking about how you’re going to work this two Alpha thing because I’m going to do what you’ve asked, but I’m going to cure you, too. So buckle up, buttercup.”

  He laughed, but there was no real mirth. The sound was tinny and false. “I’ll owe you a debt I can never repay.”

  “There are no debts between mates.”

  Mikolas kissed her again, hard this time, their mouths crashing together in desperation. When he released her, he said, “I’m ready.”

  Voshkie swallowed hard and steadied herself before speaking. “I need to talk to Krysanthe. She doesn’t know about the dragon. Me. I have to tell her. Just in case.”

  “I understand.”

  After she’d dressed, she headed back up through the tunnels with Mikolas behind her. She knew all the nooks and crannies of Hidden Mountain better than the back of her hand.

  It didn’t take long to find Krys’s cavern.

  “Krys, I need to talk to you.”

  Krysanthe looked up from where she sat, still stroking Ondrej’s hair. “Now?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded and looked to Mikolas. “I’ll only be a minute.”

  Krys got up from her perch and Voshkie led her to a side chamber. “What is it? What’s happened?”

  “I have to tell you something. I probably should’ve told you a long time ago, but after what happened, I couldn’t tell anyone.”

  Krys took her hands. “That’s okay. You’re allowed to have your secrets.”

  “You know my mother was stolen by dragons and that’s why I hated them for so long.”

  “Everyone knows what happened to your mother. It’s horrific, and I swear, even though I’m mated to a dragon, that if we find those responsible, they’ll still be punished.”

  “I know, Krys. It’s just… my father wasn’t Orlaith.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The dragon who stole my mother is my father. I’m part dragon.” The confession was both painful, but cathartic. It was like she’d just removed the chains that had been hanging around her neck and holding her low.

  “That’s why you can’t seem to manipulate gold like the rest of us.”

  “My power isn’t in gold, it’s in energy. I can manipulate the energy in gold. And that’s how we’re going to save Ondrej.”

  “The energy from the infection.” Krys nodded. “You’re going to transfer it—no. You can’t do that.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes, I can. And I will. We—Mik and I—will.” Voshkie held up her hand. “Don’t. Please. It’s the only way.”

  “Oh, Vosh. Is Mik…”

  “My mate? Yes. And there’s more. See, even if we get through this, I’m not just any dragon hybrid. I’m an Alpha.”

  “You suck.”

  “What?” This was not the reaction she’d been expecting.

  “You can fucking fly and you’ve been keeping it a secret all these years?” Krys was teasing. She was showing Voshkie that she was forgiven, that Krysanthe understood everything. That nothing had changed between them even though Voshkie had kept this from her.

  She’d never needed her friendship more.

  “I can’t fly. I’ve never shifted. But he can’t be sworn to two Alphas and I won’t ask him to choose me over his brother.”

  “This can’t be the only way to help Ondrej. It just can’t. Ondrej would never agree to this.”

  “Yes, he would. Because if Ondrej Turns as an Alpha it would be catastrophic. So many people would die. This way, only Mik—” she choked on the words. “The collateral damage is fairly low. That’s an Alpha’s job, right? The greater good? The hard calls?”

  Krysanthe put her arms around her. “We’ll find a way, okay? I swear we will.”

  “We’re out of time. We have to try the transfer now. Who knows how long it will take Ondrej to recover.”

  Krys nodded. “You’re so strong, Voshkie. I couldn’t do this in your place.”

  “That’s why it’s me.” She bit her lip. She understood, she’d always understood. “Like Mik says, this is what we do. This is who we are.”

  “We’ll find a way together,” she reiterated.

  For a moment, Voshkie really believed they would.

  Chapter 6

  The illness was spreading faster. All of Ondrej’s veins had turned black and hard under his skin and his eyes were no longer emerald. They were black, like an oil spill with shades of green and purple when the light hit them just right.

  If they had more time, there was a chance that his resourceful nymph would find a cure for them, but the clock wasn’t going to reset simply because Mikolas needed it to.

  As if they weren’t already aware of their limited time, one of the royal guard came to inform them that the ghoul army was indeed headed for Hidden Mountain. Estimated time of arrival was within the hour.

  “Have you gotten in touch with Aranka?” Ondrej asked in a hoarse voice.

  “Yes. She and Imre are safe,” Krysanthe answered.

  “Good. If nothing else…” he nodded.

  “Everyone, get in position,” Voshkie ordered.

  Pride surged in his chest once again. Pride, love… and something deeper. Something more that he couldn’t name. She stood tall and honorable in the face of this terrible task. Yet, she didn’t drag her feet. She’d do what had to be done.

  His Voshkie.

  He stepped down into the water next to his brother.

