Fire Heart: A Dragon Fantasy Romance (The Dragon of Umbra Book 1)

by Emma Hamm

  She knew nothing about dragons. She hadn’t realized their coloring meant anything at all.

  His hand reached her hip and though she was still in a significant amount of pain, she knew this was something she could heal from. It would take days, perhaps months, but she would get out of bed tomorrow and pretend that she was all right.

  Abraxas let the magic drain from his hand, and then lifted it to her face. His fingers were still warm. Almost too warm for comfort, but she didn’t mind when he stroked her cheek, following the lines of her face all the way to her jaw. “You should never have come here,” he murmured. “You’re so unlike the others. He would eat you alive if he could.”

  “Too bad it’s difficult to do that. Even a dragon couldn’t stop me from stealing.” She coughed again as her lungs seized another time. “A crimson dragon? That’s what you are?”

  His lips twisted into an awkward smile. “Yes. There are many colors, each with specific traits that come with them. Crimson dragons are the keepers of the dragon realm. We protect those who matter to us.”

  “Ah. That’s why the King made you his guard dog, then?”

  “No.” He touched a finger to the tip of her nose. “I don’t care for the King. I don’t care for his line or for anyone he has bid me to protect. Not until you.”

  The words rang in her ears, even though there was nothing left in the cavern but silence. He cared for her? How?

  She had been nothing but horrible to him. Though she had lied and cheated to get him on her side, she supposed. Even though he’d killed her mother, she was rather fond of him as well.

  It was the quiet moments like this that made her realize how kind he was. He didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.

  The eggs were the last of his people. What would she have done if the last of the elves relied on her? Anything. Even though she wasn’t close with any of her kind, nor did she have any interest in speaking with them, the idea of being the last one ate her alive.

  As it must have eaten him alive for centuries.

  “It was wrong of me to not understand that there must have been something controlling you,” she whispered. The words hurt to say. She hated to admit she was wrong. But this was important. “I apologize for that. I shouldn’t have judged you so quickly without even attempting to know what the truth of the matter was.”

  He leaned down, dark eyes searching hers for something she couldn’t guess at. “And I cannot tell you how sorry I am that your mother was caught in the middle of all this. If I could have saved her, I would have.”

  Somehow, she doubted that. But it didn’t matter now. Her mother was gone, and the dragon had done it. They could move forward together, or she could murder Abraxas for what he hadn’t wanted to do.

  Lore wished she was a bit more like the woman she had been before all this. She wanted to turn her nose up at him. To let the anger and rage of losing a parent overwhelm her.

  But she couldn’t. Not when she knew he’d been protecting something so precious. Not when she knew the King had a chain around his neck and a whip in his hands.

  “He killed the other dragons?” she asked. Even saying the words hurt.

  “The other two eggs, yes. I watched his father crack one open and feast upon the yolk. But now they are fully formed inside those eggs. They are waiting to be hatched, and watching this king plunge a dagger into the heart of...” His voice wavered. “I have struggled. There are few options for someone like me, and I will admit, I’ve done terrible things in the hopes that I will not be the last.”

  She couldn’t blame him for that. Not really. Not when the rest of them feared they would end up in the same place as him.

  Didn’t all the magical creatures fear they would also be the last of their kind? That he was the prime example of what happened to magical creatures when they fell under the eye of the King?

  Lore looped an arm around his neck and drew him down against her. She hugged him tight, trying to squeeze him so tightly his sadness and grief disappeared. “I’m sorry for what they did to you,” she whispered against his pulse. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You were my first hope that someone might stop him,” he replied. “Please tell me you haven’t given up yet.”

  “I haven’t.” And now, she couldn’t.

  Chapter 27

  Abraxas

  “—so I am sad to admit, there will only be three of you left when all is said and done.” The King’s voice echoed throughout the Great Hall where the fifteen brides had gathered with their stolen items from the dragon’s hoard.

  Abraxas stood behind Zander and searched the crowd of young women for the only person who mattered. Lorelei had left his cave in horrible condition. She said elves healed quickly, but... Well, she wasn’t an elf, was she? The mortal part of her might not heal as well, and if that was the case, then she would be in considerable pain.

  She stood in the back, her gown hiding most of her wounds. The blood red dress spilled over her shoulder like liquid, hugging every part of her body but covering her from her shoulders all the way to her toes. The other shoulder remained bare, but it was the uninjured one, so no one would know what happened.

  Although, now that he looked at her, that lovely pale skin was tempting. He wanted to press his lips to her pulse there, just to see what she would do. If she would taste like cold dewdrops on spring leaves.

  She’d hugged him. He had told her the most embarrassing detail of his life, and the reason why a mortal man had enslaved him, and she’d hugged him. No one had ever cared about him that much in his entire life, dragons included, and he didn’t know what to do with that.

  He was ancient, even compared to her. He’d lived countless mortal lifetimes and yet... no one had made him feel like she did. With her, he wasn’t a dragon or a legend or even the mythical figure of a story. He was just Abraxas, the man who had killed her mother but was desperately trying to make amends for that horrific deed.

