Page 39 of Dragon King's Cursed Mate

Valon put his hand on Dain’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Dain nodded. “Let’s get this over with. Hopefully, we can succeed in sending a message without hurting the civilians.”

“That’s the plan,” Kael said. “Ready?”

“Let’s do this.” Dain took a deep breath, shifted, and burst into the sky.

He shot a lightning bolt at one of the guards, killing him instantly. Cassion, an iron dragon shifter, exhaled molten iron on the other two guards.

They split up. Dain’s group, which included Valon, headed toward the barracks and guard towers, while Lucian led the other group to destroy the armories and supply storage areas.

Kade sent an ember tornado toward the barracks, destroying them with a single blast. Guards ran out, running around like a bunch of ants.

Several of them shifted into their dragon forms. An obsidian dragon shifter cut Dain’s tail with his razor-sharp wing. Enraged, Dain whipped around and bombarded him with several lightning bolts until the dragon fell to the ground.

The air was filled with screams, shouts, and blood. The governor, Lord Coven Korrath, must have awakened as more dragon shifters poured out of the palace grounds.

Lucian sent a telepathic message that the supplies and armory were destroyed and they were joining Dain’s group.

The battle was intense. An obsidian dragon blew a stream of hot magma toward Dain, catching him on the tip of his wing. Dain rolled and flew under the dragon, ripping its belly to shreds with his icy claws.

Dain felt eyes on him and he stopped mid-flight, staring off into the distance. His heart hammered in his chest when he saw Varik’s venom-fang dragon form standing on a cliff overlooking the fight. Malakar's second in command was watching the battle unfold like a spectator at a tournament. He watched the battle as though he was sizing up the enemy, looking for weaknesses.

Something snapped inside of Dain. The bloody haze returned, consuming him. Rage clawed up Dain’s throat, burning like acid, consuming him. Thunder rumbled in his chest. A loud, angry roar filled the night as the electricity surged through him.

Lightning and ice exploded out of him, striking indiscriminately. Three of the enemy dragon shifters were caught in the vicious storm, falling to the ground. Dain swooped down and destroyed a group of the ground soldiers before lifting higher, trying to kill every dragon shifter in sight, narrowly missing one of his own warriors.

Stop, Dain!Kael yelled.

Kael’s voice didn’t register. Dain continued to whip around, clawing, shooting ice and lightning at everyone.

Dain. The darkness has taken over again. You have to stop. You’re going to hurt one of us,Valon screamed in his mind.

Valon’s words finally penetrated, and the crimson haze gradually faded into nothing. He looked around and saw the pile of bodies lying beneath them. He and his army had almost completely destroyed the entire fortress’ guards.

Shaken, he looked at Valon, who was flying next to him. He prayed that he hadn’t hurt any innocents or his own people.

Cassion, tell the governor that he has twenty-four hours for him and his people to leave or we’ll return to destroy them and then follow us home,Dain ordered.

The army flew back to the ruins. They were victorious but at a cost. Valon and Seraphina had a lot of healing to do.

Seraphina used her spells to heal the cut on Dain’s leg and arm. When she touched him, she saw what happened.

“I see the haze and the darkness. It overtook you again.”

Dain nodded miserably, terrified and humiliated at the same time. He was king. He should be stronger than that.

“I think I should leave. I can go somewhere safe where no one can find me. It might keep the darkness from becoming worse.”

His heart lurched at the thought of her leaving him. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being somewhere else where he couldn’t protect her, even though his logical brain told him she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

He shook his head. “No. I need you here. The goddess sent you here for a reason.” Dain couldn’t bring himself to admit that sending her away would rip his soul in half.

She patted him on the shoulder and got up to help the others. Lucian glared at her when she touched his chest where he’d been clawed, but he didn’t say anything to her. Dain caught the look and groaned. He didn’t need the brotherhood blaming the oracle for this madness.

Dain sat next to Lucian. “I saw Varik at the battle. He was watching.”

“How did he know we were there?”

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