Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lila
The trip back through the cavern is silent and awkward.
Tirrian had to shift from his dragon form to fit into the tunnel that my new friend led us down.
Unlike Silac, who is covered by his scales, he’s strolling through the tunnels butt ass naked without a care in the world.
My kraken finally woke up and keeps trying to get me to turn around so we can see him in all his naked glory, but I refuse to give in to the urge.
It’s only going to lead to disappointment, because despite my attraction mark appearing on him, his hasn’t emerged on my body.
No one can accuse me of being dense. I know exactly what that means.
We’ve only been walking for half the amount of time as the previous journey when I see bright light shining at the end of the tunnel. My new friend breaks into a jaunty little trot, and I start to run, keeping pace with him.
“Lila,” Silac calls, but I don’t turn. “Lila,” he shouts more insistently, and I slow my pace but still refuse to turn around.
“What, Silac?” I huff out my annoyance at being stopped.
“Switch forms, or you will burn very quickly,” he says softly, and I want to punch myself in the head. Of course my normal form will not cope with Rilu’s suns. I allow my form to shift, but then I remember he’d had protection from Xavier before. I wonder if he still has it now that he’s shifted.
“Thank you,” I say politely, still not turning around. “What about you? Do I need to send Xavier back in to help you?”
“No, Xavier’s protection stayed on me and moved with my shifts. I should be alright.”
Nodding my head, I continue my hurried pace, not waiting for either of them. I don’t even bother asking the dragon, because I know he will be fine, and to be honest, a part of me wouldn’t even care if he went up in a blazing ball of fire.
I emerge from the tunnel to find us in the entrance cavern where the journey first started. Sitting on some of the scattered rock formations are Xavier, Zala, and Zilla. I think we give them a fright, because the three of them stare at me and my new companion in open-mouthed silence.
“Holy fuck, what happened to you?” Xavier leaps to his feet and hurries over, but my new friend growls and puts himself protectively between me and the warlock.
“Xavier, stop moving,” Zala commands, and something urgent in her tone has him stopping on the spot.
“Easy now,” she whispers to the larnuk who is baring his teeth while a low rumble comes out of his throat. There’s no mistaking the warning.
“How the fuck did an opalescent bond with a pathetic creature like you?” Zilla screeches. “And why the fuck is Tirrian naked?” she demands, and I guess Silac and Tirrian have exited the tunnel behind me.
Xavier looks from me to the two shifters, and I see amusement sparkle in his eyes. “Lila, you’ve got some explaining to do,” he says, but I can tell he’s joking. I roll my eyes at him.
“She sure as fuck does. The opalescent haven’t bonded with a person in years.
What kind of fucking witchcraft did she use on it to make it bond with her.
” Zilla and Zala have both approached. The latter is calm and accepting of my newfound friend, but Zilla is livid.
Zala stops in line with Xavier, but Zilla pushes her luck and lunges forward, throwing herself in front of my new friend and bowing her head to it.
Zala clicks her tongue. “Zilla, look at Lila. She is well and truly bonded. This little one must be the future herd leader and he has chosen Lila to be their protector. There hasn’t been a full herd bonding in years, but there is no changing what has happened.”
“Is that why Lila’s hair has changed color?” Xavier asks as we watch Zilla try to convince my new friend to bite her. Zilla holds out her hand, and my new friend sniffs it. “Can the bond be shifted?”
Zala shrugs. “If the person the larnuk bonds to dies, then the larnuk can establish a new bond if they wish.”
Zilla’s head comes up, and she turns slowly to look at me. Her eyes narrow, and I know she’s considering what her sister just said.
“Surely she wouldn’t be so stupid?” I hear Silac mutter behind me. “The Rilu people have no special powers, and Lila has hundreds. There is no way she could expect to defeat her, is there?”
I can tell just when Zilla decides to try.
Obviously being bound to an opalescent means more to her than any goodwill between my family and hers.
She reaches into the pocket of her pants and pulls out a futuristic-looking pistol.
Before I can even blink, she pulls the trigger.
I don’t have time to change forms before I’m being yanked off my feet, and Tirrian wraps his body around mine, cocooning us within his wings.
