Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
S ilently cursing the fact that I’m wearing my infuriating iron collar, I try my best to flirt the way normal people do. Which I’m quickly coming to realize is something that I might actually be quite terrible at.
The dragon shifter in front of me furrows his brows and watches me with both confusion and suspicion evident on his face. I decide to press on anyway. Draven is currently in the room that this shifter is guarding, where he is reporting his progress and plans for capturing the Red Hand, and I need to take every opportunity I can to sneakily interrogate anyone who might know where the other entrance to the emergency escape tunnel is located.
Since I can only sneak out when Draven is away, which is always at night, I haven’t been able to search the mountainside for the tunnel. It’s pitch black out there. I would be more likely to break my ankles trying to climb across the stones than actually finding the entrance. And since I can’t go there when it’s daylight, because Draven keeps me glued to his side at all other times, I need to find someone else who can give me the information that I need. Which hopefully is this guy.
“You must be incredibly skilled if you have managed to get this job,” I say.
The guard before me shifts his weight, the slight move making his silver armor glint in the sunlight streaming in through the window, while he continues watching me with eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You’re guarding the Empress and Emperor’s personal meeting room. They wouldn’t give that position to someone who hasn’t proven himself.”
A hint of pride pushes out some of the confusion on his face, and he straightens his spine ever so slightly. “I suppose you’re right.” Then he seems to remember who he’s talking to, because the satisfied smile disappears and hostility takes its place as he narrows his eyes at me. “Though what would you know about skills and work ethics, fae .”
He spits out my race as if it tastes foul.
I suppress a snarl. This would be so much easier if I had my magic. But I keep at it anyway.
While expertly hiding my rage at his rudeness, I run my tongue along my lip for a second and then make a show of raking my gaze over his body. “Nothing. That’s why I’m attracted to strong men who like to take control.”
That startles him enough that he jerks back a little and blinks at me.
I don’t give him even a second to recover. I need to make him feel both confused and turned on so that he won’t figure out what I’m really doing when I steer the conversation back to the topic of where he was stationed before he was given this honored position. In particular, if he has ever patrolled the east side of the mountain.
So I keep a flirty expression on my face as I take a half step closer and put a hand on his arm and play on his sense of superiority and his disdain for fae. “A strong man who can put me in my place. Someone who can dominate?—”
The door is yanked open.
And before I can so much as close my mouth, let alone take my hand off the guard, Draven stalks back out into the corridor.
He freezes two steps out on the floor, and his eyes lock on the hand I still have on the guard’s arm. For a moment, the only sound is the faint click of the door as it swings shut behind him again. Then his expression darkens, and he drags his gaze up to the guard’s face.
I yank my hand back at the same time as the guard blurts out, “Commander.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Draven demands, flicking eyes that have darkened with threats between us.
“We were just having a conversation,” I reply before the guard can say something stupid.
Unfortunately, he does that anyway.
“I didn’t touch her,” he presses out, his eyes wide with fear and pleading. “She’s the one who was trying to flirt with me.”
Lightning flashes in Draven’s eyes, and he slowly turns to me. “Oh?” But before I can even reply, he snaps his gaze back to the guard and declares, “Jesper, you’re on cleaning duty in your clan’s barracks for the next five months.”
Tilting my head back, I barely manage to stifle a frustrated groan. Now he’s definitely never going to talk to me. And he’s also going to warn all of his friends to never talk to me.
“It’s not his fault,” I begin, trying to mitigate the damage, as I tilt my head back down. “He didn’t?—”
A yelp escapes my mouth, cutting off my sentence, as I’m suddenly hoisted into the air. I suck in a sharp breath to clear my head, but the scene around me still isn’t making any bloody sense.
Because Draven has just picked me up and thrown me over his shoulder.
I let out a huff as my stomach connects with his hard shoulder plate.
He just wraps an arm around the back of my thighs and starts walking.
Wiggling, I try to find purchase on the armor across his back, but my palms keep slipping. So I squeeze my hand into a fist and slam it into his back instead. It just makes pain pulse through my hand.
“What did I tell you about trying to break my armor with your hands?” Draven demands. “You’ll just shatter your bones.”
“Put me down,” I growl back at him as he rounds the corner into an empty hallway. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“Did you seriously just throw me over your shoulder and carry me away because I was talking to another guy?” I slam my fist against his back again and kick my legs at his stomach. “What kind of jealous territorial bullshit is this?”