  The women in the group before them groaned. Each one of them started talking and asking questions of the King. A few even begged, likely the exact reaction that Zander was looking for. They wanted to stay with him. How could he let them go when they were so close to him now? Surely he wouldn’t send them away to their families when they loved it here. They loved him. Didn’t he feel the same?

  Zander lifted a hand and chuckled as they all fell silent. “My darling flowers. The weeks you have been here are the best weeks of my life. I will remember them and you always. But only one woman can become my wife.”

  A few young women threw dirty looks at the others. Those were the girls everyone needed to watch out for, and he refused to take his eyes off them. They were the ones that would hurt the others if they were allowed to. And he refused to let Lorelei get hurt any more while he was on watch.

  Zander clapped his hands together. “Well! I understand you’re all disappointed, so let’s get on with this. What did you bring me, my flowers?”

  The aggressive brunette stepped forward first. She even shouldered a few of the other women out of the way so she could get to the front of the line. With a cocked hip and a smile that was far too confident, she handed Zander the gem encrusted crown.

  The King nodded, turning it over in his hands and grinning. “Why did you bring me a crown, my flower?”

  “Because of all the kings in this realm, you deserve not just the most beautiful crown. You deserve a crown that was once held by a dragon. A crown with history and power so that all will know you are the most powerful king we have ever had. And will ever have.” She sank onto her knees in front of him, her bodice shoving her breasts up so high they almost touched her chin. “It would be my honor to remain. Not only to see you and be in your presence for a little while longer, but to worship you as only the most powerful of all kings should be worshipped.”

  The words were pretty, and Abraxas didn’t think Zander would fall for them. But he was wrong.

  Zander preened under her words and care.
He obviously had gotten a little too interested in the brunette because he didn’t hesitate for a second.

  The King leaned forward, put his finger underneath her chin, and turned her face up to his. “You knew I was going to pick you long before you found this crown.”

  “I couldn’t have known, but I had hopes that you would see my worth.” She was bold, this one. The woman took his hand, turned it over, and pressed a kiss to Zander’s fingers. Lingering a little too long. Was that her tongue flicking out?

  Obviously, this young one was here to play as confidently as she could. The only problem was that Abraxas wasn’t even certain who she was. Yes, she was beautiful, and she’d made her case well known. But who was she?

  As the woman walked away, he leaned down and whispered, “What is that one’s name?”

  “I have no idea.” Zander grinned, eyes on the young woman’s bottom. “But I intend to find out. Remember to ask Agatha for me, will you? When I have my private time with her, I want to make sure she’s... well, biddable.”

  And if that wasn’t the most disgusting thing he’d heard all day.

  Abraxas nodded and then leaned away from the King. As far away as possible.

  The other women approached, but most of them hadn’t gotten anywhere near the real treasures. Many had coins. A few had single gemstones or crystals that they thought were beautiful. Most of them made up a story about how they were brave, but the dragon knew how strong they were and he targeted them first.

  It took every fiber of his strength not to roll his eyes when they told stories like that. As if he would ever worry about the actions of a mortal woman.

  Lorelei walked up to the King and all the talking in the room silenced. It was like they all knew she had made it. That she’d gotten to that lofty peak where the King had left something important, and they all wanted to know what it was.

  Even Zander leaned forward in anticipation. “Well, if it isn’t the most surprising of my flowers. You, my dear, always seem to do everything that I wouldn’t expect a woman to do. What did you find in my dragon’s hoard?”

  Don’t look at me, he thought. If you look at me, then he’ll know. He’ll know everything.

  She didn’t. He thanked all the gods he could think of in the relief that she didn’t look at Abraxas. Instead, she winced as she knelt before the King, and kept her eyes on the floor.

  Zander shifted forward. Almost as though he knew she’d seen the eggs. Why else would she move like she’d just returned from battle? Zander was no fool. He wanted to see her pull a dragon egg from behind her and then listen to the shocked gasps.

  Lorelei reached into her bodice and pulled out a single gold coin. It shimmered in the light, cleaner than the rest, but still just a coin.

  The King slumped back on his throne and waved a disappointed hand. “A coin? Really? All the others brought me the same thing, and you’re supposed to be the one who surprises me. You cut an arrow out of the air but you couldn’t find a single interesting thing in the dragon’s hoard?”

  “It’s a coin from when your father was king,” her voice rang out. “This coin is older than you and I put together, and was the only coin in the hoard that I could find which still held your father’s image.”

  Now that... that was rare.

  Zander had Abraxas melt the entire gold pile and all the coins in it when his father finally died. He didn’t want anyone to remember the previous king, because he was so certain they would think he was lesser compared to his father. He was, of course. But no one would tell him that when there was nothing left of the previous king to remember.

  Even he didn’t think a coin like that still existed.

  With a shaky hand, Zander reached for her offering and held it between his fingers. He turned it over and stared into the eyes of his father. “I didn’t think I would ever see a coin like this again.”

