Page 102 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

She wobbled, reaching up to touch the top of her head. Crimson tracked down the side, and her pupils slitted. White scales showed faintly on her skin, but her body listed.

I reached for the rock again, shifting both knees for balance. Blinding pain slid through me, and the queen reached out to stop me. However, I swung the rock at the side of her head once more, and the impact made her collapse to the ground.

She didn’t stir. My gut twisted as blood pooled under her head. I hadn’t expected it to work that well since dragons were so strong, but clearly, in their smaller form, they were similar to us.

“Lira,” Eiric cried, and I rolled onto my ass, unable to stand the weight on my knee. I turned to find Eiric running toward me with Pyralis right behind her.

She dropped beside me, her face strained. “Where are you hurt?”

“I don’t—”

Pyralis fell forward, causing both Eiric and me to jerk up. The dragon prince rolled onto his back while Tavish flew over him.

Raising the dragon sword over his head with the white jagged blade facing downward, Tavish snarled, “You’ll die knowing you never had my mate. That she is mine, always and forever. And I’ll enjoy killing you for everything you’ve done to her and to my people.”

“No,” Eiric shouted, jumping to her feet. “Tavish—”

But my mate didn’t even acknowledge Eiric. Rage and hatred churned in him, making my insides feel gross.

He swung downward just as Eiric jumped on top of Pyralis, covering him with her body.

My heart skipped a beat.Don’t hurt Eiric!I wanted to intercept the sword, but I was at the mercy of my wounds. All I could manage was to scoot over to them, hiking my dress way too high for comfort or being ladylike.

Tavish lurched to the side, barely missing Eiric. He breathed erratically. “What the blast are you doing?”

She stared straight at him. “He’s my fated mate. You can’t injure him.”

“Eiric, get off me,” Pyralis commanded. “You’re going to get hurt, and this is my punishment to bear.”

“Even he agrees,” Tavish sneered. “He keeps trying to claim my mate.”

Pyralis rolled over Eiric and stood, his scales splotching his face. “However, I’m not going to just lie here and die. I will protect myself and most definitely Eiric.”

Sinking into a fighter’s stance, Tavish prepared to advance.

“Tavish, you can’t kill him,” Caelan shouted as he flew rapidly to us.

Instead of listening, Tavish lunged. Pyralis jumped back and changed partially into his dragon form. Tavish didn’t pause and stabbed the prince in the arm. Blood spurted, and my mate smirked and yanked back his sword.

“Stop!” Eiric screamed, but Mom and Dad landed behind her and grabbed her arms just as Caelan landed between Pyralis and Tavish.

“You can’t kill him, Tavish.” Caelan lifted his own sword with a shaky hand, the tip of his blade coated in red. Black blood oozed down his arm.

Snarling, Tavish growled, “People keep saying that, but I can and will.”

“The dragon king and queen are dead. He’s the last living dragon royal.” Caelan lifted a brow. “If you kill him, then our world will become unstable, which will impact the fae and maybe even your relationship with Lira. Is that what you want?”

Pyralis gasped and hung his head. He glanced at his mother, who lay bloodied not far from him, and his face twisted in agony.

Tavish lowered his weapon just as Lorne, Sorcha, and Finnian landed between Tavish and me. I glanced behind them and noted that the dragons we’d been fighting had all been slain. Everyone was dead except Pyralis.

Some of the pressure lifted from my chest. At least none of us had been killed.

“He’s the one person I want dead.” Tavish wrinkled his nose.

I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to add to his turmoil. If someone had tried to stop me from killing Eldrin, I might have lost control. I didn’t want Tavish to feel like I was choosing the dragon prince over his needs, but… “Maybe he’s willing to do what’s right.” I had to hope he could be a decentguy and a potential ally, given what I’d feared was true—he was indeed Eiric’s mate.

Pyralis clutched his arm where he’d been stabbed, but he turned to me.

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