Chapter 3
T he more Tanis considered her bargain with Dash, the more it chafed. Why not ask for her soul instead of her freedom?
You don’t value that.
Well, that was true. But did it really have to be her freedom? She’d already lost it once, and it’d been more than enough for one lifetime.
She hated for anyone to have control over her. It’d been bad enough when she’d been a girl in her father’s court. But her slavery had been unbearable. Every day in captivity had been an eternity. She still bore those scars, inside and out. She’d fought hard for her freedom.
And she’d promised herself that no one would ever have sovereignty over her again.
Now here she was. Captive once more.
By her own stupid choice.
Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the past. Everything she’d been put through for greed and selfishness. Human and unicorn cruelty that enjoyed watching others suffer. Even their own kind.
She knew nothing of this unicorn she’d bargained with. He could be wanted. A doctor. Banker. Anything really.
Now, she was part of his life.
Why did he want her ? “What are you planning to do with me, beast?”
“What?”
“After I kill the dragon slayer... what are you going to do with me once I go to your kingdom?”
He snorted. “Little late to be asking that now, isn’t it?”
Yes. But she still had to know what he was thinking. Why he’d chosen such a repugnant thing for her payment. “Are you going to sell me?”
Dash heard the underlying panic in her tone. If he were as sadistic as his father had been, he’d draw this out and make her sweat her poor decision. It might actually be good for her and keep her from being so hasty in the future.
But lucky for her, he didn’t enjoy seeing others suffer. He’d had his fill of that when he’d been a colt. “That’s been outlawed.”
“True, but some still practice it, anyway.”
“And they are gutted by the High King when he finds them. He has no tolerance for such savagery.”
“Doesn’t mean they won’t risk it. For all I know, you could be one of them.”
She was right, and he had no patience with those bastards, either. He took a lot of pleasure in seeing them caught and gutted. “Rest your mind, Dragon. I’m not a slaver or trader of flesh. I’d never do such a thing to anyone. Not even my enemies.”
The dragon instantly relaxed. “Good. And you should know that I won’t be your plaything.”
He scoffed at where her mind had gone to next. Though it was probably a fair concern for her, given her beauty and form. “Trust me, Dragon. I’ve no shortage of offers when it comes to lovers wanting a place in my bed.”
That made her instantly go stiff again. “Well, you don’t have to be so nasty about it. I’m not a pox-ridden nag.”
Wow... the ire in her tone was incredible as was the unconscious kick she’d given his ribs. “Now you’re offended that I don’t want you in my bed? Should I make a score card so that I can keep up with your mood swings?”
She shifted on his back in such a way that he suspected she might actually be making a face at him. It was very much something his sister would have done whenever he displeased her. Which was quite a lot.
Renata was one of only a tiny few in his life who had the temerity to stand up to him after he’d gutted his powerful father in a fit of rage.
Mostly because everyone had assumed his father was immortal and invincible.
And he had been... until the day he wasn’t.
Bully bastard.
No one had ever believed that someone could kill his father. Especially his father. Too used to shoving everyone around as if they were rag dolls, the last thing Cratus the Conqueror had expected was for his bastard son to return home with a vengeance.
And a vicious craving that had demanded blood appeasement.
It’d been a welcomed bonus that by killing his father, he’d quelled everyone else in the process.
To this day, Dash regretted nothing about his homecoming. Especially the bloodshed.
The dragon cleared her throat. “You still haven’t answered my question, Unicorn. What are you going to do with me?”
“I don’t quite know.”
“That’s not comforting,” she said wistfully.
“Neither is life. Sooner you accept that, you’re doing better than most.”
She scoffed. “Trust me, Dash. I learned that a long, long time ago.”
Something in her voice resonated with him. A kindred soul who’d been kicked enough to know that life wasn’t the prized cherry bowl bards had promised them in their nursery rhymes. It was hard and it was brutal. More times than not, it sought to bring everyone to their knees and laughed in their faces while it kicked them in their tenderest places.
He hated that she knew that pain.
“If it makes you feel better, Dragon, I promise I won’t make you do anything too grisly. No dungeon dwelling. Or maiden eating. Perhaps I’ll find a nice treasure for you to guard.”
She smacked her lips as if he’d struck a nerve with her. “That’s a stereotype, you know. Like saying unicorns kidnap maidens.”
“Who says we don’t?”
“Do you?”
“Been known to… with their permission.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Imagine what someone would think if they saw us right now? Would it not appear as if I’d kidnapped you?”
An attractive blush covered her cheeks. “They’d be stupid.”
“Would they be wrong?”
“You didn’t kidnap me. I kidnapped you. Sort of.” Still, a deep sadness haunted her eyes. “But your point is well made.”
“What’s wrong, Dragon?” Not that he cared. At least that was what he told himself.
