by Ginna Moran
Light blinds me, and one second I’m fighting to put space between me and Ambrose, and in the next, I open my eyes, staring at the world from the ground. Did I pass out? What the hell happened?
A shock of power startles me, drawing my attention from the smoldering rubble of the house. Ambrose stands a few feet away in my line of sight, coiling a glowing chain made of his magic around his arm.
And fuck. It’s like the one Lazlo used to snap a magical leash to the collar he spelled around my neck, one that leaves me open to be controlled.
“Calm down, princess,” Ambrose says, shuffling closer. “Don’t fight. It’ll only hurt worse if you do.”
I release a strange, low, guttural noise from my throat in response. My soul aches unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I had no idea that such a thing was possible, but it feels as if my very essence has turned tangible and Ambrose prods it with a sharp poker.
“That’s good. Just settle down.” Stroking his hand along my snout, he caresses my scales with his cool fingers. “I’ll get you to the palace soon enough. We won’t have to worry so much in the Mountain Lands. We’ll also fix what the fates messed up. It’s unfair for your intendeds to have to deal with something that should’ve been avoided. You never belonged to the Drekis, princess.”
Oh, no.
Oh-fucking-no.
Panic seizes my heart at his words.
An explosion sounds from the house, and a huge wave of fire erupts into the air. Ambrose spins to see what’s going on, and an enormous dragon launches from the flames. The onyx beast blows a breath of blue fire from its mouth with its screech. In the moonlight, each facet of its scales glitters with magical silver light. My heart and soul ignite at the sight.
Seeing this breathtaking dragon gives me the will to fight.
Swinging my long neck, I prepare to attack Ambrose. I prepare to kill him while his attention lies elsewhere.
Spinning on his feet, Ambrose catches me in the act. “Ralloc eht nogard. Emat reh tseab!” he shouts.
I lose myself to the electric agony of his magic.
Chapter 9
Dangerous Magic
THE DEAFENING SOUND OF MY own screams rings in my ears. I writhe and twist on the ground, trying to escape my skin. The fire coursing through me burns hotter than anything I’ve ever felt. It’s not the soothing, inviting warmth I experience with my dragon fire. It feels as if the devil invades my essence, torturing me from the inside out.
“Ambrose! I order you to stop!” Brilliant blue fire cascades through the sky above me like a river of blue flames floods the world. Theo’s massive dragon form expands its wings, blocking my view of anything but him.
The pain inside me fades, exchanging the devil’s fire for the soft iciness of fresh snow after a winter storm. I gasp, my heart throbbing in erratic beats, my head swimming with shadows. Theo shakes the world as he lands beside me, towering over my placated body. I feel tiny as I curl my knees to my chest, the tightness of my throat refusing to release me completely.
It’s now that I realize I’m no longer a dragon.
“Delphia, I’m so sorry,” Theo says, his thoughts swirling through my mind. “I did not command him to do that. He will be appropriately punished.”
His gigantic dragon head lowers to the ground beside me, and I meet his green eyes like they’re made of precious stones. He nudges his snout into me, trying to roll me over onto my back for a better look.
I flinch and shriek, an intense fear rising in me. But it’s not from him. My soul warns me of danger and panic consumes me. I can barely lift my head, let alone fight the incoming threat. Theo pays no attention to the world outside us, worsening my trepidation. What kind of mate stands idly by instead of doing everything he can to protect the one who supposedly holds a piece of his soul? Not my mate. Theo merely threw his soul at me and expects me to keep it. He’s insane to think I’ll just lower my standards. The Drekis have raised the bar immensely for me.
I cringe and tense, waiting for a monster to attack Theo, but nothing happens to him. A figure emerges from behind Theo’s massive body, the electric green light stealing my breath as Ambrose holds power in his palms. I jerk my hands up protectively, grabbing at my throat. The collar tightens, the magic leash turning visible.
“Protect me! Be the mate you claim you want to be!” My thoughts crash from me loud enough that Theo finally reacts and roars, the power of his breath making Ambrose stumble and catch himself on Theo’s leg.
