Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Clay
She was here.
She was here. Alive. In my arms.
My chest constricted to the point of pain. The entire world had faded away until the only thing that existed was the woman in my arms.
Though her brow was swollen, her blue eyes were forced wide and focused on me, unblinking as she stared at my face as if she were still trying to figure out if I was actually here in front of her.
Her cheeks were hollow, and her collarbones far too pronounced.
Bruises painted nearly every inch of her body in shades of purple and black that made me want to scream and set fire to the world.
Gently, I ran my fingertips along the gash on her forehead, trying to determine how deep it was.
Gods, she was so small. There wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t injured.
“How badly are you hurt?” I whispered, pulling back further to examine her.
She only stared back at me, opening her mouth and closing it a few times before she responded in nothing more than a hoarse whisper. “Badly.”
For a moment I saw nothing but blackness. My heart clenched, burning rage coursing through me. I wanted to kill each and every person that had dared to lay a finger on her.
Touching her lower lip with the pad of my thumb, I ran my touch gently against the swollen flesh. “I am so sorry, Thea.”
A man skidded to a halt twenty yards behind her, taking in our crouched positions and tears. His face twisted in mockery as three others quickly joined behind him.
Instinctually, I shifted, pulling her closer into my grasp.
“She’s mine!” he declared, pointing at the love of my life as if she were nothing more than a prize he had already claimed.
Scales that had finally faded into skin under her touch erupted down my spine once more, burning along my ribcage and shoulders. The only thing that kept the talons from bursting out of my fingertips was the knowledge that my fingers still cradled her delicate frame.
And I would not cause her any more harm.
“Stay here,” I whispered to her, pressing my lips firmly against her brow before rising to my feet. I leveled my glare upon her attackers, feeling every ounce of mercy leave my body as I took in their split knuckles and blood-splattered clothing.
Her blood decorated their clothing like some twisted form of art.
“I’d suggest you rethink that assertion very, very carefully.”
The blade I had stolen from the blacksmith lingered on the ground by Thea.
I thought about bending down to retrieve it, but discarded the idea just as quickly.
I didn’t need it. I had more than enough burning hatred in me to tear them apart with nothing more than my talons and teeth.
Honestly, I’d rather it remain within her grasp.
Just as I'd prefer to do this with my bare hands.
“I found her first!” The man insisted, still pointing a greedy finger in her direction. “I’ll be the one claiming the prize.”
Dragonfire sparked in my chest, and I swallowed it down as my lips quirked into a dark smile. “You don’t even know who it is that you brutalized, do you?”
His gaze flicked to the tip of my Descendant's Mark visible above the line of my stolen pants. His jaw worked as he took in the shape of it and deduced who I had descended from.
I hoped that Mark made him second-guess his actions. I hoped the knowledge that he was standing before a Dragon of Zion frightened him a little. His fear wouldn't change what was about to happen, though.
His fate had been sealed the second his crimes against her were committed.
His punishment was as inevitable as the setting sun.
“That is Councilwoman Theadora Moore of the Athenian High Council,” I explained, my voice eerily calm despite the emotion that made my fingertips shudder. “An attack against her is punishable by death. A punishment that I, Clayton Vail, Dragon of Athenia, am well within my rights to execute.”
There was a moment of confusion.
A pause when heads tilted, and minds registered the significance of what I had just said.
Then his comrades all stumbled backwards in a rush, eyes flashing with a flicker of doubt and then an undeniable show of apprehension. Still, he only inclined his head at me, eyes narrowing.
“There is no High Council anymore,” the man sneered, his upper lip pulling back over rotten teeth. “Hyrax rules here now.”
I almost laughed. Did he think that would stop me? Did he think that claiming I had no authority would change the fact that he was about to answer for what he did to her?
“Well, in that case,” I leaned back, clasping my hands behind my back. “Then you should know that woman is also the daughter of Hyrax. Under his rule, she is your Crown Princess and heir to the entirety of the Mortal Realm.”
Even with all the hatred burning inside of me and the beast clawing towards the surface, I couldn’t stop the glow of pride that colored my voice.
I had spent my entire life being known as the Crown Prince. That title was as much a part of my identity as the very name I bore. Since birth, I had been trained to value my crown above anything else. No one and nothing would take it from me.
No one but her.
If she wanted my crown, I would bow before her and hand it over.
So, if these men viewed Hyrax as the ruler of this land, then she was their princess and I would happily be her sword.
I turned to her. She remained in that seated position, her gaze focused intently on the man in front of me while she clutched a wrist that bent at an odd angle.
That blonde hair that I’d spent months dreaming of hung in tangled, matted-down knots around her forehead.
She was bleeding, hurt almost beyond recognition, but she still watched this scene play out with a straight spine.
“What is your order, my love?”
She stared at the man before me, her features twisting into a scowl filled with a malice I hadn’t seen before on her. I never wanted to see her that obviously traumatized again.
“Kill them.” Her voice was broken and too quiet. “All of them.”
Her wish was my command.
In another life, I would have wanted to drag out their deaths. I would have wanted to make them suffer an hour for every second they had caused her pain, but Thea needed me more than I needed to work through the rage of my inner beast.
So, their punishment was swift and uncompromising.
With a single burst of dragonfire that easily sparked to life in my chest, it was finished.
Thea watched it all, her eyes hard and unyielding, and when it was done, her chin lifted. I watched her throat bob as she swallowed and released a small shudder.
She wrapped her arms around my neck when I returned to her, and didn’t protest when I lifted her and held her close.
Her heartbeat pounded so strongly it reverberated through my own, and I tucked her closer to me, hoping the warmth of my overheated skin would calm her as she sagged and rested her head against my chest.
“Take me somewhere safe?” she begged.
I leaned down, kissing each of her eyes and the tip of her nose. “Nothing would make me happier.”