Thirty-Seven Prince Gluttony
B LOODY HELL ,” I cursed, staggering forward from the sudden impact.
Excruciating pain lanced through my back as five talons pierced my flesh clear to the bone. I gritted my teeth to keep from shouting. I’d taken plenty of talons to the chest and back, but this was pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
I wrenched myself free of the dragon’s claws, my dagger flying out of my hand, sinking into the snow several paces away.
I swore and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding another hit. The wounds in my back tore open from the movement, the pain making my vision swim.
Teeth snapping perilously close, the dragon dove for my throat, its snarl rippling through the night as I dodged its next attack.
It knocked me to the ground again, all four legs crushing the breath from me as it drew back, preparing to unleash its unholy flames.
I wouldn’t die, but I didn’t like the idea of having my flesh singed off.
A horrendous amount of time would be needed to regenerate after an injury that intense, and our little farce to distract the realm with the competition would be for naught.
It would be rather hard to explain a prince who’d been scorched.
I growled and launched the dragon off me, muscles trembling from its massive weight.
Not a moment too soon. Icy fire slammed into the nearest tree, the snow-covered branches bursting into white flames. Gods’ blood. That was far too close for comfort.
“Got it?” I shouted to Envy, eyes locked on the snarling dragon as it stalked closer. My wounds hadn’t healed yet. And the dragon seemed to sense my weakened state.
“Unless you get eaten, you’ll be the first to know.”
Sarcastic prick.
I jumped to my feet, circling the dragon as it snapped its jaws at me. This was taking far too long. We should have been in and out of the dragons’ den in seconds.
Our plan was clear—I’d cause a distraction; Envy would grab what we’d come for.
I chanced a look at my brother. Envy’s head cocked to one side as he studied his opponent. We didn’t have time for plotting. We needed to act. Swiftly.
The dragon fighting me launched itself at my chest; I avoided its talons by inches, each sudden movement making my breath catch.
“It’s a gods-damned baby,” I shouted. “Scruff it like a kitten and get out of there.”
“Vicious little thing tried to take my hand off.”
“I’ll take your cursed head off if you don’t hurry.”
The dragon lifted its massive snout, snuffing the air.
Since ice dragons were extraordinary predators, it knew it had dealt a winning blow. Whatever was happening with my wound was already starting to fester.
If we didn’t retreat soon, I’d be in serious trouble.
But I would stay here and battle as long as I could. We’d already lost two hatchlings. I refused to leave without saving this last one.
The wounds throbbed in time with my heart, indicating the dragon’s talons might have been coated in poison or some other toxin that was impeding my ability to heal.
With little choice, I confronted the dragon head-on. Charging the beast, teeth bared.
It collided with me in a snarl, talons scraping down my chest. But my effort hadn’t been in vain—the great scaled beast retreated from the impact, finally stepping into the snare I’d set.
In a whoosh, the dragon launched into the air, shrieking at the iron clamped around its hind leg. With its focus entirely set on escape, I rushed to Envy, plucked the damn baby dragon up by the scruff, then carefully tucked it into my cloak.
It burrowed against my leather, bleating softly.
“Let’s go.”
I didn’t have the energy to call forth my wings or transvenio —I was severely weakened from the blood oath, vow with Blade, and whatever toxin was in my system—so we raced down the mountain, sliding over the mixture of snow and ice that coated the ground, the sounds of the furious ice dragon piercing the night.
Envy occasionally shot me a concerned look, his attention sliding to my leaking wounds, but I ignored him, pushing on through the treacherous terrain. The snare wouldn’t hold the ice dragon for long. We’d be lucky if we made it to Merciless Reach.
We were close, though. A few more meters and the stone fortress would come into view.
My steps faltered a few times, but through sheer force of will, I put one foot in front of the other, my vision going in and out of focus like mad.
“Almost there.” My brother dragged me alongside him. I had no recollection of Envy even taking my arm but realized through the haze descending that he’d taken most of my weight.
Finally, the fortress emerged like a fist punching the sky.
We staggered toward it, the roar of dragons echoing off the walls.
Envy’s muscles tensed as he hoisted me closer and all but ran us into the enclosure.
White flames scorched the wall beside us as Envy tossed me inside, then kicked the door shut.
He reached down and pulled the little dragon from where I still clutched it to my chest, swearing he’d see to it. The little creature flapped its feathered wings, iridescent gaze locked on mine.
“Safe,” I said, not caring if I was speaking to a dragon in a soft tone in front of my brother. It blinked down at me, tucking its wings in tight.
Then it looked at Envy and sank its teeth into his hand.
My brother cursing the old gods for creating tyrant baby dragons was the last thing I saw before the world went dark.
A stern face swam into focus. Helga. The royal healer shook her head, her short gray hair swinging with the motion. I blinked as more of the room came into view.
Stone walls, straw mattress. A tapestry tacked to one wall to help keep the draft out.
I was in my private room in Merciless Reach. I hadn’t slept here in years.
I dropped my head back, closing my eyes as the wave of nausea passed.
Helga clucked her tongue.
