Page 31 of The Dragon Queen

“Pippin, are you all right?” Soren asked, but I could barely hear his voice as my eyes dropped down to trace the shape of his lips.

I knew what he tasted like, that brought a whine from my throat. I knew exactly how he felt. Those dark eyes of his, the pupils expanded as some part of him sensed what was happening.

It was Cynane’s screams that rent the air, the roars of the dragons, her dragons, that responded to her call. The dragons that spiralled overhead, they weren’t just those of the dragon corp. Wild males circled overhead in anticipation.

“Cynane…” That came out as a croak, my throat seizing on the sounds. “Cynane, she’s?—”

“Rising.” Flynn swung forward, his eyes burning into mine, but his hand hadn’t strayed for a second from his sword hilt. “Cynane is rising to mate.” That fixed gaze swung around and then zeroed in on the small crowd forming at the centre of the courtyard. “And these bastards will be brought to justice.”

Chapter 16

This was all going so very wrong.

My heart was beating too hard, my body too hot, sweat prickling all over me as I fought to get my body to move. Forward, to intercept Flynn, but Soren did just that to me.

“Pippin…”

This wasn’t a drill sergeant speaking to his cadet, or even a rider speaking to the queen. There was a rough edge to his voice that had me twisting my neck up to meet his eyes. He was so very big, very strong. He provided a near impossible barrier, but some devil rode me right then.

Or some dragon.

Cynane’s cry of challenge felt like it came from my lips as I was filled with the same feeling of defiance. Soren thought he could stop me? I feinted to one side, his body mirroring mine, but I was jerking back and away from him and slipping away before he could recover. Gold dragons were smaller than the males, making it easier for them to overcome, but right now I knew our smaller size was also a gift. We were nimble, quicker, and I wove my way through the crowd, feeling Cynane do the same as she leapt into the air.

Only for her males to follow her.

“Going somewhere?”

Ged’s eyes glittered with an unnatural light. My kind, honest lover was gone and replaced by something feral. His lips spread into a sly grin when I tried the same trick, only to turn and find Brom standing there.

“We need to get you…” Brom’s brow creased, his expression growing thunderous as he stared. “We need…”

“I know what I need.”

Ged’s hand locked around my arm right as a bright green male came abreast of Cynane, but the race to mate was far from over. I flicked open the clasp to the metal vambrace on my arm and slipped free, leaving Ged holding that rather than me. Brom shouted a warning, his cry lost in the clamour, because more and more names were being called. The slightest waver in Draven’s voice, that was the only sign that he was affected, but continue he did, until he got to the end of the list.

“You thought you were summoned before us all to receive great honours.” The king was a venomous snake, swaying before its victims. “You thought this was finally your time to stand in the light.” When he stepped forward, so did several riders, including those I now saw placed deliberately amongst the crowd. People did the same, clustering closer to watch the spectacle. “To be recognised, given the power you so desire.”

That, that word was what my mind caught on. Hormonal heat raged through Cynane’s body, prompting her and all the males that wanted to be considered as her mates to fly, but desire had many faces. A secret need for something shameful. A passion for the thing that made your heart lighten, and the far darker seduction of coveting what others have.

And being prepared to kill for it.

Edwin couldn’t believe that he would never be duke. When he was told as a boy where he fit into the family structure, his mind rebelled, unable to accept it. He’d looked at his cousins in a new light, seeing an unearned, undeserved privilege. Just because theywere born to the duke and not him? Just because their father was the eldest and his was the spare, that would determine his lot in life? No. Edwin’s brain was like poison, seeping into mine, showing me all the ugliness that lurked inside him.

From that point onwards, he catalogued all the ways his cousins didn’t match up. The time he beat the eldest and heir, Gareth, in a boxing match. The fact he kept his seat on the wildest of stallions, even while the second in line fell on his arse. Then there was Flynn. I almost didn’t recognise my lover in his cousin’s thoughts. My golden-haired dragon rider was transformed into some kind of arrogant fool. Overly concerned with his own good looks and swanning around, playing at being a dragon rider, Edwin hated him the most.

He was the last barrier between Edwin and what he wanted, needed. The Duke of Harlston’s men had promised that Flynn would die the night of the massacres, clearing the way for him. If he could just slip into the ducal estate and kill each person that stood in his way, they would do the rest. He’d asked questions, many questions, about how the hell they could kill the rider of a massive dragon, but…

In his memories, I saw the gleam of dragonstone as it was held before him. Clutched in the claws of a silver dragon, the stone grew brighter and brighter as the duke’s men spoke. He didn’t need to worry about Flynn. All Edwin needed to do was eradicate the Duke of Skane and his family. Do that and he would get everything he wanted.

Just as he would now.

The stone pendant pulsed at Edwin’s chest now, hidden by his shirt and tunic, but I saw it. The crystal egg in my hand throbbed in time with his heart as all the secrets were spilled. Flynn jerked his sword from its scabbard and women screamed, falling back. Riders converged, men shouted, everyone thinking they knew how to deal with what was happening.

But they didn’t know.

As wave after wave of psychic energy pulsed through me from Cynane, I felt like a water jug filled too close to the top. What was inside me, it needed to spill out, lest I burst. Spill… I looked down, not at the egg, but at the sword they’d given me, pulling the blade free just far enough for me to press my finger to the edge. Draven had ensured to give me a serviceable blade as well as a pretty one, the edge so sharp I barely felt the cut.

Blood, I felt that, though, streaming from the green dragon as Cynane turned and raked her claws along the male’s sides. She was falling fast, her wings no longer beating, as she tested the dragon and found him wanting. Hadrian’s bellow rocketed across the sky as he emerged from the clouds, his claws outstretched right as he jerked the pretender dragon away. When he reached for Cynane, when Flynn reached for his cousin, I knew what was going to happen.

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