“First of all, you weren’t talking to him. You were flirting with him. And secondly, I’m not jealous.”
I scoff. “Right.”
My stomach lurches as he suddenly stops and lifts me off his shoulder. I blink as my feet hit the floor again. But I don’t even have time to gather my wits before Draven’s face is right in front of mine. Fire burns in his eyes as he stares me down.
“I’m not jealous,” he repeats. And before I can retort, he presses on. “And I thought we had a deal. Act like my submissive little slave in public and fight me all you like in private.”
“I am.”
“Then what do you call that?” He stabs a hand towards the corridor no longer visible to our left. “Azaroth’s flame, I should just put you in black armor too, because you’re as bad as my own clan at just following simple orders that are for your own protection.”
“Maybe you should,” I bait. “That way, there would be no question who I belong to.”
“There has never been a question about that.”
“Really? I thought you just said that you weren’t jealous and territorial when it comes to me.”
He opens his mouth to retort, but then his gaze darts down the corridor. A moment later, I hear it too. Footsteps. Coming this way.
Shifting his gaze back to me, he rakes his hands through his hair and lets out a long sigh. “Let’s save this argument for later. Right now, we need to get to my clan’s barracks and brief them on today’s plan.”
“To catch the Red Hand,” I fill in. It’s half statement, half question, but Draven answers anyway.
“Yes, to catch the Red Hand.”
And before either of us can say anything else, two courtiers round the corner. They blink at us in surprise. Draven simply starts walking while assuming that I will follow. And since he is unfortunately right that we need to keep up appearances, I do exactly that.
The walk to his clan barracks is a tense and quiet one. And all the way there, I stew in silence and curse his interruption back there.
By giving the guard cleaning duty as punishment for just speaking to me, Draven has now made sure that none of the guards from the Silver Dragon Clan are going to dare to talk to me. Which means that I can’t get the information I need. And all just because of his stupid jealous bullshit.
I glance at Draven from the corner of my eye as we enter the barracks of the Black Dragon Clan.
He wants to be a territorial asshole? Fine. I’ll be a fucking menace too.
“Listen up,” Draven calls as he strides into the massive room where his soldiers have gathered. “We will be trying a different strategy today.”
While Draven begins explaining their orders for the day, I slink away towards one of the changing rooms that are connected to the main room. A few of the shifters cast curious glances at me when I pass them, but no one stops me. And Draven knows that there is no exit there, so he just keeps giving orders as well.
I slip into the empty changing room. People have left their normal clothes neatly folded on shelves above the empty armor stands that line the stone walls. Coming to a halt right inside the door, I quickly begin stripping off my own clothes.
If there is any place where I can do something like this as revenge, it’s here. Draven’s clan won’t sell him out to the Icehearts, so whatever happens in this barrack will stay in this barrack.
I know that I’m being petty and stupid, but I’m frustrated that he ruined my chances to get information from the guards in the palace and I want to get back at him. Publicly. And besides, there is something that I want to hear him say out loud. Something that I want him to admit. Even though it doesn’t matter. Even though I shouldn’t care. Even though it won’t change anything. But I still want to hear him say it.
After stripping down to my underwear, which leaves very little to the imagination, I straighten my spine and raise my chin in a confident posture even though my heart is suddenly pounding in my chest.
And then I stride straight back into the main room.
For a few seconds, Draven just keeps issuing orders, and everyone else only continues watching him.
I walk farther into the room.
Then the first few soldiers begin glancing at me. They do a double take when they realize what I’m wearing. Or rather, not wearing. Armor creaks faintly as one after the other, they all turn to stare at me.
Draven notices the commotion and finally flicks a glance in my direction.
He too does a double take.
His mouth hanging open, he stares at me with such an almost comical look of shock and disbelief on his face that I almost laugh out loud at the sight of it.
But I only get to enjoy that for a few mere seconds. Then his expression darkens like an oncoming storm.
“Eyes down!” he bellows across the room. “Anyone who raises his eyes will get them carved out.”
All the men in the room quickly jerk their heads back and drop their gazes to the floor. And all the women too.
Lightning flashes in Draven’s eyes, and he flexes his hand down by his side, as he advances on me. His soldiers part before him like water before an unforgiving mountain.