“Calm down, Theo. I’m not a threat. I just need her still to unleash her properly,” Ambrose says, his deep voice filling me with dread. Just his closeness sickens me, and I heave as my stomach muscles ache. “She’s fought so fiercely that the magic entangles around her. She’s hurting.”
“You’re lying! Do not come any closer. If you can’t do it from there, you’ll have far worse things to worry about. I will not let you capture my mate.” Theo’s voice hums through my head as he speaks telepathically. Ambrose must be able to hear him too, because the warlock stops in his tracks. “What you did was so far out of line. How dare you think you can control the woman who holds my soul. I should take your head, you bastard.”
“Do it, Theo.” My voice comes out as a whisper, the raspiness of it begging me to find water to drink. “I want him dead.”
Theo huffs a breath of smoke through his nostrils, but he doesn’t respond to me. Stretching his massive wings, he blocks my view of Ambrose as his scales flicker with a metallic sheen, like the onyx glitters with streaks of platinum along their ridges. He transforms into a man, his hulking frame continuing to block my view of the warlock.
Theo kneels in the grass next to me, his naked body so close that I can feel the heat of his soothing dragon fire emanating from his skin. My mind goes to war against my body and soul, trying to get myself under control. A whimper escapes my mouth and the desire for him to lift me into his arms overtakes my rationale. How can I hate him and want him at the same time? This fucking magic. This fucking bond. Why can’t I just reject him and hope things return to normal? Who am I kidding? I’ll never have the normalcy found in thinking I’m human in the Mortal World again.
And Maddox is right. If I reject him, how will we get the help we need? We’ve hit a dead end with my aunt, but the Darkonians know more about my family than I know.
Like he senses my deep-seated need, Theo slides an arm under me, half lifting me from the grass. His touch shocks my skin, tugging me from my wandering thoughts. My dragon must sense that Theo will protect me and allows me to lower my guard just a bit.
“I yearn to give you everything you could ever desire, Delphia, but the death of my guard is not one of them I could follow through with,” Theo says, caressing his fingers along my cheek. “He is part of our clan, and despite his despicable actions, I can’t justify killing him. But he will pay. I swear it to you.”
“It’s not enough! Look what you’ve caused! You’ve ruined everything. How can I trust you? You refuse to accept that the fates have chosen my rightful mates.” I flinch and roll away, not allowing him to touch me anymore. Just the thought digs under my skin. “I want you, your brother, and that fuckhead warlock to leave me alone. Get out of here.”
Theo frowns at my words, his face twisting in astonishment. His surprise infuriates me. He can’t possibly be this dense, can he? “But Delphia—”
I raise my hand up, cutting him off. I guess he can be. “You betrayed me, Theo. You acted as if you would help me and my mates, but look at what you’ve done. You act nice up until you realize you can’t have your way. I would rather get captured by the High Council and finish off my life in prison than ever, and I mean ever, agree to go with you.”
Theo’s expression morphs into a series of lines that pucker his expression. A strange wave of pain swells through my chest, and I realize my words trigger a physical ache inside him. Inside me too. It hurts my very essence to think about returning to the Maximum Magical Penitentiary, but I don’t know what else t
o do. I cannot—no, I will not risk Ambrose or the Darkonians using their power against us. This bond between Theo and I isn’t real. It was forced upon me.
I hate that I have to keep telling myself that.
I hate in this moment, feeling his fear and remorse and something warm, strange, indescribable, makes me question everything. Our bond feels real.
But the circumstances? How can he think this will ever work? I can’t even trust him to help us. He’s proved he’s only here for himself.
Kicking my leg at him, I knock him back. “Now go. I will not ask you again.”
“Please, Delphia. Don’t consider such a life. You’re better than that.” Theo crawls closer to me, not allowing much space to get between us. “Think about the Drekis. Do you know what will happen to them if you turn yourselves in?”
I push myself up on my elbow, my eyes wandering to the flaming debris of what’s left of the house. If I didn’t feel the presence of my mates, I might panic and rush to them, but something inside me keeps me in place.
And then I hear Maddox’s whisper. “Reject him, Nova. I was wrong. We don’t need them.”
