Veiled Hearts (A Destiny of Dragons #3)

Chapter 1

Rosomon

Zogar’s pommel knot expands inside me, and his massive wings beat the air, carrying us quickly toward the ominous black shield that holds back the Darkness. He’s warned me that the Darkness is not only strange but also very dangerous for a mortal woman like me.

Strands of excitement and fear twist and tangle around each other to form a complicated web that tightens my belly.

All my life, I’ve longed to see places beyond my father’s kingdom, to experience new things, but it never once crossed my mind that those adventures might take me outside the Kingdoms of Light.

Even Lymbo, this grey space set between the Darkness and the Light, has proved both mystifying and frightening, so it’s hard to imagine the true Darkness.

Zogar has been vague about what I’ll face, but it’s clear I’ll see advances and inventions beyond anything I could imagine, and I’ll also face danger and witness many sexual acts in public. That last thought is more exciting than scary.

Zogar growls, reminding me, as if I could ever forget, that he can hear my thoughts when his knot is expanded inside me. The depravity will shock you, my queen, but I will shelter your eyes from all that I can. I’ll keep you safe.

Only hours ago, my husband walked in on me with both Saxon’s and Tynan’s cocks inside me at once, and then he proceeded to take me in front of them. Given that, I’m not sure how anything we see in this City of Darkness could get more debaucherous.

He growls again.

Using our combined vision, I watch as Saxon and Tynan take flight on Surath and Xendus. But they head in the opposite direction.

“Why aren’t Surath and Xendus following us, yet?”

Surath and Xendus will use their riders to free more of our people. To do this, they must return to the Kingdoms of Light.

“No!” I turn my head to see into the blind spot in our shared field of vision. The back of my throat pinches with the pain of loss. I only just realized that I might actually love both of these men. But I didn’t get the chance to tell them, and now we’ll be separated. Who knows for how long.

For as long as it takes. Zogar’s tone is gruff in my head, and with every beat of his wings, Saxon and Tynan get father and farther away from us.

“Shouldn’t we all stay together?” It’s not too late for him to order the other two dragons to turn—or for us to follow them.

There is much to be done, Zogar answers. Dividing tasks is efficient.

His knot pulses, and I breathe deeply at the intense pressure. It’s not painful, but neither is it as pleasurable as being penetrated by a lover’s stiff cock.

Zogar’s knot expands again.

“Easy.” My husband is punishing me. “You claimed you aren’t jealous.” I remind him of his words. “And if you’re accusing me of holding back information, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to tell you that my feelings for Tynan and Saxon have—progressed.”

My heart swells, remembering the days I spent with Tynan and Saxon in the magical castle Zogar left to house us, while he was away. Over those five days, my feelings for both men developed greatly.

I must stop thinking about them right now.

Think what you wish, Zogar says. Those men and their puny cocks are of no consequence. You are my wife. My queen. Mine.

His knot expands, and he says the last word with so much ownership, I almost object, but that might make my punishment worse.

My queen, he says, I did not expand my knot to punish you. I did it to keep you well secured as we approach the Darkness.

And I do feel secure, as Zogar’s knot holds me firmly against his saddle and his invisible tendrils of magic wrap around my body. Whatever we face in the Darkness, Zogar will keep me safe, and nothing could make me fall from his back.

But as safe as I feel, nothing but blackness lies on the horizon, and a frisson of fear traces through me.

The shield is as vast as the veil protecting the Light—perhaps even larger.

It extends up and to both sides as far as I can see, even with my dragon-enhanced vision.

But while the veil seems soft and touchable, not unlike fabric, the shield is more like a void.

It’s solid and black, more of an absence, versus a presence.

As we soar toward it, I glance back one final time. Many leagues behind us, a small slit of warm light appears. The veil parts, and the sight makes me long to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, to smell the scent of fresh flowers, to feel the texture of pine bark on a tree in the forest.

Xendus and Surath are specks in that ray of light, barely as big as house flies in my vision, and the veil swallows them, along with the men I love.

My belly twists in fear. I’m flying into the Darkness, but the men face other dangers.

If nothing else, they’ll have been gone for many moon cycles without explanation, and I caused quite a stir when I returned from Lymbo.