I scream with fright as I expect the gun to penetrate his wings and burn a hole straight through them, but nothing happens.
I can smell burnt flesh and hear the others shouting, but I’m safe.
My heart is pounding in my ears, but Tirrian’s arms are tight around my body, and his naked skin is hot against mine, making me feel warm and safe and cozy.
Our eyes meet, and his beast flashes in and out as I feel his cock start to harden against my body.
I lean up to press a tentative kiss to his lips.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I pull away. He looks like I smacked him with a two by four. There’s a familiar burning sensation in my shoulder as the new attraction mark forms. I want to shout with joy, but I finally realize someone is calling my name.
“Lila! Tirrian, you can let go now.” Silac tries to coax the dragon to release me, but his arms don’t move a bit.
“Ah, buddy, if you don’t, Lila’s new friend is eyeing your ass with interest, and I don’t think you want his teeth in those meaty globes.” That’s my warlock, and I laugh. Of course he’s checking out Tirrian’s naked ass. He’s such an opportunist.
“Stop perving on the dragon. Please clothe him, then I think he will release me,” I call out, looking down at the hard, thick, mouthwatering cock between us.
I don’t want Zilla or Zala seeing what he has to offer, despite it being off-limits to me as well, because I know that even though the attraction marks have appeared on our bodies, we’re not going to be instantly in love.
His asshole ways are not suddenly going to change.
In fact, I have a feeling that they are only going to get worse.
I reluctantly release him, sad but resigned in the knowledge that I may never be wrapped in his arms and wings again.
Clothes appear on him—black leather pants that do nothing to hide his obvious attraction to me, and a tight shirt with a sushi dragon on it. I smother my smile, because I don’t want him to realize what Xavier has done.
“Such a shame to cover all of that, but are you happy?” My warlock is smirking as we break apart, his eyebrow cocked in amusement.
Above him, Zilla is floating in a bubble cage.
I can see her banging on it, and she’s shouting, but no noise makes it through.
There’s a pool of blood below her, and she’s holding the stump of her arm against her body.
I look at my larnuk, and he seems to be munching quite happily on the remains of Zilla’s hand.
Holy crap. Xavier and Tirrian have nothing on the protective instincts of my new friend.
“Are you okay?” Silac hurries over, checking both of us for injuries, his eyes flicking back and forth between his and his beast’s.
His forked tongue flicks out a couple of times in agitation as he runs his hands over my body.
I don’t even think he’s aware that he’s doing it, but you won’t hear me complaining.
Xavier chuckles harder, because I know he’s feeling everything I am projecting. I won’t ever hide my feelings from him, and he doesn’t seem the least bit upset that I once again have more men with my attraction marks on their shoulders. He’s just a kinky perv.
“Prince Tirrian, please, I beg you, don’t hold the actions of a deluded woman against the rest of her race.” Zala is on her knees with her head bowed, pleading for him not to declare war or something on Rilu for Zilla attacking him.
His fiery gaze finally leaves mine, leaving words between us that still haven’t been exchanged, but I really don’t expect them to be.
“Zilla will need to pay for her crimes,” he says.
“Attacking Lila in an attempt to bond the opalescent herd was unconscionable. The larnuk bond cannot be forced and is considered sacred to the financial success of Rilu. Without it, your people would suffer. I will allow your father to punish her, but if I do not agree with his ruling, I will take her home to Fluxx and present her to my father and have her charged with trying to kill the crown prince’s mate. ”
Excuse me, what? You could hear a pin drop at his announcement. Did he just say what I think he said? Xavier chuckles harder, grabbing his stomach, and I feel like kicking him.
“This is the best entertainment since the warlock council accidentally got served suva tea instead of their mind enlightening tea during a council session.”
“Your mate?” Zala looks between the dragon and me, and her eyes widen with realization.
“Yes,” he grinds out, sounding furious. “My dragons have made it clear that they will not accept anyone but Lila as their mate, and if I keep trying to find others, they will eat them on sight. That does not mean the mating will ever be sealed. I hate having my life dictated to me by creatures I share my body with, and it would be a deep betrayal to my cousin.”