I spot pieces of the debris shifting. Maddox throws a beam away as he escapes the wreckage with Rowan beside him. Their faces line with rage unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Their muscles ripple and flex, their bodies preparing to go to war for me.
And this is how I know they’re my true mates. They will protect me always. Always. I will never have to question our bond, our wants and desires for our future as a clan, or whether or not they will betray me. Because they won’t. Betraying me is betraying themselves. They would rather fall together than risk even a moment apart.
“Stay back, Drekis,” Ambrose calls, his voice once again sending my soul shuddering in fear. He steps in their pathway and challenges them with his magic. “This is between the princess and her mate. You will not interfere.”
“Stand down, warlock. I don’t want to hurt you.” Rowan gathers dragon fire, his body prickling with his dragon readying to burst free. “He is not her mate—”
Ambrose claps his hand, freezing the world around us once again. My heart thrashes against my ribcage, threatening to break through to throw itself in my mates’ direction. I tense, my body trembling, the edges of my vision turning red with the heat of my dragon fire coursing through my veins.
This warlock is far too powerful. His bravado and nonchalance over being able to control something as crazy as time itself creeps me the hell out. He’s no better than Lazlo. The High Council either. Anyone who just stops the world without even a second thought is a complete psycho—he’s worse than a psycho. He might have a god-complex and we’re his creatures to play with.
I don’t understand any of this, and my mind screams that I should do something, anything, because this isn’t right. How can my world keep going and continuing on without my mates? It’s unnatural. I will not allow my life to pass theirs by.
“Stop!” I yell, pushing through the pain tightening my throat. Rage heats my skin, and the grass shrivels under my touch. “Release them! This isn’t right. You can’t do this to us. I won’t stand by while you do, you fucking asshole.”
Ambrose bares his teeth, his face morphing with hard lines as he reveals the true monster he keeps hiding just beneath his skin. “What are you going to do about it exactly? They will only get in the way, and I need to fix the chaos I’ve caused. So shut up, calm down, and let me do my job. I will unfreeze them when I’m ready and not until I unleash you, princess. I can’t do so while protecting myself.” Ambrose ignores a warning growl from me and stomps forward. Energy glows in his hands, sending static through the air. I tense, my whole body tightening, but I can’t run. It feels as if I smack into a brick wall.
“Sorry, Delphia. Our guard is right, and it has already taken too long.” Theo shoves me forward hard enough to send me to my knees. I hadn’t even seen him move from his spot. For a second, I thought he was Tiernan. He manhandles me like I expect Tiernan to. “My brother grows angrier by the second because we waste time instead of helping him and returning home.”
“Then fucking get him,” I snap. “He’ll probably blame all of this on me instead of you. Your fucking twisted attitude is enough.” If I can convince them to do something else, I might make it the couple feet to my mates. Magic isn’t foolproof, which Lazlo proved to me. I can break the spell. We can get away.
Ambrose shifts closer, setting me on edge. “Hold her still, Theo. Let’s be done with this already.” He acts as if he can’t even see or hear me any longer, focusing on his magic.
Surprising me, Theo obeys his command and snatches my wrist too quickly for me to fight him off. He pulls me into his arms and onto his lap, our naked bodies pressing together with no space between us. I swear I can feel the hardness of his dick jewel on the back of my leg. If Ambrose wasn’t rushing my way with his glowing magic, I’d think more about it.
With a whisper of a spell, he touches my neck, ignoring my thrashing body. Theo murmurs my name in my ear, attempting to settle me down while he restrains me until Ambrose straightens his back. My chest heaves, my body, mind, and soul wanting nothing more than to charge Ambrose and punch him in his face. I want him to experience the pain he put me through. I want him to realize that magic doesn’t make him invincible, and I can sure as hell make him pay for his wrongdoings.
“You have my permission, firecracker. Seek your revenge,” Theo says, pressing his chin into my bare shoulder.
He loosens his hold on my waist and slides me off his lap. Curling his body, he kicks his legs out, propelling to his feet. Ambrose raises his hands in surrender, but Theo struts toward the warlock and grabs him by the front of his shirt. Theo lifts him off his feet and tosses Ambrose on the ground next to me. Our eyes meet, and I flare my nostrils in anger and swing my fist, sucker punching him in the throat.