But I’m also worried that someone saw Saxon use his magic. Darkness is forbidden in the Light, and if anyone reported his actions to the Prime Klerick, my love will face a tribunal that will cost him his life.

My chest and throat squeeze shut. Did I just see Saxon for the very last time? How will I survive without his calm, commanding presence, without ever feeling his touch again, or his warm, strong body hard against mine?

Zogar grunts. You’ll survive.

I blink back tears. At this moment, I have no way to influence what might happen to Saxon, so it’s best if I push my fears aside. Surath needs him to help free the other dragons. She’ll keep him safe.

Also, Tynan will do what he can to help.

I feel sure of that. He’s a prince of Khotor.

Surely, he can get his grandfather to intervene on Saxon’s behalf.

The King of Khotor might be despicable, but the Khotori admire strong men—even if they place no value on women, treating our sex worse than livestock.

Saxon is a dragon master, which gives him high standing, and Tynan cares about Saxon more than he likes to admit.

Concentrate! Zogar says sharply. That’s enough about your lovers. You must be prepared for what you’ll face on the other side of the shield.

Fear overtakes everything else warring inside me. “You said I’d be safe.”

I’ll keep you safe, but I cannot shield your eyes from everything. Unless… I could blindfold you.

“No!” I say more sharply than I should. “I’m ready to face whatever we see.” In fact, I’m as excited as I am fearful to see the Darkness.

He growls.

I grip the knobs at the top of his saddle. “I trust you.” And I realize that I do trust him. I don’t like what Zogar did earlier—how he drilled me as a display of superiority and his claim on me as my husband—but I do trust him.

Zogar’s mood shifts, but he doesn’t respond.

“I don’t like what you did,” I say aloud. “But I understand that you needed me.” Pride flashes to expand my chest. It’s still amazing to me that I can do something to help the massively powerful Zogar.

I will always need you, my queen.

The shield seems very close, now. The foreboding black wall dominates my foreground, and the creatures below us moan and shriek, as if reacting to our presence above them.

When we first crossed into Lymbo these creatures were so still I thought they were boulders. “What are those creatures?”

I’m not yet certain, he responds, but I do have theories.

His speed accelerates. We’re so close to the shield, I fear we’ll smash into it.

Brace yourself.

Zogar breathes a long stream of fire in a vertical line. The flames flick back toward us, and I blink as it brightens the dull grey light of Lymbo.

The shield parts, and a thick red vapor spills through the gap. Is it vapor or light? It seems too thick and heavy to be either. And it’s not liquid.

Before Zogar can answer, we fly directly into the redness.

I hold my breath. Glancing down, I expect my skin to be painted red, but my silvery complexion is barely shaded pink. In fact, it looks more natural than it did the first time we entered Lymbo.

Flashes of red join the iridescent colors flickering on Zogar’s scales, and I take comfort in the beauty of my husband’s strong body. Gratitude flashes through me. Zogar has great beauty and power, both as a man and a dragon.

Breathe, my queen. The air is safe.

I draw in long gulps of air, unaware of how long I’ve been holding it. Then my entire attention is captured.

Far in the distance, unfamiliar structures, seemingly constructed from spots of bright light, jut up from the ground and extend toward a blood-red sky.

I try to make sense of what I am seeing.

In shape, some of these formations resemble castle turrets, and many seem as high as the mountains of Verax.

I blink a few times, drawing on help from Zogar’s vision.

The structures aren’t made of light. They’re made of steel and glass and other materials I can’t name.

The bright dots that first caught my attention, are shining panes of glass, perhaps with light behind them.

The glow shining from these windows isn’t like that emitted from fires or candles. Nor is it like the light from dragon fire. This light’s quality is different, but I have no words to describe how, never mind why it’s so different. It’s whiter than most light. It must be magic.

“Those towering shapes!” I find my voice. “What are they? There are so many! Whose magic made them?”

Zogar chuckles. That, my queen, is the City of Darkness. It is the capital. The seat of power. And those shapes are buildings. They aren’t illusions. They are solidly real, and very little magic, if any, was involved in their creation. I have been inside more than one of them.

Eyes wide, I absorb his answer. It’s hard to believe that anything I’m seeing is real, but Zogar wouldn’t mislead me. He doesn’t lie, as he constantly likes to remind me.