The woman dismounted and approached the underlord. They exchanged words—and I could swear the air around the underlord glowed orange. The woman strode into the suite, and the Wyverns became four men.
Wyverns were shapeshifters?Fascinante. I filed that fact away, but the tension in the little scene had me on edge. As I moved to stand with Slade beneath the overhang, I tucked my hood around Nemi. She twittered again, annoyed this time, and pushed her head out so she could see.
“Watch,” Slade breathed, “and learn.”
His voice was filled with more tension than I’d ever heard, and it lit up every instinct I had. I stared as the Dragon took off, its wings beating frantically.
And the ledge lit up with flame.
The fireball hit the fleeing Dragon with a zapping kind of sizzle, and it screamed as it was engulfed. A stomach-churning waft of scorched meat permeated the air.
I’d seen a lot in my life, but nothing like that. Sickened, I watched as the thrashing, shrieking, burning form fell to the swamp below.
Slade exhaled. “Never piss off the boss.” Surprisingly, he had more to say. “I was spawned by Underlord Xumi’s fuckin’ breeding program. She was one twisted bitch, and she left her Empire to a son she trained well—Brock was a perverted, ruthless bastard. But he was still just a Dragon.”
Picking a leaf off a plant growing near his head, the shifter tore it into tiny bits. “Victor claims Brock is living inside him, and from what I’ve seen, I believe it. But that isn’t all he has lurking in there.”
He turned away. “As you haven’t pissed off Underlord Victor—yet, anyway, Cricker can have his bunk back. You get new quarters.”
With a thundering heart, I followed him back into the building. I’d always been able to defend myself from those that might do me harm.
He was still just a Dragon.Just a Dragon. Fuck.
For all his strength, power, and ability, Slade clearly believed there was no defending against what Victor could do.
As career choices went, mine could have been better.
16
Bree
The ice had penetrated to my very core.
I supposed it made a certain kind of sense. I had an Ice Drake living inside me, after all.
At the moment, drifting along like this was pleasant. Letting the drugged fog win. Much better than facing what awaited me out there.
They would find me, eventually. But with any luck, it would be too late. Victor couldn’t torture a corpse.
Yet something niggled at me. Not something. Someone.
Bree. Wake up!
No. Absolutely didn’t want to do that. But then, the first convulsive shiver shot through me.
Ice Drakes couldn’t be cold, could they?
Hellfire. Stop wallowing. Wake up!
The urgency in his mindvoice penetrated. Caliel was usually grumpy. Right now, he sounded panicked.
Despite my wishes, awareness slowly penetrated in fragmented bits and pieces. Cold air chased across my bare legs, and I began to shiver in earnest. But my upper body was encased in heat. Rock-hard, and folded around me.
I blinked, trying to clear the fog. Wind blew my hair across my face, but through the whipping strands, I saw a strong jaw in a handsome face—and eyes that glowed through their darkened irises.
I shook all over now, and the arms around me tightened, pulling me more firmly into his lap. “Hey,” Riggs said. “Stay with me, Breana. We’re almost home.”
Home? I struggled to turn my head—and saw huge wings rising and falling. We were riding a blue-scaled Dragon.