“Your cousin is a douche and deserved being banished. Shit, he kills people for a living now. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up gunning for Lila, especially if he hears that she’s your mate as well.
” Silac waves his hand in the air, his voice turning particularly sibilant with his agitation, and I feel an instant wave of gratitude for the snake man.
Nobody likes having their choice taken away from them—shit, I am the reigning fucking princess of having my choices taken away, but I’ve suffered with grace and dignity all while learning about a completely new world that I had no idea existed.
“Fucking get over yourself, asshole. Just because I’d like to take a spin on that half decent looking cock doesn’t mean I want to tie myself to you for life.
Get up, Zala. We’re not going to hold a whole race responsible for one person’s actions.
” I give Tirrian the side-eye. “If we did that, then I would hold the whole dragon race responsible for Dylan’s actions when he tried to kill me. ”
“Oh snap.” Xavier’s chuckles fade away. “Lila is most gracious. I could very easily hold a race responsible for one person’s actions, considering she is also my intimate.
Zilla has made some very powerful enemies now, and if she sees the light of day again, it would be a mistake.
Better to throw her to Lila’s herd of opalescent and be done with it. ”
Zala sighs. “Yes, I don’t disagree, but my father has always hoped that Zilla’s ambitions would settle as she got older. She’s been bitter since she discovered I would take over Father’s position of chief when I was able to bond with more than one type of gem horse and she didn’t.”
“Jealousy is a terrible emotion, especially within families. One should be happy for the achievements of their loved ones. But I agree, it is fair to want your father to be involved. We need to hurry though. I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to.
John has suffered long enough, not to mention Eric and William, as they have been so very worried.
It is time to put an end to this,” I tell her, and she nods.
“Of course, Lila, and if you don’t want me to return to the circus, I would understand. You have your own larnuk now, and you could have a couple more from the herd join you and perform that act yourself.” Zala is still at our feet, and I stare down at her in horror.
“Ah, resignation denied. For fuck’s sake, I barely have time to breathe, let alone add something like that to my schedule.
No, Zala, I most definitely want you to return and keep showing your larnuks.
My grandpas want me to start taking over their duties, which means I have the lightning cat show to work out, and I still need to find out if the Aquilians are returning or if we need to replace them, and I recently gave birth to three adorable but precocious children who are exhausting.
” I drop down on my own knees and grab her hands.
“Please come back,” I beg her, and she finally lifts her head, some of the anguish in her eyes fading away.
“You honor me with your friendship. I will not let you down again.”
“Pfft, you never let me down, your skank sister did, but tell me what I am going to do with that.” I point to my new friend, who has finished munching on Zilla’s hand and is curiously sniffing at the three men who are listening with interest. Silac and Xavier both step back a little, but Tirrian just grabs him and wraps his arm around his neck, keeping him in place.
My new friend closes his eyes and leans his head against the dragon’s chest, looking happy and content.
“Well, he’s yours now, so if you don’t take him with us, he will get sick. He can join my herd on the ship, and you can visit him every day. Once he gets big enough and his muscles are developed enough to fly, I will teach you to ride him.”
“Sounds like a good deal to me, but what about food? He’s supposed to have opalescent gems, isn’t he? How are we going to harvest them?” I look back the way we came, and Zala frowns.
“The cavern should let someone in to harvest them for him now. I think you will probably have to nominate one of the villagers to do it for you, and they will send us bags of them.” My larnuk opens his eyes and gives a small nod of his head.
Holy shit, he is intelligent, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less. “They are just larnuks, aren’t they? He’s not going to shift and suddenly there will be another naked man looking at me like he’d like to devour me and not in the same way he just devoured Zilla, right?”
Zala snorts with amusement and shakes her head. “No, they are not shifters.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I mutter as I get to my feet and offer a hand to Zala to help her up. “Come on. I want to go home. Let’s organize my proxy gem collector and head back to the city.” Then I think about something. “How are we going to get him back to the city if he can’t fly?”
“We have a sling system that we use to move younger horses. One of the other larnuks can carry him. Oh, and you will have to name him.”
“Okay, I’ll have to think about it.”