Page 145 of Madness of Her Mages

My breath hitched when his eyes shot open, and I looked into swirls of silver and blue. Venom shot into my heart when I was immediately reminded of Aurora’s and Ember’s eyes. The children were lost to me now. Like their mother, aunt, and grandmother, they would one day grow to become my enemies—unless I killed them first.

The prince let out a moan and tried to twist out of his restraints. It was no use. He was bound with nearly impenetrable selkie leather imported from Thesan.

A trill raced up my spine when he flashed his teeth. “Let me go, witch.”

Black smoke seeped out of my fingertips as I dragged my nails down his chest. “Now why would I do that?” I purred,my hand stopping below his abdomen, my fingertips twirling strands of the dark nest of hair that cradled his impressive length.

Red stains colored his cheeks as he fought his restraints again. “Because if you don’t, you will live to regret it.”

Bitter-sounding laughter erupted from my throat as I flattened my hand against his abdomen. “Add it to my long list of regrets. Besides,” I teased, playfully tugging on the straps that bound his wrists. “You look so tempting wrapped up in leather.”

He fought against his restraints again, and I was rewarded with a twitch of that magnificent cock.

“Stop fighting, Helian,” I cooed, stroking his side. “Believe me, dear prince, I can either make your stay here a pleasurable diversion or a living hell.”

And then that beautiful Fae prince stopped fighting and rewarded me with a smile so magnificent, he nearly stole the breath from my lungs. “Very well,My Queen. I won’t fight you, but I can’t say the same for my dragon.”

I let out a burst of laughter, then froze at the thunderous sound of the battle horn shaking the very stones beneath my feet as it blared out an alarm, followed by another and another. We were under attack! The dragon’s deafening roar was my only warning before two giant clawed feet smashed a hole through the tower wall in front of me and an elongated snout wedged inside, snapping at my robes.

I fell against the wall behind me, paralyzed by shock when the leviathan smashed the opposing wall again, crumbling the entire side of the tower, and I stared into two giant golden eyes. Fire mages hollered from outside as the top portion of the tower walls fell away, leaving a small patch of floor that held the prince’s table and me. The dragon flapped his wings, and a powerful gust of wind nearly blew me off the exposed tower as I dug my fingers into the brick, putting all my energy into nottumbling over the precarious ledge. My heart raced as the beast’s talons snapped the prince’s restraints, sending the leather bands flying over my head. The prince fell off the table and scrambled into his dragon’s awaiting claws.

And then the monster looked at me with a fanged smile before puffing up his chest, a bright ball of fire exposed beneath the crimson scales of his elongated neck.

Dear goddess!

I threw out a curse chamber a heartbeat before I was assailed by the conflagration, the heat of it seeping into the chamber and causing my skin to blister in pain. Acrid black smoke filled the air, clouding my vision and searing my lungs. Cannon fire ricocheted around me, and the dragon let out a mighty roar that shook me to my soul. I caught a glimpse of him flying away through the hazy fog of smoke, the naked Fae prince dangling from his claws.

I screamed when the foundation gave way beneath me, and I fell down the side of the tower wall, the rough stone tearing open my hands and face as I grappled for something to hang on to. Moments from my life replayed in my mind, and I saw Djall’s skin separating from his bones, my sister’s loving smile, and a piercing light exploding from Thorin’s eyes. And just when I thought I would plunder to my doom, a hand reached out and caught me, pulling me back into the tower. I clung to the mage who saved me, his wings wrapped around my back as he held me close, murmuring that I was safe.

Safe!Elements, I’d almost died! But as the smoke cleared and I pulled back, looking up at my savior, shock turned to recognition and then horror.

“Marius?” I rasped as I stared into the clear, seeing eyes of my sister’s mate. “Why did you save me?”

“Because you’re not my enemy.”

I’m not his enemy?

He lifted me into his arms and carried me through the rubble, sitting me on a stone bench. I stared at the sky through the gaping hole in Marius’s dungeon wall as mages dipped in and out of patchy smoke while calling out for me.

Marius sat beside me, dropping his head back against the wall behind him. He smiled, shutting his eyes as a ray of sunlight cut through the smoke, striking the hard angles of his thin face.

Dread coursed through my veins while I stared at his tattered clothes, deathly pale skin, scraggly beard, and dirt-crusted feet. My prisoner. The Fae I’d starved and beaten for the past twenty-four years.

My sister’s mate.

My sister’s mate.

My sister’s mate...

Elements strike me down. What have I done? It felt as if someone else was speaking for me as I pushed out the words. “Why am I not your enemy?” I asked, though I feared I already knew the answer.

“Because you were tricked by Thorin.” He raised his head, his eyes turning as hard as stone. “So were we.”

Was Shirina right? I clutched my throat as I recalled one of the memories that had assailed me during my fall. Thorin’s eyes exploding with light.No. No. No!“Th-that can’t be true.”

“It is.”

“Are you telling me I hunted my sister and her family and killed thousands of Fae for no reason?”

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