  “Neither did I.” She stood far too slowly for Abraxas’s liking. “But I want you to know that it was there. And that if anyone could find something so precious, it would be me. You want a wife who is adventurous and capable? Then you found someone you could find nowhere else. If you want to remember history, then the woman who stands before you is one who does not forget.”

  Abraxas knew she’d overstepped, but Zander seemed to grow even more intrigued with her as every word fell from her lips.

  He nodded frantically with the words until he cleared his throat and replied, “Yes. I believe you will be a good second choice, Lorelei. You have been a thorn in my side since you arrived, I’ll admit. But every time you come into the room, I know something interesting is about to happen.”

  “It is an honor to know you would describe me as such,” she murmured, backing away.

  One left. Damn it, Abraxas should feel relieved this was almost over with, but he couldn’t stop the angry feeling in his gut that the King would dare to choose Lorelei. Yes, he understood that they needed the King to pick her. She had to be physically around him to do whatever it took to force the King to bend a knee.

  But he didn’t want Zander to touch her. Not ever. Not when Abraxas himself wanted to find out what this feeling was in his chest. He wanted to discover what it would feel like to be around her without a thousand questions and suspicious intentions. He couldn’t do that if she was still on the list to marry the King.

  Zander was a dead man walking, however. He needed to remember that.

  A few other women walked up to the throne, but the bored expression on Zander’s face never changed. Not once, until Beauty stepped up to him.

  She didn’t sink to her knees like the others. Instead, she stood holding something between her hands, with a blush spreading across her features.

  “What do you have for me?” Zander asked, his cheek cushioned on his hand. He was bored.

  “I thought to find you something great and magnificent from the dragon’s hoard, but I saw this and I thought... Well, I thought if anyone might enjoy it, then it would be you.” She opened her hands and revealed a tiny toy bird with broken wings. The mechanical pieces of the toy had once been a marvel. Now, they were crushed by the weight of years. “I saw this toy, and I thought that you were the only person intelligent enough to fix it. And that maybe you might want to let another child play with something so delicate. Something that surely an artist placed time and energy into making. Perhaps your own child.”

  Abraxas watched Zander with curious eyes. He remembered the boy having a grand time building such things when the previous king had ignored him. The light in his eyes, the one that always revealed he was interested, sparked.

  He took the toy bird from Beauty with reverent hands. “I can fix this. I’m certain of it. But how did you know I could?”

  Beauty leaned closer to him, almost until their heads touched as they stared down at the broken toy. “Great minds recognize each other, don’t you think? A toy this small might make others think it’s broken, but I think it’s just waiting to be fixed.”

  The scene was almost touching. Beauty could likely fix the King if he let her. Abraxas knew how a gentle touch could calm a fragmented mind like Zander’s. But he’d never know if she softened the villain.

  The doors to the Great Hall slammed open, and a servant staggered inside. The man had been getting ready to be one of the few guards who wasn’t an Umbral Knight, judging by his clothing. The arrow in this throat, however, was not part of his uniform. He staggered to a halt, touched a hand to the wooden shaft, and then fell onto his knees.

  Blood spilled out of the wound and the women closest to the man screamed. Abraxas hated that sound. He stalked toward the man at the same time that Lorelei took off for the door.

  He wanted to shout at her that if she tried to run after the assassin, it would only look like she was working with that person. Instead, she slammed her entire weight against the Great Hall’s entrance and shut the door with a quick snap that echoed through the room.

  Abraxas watched her, noting her wide eyes and horrified e
xpression. She didn’t intend for this to happen. She hadn’t known that the Great Hall or anyone was being attacked.

  Which meant this wasn’t from the rebellion. This wasn’t... planned?

  He knelt down beside the dying man and wrenched the arrow out of his throat. There was the smallest piece of parchment wrapped around the shaft of the arrow.

  Peeling it off, he cursed under his breath.

  Of course, it was the rebellion. Who else could it be?

  Abraxas now faced a dilemma he hadn’t expected. Unfortunately, he had to read the letter because the King had seen him unravel it. He couldn’t pretend someone else was attacking them. No other group was so foolish that they’d send a warning into a building full of Umbral Knights.

  “Well?” Zander called out. “What does the note say, Abraxas?”

  He met Lorelei’s gaze and hoped she saw the apology in his eyes. “Let the sun rise.”

  As if they were waiting for his words, the rebellion rained hellfire upon the castle. They loosed a hundred arrows that whistled through the air and screamed as they fell through the open ceiling and windows. One bride fell with an arrow in her chest, and the King didn’t even move. He sat there on his damned throne, wearing a dumbfounded expression while obviously certain that he couldn’t get hurt. No one would try to kill him. Why would they?

  Abraxas had no choice. He would rather die himself than see more of these innocents slaughtered because of an idiot king who refused to move.

  He loosened the power of the dragon and let his form shift. The dragon’s shape was too big for this room, and he took up most of the space. But his wings stretched over everyone. His neck and back could withstand the onslaught of hundreds of arrows that rained down upon them like hail.