Chapter 19
“My father was afraid of one thing, Maze. Fated mates.” Iris flicked her all-knowing eyes to where Onyx stood.
“It’s a bond in its purest form. One that not only strengthens the pair, but enlightens.
My father knew that once a dragon found their fated mate, they’d do anything to make them happy.
They see life through their mate’s eyes.
That’s why I know you and Onyx were fated, Maze.
You’ve given him the strength to see through his faults and right the wrongs. ”
I closed the door behind me after escorting Luna and Pyro to a nearby room.
They’d only be staying for a few more days before returning to their territory, but just seeing and talking to my sister was incredible.
I could be patient and wait until the dust settled a bit to spend more time with her, though.
The Water Serpents had just as much to sort out as the Sky Demons did.
After returning from Black Mountain, Onyx quickly proclaimed that humans living in our territory were no longer slaves, that from that day on they were free.
Iris implemented her plans and the sectors quickly fell in line.
I worked with Iris and Blade to ensure humans under abusive masters were rescued first—particularly any Tributes sent from Black Forest, Red River, or Desert Roseland.
There was still a lot of confusion around how the territory would function now that humans were free.
Many were given suitable income for the jobs they already did, while others chose to explore their options with the reparations offered to them.
Iris and the dragons supporting her worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to help the humans inside our faction transition into freedom.
They also advised the dragons losing their workforce through the transitional period and ensured they offered fair wages, accommodations, and care in exchange for the humans continuing their work should they choose to.
I expected it to be messier than it was.
I expected it to be bloodier. But like Onyx promised, the defectors were far and few, too afraid to be punished by him should they argue.
And despite him being the enforcer of the new changes, he made it clear that Blade, Iris, and I were leading beside him.
Something that took me by surprise the most.
Onyx and his warriors wiped out the Rebel leaders and those like them soon after proclaiming humans were free, so the Rebel women were safe from the men bent on exploiting them. At least while we were in charge. The men’s deaths served as a warning to the rest intent on doing the same.
Still, Onyx warned me that it might take a while for our faction to fully stabilize.
Years, even. It’d be worth it, though. Honestly, it already was.
Knowing that humans would no longer be slaves and I’d ultimately accomplished my goal, albeit in a rather unorthodox way, was more than I could’ve ever hoped for.
Onyx stood near his desk, shoulders slumped. He’d never looked so small. Parchment was scattered across the surface, weeks of correspondence littered everywhere within reach.
When he hadn’t been tied to his desk parsing through intel sent to him, he’d been somewhere unseen demanding answers from his brother and his co-conspirators.
They’d already captured several dragons tied to the plot to overthrow him, many from the bloodlines of old, as he described them. Lineages dating back before the Fall.
Every single traitor was branded as one and exiled. With identifiable marks on both human and dragon form, it would be impossible for them to join another faction, but it was a mercy some would argue they didn’t deserve. A mercy very unlike the ruthless leader they’d always known.
But his brother’s crimes and those of Vektor’s, the demon I’d despised from the very beginning, were too vast and corrupt to be satiated by exile.
Execution was the only option.
Pressing my forehead against his back, I wrapped my arms around the terrifying dragon leader who’d been the one to end his brother’s life.
A breath escaped him before he gripped my arms and pulled me close.
The muscles lining his back were rigid at first before they relaxed.
I tightened my hold and dropped kisses everywhere I could reach, bent on soothing wounds I couldn’t see but knew were there.
I still remembered the silent crowd of onlookers.
Iris and Luna had stood to my right, while Onyx, Pyro, and Blade lined my left. Boris and the rest of the warriors loyal to Onyx had kept their blades aimed at the two chained males prostrated on their knees.
The dragons were displayed in front of a mixed crowd of Sky Demons, Stormriders, Water Serpents, and their newly freed human companions. For the first time, humans and dragons alike stood witness to an execution of traitors—a traitor who not long ago had been a leader to them.
The special chains they’d used on Void and Vektor kept them in human form. Their battered bodies were evidence of weeks of interrogation led by Onyx and Blade.