  “There’s enough time, Mik. You could—” Ondrej began.

  “No. This first.”

  Voshkie took his hand and their vows passed between them again, unspoken, but no less powerful.

  “Are you ready, Krysanthe?”

  The princess nodded. She stood at the ready to manipulate the gold into chains to restrain the infected. Especially if he Turned and tried shift into his dragon form.

  Voshki didn’t look at him again before she grabbed Ondrej’s hand.

  Nothing happened.

  Not for what seemed like forever. Of course, it was only a few se
conds, but each second seemed to last an eternity.

  Until it hit.

  Pain like nothing he’d ever experienced before shooting through his body, slamming into every sense receptor. It brought him to his knees.

  He could see the infection leaving his brother and see it as it crawled up his arm, could feel the black tendrils inside of him curling through his veins into his heart like a thousand worms and finally, up into his brain.

  From somewhere that seemed to be so far away, he heard his brother’s voice. “Stop, you’re killing him.”

  He managed to turn his head and look at her, his beautiful Voshkie with her with golden eyes and he could barely feel the warmth of her skin, but he remembered touching her was like lying in a ray of sunlight.

  She didn’t let go of his brother. “Can’t stop or you’ll both be infected.”

  “No, I don’t want to do this. I can’t—”

  He watched her tighten her grip on Ondrej. “You can. You will.”

  “Tell us to stop, brother. Say it’s done,” Ondrej pleaded.

  “Finish it,” he managed. His brain grew cloudy, his thoughts thick and muddled. They seemed to sink down replaced by something else. Something dark and inky. Something that was not him.

  He tumbled down into the pitch, but he pretended it wasn’t dark. He pretended it was gold and he was drowning in waves of her hair.

  * * *

  Voshkie felt it when the last of Mik had been swallowed by the infection. She watched the light go out in his eyes and her heart cracked, or maybe that was her ribs when he launched himself at her, all snarling teeth and claws.

  “Chain him, Krys!” she cried.

  The chains wrapped themselves around him. “It’s not going to hold long.”

  She looked at Ondrej and saw he was whole and well, at least physically. “Someone needs to find Glorfindel.”

  “I thought you spoke with him when we arrived?”

  “I thought you did?” Voshkie frowned. “Shit, this is bad.”

  “Ondrej?” Krys looked at him.

  “I’ll find him.” He looked to his struggling brother. “Try to hold him until I get back.”

  “I’ve got this,” Voshkie said, but she wasn’t so sure.

  He snarled and snapped, but still hadn’t shot fire at them. He was trapped in his Change, something in between. At least this way, his size was more manageable. If he Changed here, it could be catastrophic. Trying to get free, he’d tear a hole in Hidden Mountain.

  But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. As of now, Hidden Mountain was set to become their tomb. If Mik tore it wide, there’d be another avenue of escape for the Orlaith.

  He’d be a danger to them in the air, but maybe this would give their people their best fighting chance.

  Her fingers itched. So did the palms of her hands. Her whole body felt like it was swarming with bugs and her skin was too tight.

  She fought the sensation, focusing on Mikolas. “Sucks to be tied up, doesn’t it?”

  He snarled and strained.

  “What are you doing?” Krys cried.

  “Yeah, I see that hate in your eyes. Sucks to be powerless.”

  “I. Am. Not. Powerless.” The thing wearing Mik’s skin roared as it struggled to break free. “I will devour you.”

  “Krys, run.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Yes, you are. The ghouls are coming and this place is going to be a tomb. So I’m going to open it up. Do you understand?”

  “I can’t leave you alone. If I let go—”

  “If you let go, I’ll be fine. Deep down, I know he’s still in there.” She turned to face Krys. “I can handle him.”

  “Your eyes, Voshkie. They’re gold, but you’re irises are green.”

  “I think I’m Changing. You need to go.”

  “Be careful, Voshkie.” Krys backed toward the door.

  “You too. Let Ondrej protect you.”

  “He wouldn’t be here without you. Without Mikolas.” Krys nodded her head. “I love you both.”

  “This isn’t it, Krys. I will see you again. If you’ll allow it.” It occurred to her that maybe after keeping such a secret from her, maybe Krys wouldn’t want her to come back.

  “I won’t allow anything else. You’re my sister in all ways that matter. My best friend.”

  The gold bindings began to stretch as Mik’s body continued to change and his skin turned to hot scales.

  Voshkie took one more look at Krys and then focused all of her attention on Mik.

  She didn’t want to be a dragon, but she supposed this was what she’d always been on the inside. She already was the dragon. She’d never been the princess.

  Mikolas wasn’t in love with the princess, he was in love with her.

  She wasn’t about to lose him.

