Chapter 29
AURA
The wet cloth is warm on my skin. Steam rises from the bowl as it’s dipped in and used to wash me, leaving my skin pink and gleaming.
Lythian moves in silence, her elegance jarring against her wicked intentions. She is careful not to lift the cloak too far away from my skin, instead, sliding her hands beneath it to massage scented oil into my flesh.
Her actions have a ritual action to them that Gregory never had, but it doesn’t matter.
Her intentions are the same.
She views me only as a vessel, and this layer of reverence does nothing to soften the violent intentions she has for me.
I lie still now, no longer willing to struggle when the tethers at my wrists are already drawing blood.
They could sever my wrists if I continue, and I need my hands to function if I have a chance of using my magic to escape.
Still, my body shakes with the awful certainty of what’s about to happen.
I try not to flinch as she lifts the edge of the enchanted cloak, exposing my thighs. The cloth grows warm where it touches me, and my magic stirs with a small pulse and a faint flicker across my ribs, but the cloak quickly suppresses it again, leaving me numb and still.
I clench my teeth and breathe through my nose.
If I could get this thing off…
Lythian won’t risk taking it off completely, even now. That tells me she knows how dangerous I am. She understands what my magic can do.
Good.
Let her fear me.
When she finishes cleaning me, Lythian puts away the bowl, cloths, and oil. She smooths out the red bedcovers, making everything look perfect. Then she brushes my hair, working out the tangles until it spreads around me like a copper halo.
I’m an animal to the slaughter.
She lights candles that flicker like runes, and the smell of incense wraps around me, dizzying my senses. Lythian watches me closely, as if I might disappear or explode at any moment.
When she’s determined that everything is perfect, she narrows her eyes on me.
“The goddess has chosen you for this. I have prepared you. You’re ready. Tonight, you will take my mates’ seed into your womb and fulfil what the goddess designed.”
“I belong to no goddess,” I hiss. “And I will never carry another child against my will.”
She smiles calmly. “Accept, and it will be less painful. You might even enjoy it. They are talented lovers.” She taps her lips with a long, manicured finger. “Then again, you are a frail human, and your body isn't designed for the strength and size of a dragon.”
Cold terror slides up my spine.
I have been formed to accept my mates without issue, but not these strangers.
She gestures toward the far end of the chamber, and the first of her mates enters.
Tael.
His bronze eyes gleam, and his corded muscles shift as he approaches. His skin also carries the sheen of oil, and as he nears, I unwillingly draw in his scent of fire and cedar as I inhale with fear.
He moves like a beast trapped in a human body with slow, predatory grace.
The cloak is heavy and suffocating. I flex my fingers, but my magic is gone.
Where are they?
Kelan.
Ronyn.
Darial.
They promised they’d keep me safe. They promised I’d never have to go through this again.
Tael kneels before me and reaches for the hem of the cloak as the other men gather behind him.
Fear and dread make me tense as I silently beg my mates to come. The worst parts of my past are happening again. I’m alone and as powerless as I was when Gregory took me.
My chest tightens until I can hardly breathe.
I pull at the tether again, but it’s useless. I cry out as it tears my skin.
Tael peels back the heavy cloak, easing it up between my thighs whilst leaving my legs covered.
As soon as air touches my skin, my magic sparks, but it’s too weak to hurt anyone.
Instead, light gathers above me, faint at first, then steadily growing, spilling outward in a warm, golden glow.
The air shimmers, as though the world has slipped slightly out of place, everything wavering at the edges.
Then three shapes begin to form within the light. They do not simply appear, they unfold, their outlines shifting and soft, suspended in a hazy brilliance like sunlight filtering through water.
I blink, trying to make sense of it.
This isn’t right. My magic should be protecting me, rising instinctively to answer my need. Instead, it stays silent, distant, as if it is no longer mine to command, delivering only this useless mirage.
Frustration tightens in my chest, and I grit my teeth, reaching for it again, only to find nothing there.
But instead of Tael proceeding, he narrows his eyes, and Lythian cries out.
The three glowing shapes come into focus, one black, one gold, one red, floating above me in a stream of starlight.
Eggs?
Gasps echo across the room.
Tael stumbles off the bed.
“No! It’s not possible. They contained her magic!” Lythian gasps
“It’s a projection,” Tael mutters, but his expression is uncertain.
I stay still, staring at the eggs. My heart pounds, and my body hums with the vibration of magic that even the cloak can’t hold back.
Lythian growls. “It’s a warning, Tael. She’s been fertilized. We are too late.”
Fertilized? My mind stumbles. How could I be—
How could I—
A human woman can’t carry eggs. A human woman doesn’t give birth to dragons.
My stomach twists.
Would they tear me open?
Would they cut them out?
Would I survive it?
Another wave of cold horror rushes through me, but something else stirs underneath.
Heat. Love. Kelan’s silver eyes. Ronyn’s growl. Darial’s soft laughter against my throat.
These babies weren’t forced on me. They were created with passion and with love.
My breathing steadies. I stare in wonder at what Lythian is viewing with horror.
I’ve survived worse. Pain has never been what breaks me but losing them would.
“We’ll have to keep her until she births them,” Lythian says. “And then we destroy them and begin again.”
“No,” I whisper, fury rising in my throat. “You’ll never touch them.”
But my dragon captors are oblivious to me. Lythian is already covering me, and banishing the males to make new plans.
I lie back, breathing hard, as my anger twists in my stomach.
They want to destroy my children. My dragons’ children. My babies.
Fear is a weight on my soul, but beneath it, I'm resolved. They think I’m powerless, but they’re wrong. They think my dragons have forsaken me, but their children within my womb have protected me from the worst kind of violation. There is time for them to come for me.
And if they don’t?
All it will take is one mistake. Lift the cloak a little too much, and my magic will pour free.
I have survived in cages. I have survived beast-men like Gregory, Anatol, and Bruno. I have survived being broken and rebuilt.
I will get out of this place.
I will keep my babies safe.