She blinked quickly and swallowed hard as if she were fighting back tears. “Nothing.”
It wasn’t nothing. He saw the horrors she was trying to hide. Something dark in her past that she didn’t want to talk about, and he regretted that he’d pricked whatever memory was there. Of all people, he knew the demon that lurked just below the surface that never gave him peace.
Sometimes it was well caged.
Other times...
It emerged with the slightest provocation.
A smell. A whisper. Any little thing could unleash that demon until it raged against the world, and mostly against him.
I am a bastard.
From birth to the end. Like father like son. And so, he vowed to say nothing more. Least he could do for her.
Tanis sighed as she tried to think of something else to focus on. Right now, she was seriously starting to panic.
Just what had she gotten herself into?
Davin had always chastised her for not thinking ahead. For being too rash and emotional.
He was right.
She’d been so focused on the result of avenging him that she hadn’t thought through the steps to get there. Impetuosity would always be her downfall.
And trust.
Though she’d gotten much better about the last one over the years.
Well, not really. Rather than mistrust everyone else, she’d merely learned to withdraw. It was easier to avoid others than to let them take advantage of her because she refused to assume they were going to use her. She didn’t want to be hateful like her sisters.
Vicious like the monster who’d taken her.
If that was what it took to live in this world, she’d rather not. She just didn’t want to be like them. To hurt and take advantage of others. Why did everyone have to be so mean? It had never made sense to her.
What pleasure could they really take from their cruelty? And if they did find pleasure in such meanness, then she pitied them for it. She found her happiness whenever she caused someone else to smile. She liked helping others, even when it caused her father to chastise her.
Why was that wrong? She’d never understood it.
As they continued through the forest, she saw a shadow in the trees that seemed to be keeping pace with them. “Is that a human?” she whispered.
Glancing over at the shadow, Dash let out a very heavy sigh before he responded. “No. Something much more sinister.”
Dread filled her at his heavy tone. Was it an ogre? Troll?
Oni?
“What’s worse than a human?”
“A beast it seems I can never escape.”
Tanis swallowed at the anger in his voice. What awful thing was after them? “Should we run?”
“Won’t do any good. It would only catch us.” He slowed down so that the shadow could rush toward them.
She frowned as she saw…
“Is that a hobgoblin?”
The second she asked the question, it transformed into a lovely blond woman in the prime of her youth. She strode toward them with a cocky swagger.
Dash let out another long, exaggerated sigh. “Thought I left you behind to take care of things. What are you doing here, Halla?”
“Following you and your new passenger. Should I ask where you found your lady?”
“She’s as much a lady as you are.”
Halla opened her mouth to speak, but Dash cut her off. “She’s a dragon I ran into after I left you with orders to stay put. And to keep an eye on things.”
She stopped dead in her tracks to stare at them. “Dragon, you say?”
“Fire-breathing. Scaly... dragon.”
Tanis frowned at his unflattering description of her. “Not sure I like the scaly part.”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Do you not have scales?”
“Not at the moment, and they’re not scaly scales.” They were quite lovely, in her opinion. Almost identical to her mother’s. Though not quite as pretty as her mother’s had been.
“But they are scales,” Dash said decisively.
Well, yes. Technically.
Tanis rolled her eyes at him. Which felt entirely different as a human than a dragon. She felt like she was wearing an ill-fitting suit. Too tight and restrictive.
“I like my scales,” she said under her breath.
“Well, since she’s not human...” Wings sprang out of the hobgoblin’s back as she shrank in size. “No need in wearing out me legs. I’m getting too old for this, and you need to stop traveling so fast. You’re making it bloody hard to keep up with you and find you every time you give us the slip.”
“Told you to stay home, didn’t I?”
“Bah!” Halla flew so that she hovered beside Tanis’s arm. “Why would I do that? Other than to bring you tales about how incompetent Kronnel is in your stead. Which he is, just so you know. Bloody boring, too.”
“You should have stayed home,” he repeated yet again. “Keeping an eye on Kronnel while I’m gone might be helpful.”
Halla made a rude noise. “When have I ever been helpful to you? Me job’s to harass and make you think twice.”
“Point taken. I think twice about killing you every time you’re near.”
This time the hobgoblin laughed at Dash’s surly tone. “That’s what your father used to say.”
“And here I thought all of his animus was saved up for me alone.”
Tanis didn’t speak as she realized the unicorn had said something she was rather sure he hadn’t meant to in front of her.
Something confirmed by the clearing of Halla’s throat to catch Dash’s attention. “Methinks you’ve forgotten the bit of baggage on your back, me lord.”
Dash groaned. “’Course I did. She weighs nothing. Make some noise, Dragon.”
“Didn’t want to interrupt you, Lord Unicorn.”