“Taking a baby from its nest isn’t your finest idea, Your Highness. You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt worse.”
“Had no choice.”
Helga hummed as she wrapped a bandage around my chest. “You could have left it.”
I thought of the little dragons we hadn’t saved. I would take ten more wounds if it meant they could have survived.
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re as mean as you are talented with remedies?”
Her smile was sharper than the scalpel she used to cut the cloth.
I pushed up to my elbows, hissing at the searing pain. I glanced down at myself, hoping to see healed flesh at the parts uncovered by bandages, but the agony dashed that dream.
One bandage was wrapped tightly around my chest, covering the gouges in my back.
I had no idea what the wounds looked like, but the medicine soaked into the cloth stank to holy hell.
“Did Val already take the hatchling to the habitat cave?”
“Aye. She took the little biter there shortly after you arrived.”
She sealed a jar of medicine and set it on the nightstand.
“Toxin or poison?” I winced as Helga helped me into a sitting position, stuffing an extra down pillow behind my back as gently as she could.
“Toxin from what I can tell. Nasty one.” She nodded to the jar of suspicious-looking brown liquid on the nightstand. “You’ll need to dress the wound twice a day for the next few days. Should heal up okay.”
“I’ll do my best. But make no promises.” I rested my head against the wall, already tired. “I’ve got a competition to host. I can’t smell like a rubbish bin. Lovers frown upon that sort of thing.”
“Suit yourself. But having your flesh rot might be more of a deterrent to love.”
“If they cannot love my fetid flesh at its worst, then they don’t deserve me at my best. Isn’t that how the mortal saying goes?”
Helga gathered her supplies and headed for the door, muttering the whole way.
She’d been nursing me back to health for decades and might be the closest thing to a mother I’d ever known.
Envy slipped into the room when she left, eyeing the bandage with distaste.
“You smell like a dead goat that’s been baking in the sun for days.”
“That’s oddly specific. I’m sorry you’ve encountered that before.” I closed my eyes for a blessed moment before opening them again. “How’s the dragon?”
“Safe. Seems to like the habitat on your grounds. It’s been chasing its tail and pouncing on moths. Little bugger bit Val, too.”
I exhaled. At least the retrieval had been worth the pain. “Has any more news come about other offspring?”
Envy shook his head. “From what my spies gathered, those three were the only hatchlings born this year to their pack.”
Not such an oddity. Ice dragons lived for a long time and often only produced a few offspring every hundred years or so. But to lose two-thirds of the new litter was unfathomable. I couldn’t begin to consider the ramifications to my loss of power if they didn’t recover.
I hoped the other packs were faring better. So far, we hadn’t found evidence during our patrols that they’d succumbed to the same madness.
“At least we saved one,” Envy finally said.
My jaws ached from clamping them together so hard.
Regardless of what was happening with the dragons, only saving one didn’t make us heroes. It had been hours since I’d received the grim news that the dragons had potentially turned on their offspring, but I’d acted as swiftly as I could without raising suspicion.
Unless I wanted the scandal sheets to start looking into what I did when the competition wasn’t going on, there was no way I could have left high tea to seek out Val and read the missive without speaking to each suitor. Then I had to address the Adriana-dungeon situation.
“The baby’s eyes are iridescent,” I said. “That means whatever’s impacting the adults hasn’t harmed it yet.”
My brother looked like he wished to say more but turned his attention to the lone window set high in the wall. “Your oath with the journalist is a problem.”
I’d been waiting for him to bring it up. Figured the bastard would choose the perfect time. I couldn’t simply get up and leave and he damned well knew it.
“Bond or not, I’ve been saying she’s a problem for a decade.”
My poor attempt at levity missed its mark.
“You got hurt because you’re not operating at full power when you’re too far away from her.”
I set my jaw. There had been some… discomfort. I’d expected to feel some slight pain but was surprised when it was much stronger than anticipated. I had a sneaking suspicion it was also worse because of the drain on my power I’d suffered by not sparring with dragons. I needed to fuel my sin another way, or we’d all be in serious trouble soon. I’d never sworn a blood oath with anyone before, and even if I’d polled my brothers, everyone’s pain threshold was different.
Hopefully Adriana was in bed and hadn’t noticed a phantom sensation.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Maybe this time.” He exhaled. “But what happens when the dragons are farther north? You’ll need to take her to Merciless Reach to avoid losing power next time.”
“Absolutely not.” I wouldn’t bring Adriana anywhere near the dragons until the situation was settled. “I’ll make do.”
“To keep her safe or your secret safe?”
“Does it matter?”
He gave me a long look before staring back out the window.
“The frequency of the attacks has also increased over the last few days.” Envy’s tone was far too casual, indicating the comment was anything but.
“Your point?”
“Magic overriding magic gets messy.”
“What the ever-loving fuck does that mean, Levi?”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” He finally dropped his attention back to me. “Rest up. Bathe. The first event is slated to start in a few hours. You need to give the performance of your life today. No one can suspect you’re hurt. If they start digging, there’s plenty of skeletons for them to unearth.”