Chapter 16
Mina
Leander and I are out in the gardens, harvesting vegetables for tonight’s dinner.
The late afternoon sun warms my skin despite the cool mountain breeze that occasionally stirs my hair.
My fingers dig into the rich, dark soil as I pluck ripe tomatoes from their vines, their earthy scent mingling with the sweet perfume of nearby flowering herbs.
This is the dinner I’ve been dreading for the better half of the last two weeks.
Tonight, we’re going to tell Abraxis’s family about the eggs. Granted, we’re going to act like I just laid them, but that’s besides the point. Not knowing how many moles my father has is making finding him impossible. He always feels like he’s one step ahead of us, a shadow I can never quite catch.
“This is dangerous, Mina,” Leander whispers to me when he steps closer, his boots making soft impressions in the soil as he drops eggplants into the basket. The vegetables land with a dull thud against the woven fibers, their glossy purple skin catching the golden light.
“I know. But how else am I supposed to root out if there’s a spy here?” I tilt my head, looking at him, and there’s a sadness in his eyes. The fiery orange of his irises dims slightly, like embers cooling.
“I can’t defend you like the others,” he laments as he picks several peppers, their crisp snap audible as they break from the stems. His fingers move deftly despite his frustration, the muscles in his forearms tensing with each movement.
“No offense, but that’s exactly why I brought you with me.
There’s been things of mine that have gone missing from the lower chambers.
” I kiss his temple, feeling the heat of his skin against my lips, and tilt my head, watching him.
The scent of cinnamon and smoke that always clings to him fills my nostrils.
“Someone that doesn’t belong here is here.
” I turn my face away from him and speak directly into his mind.
‘That person has been watching us for the last twenty minutes. I want you to take the basket and walk towards the building. Thauglor is on the cliff face as well as Abraxis, using their black scales to blend in, watching us. I’ll be okay. ’
“I’m going to take the veggies into the house to start dinner. Don’t be too long,” Leander says reluctantly, his voice tight with worry. The wicker basket creaks as he takes it from me, our fingers brushing momentarily.
“I won’t keep you waiting. I just want to check the herb garden, and I’ll be right in.
” I kiss him on his lips and stare into his fiery gaze.
He threads his fingers through my long silver and green hair, the strands sliding like silk against his skin, and smiles.
Leander kisses me once more, his lips warm and insistent against mine, then walks away, leaving me alone.
The sound of his boots against the stone path fades as he disappears around the corner.
‘Is he here?’ Thauglor’s voice echoes in my mind, a deep resonance that vibrates through my skull.
‘Someone’s here. I can feel it.’ Under the shirt I’m wearing, I raise my scales like armor to protect my ribs and stomach. The sensation is strange—like goosebumps but firmer, each scale sliding into place with microscopic clicks only I can hear.
‘What do you need us to do?’ Thauglor asks, and I can see his slight movement in the shadow on the rock face, a ripple of darkness against the stone.
‘Just wait. Worst case, I’ll electrocute him,’ I say before picking up my basket and walking back to the main part of the compound.
So far, so good. I keep myself in Thauglor’s and Abraxis’s line of sight as I move, my footsteps crunching softly on the gravel path.
As I pass the toolshed, the air shifts—a subtle change in pressure, the displacement of molecules that sends a warning tingle down my spine.
It doesn’t take long before I feel the press of a blade just above my kidney.
The cold metal seeps through my thin shirt, a stark contrast to the warmth of the day.
“If you scream, I’ll kill you,” the voice hisses as a thick arm wraps around my throat. The pressure against my windpipe is immediate, and the stench of sweat and leather fills my nostrils. I recognize the voice and sigh, the sound barely escaping through my constricted airway.
“What’s the matter, Zeroth? Still mad daddy didn’t betroth me to you?
” As the words slip from between my lips, his grip falters slightly.
‘It’s Zeroth, one of my dad’s generals of his Shadowblades,’ I tell Thauglor, and I feel his grip on our bond tighten, a psychic squeeze that’s both reassuring and frightening.
“You should have been mine,” he hisses in my ear, his hot breath making my skin crawl. I can smell the bitter tang of old blood on him, the metallic scent of a killer who doesn’t bother to wash away his sins.
