by Willa Hart
He pounded the table again and dropped his head onto his arms. Tamar rubbed his back and whispered something in his ear. He nodded miserably but didn’t lift his head.
“The messages from the jadokari must have been coming through here,” Lazlo said, the gravitas in his voice pulling deeper into the depths of despondency.
Kellum shook his head. “There probably never were any messages to begin with. They all came from her directly, I’d bet on it.”
“They’re very smart,” Almeric mused thoughtfully, almost as though he admired them. “They played us like the fools we are. We should have suspected, at least.”
“Enough of this nonsense,” Tamar said, standing so she could pace the room. “This kind of self-flagellation will get us nowhere. I never really trusted Mariam from the very beginning, yet I never expected this kind of betrayal. I never had an inkling, much less evidence, she was one of them.”
“I should have seen it,” Luka said miserably. “If I had, maybe Alek would still—”
“No,” she said. “We did everything we could. Alek knew what the risks were when he joined us. He would not want us blaming ourselves over the jadokari’s action.”
Luka gave no response but at least he raised his head and nodded.
“Honestly,” Kellum said, drawing everyone’s attention, “it could have gone much worse. Tamar and Hale, you both should be proud of how you handled the situation on the ground while the rest of us were busy in the air. I know it was hard for you both to not join the fight.”
Hale gave him a half-smile, while Tamar returned to her seat next to her brother, looking defeated.
“Thank you,” Sandro murmured, giving them both appreciative looks which got a better response. Tamar’s smile almost touched her eyes.
“Favor and Zoe deserve some kudos too,” Ryen said, pressing a kiss to my temple.
I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder while reaching out to grasp Kellum’s hand. All five of my boys could be touching me at that moment and I still wouldn’t have perked up, but that was no surprise. Not after all that had happened. Still, I took what comfort I could from two of them.
“So…” Ash started, his gaze bouncing around the room. “Are we going to address the elephant in the room? Do we think Mariam was being truthful at the end? Is Vazha really back from the dead?”
Tension ramped up in the cottage, mostly because none of us wanted to even consider such a horrific possibility. In my visions, I’d seen a tiny bit of Vazha’s powers, his evil. I’d also seen dragonfire gushing from Max’s throat right onto the mage, white-hot flames fueled by the fury of losing his mate, his siblings, and so many others. That fire should have vaporized a human, if Vazha even resembled a human by that point. Regardless, he’d disappeared by the time Max’s flames had died out, I knew that much.
“Put nothing past Vazha,” Bunica said slowly, in careful and weighty syllables that commanded everyone’s attention. She sat very still but her eyes danced like a young woman’s and her gaze was deadly sharp.
With nothing more forthcoming from her, all eyes shifted toward Sandro. He was now our closest link to the jadokari, and I knew the others needed to know more about him.
When he realized everyone was staring at him, he looked helpless. “I am sorry, I do not know. My friend from fledgling days offer me job. I need money so I say yes.” He dropped his loving gaze to her, basking in the tenderness wafting off her in waves. “My job is to not let her escape. They do not tell me why or nothing.”
Zoe pulled his arm around her shoulders and snuggled into him. I’d seen her with dozens of guys over the years, but I’d never seen her behave so affectionately before. Normally she kept her boyfriends at arm’s length. Whatever this was, it was real. On both their parts.
“First day, I almost…how you say? Quit. Bad feeling. My friend…his friends…no good. Then I meet Zoe and I cannot quit. I must protect her. I work two days to escape her. They never leave me alone until today.”
Zoe took pity on her new boyfriend’s terrible handle on English. Of course, it was better than my Romanian, so who was I to judge?
“When you saw us coming off the elevator, it was the first chance we’d had to escape. We’d been alone a few times, but only for a few minutes and there were always other assholes lurking nearby. But today, when they all left Sandro to look after me, we got out of there as soon as he thought it was safe.”
“Did they talk to you about Vazha?” Tamar asked, suspicion heavy in her tone.
“Da. Yes. I hear them talking quiet.” Zoe murmured something and Sandro corrected himself. “Whisper. They whisper the name Vazha when they think I not hear. That is all.”
I sensed no dishonesty coming off Sandro and communicated that to my guys silently. It wasn’t really “talking” — more like shooting a general feeling into the air and having it land in their brains.
“Bunica’s right,” Lazlo said, taking charge of the conversation again. “Vazha was…or possibly is an incredibly powerful mage. He never played fair, writing his own rules as he went along. After drinking dragon’s blood for so many years, I wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow figured out a way to defy certain death.”
I grimaced. “What the hell? That’s…a thing?”
Bunica chuckled softly. “How quickly humans forget the profane acts they themselves used to practice. Yes, child. That and so much more. A dragon’s pride is a dangerous thing but a human’s greed is just as deadly. I never truly believed Vazha to be fully gone. I sensed his power still in the world. I had always hoped it was simply an aftertaste of the bitterness he inflicted on dragonkind, but…that is clearly not the case.”
I leaned forward. “Has it grown stronger lately?”
“It has. Over the past twenty years or so. It is like the stench of a dead rat in the attic. You catch a whiff occasionally, a little stronger than the day before. You hope it is simply your mind playing tricks in your old age…”
She turned her attention to the fire and fell silent as we waited for her to finish. Apparently, that was all she had to say on the matter. Ryen finally broke the silence.
“That explains the uptick in violence against dragons, keepers and humans in these parts. Assuming it isn’t actually Dracula reincarnate.”