Their treachery ran deep. It lived in my dragon’s eyes every night he returned to our room, heart weary and broken. His brother had long plotted against him. Even the easy-going and flirtatious look Blade usually wore was smothered by what they’d learned of their brother’s betrayal.
Dreythos, Abraxus, and Torvial, who’d been targeted by a defector working with Void in efforts to usurp the throne, were also present to witness his demise.
Several of their dragons had been working with Artemis and Void to spread disinformation and eventually unite them under their extremist ideology.
So, the Stormriders were motivated to renegotiate the terms of our alliance. They’d even agreed to free their human slaves and work with Iris to offer reparations and support so freedom didn’t come at a cost.
It was a happy surprise when Onyx asked me to be the one to execute Vektor. I accepted without hesitation so I could make good on the promise I’d made early into my capture.
I had mirrored Onyx’s calculated movements to stand parallel of each other and over the powerful dragons on their knees. Lifting our swords in unison, our eyes had connected before we both swung down.
The two of us painted that platform with their blood, sending a message rippling across the crowd. We took vengeance for every moment of betrayal and every human life they’d stolen, and the mass of onlookers cheered. It was bittersweet but pivotal.
A new Sky Demons faction was born.
I pressed another kiss to my dragon’s back, grateful to finally have a moment alone with him. I’d barely seen him at all over the last few weeks. Today had been harder than the rest because it marked both an ending and beginning.
Onyx turned and cradled my face in his hands.
His sad eyes met my upward glance. He’d stayed his normally emotionless self all day, but here in our room where it was only the two of us, he shed his stone-cold exterior.
He let me see the hurt and pain his brother’s necessary death had caused.
He let his swirling emotions and thoughts radiate through our connection until I couldn’t recognize my own pain from his.
Reaching up, I mirrored his hold. I held the great dragon’s face in my smaller hands, the subtle edge of scales teasing under my fingertips as transformation rippled across his skin. “What do you need, big guy?”
His eyes sparked before he leaned down, his forehead pressing gently against mine. “Just you, love.” His mouth was close enough that I felt his sigh. “Just you.”
Large hands gripped my ass and lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. Giggling, I dropped my arms around his broad shoulders and quirked a brow at him. “Then what are you waiting for, Mr. Snarls? I’m all yours.”
The sadness that had crept into his ocean eyes melted away to desire. The familiar plume of oranges invaded my nose before our mouths met in a desperate kiss.
Growling into my mouth, Onyx tore my clothes to pieces. I didn’t have claws, so I yanked and huffed in growing frustration because his clothes hadn’t come off as fast as mine had. Rude wasn’t a strong enough word for this beautiful male clothed.
Chuckling, Onyx tossed his shirt off and dragged his pants down before walking us over to the desk.
He stroked my tongue with his and nibbled my bottom lip.
His impossibly large hands glided up my thighs, his eyes scouring my body like it was his first time seeing it.
Like he hadn’t spent weeks mapping every line and contour with his eyes, hands, and mouth.
He dropped kisses along the column of my neck and shoulders, the day already forgotten. “Tell me you’ve missed this as much as I have. Tell me how desperate you’ve been for my mouth and cock,” he snarled between fleeting kisses. “Say it, little Moon Beast.”
I licked my lips, waiting. It drove him crazy when I didn’t immediately respond. When I made him work for it.
I’d learned very quickly that Onyx enjoyed a good fight in and out of the bedroom.
He wanted the pushback, and I was more than happy to give it.
Even though I got the distinct impression I was the only one he wanted it from.
Anyone else risked his violent wrath should they be brave enough to give this snarly demon trouble.
I leaned back with a secretive smile and slid a hand down his chest. The muscles under my fingers danced, contracting and quivering under my lazy caress.
Scales faded in and out of view, a wave of glitter and color.
Partial transformation twisted the landscape of his torso to something new and dangerous, and I took in the sight it made with a greedy sweep of my eyes.