He doesn’t fight back, and fury swells inside me, my dragon now free from his magic. I growl and punch him in his gut next, wanting him to know what it feels like to be helpless.
The world unfreezes as I break his spell, and Ambrose heaves, unable to suck air into his lungs. Rowan and Maddox charge in our direction, but Kash roars, his huge dragon head reaching over them to grab Ambrose with his teeth. Not only was the spell on Maddox and Rowan broken, so was the one on Quillon, which released Kash.
Swinging his neck, Kash throws Ambrose, sending him tumbling through the air two dozen feet until he rolls across the lawn. “You cannot kill him, brothers,” he says, telling Maddox and Rowan the same thing he told me. “It is not our way.”
“We can’t trust him not to take Delphia from us!” Maddox yells, smacking Kash on his hindquarters with a glowing fist. “We will do what is necessary to protect the only thing that is important to us in the whole damn universe.”
“Please, Drekis. We can work this out. My guard made a careless mistake,” Theo says, getting in the path between my guys and Ambrose. “I’ve made a mistake too. I want to start over and prove that I agree with you about Delphia. She is most important, and while it’s hard to accept, I know we must work something out between our clans. Fighting will only hurt her in the end.”
“You will hurt her.” Rowan stomps ahead, his determination and protectiveness warming my essence. “You have hurt her. An alliance between us isn’t an option unless you can give us certain assurances, which I don’t think you can.”
“And what about Tiernan? Will he agree with you?” Maddox asks, standing tall, his longer hair blowing behind him. “Do you think he will accept his mistakes? I sure the hell don’t. It’s fucking bad enough you rewrote the fates to bond with a woman who doesn’t belong to you.”
“But she does.” Theo brings his hand to his chest. “I felt it even before my guard ensured it. I’ve been waiting my life for her.”
“Impossible,” Rowan snaps, squaring his shoulders. “She’s ours. She’s always been ours. The fates brought her to us. If you were her mate, Rhett would’ve c
ompleted his task to bring her home. But the fates ensured he would fail. Instead, she found herself in an impossible situation that dropped her right in front of us.”
“As a criminal.” Theo twists his mouth, his green eyes sparkling with fire. “What kind of life is that for her? You can’t seriously think your bond is worth a lifetime of imprisonment.”
All right. I’ve had enough of them discussing me like I’m not here, like I don’t have a say in where I belong in the world. The one thing I know is that I’m not a damn criminal, I feel a connection unlike anything I knew possible to men who will fight for me, and I will decide what happens now.
“But maybe I do,” I snap, trembling with my emotions. “It’s a damn shitty one, but a life I will choose over your warlock coming in on your behalf and trying to sever the bond I have toward my mates. I’m willing to risk facing the High Council and returning to Max again to ensure Ambrose can’t mess with me anymore.”
Theo sighs and fusses with his hair, pulling on the strands in frustration. “Delphia, what did I tell you? The Drekis will not go without punishment. They are wanted just like you—”
“They will be fine if I tell the High Council that I forced them with Lazlo Infinity’s help. They won’t be able to deny it with this fucking magical collar.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I will tell them how he used Rose to open a portal and how Quillon was the one to guide us through. They’ll have to listen. The Drekis will be heroes. They can be the ones to turn me in.” I have no idea if such a plan would work, or if my mates would even go for it, but I need the Darkonians to back the hell off. I need Theo to know that he and his brother can’t just come blasting into my life.
Theo’s eyes widen with my words, my threat obviously plausible enough to him that he looks ready to drop to his knees and grovel before me. Like he can hear my thought, he kneels in the grass and crawls closer, risking growls from the Drekis to take my hands into his. I flick my gaze in their direction and shake my head, getting them to refrain from attacking. Ambrose stands waiting where Kash threw him like he expects Theo to give him a command. As for Tiernan, I have no idea what keeps him from intervening. Quillon hides like a coward near the house, and I wonder if he’ll try to make an escape before anyone else notices him.