No one even cracked a smile at his lame joke. The air in the cottage reeked of hopelessness. The older dragons were pale and wore even deeper frowns than usual. The younger ones had never seen their elders so worried before. Zoe and I kept looking to each other, taking comfort in our mutual ignorance, but even I didn’t have that. I’d seen Vazha with my mind’s eye, and the darkness surrounding him made the gravity of the situation hit home harder than anything else.
“So,” Tamar said at last, forcing a smile onto her face, “now that you have your friend back, will you be returning to America?”
“Like hell,” I said a little more forcefully than I intended. I glanced to Kellum, then Ryen, then everyone else in the room. My boys understood me immediately, but the others looked surprised. “Everyone heard what Mariam said, right? The jadokari — and maybe even Vazha, if she wasn’t delirious from pain or just plain high — have Max. He’s not just one of the oldest and most powerful dragons in the world, he’s my family. Anyone here is welcome to do what they want, but I’m not going anywhere without him.”
“But—” Luka started.
“Agreed,” Kellum said, not allowing Luka to finish. He pulled me up with him as he stood. “I’d rather take on Vazha every day of the week than leave Favor behind.”
“If he’s got a skull, I can crack it,” Danic said, also rising.
Ash and Hale stood together. “Hell, yeah.”
Ryen stretched out and tucked his hands behind his head. “Nah, I’m out. I think I’ll catch a red eye back to L.A., maybe see the latest superhero flick, take a week off for Ryen time.” He waited a beat, then opened his eyes and hopped up to his feet. “Seriously though, are you kidding? Of course I’m with you.�
�
One by one, everyone stood and vowed to help us find Max — including Bunica — until we reached Zoe and Sandro. He looked down at her, like he wasn’t sure which side she would land on. Maybe they hadn’t had a conversation about what their relationship would look like after he helped her escape. Maybe he simply didn’t want her to be put into any further danger. Whatever the reason, I loved that he was so concerned, but this wasn’t Zoe’s life. It wasn’t her problem.
“Zoe,” I said, “you’ve already been through hell because of me. This isn’t your fight. Maybe Lazlo can arrange for his jet to take you and Sandro to L.A?” I shot a look at him and he nodded without hesitation. “If anyone’s earned a little luxury, it’s you.”
Zoe looked pensive, her gaze drifting around the room, finally landing on Sandro. Then she snapped her head toward me and stood, her words filling me with love for the people I chose to call family.
“Are you kidding? I’mma kill that motherfucker!”
Thank you for reading THE FIRE OF THE DRAGON’S HEART. If you’ve been enjoying the Harem of Fire series, I hope you can spare a minute to leave a review. Readers rely on reviews to figure out which books they might like, plus they weigh heavily in which books Amazon decides to promote. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! ❤️
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Afterword
Dearest reader,
It’s about damn time Favor and her boys made their way to Romania to rescue Zoe, amiright? Too bad I don’t make life in Europe easy for them. :-D
Fun fact! When I originally wrote the rough draft of this series, the European location was going to be Georgia — the country, not the state. Ryen even made that very joke when Titus (remember Titus? Big orange asshole dragon who wreaked havoc in Favor’s life?) was still being a pain in the ass.
Favor and her boys would travel to a remote location on the Georgian coast, which would be the perfect spot for some epic dragon battles. I researched terrain, population density and more to ensure they’d be in a secluded place along the Black Sea.
So why did I change it?
Because of our lovely Southern state. I just knew at some point someone would confuse the state with the country, no matter how many times I reinforced the difference. I was working far too hard to make sure readers didn’t get confused, so instead of making them (you!) work to remember, I simply switched countries.
That presented me with the challenge of finding a new secluded place in Romania — which is most definitely NOT the beach. Romania’s Black Sea beaches are some of the most popular in Europe. They’re packed! Not such a good setting for a dragon battle that should take place far from human eyes.
So while I was cursing Past Me while I made the changes, I think it ended up being a blessing in disguise. The misty mountains of the Transylvania region couldn’t be more mysterious!
Drop by my Facebook reader’s group, Willa’s Harties, to tell me if you agree!
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All my ❤️
About the Author
Just like everyone else in the world (except politicians and the entire Kardashian family), Willa Hart hates talking about herself. Seriously, what’s she supposed to say? That she’s the most talented author in the world? That Liam Hemsworth, Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan are knocking down her door for the honor of starring in the big-screen adaptation of her latest romance novel? That readers get into hair-pulling, kidney-punching, nipple-twisting brawls while standing in line to buy one of her books?
LIES!
Just like every other wordsmith in the world, she’s certain everything she writes (including her own bio) sucks big, fat, hairy donkey danglers. But deep down she hopes and prays you are just a little bit delusional and think she is a great writer, that Liam, Zac and Michael would be idiots to not want a part in her movie, and that you’d twist every perky nip you could get your fingers on just to look at her new book. Of course, she’s not holding her breath, but…can’t a girl dream?
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Copyright © 2019 by Willa Hart
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Yocla Designs
The characters and events portrayed in this book are obviously a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author, as well as being highly unlikely.
This story contains sexually explicit material, and is intended only for persons over the age of 18. All of the characters involved in the sexual situations in this story are intended to be 18 years of age or older, whether they are explicitly described as such or not.
The cover art for this book makes use of licensed stock photography. All photography is for illustrative purposes only and all persons depicted are models.