Was he really unicorn nobility? What was his rank? Was he important? Given his bearing, she wouldn’t be surprised if he was high ranking. Not that it mattered. She was just curious. She’d never met a unicorn noble.
Before he could comment or she could ask about it, Tanis heard the sound of men approaching. This time, there was no mistaking it.
It was a group of them.
Dash quickly moved them from the road, deeper into the woods so the humans wouldn’t see them. Halla shrank herself to the size of a butterfly while Tanis slid from Dash’s back to lower herself to the ground so she could hide in the underbrush.
As the riders came closer, she saw that there were eight men of warrior age, though two were still relatively young. All were covered in furs and appeared gruff. Smelly, in her opinion. Not that she wanted to get close enough to smell them. This was quite close enough. She already had bile in her throat. Any closer and she might actually yield to the urge to unload the contents of her stomach.
The one who rode behind the leader scratched at his hairy chest. “How much further is it?”
“Least two more days... maybe three. Less if we ride through the nights,” the leader said.
The one who’d spoken first growled low in his throat. “My arse is tired of this journey.”
“Yea, but we’re going to see the dragon skull,” a young one in the back said. “Imagine the luck it’ll bring us if we touch it.”
The leader shook his head. “You keep saying that, but all I can think is that it wasn’t so lucky for the dragon what lost its head.”
Fury rushed through her that they’d dare make light of her brother’s tragedy. Tanis started to rise, but Dash lightly placed a hoof over her rump.
“Don’t move.” His voice was loud and clear in her mind.
She knew he was right. Still, it was hard to lie here while they bantered so over her brother. As if his life meant nothing.
How dare they!
Thankfully, they passed quickly. Even so, she wanted to run them down and thrash them for being so callous.
If only she were still a dragon, they’d be on fire…
But you’re not a dragon.
True. Still, she wasn’t without skills. And she did have a sword. She was sure she could have taken them. Or at least a few of them, and make them bleed.
Most of all, she wanted to scream out in frustration.
Damn me.
Dash waited until the humans were completely out of sight before he lifted his hoof from her rear.
She glared at him as she pushed herself up from the ground. “Was that necessary?”
“Were you planning to run at them?”
Sort of. “Wasn’t really a plan. More like a reaction.”
“A bad one. Need I remind you, Dragon, you’re currently human, with no powers?”
No, he didn’t. And that irritated her as much as his calm demeanor and tone. “ You have powers,” she reminded him.
“I do, indeed.”
She arched a brow at his agreeable tone. “Would you not have helped?”
“Probably not.”
She gaped at that. “Seriously? You’d have done nothing to them?”
“Not over words.”
“Not even when they’re insulting you?” she asked incredulously.
It was his turn to lift a brow at her. “Do dragons always attack when they’re being insulted?”
She sputtered.
“I believe they do, me lord.” Halla made herself the size of a large rodent while she floated in the air between them. “It’s a matter of honor for them.”
Nodding at the hobgoblin, she brushed debris from her clothes. “Halla’s correct. We do.”
“Is that why you destroy so many villages whenever you’re off on a furious bender?”
Anger rose inside her at Dash’s question. “I’ve never destroyed any village. I know no one who has ever done such. Have you ever speared a human with your horn?”
Dash didn’t respond, but Halla began to whistle and look uncomfortable.
She arched a brow at his lack of response. “You’ve speared a human?”
Halla cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered loudly, “He’s speared many things, Lady Dragon.”
Dash spoke in that calm, emotionless tone. “Plan to do so again. But I’m not rash enough to run headlong into a group of trained and armed warriors who may or may not be wizards or shape shifters when my backup is a hobgoblin, whose sole choice of weapon is sarcasm, and a defenseless dragon in the body of a human woman who would have been at their mercy had I failed to kill them all.”
The way he said that made her want to run from him. There was a lot of darkness inside him that she must not forget. Just like the one who’d stolen her innocence. Unicorns were dangerous.
Cold-blooded.
Merciless.
As a human, she was no match for his speed.
And he might spear her, too.
He’s my enemy.
She couldn’t afford to forget that important fact. They weren’t the same. Unicorns weren’t dragons. They were an entirely different species, who valued entirely different things.
At least that was what she’d been told. Truthfully, she didn’t know what they valued. And at the moment, she didn’t care.
Dash shook his head, causing his mane to flow eerily. “Are you ready to continue your journey?”
She wanted desperately to say no. That she could find her own way. But as a human woman, that would take forever on foot.
And those men and others would continue to mock her beloved brother while she dawdled.
No. If the unicorn could get her there without devouring her, she’d be that much closer to finishing this and returning to her own body.
Then she could flash fry the unicorn and return to her kingdom.
I will see this through. No matter what it takes.
And then she’d free herself from this terrifying unicorn. One way or another.