My heart thumps as I begin backing away. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of his entire clan, so I keep moving until I have retreated through the still open door to the changing room. Draven stalks in after me and slams the door shut behind him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he demands.
“You said you wanted me to wear the black armor of your clan.” I raise my eyebrows and spread my arms in challenge. “Well, here I am. I removed my other clothes, but there were no extra sets of armor here, so I went in search of one.”
“You…” Cutting himself off, he draws in a long breath through his nose as if to calm himself down. Then he stabs his hand towards my clothes, which are just lying in a pile on the floor. “Put your clothes back on. Now.”
“Why? I thought you weren’t jealous.”
“I’m not.”
“Fine. Then I’ll just keep flirting with everyone I come across.”
“Not unless you want them to lose their eyes. And their hands.”
A frustrated breath rips from my throat, and I take a step forward, closing the final distance between us, as I jab a finger against his chest while locking eyes full of challenge on him. “Just admit it.”
His gaze slides down my half-naked body. A muscle flickers in his jaw, and he drags in another deep breath through his nose. But to my shock, it’s not anger that flickers in his eyes. It’s burning desire.
The realization sends a jolt through my body. All my life, I’ve avoided doing things like this. I’ve avoided challenging people. Avoided doing things that might make them angry. Because I didn’t want them to start hating me. And deep down, that age-old fear was twisting inside me, worrying that I shouldn’t be doing that to Draven either. That standing up to him would only make him dislike me.
But to my utter shock, it appears to be the exact opposite. Based on the expression on his face as he rakes his gaze over my body, this stunt I just pulled only makes him like me more. And that realization fills me with a sweeping rush of giddiness and makes me feel bold and powerful all at once.
Draven forces his gaze back up to my face. “Admit what?”
I flash him a smirk full of challenge. “Admit that you’re a jealous territorial bastard who can’t stand the thought of me flirting with someone else.”
“You’re playing with fire, little rebel.”
“I thought we had already established that I’m quite adept at that.”
“Put your clothes back on.”
“Admit it.”
He clenches his jaw and stares me down.
I stare right back at him.
Something between a frustrated sigh and a growl rips from his chest. Then he drags in a long breath.
“Fine.” He works his jaw, still holding my gaze with those burning eyes of his. “I’m a jealous territorial bastard who can’t stand the thought of you flirting with someone else.”
My heart does a backflip in my chest, and heat floods my body.
I knew it. In the end, it won’t matter, because he will always be my enemy. But I still wanted to hear him say it. Needed to hear him say it.
Confused and highly inconvenient feelings twist inside my chest.
Holding Draven’s gaze, I draw in a short breath and press out, “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you hate it when I flirt with someone else?”
“I’ve already told you.” He slides his hand up my throat and positions it right underneath my jaw in a highly possessive move. His eyes burn through my soul as he stares me down. “Because you’re mine.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “Your life slave?”
“No. Mine . In every sense of the word.”
A shudder of pleasure and forbidden desire ripples down my spine.
The way he is looking at me right now is making me want to bare my whole soul to him. He sees me. All sides of me. He knows exactly what kind of person I am. Knows exactly what I can do. That I could try to manipulate him with my magic when he takes my collar off in his rooms. That I hate everything he stands for. That I will continue to fight him in private. And he likes it. In his eyes, I am enough. And not just enough. I’m somehow… more.
I suddenly can’t breathe. Why did it have to be my most dangerous enemy? Why did he have to be the one to make me feel like this? Make me feel alive and seen and strong and powerful in a way that no one ever has.
With a firm grip on my throat, Draven leans down until his lips are right in front of mine. And for one single second, I don’t know if he’s going to kiss me or drain me of magic.
He does neither of those things.
“Now, put your clothes back on,” he says, speaking the words directly against my mouth.
Pleasure rolls through me when his breath caresses my lips.
And before I can get my wits back, he releases me and abruptly spins on his heel. I watch as he strides back to the door. But he pauses with his hand on the handle.
Looking back over his shoulder, he meets my gaze while a smile that is pure villain spreads across his face. “Oh and, Selena?”
It takes me a second to remember how to speak, and when I do, the word comes out in an embarrassing croak. “Yes?”
His eyes glint. “You will pay for this little stunt tonight.”