  Her temperature kept rising, and her insides were on fire. Her skin was so tight, so stretched…

  His dragon erupted, and it was sick, infected. His wings filled the tiny space and he crashed through the rocky ceiling, but he didn’t fly. No, he dipped his head toward her, jaws snapping.

  And he breathed fire.

  It was a beautiful orange lace that wrapped itself around her, burning away her clothes, but left her skin untouched.

  Because she was an Alpha. Only Alpha fire could harm her.

  When he snapped at her again, the whole world changed.

  No, not the world. It was her. She changed.

  She Changed.

  Not only was her skin too small for her, but so was the cavern.

  It started with her vision. Voshkie suddenly understood why heights bothered her, why her vision grew blurry. She had the eyes of a winged predator that hyperfocused on the smallest movement.

  Wings exploded from her back, and she instinctively knew how to fly. That other tiny voice in her head wasn’t so tiny now, but it wasn’t as foreign as she’d feared. She was still herself.

  The dragon was only another piece of her, something more primal, but she hadn’t surrendered anything. Instead, she’d given herself the tools to save him, and Hidden Mountain.

  She blocked his attack and his took to the sky through the rubble.

  Voshkie followed.

  She marveled at the rush of wind beneath her wings, the way the air tasted, and even the strange acidic sensation in her throat that she knew would be her best weapon—fire.

  Instead of only chasing Mikolas, she looked for the invading ghouls, and when she saw them, she knew fear. It was a plague of them like locusts covering the land, devouring everything in their wake.

  She knew what she had to do.

  Voshkie circled away from Mikolas and coasted lower to the ground. She didn’t dare think about it too hard, the way she simply knew how to fly—it would be like tripping because she’d been staring at her feet.

  Fire shot from her mouth and incinerated a small battalion of ghouls to ash. They were replaced almost instantly, horrible crawling, snarling things crawling up from the dirt. She didn’t know how long until she could breathe the Alpha fire again. She knew it took time, time they didn’t have.

  Mikolas crashed into her from the side, knocking her out of the sky and sent her spiraling to the ground below. She was in a tailspin and she knew she was going to hit the ground hard.

  Fuck.

  She could only hope to get airborne again before the ghouls reached her.

  Mikolas was behind her and closing fast.

  When she hit the ground, it felt every bit like she imagined it would. Bones shattered, but were healed instantly. That didn’t stop it from hurting like a motherfucker.

  Mikolas landed with a heavy thud in the crater she’d made and he advanced on her.

  When she tried to summon the Alpha Fire, she simply couldn’t. Not because it wasn’t ready again, but because she didn’t want to. She couldn’t end him, no matter what he’d become.

  So instead of fighting him, she submitted.

  “Don’t tell me you
don’t want to play, warrior.”

  She didn’t answer him.

  “Well, that’s boring.”

  “No.”

  “Still boring.” He leaned down and snapped just against her flesh, enough to feel it, but not enough to break through her scales. “You wanted to play earlier when you meddled in things that aren’t your business.”

  “Drago Knights MC and the Orlaith are my business.”

  “Such a Girl Scout. Even when you know that you’ll never be good enough for either of them?”

  His words cut deep.

  “This lizard bag I’m wearing will never choose you over his brother. As evidenced by this.” He motioned with a claw.

  She turned and saw the ghoul horde had stopped, as if it was waiting for something. Voshkie looked back up at him and realized it was waiting. It was waiting because Mikolas had claimed her as his kill.

  “Why should he have to?”

  “Tsk, tsk. You can’t serve two masters. I should know.”

  “Ondrej isn’t his master. And neither am I. If you looked deep enough into your “lizard bag” you’d know that.”

  It laughed, the sound as dark and horrible as the creature itself. “I don’t care.”

  “Then why did you talk about it? To hurt me? To make me doubt myself? So I defeat myself before I begin? No. I won’t do that. I can beat you and I will.”

  “Then why didn’t you roast me?” He pressed her down onto her back. “Because you can’t. You think he’s still in here. He’s not home. There is only me.”

  “Mikolas, I know you can hear me.”

  “I said, he’s not here.” The voice dropped several octaves and the ghouls on the front lines of the show exploded at the resonance.

  “Why does that make you so angry? Why do you hate? Don’t you know how weak it makes you?”

  “And you, you hate. You can’t say you don’t hate me.”

  “No. I don’t hate you.” And she didn’t. “I love you.”

  He bit at her throat.

  Voshkie let him. She didn’t stop talking. “I love you for making me become who I was meant to be. I love you for—”

  He tried to rip out her throat, but he wasn’t strong enough.

  “—accepting all of me. Loving all of me.”

  The beast roared and fire shot from his nose and mouth.