58. Tempest
58
TEMPEST
R eyla shoved me. “Run.”
“No.” I struggled to gather enough magic to fight Ivenrail, but the level of my well had dropped, and I could barely reach far enough down to scoop it up.
Ivenrail pointed at Reyla, and she was wrenched away from me, flung into the Nullens standing to the side of the dais. They tumbled onto the tile in a mass of flailing limbs.
The king grabbed my arms, shaking me.
A roar shook the very air.
He paused, his head tilting.
Madrood rumbled closer, his claws clicking on the tiles, his heavy footsteps thundering around us. He loomed behind the king, his lips peeling back to reveal long, deadly fangs. Flames coiled and snapped within his red gaze, and smoke poured from his nostrils.
“When you’re dead, Brenna will be the Lydel heir. I collared her, which means I can find her anywhere.” Ivenrail’s lips curled up, and he stepped to the side, pointing at me. “Kill her, Madrood.”
The furious beast sucked in a deep breath.
I flung myself to the side.
Flames blasted from Madrood’s mouth, but they didn’t churn toward me.
“No!” Ivenrail flitted to the dais.
Madrood’s fire roiled across the floor where the king had been standing. It winked out, leaving the tiles blackened and the taint of scorched stone in the air. He pivoted to face Ivenrail.
“Madrood,” Ivenrail snarled. “What are you—”
Madrood blasted fire directly at Ivenrail.
The king flitted again, joining the high advisor and Kerune, who’d backed against the wall to get out of the way.
Madrood turned toward them. He tipped his head back and shot fire at the ceiling, dragging the flames down toward the three fae men.
The high advisor and Kerune flitted, disappearing from view, leaving the king staring in shock and horror at the beast he’d taken into his hands the moment it hatched.
I needed to grab Reyla, Brodine, and Vexxion, and flee this place. Killing the king could wait. In the uproar, we could escape, regroup, and form a new plan, one that would include Vexxion, because there was no way I was going to leave him behind.
Something told me I needed to stay here a little bit longer, however .
I walked along Madrood’s side, stopping by his left front leg with curled talons longer than my forearms.
The blade Vexxion gave me lay on the floor, and I scooped it up, tucking it into the waistband of my gown.
Madrood’s head curved toward me, and I braced myself to be burned where I stood, but he only nudged me in the side with affection.
When I touched his snout, a shock went up my arm. Something snapped between us, and I knew .
Yes, little one, he intoned in my mind.
I was the Lydel heir.
I was Vexxion’s fated mate.
And I had bonded with Madrood, the king’s fierce dragon.
“Subdue him,” I hissed, pointing at Ivenrail. “Don’t kill him, because we need him alive.”
Madrood’s lips curled back in a gruesome smile. His head snapped around and he sucked in air so fast, my hair was lifted to spike around my face.
He shot a blazing red and orange tunnel of flames toward Ivenrail.