Page 18 of Guardian of the Cursed Egg
Mina presses the button on her side of the table, her smile cool and calculating. “Let’s set it in motion,” she says, and the program hums to life. Orders from both teams are entered into the system, the battle ready to simulate based on parameters I designed. Species, terrain, and conditions—everything balanced for a fair fight. Well, fair if you ignore the mental edge Mina always seems to wield.
Blane slams his button down like he’s already won. “You can buy me lunch when it’s over, princess.”
Mina’s smile sharpens, and I catch the glint of talons forming at her fingertips. “Remember whose shift can eat who,” she purrs, her tone sweet as honey. But her eyes... they screamrun while you can.I blink, momentarily stunned by the predatory edge in my mate’s demeanor.
The table erupts with the sounds of simulated mini-explosions. We all turn our focus to the unfolding battle. It’s a massacre—Mina’s side marches forward, demolishing the opposition with ruthless efficiency. Blane’s grin falters, then vanishes entirely as his troops fall apart under Mina’s strategy.
Vaughn shifts beside her, his gargoyle form rising to its full monstrous height. A protective wing, leathery and unyielding like stone, wraps around Mina. Something he sees—or senses—has triggered his instincts. His gaze sharpens, scanning the room as if expecting an attack from outside the simulation.
RED VICTORY.
The result flashes across the screen. Mina and Vaughn’s side wins eight to two. The only points Mina loses are for sacrificing a small contingent to bait enemy forces—something I didn’t expect from her methodical nature.
“Hm…” she murmurs, peeking out from under Vaughn’s wing as the replay runs.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, noting the flicker of dissatisfaction in her eyes.
“That’s a glitch,” she says, pulling up her list of orders. Sure enough, the system shows a sacrifice she never authorized. She reruns the simulation, correcting the error, and this time her score lights up:Perfect 10/10.
“That’s better,” she beams, glancing at me with that fierce, triumphant smile I know so well.
Vaughn’s voice rumbles with quiet pride. “That’s my first perfect score in this class.” He leans down, pressing a kiss to the crown of Mina’s head, and I feel a flicker of satisfaction watching my mate shine.
I send Vaughn on ahead, knowing I need a moment alone with Mina. As we walk toward her last class of the day, I take her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We need to talk.”
She stops, turning to look up at me with those piercing eyes that always seem to see more than I expect. “Let me guess—Balor?” She tilts her head, watching my reaction closely. The flicker of shock must be obvious on my face.
“How did you know?” I ask, taking both of her hands in mine. Her hands are warm, but there’s a hesitance in her grip. I watch the emotions shift across her face, trying to read her.
“Leander asked me about Balor,” she admits, her gaze dropping to our joined hands. “He’s worried about his basilisk becoming obsessed with me.” She sighs, a sound that seems to carry more weight than her words. “Balor wouldn’t be a bad addition to the nest. But he’s not therightaddition.”
Her words tug at something in me. The way she says them, like they hurt her more than she wants to admit, stirs an ache in my chest. “Why not?” I pull her into my arms, wishing for the thousandth time that I could shield her with wings like Abraxis or Vaughn can. Instead, I settle for holding her as close as I can.
Mina hesitates, her voice soft when she speaks. “Basilisks and dragons … it’s complicated. We’ve had issues for centuries. Interbreeding doesn’t work. The offspring end up deformed. That’s how the dragon kin subspecies came to be—the ones that can’t take fully human form.” She bites her bottom lip, then nuzzles under my jaw, her warmth grounding me. “We talked. We agreed it’s best to stay just friends.”
“But it bothers you?” I press, needing to understand where her head is, where her heart lies.
“No.” Her voice wavers, and she pulls back just enough to meet my gaze. “What bothers me is the one my dragoness is most interested in adding…” She hesitates, breaking eye contact. “He’s considered a prey animal to us.”
Her words hang in the air like a storm cloud. She steps out of my arms, her movements quick, deliberate, as she heads toward her next class. I follow her gaze and spot Ziggy standing outside the door to his classroom. His brow arched as he glances between Mina and me.
I pull out my phone and send him a quick text, explaining what had just happened. The faint ding of his phone draws his attention, and Iwatch as he reads the message. His head snaps up, eyes darting between me and his classroom door before he strides over.
“A prey animal?” Ziggy’s voice is low, his concern unmistakable as he scans the hallway. “Do we have more of a clue than that?”
I shrug, crossing my arms as I glance at his open classroom door. “I’m considered prey compared to her, Abraxis, and Klauth. It could be anyone.”
Ziggy frowns, his gaze narrowing as a fourth-year student steps into the room, beginning a lecture on repelling in his place. “I’ll see what I can find out,” he says, his tone clipped. He turns on his heel and heads back into the classroom, leaving me alone in the corridor.
The southern dorms are a buffet of prey species for a dragon like her. At least thirty different kinds live in those three buildings, each more vulnerable than the last. My mind churns, running through possibilities. Did Mina meet this person when she visited Vaughn’s clan? Or was it in one of the core classes, where all the species are thrown together, separated only by the left or right side of the room?
“Callan!”
I’m ripped from my thoughts as a courier sprints toward me, breathless, clutching a sealed missive. A letter? Seriously? Why wasn’t this just a text—or better yet, an email? Suspicion prickles under my skin as I take it.
The moment I crack the seal and scan the contents, the answer is clear. My breath hitches, the words digging in like claws.
The Risedale nest. Burned to the ground. Razed until nothing remains but rubble and embers.
