Page 32 of The Dragon Queen

What must be, that’s what Glimmer had told me, and now I knew it to be true. Hadrian’s neck wound around Cynane’s, the gesture as familiar as breathing for the two of them. She didn’t rise to mate often, but each time she did, he was by her side. Other males caught up, the ones she’d already selected, as well as a few of the more enterprising ones from the dragon corp. Their riders were nowhere to be found as the dragons clustered around the female. Each of their wings flapped out, stopping their deadfall to earth, lowering the queen back down now that she was receptive.

Flynn wasn’t so gentle.

“You killed them…?” I knew then that he saw, that they all saw what I had seen. The crystal egg was so hot in my palm it almost burned, but memories poured out of the accused and into the minds of everyone here. Gasps, cries, sobs rang out through the crowd as the accused’s treachery was revealed. “My father was a conniving bastard,” Flynn growled. “Always staying one step ahead of everyone else. He was manipulative, a political animal through and through, but he…?”

The despair, it broke the spell I was under, forcing me forward.

“You killed my father, my brothers, and their wives. You killed their sons and their daughters. You killed…” A ragged sob. “You killed them, you son of a bitch, all because you thought you could do better.”

“No, Flynn, I?—”

Whatever Edwin had to say, it was cut off. Flynn’s sword was thrust into the man’s chest, and that was the moment the stone on Edwin’s chest dimmed, then went dead as he slid off his cousin’s blade. A few splutters, a groan, but whatever Edwin had to say, it was drowned out by the sound of dragons landing all around the courtyard. Cloudy, Obsidian, Wraith, and Glacier, they approached with an ominous slowness.

“You know what they did,” Draven said. “You know their crimes, and now you’ll know my judgement.” He fixed what was left of the assassins in his gaze. “I will not start my reign soaked in the same blood my uncle so wantonly spilled, but if you think me merciful, think again. You will surrender yourself to the custody of the royal dragon corp and be thrown into the palace dungeons where my interrogators will wring out every single detail you can give me about my uncle’s deception, or…”

Darkspire landed behind Draven, Glimmer clinging to his neck, her eyes glowing brightly. He opened his massive jaws, the fetid stink of a carnivore’s mouth filling the air.

“Or you can save me the cost of a few sheep and feed my dragons. Your choice.”

It was no choice at all. The accused fell to their knees, babbling out excuses, pleas for mercy, but any attention Draven could spare was well and truly gone. Cynane had landed along with her chosen males. She knew, I knew, what had to happen next.

Suddenly, I was beside Flynn, my hand sliding through his cousin’s blood to take his sword from him, something that had the human squirming, but the dragon? Because it appeared I had one inside my heart, not just my head. I smiled up at him, catching him watching my every move as I disarmed him. His hand went to my hair, cradling my scalp, before tearing away the blonde wig. It fell with a flutter as Draven appeared at my side, his fingers undoing the clasps of my breastplate. He had that off as Ged reached out and took off the other vambrace. Soren’s hand slid up my spine, finding the lacing that held my dress up, but Brom swam into view.

“This…” He looked around, bringing our attention to the chaos raging right now. Half of those gathered were screaming and crying over what they’d just discovered, and the others were leaping into the arms of their loved ones, writhing against each other. Mating fever would have every adult in the city marking the death of the king and queen, and celebrating the ascension of the new one. “We need to take this somewhere more private.”

“Whatever did you have in mind?” Draven purred.

Chapter 17

I was a dragon, I was a woman, and my brain fought to reconcile those two things. I whirled around as my mates clustered closer, roaring my challenge, but then my view shifted and I was standing in the king’s suite. I didn’t notice the fine drapery or richly brocaded counterpane, because all I wanted, needed was them. I sucked in breath after breath, chest heaving, as they drew closer, my eyes, my hands not knowing where to land first.

Ged.

He pushed forward with a swinging gait, all the power, all the confidence in the world in that movement, a cocky smile spreading across his face, right before he kissed me. His hair felt like the finest of velvet as I rubbed my fingers through it, then tugged his head down, forcing him to deepen the kiss. His tongue thrust into my mouth. Yes, that’s what I needed. My own flicked out to tangle with his in a vicious kiss, right before I was tugged away.

Flynn’s grin was as bright as the sun, his eyes like a summer sky, which made for a strange contrast as he stroked the side of my face with another man’s blood dried on his hand. I pressed a kiss into the palm, consecrating that act of vengeance, but that was never goingto be enough. The traitors had been revealed, our enemies locked away, and so now there was only him.

His breath sucked in through his nose as his mouth slammed down on mine, sure to leave my lips bruised and swollen later. But right now I was where I wanted to be. A blue dragon surged forward, twining his neck with Cynane’s, and for a second I thought it was Glacier, but that would never be the case. The dragon was as committed to Glimmer as the man was me, Flynn drawing back for just a second to stare down at me in wonder.

Right as Soren stepped between us.

“Be sure that this is what you want, lass.” He fought to make the words out, his hands betraying him. They slid across my shoulders, his touch feather light, but then dropped lower, finding my breasts beneath the gown. I arched up into his touch, my body feeling swollen, heavy with need. “I’ll keep them off you if that’s what you need.”

“Don’t you dare.”

I stared into his eyes for a second, seeing the blue dragon get clawed away, and with a scrabble of raking claws and snapping jaws, Hadrian pushed forward. For just a moment, he threw his wing over the writhing Cynane, making clear she had his protection, now and always.

But that wasn’t what she needed.

When the mating fever hit, she needed more than her constant companion could give her, and would exhaust him and all the other dragons that had proven themselves worthy, a reality he had long faced. She pulled free of him, then wrapped her neck around his. I could feel their scales sliding together as my fingers went to Soren’s jacket. I was well practised in undoing the toggles, my fingers not able to relax until they smoothed across his bare skin. Soren’s control shredded, I saw it in the way his jaw clenched, and a low growl escaped him, the perfect counterpoint to the dragons’ roars. His hands jerked up, wrapping themselves around my wrists before I was spun around and pressed into the wall.

My body was forced to stretch as he placed my hands above my head.

“Letting yourself be put in such a vulnerable position, cadet?” Soren shook his head. “Have I taught you nothing?”

“There’s nothing vulnerable about me.” My hips moved forward, pressing into his, and that resulted in his thigh pushing between them as my backside hit the wall. My body moved of its own volition in a great wave, my nerve endings screaming at every point of contact. “I’m right where I want to be.”

“That’s my queen you’re manhandling.”

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