“Dad has different plans for me from what I heard. Dracolich, an undead dragon juggernaut.” The sarcasm is strong with this one today.
The words taste sharp on my tongue. I feel Balor before I see him—a shift in the air pressure.
The subtle scent of his cologne carried on the breeze.
He comes strolling around the side of the greenhouse, his footsteps measured and confident on the stone path.
“Mind telling me where you’re taking my mate?” His voice reverberates, and I close my eyes, listening to what happens. The sound waves ripple through the air, making my ear drums vibrate pleasantly.
I can feel the male that’s holding me waver behind me, his heartbeat quickening against my back. “Her father wants her brought to him. He has the mages ready to change her.” His voice cracks slightly on the last word, fear making it pitch higher.
My dragoness wants to tear this male apart for what he just said. I can feel her rage bubbling under my skin, making my temperature rise. “Where is Abaddon?” Balor asks, his voice reverberating again, deep and dangerous.
“The temple of Garyx on the Isle of Woe. He’s in the catacombs below the temple.
” His voice wavers again, and I feel the blade removed from my back to be pressed to my throat.
The edge is cold against my skin, but not as cold as the dread that pools in my stomach.
My scales rise to protect my throat, each one emerging with a slight scraping sensation, and I stare at Balor as I see my other mates closing in on us.
Their scents—each unique but collectively familiar—wrap around me like a security blanket.
“Sadly, I don’t think you’ll make the reunion if everyone doesn’t stop moving.” He presses the blade harder against my scales, not harming me at all. The pressure is there, but it’s like pressing a butter knife against armor.
“I’ll reunite with my father soon enough, don’t you worry.
” Before the male can react, I shift my hands, allowing my silver talons to emerge.
The transformation burns slightly, bones cracking and reshaping.
I reach back and sink one hand’s worth of talons into his thigh, feeling them pierce fabric then flesh, warm blood spilling over my fingers, and with the other, I grab the hand holding the blade.
His skin is clammy against mine, fear making him sweat.
“Say hi to Null for me.” I channel as much lightning through my hands and into him as I can.
The acrid scent of scorched flesh and ozone fills the air, burning my nostrils and making my eyes water.
His scream is high and piercing, cutting off abruptly as his vocal cords fry.
All the bottled-up rage at my father is channeled into this moment, making my vision blur with red.
The minute he falls away, I spin and shift into my dragon, bones cracking loudly as they rearrange, muscles stretching painfully as they expand.
My mates scatter as I open my maw to strike the male with my lightning breath weapon, leaving a blackened hole where he once stood.
The ground is charred and smoking, tiny embers glowing around the edges of the crater.
As soon as it’s over and I stare at the hole for several moments, I lay down, my massive body creating a small tremor as it connects with the earth.
The grass beneath me flattens, releasing a fresh, green scent.
Thauglor instructs my nest to climb onto my back, his voice a calming rumble in the charged air.
I need to calm myself, and having all of them on my back—their weights settling between my scales, their hands stroking my hide soothingly—makes me rethink my plans of razing the temple of Garyx to the ground. For now.
Hours later, and I’m pacing the interior of my public living room.
My footsteps echo against the stone floor, each step marking the rhythm of my anxiety.
The scent of cedar and smoke from the hearth fills the air, but does little to calm my nerves.
My eggs are safe within Balor’s coils. His scales absorbing the soft amber lighting, his body forming a living fortress around my precious clutch.
But I’m still on edge. Every sound from outside makes my skin prickle, my senses heightened to an almost painful degree.
“Mina, are you okay?” Abraxis asks and steps into my path, his warm body suddenly blocking my restless movement. The scent of him—spice and leather—momentarily grounds me.
“I know they’re your family, but...” I look back at Balor and how he’s carefully coiled around my eggs.
His scales black as the void, absorbing rather than reflecting the firelight as they shift with each breath.
The males in my nest, I can rationalize that my eggs are safe with them.
Abraxis’s dad, he’s the one I’m worried about.
My stomach knots at the thought. “I’m not sure how my dragoness will react to your dad near our eggs. ”