Page 17 of Vicar
Chapter Eight
VICAR HAD NEVER beenso furious or impressed in his life. No dragon, be it female or male, had ever taken him down like Trinity just did. It was fair to say he was partly distracted by protecting her from his Múspellsheimr followers, but not that much. Her maneuver had been masterfully executed, using her slight weight and twisting body to keep him off-balance the whole way down.
“Shift back, Trinity,”Destiny roared after she landed square in front of Trinity. Her pearly white dragon shimmered in the sun. “Now.” Her demi-god dragon eyes flared in warning. “Shift back, or you’re not welcome here.”
Trinity’s glorious amber dragon seemed unimpressed, her personality still not her own.“I’m here at Loki’s command.”She notched her chin in defiance and flicked her tail at the Keep.“I’m to come here to help with the Forge.”
The two of them had never met in person, but that didn’t matter. Trinity clearly recognized Destiny. Knew she was more her creator than her own mother.
“I would not test my mate,”Leviathan warned. His great black dragon landed beside Destiny.“Shift, Trinity. For we will not have your kind of strife inside these walls.”
“My kind of strife?”So opposite the woman she had been earlier, Trinity chuckled darkly.“Is it so very different than Vicar’s?”
She sensed it, then. Knew she was behaving more like a Múspellsheimr dragon.
“It’s no different at all,”Vicar growled at her.“But there is room for only one of my sort here, and it isn’t you.”
“I imagine it would be if I simpered at your heels.”Trinity shot him, of all things, an impressed look before she glanced up at his followers. Dragons he sensed were more taken by her than they dared admit.“And while I admire you keeping everyone in line, don’t think you’ll do the same to me.”Undaunted by their size differences, she stepped closer, glared at him, and told him exactly how things would be. More than that, reminded him that her ever-surfacing dominant side was alive and well.“You heel to me, or you stay away, Vicar.”Her eyes narrowed further still.“Understand?”
Heeltoher? Over his dead dragon body. He didn’t care what kind of connection they might have. Nobody talked to him like that, let alone controlled him.
“Don’t do it, protégé,”Leviathan growled, stopping him before he wrapped his teeth around her neck and brought her to the ground. Not to kill her but to warn her in a way she’d never forget. To show his every last follower what happened when they defied him.
“Oh, please do,”Trinity taunted, egging him on, clearly confident she had a countermove that could take him.“Let’s show ‘em all who’s really in charge.”
Again, he was caught somewhere between rage and being impressed. Whowasshe to him? Because he recognized her stunning dragon. Her fiery eyes. Her bold disposition. She was as familiar to him as the tiny, frightened dragon who had hidden from him in the past.
“Enough.”Destiny frowned at them both.“Either you two shift and pull it together, show everyone a better front than you have so far, or stay away.”She shook her head, frank with him.“These dragons can’t handle two of you, Vicar. Not right now.”
Where others might get offended, he didn’t. He knew many were frightened of him, especially at the Sigdir Fortress and Stronghold, but he had long accepted it. Here at the Keep, he was far more revered, so it softened the blow of being shunned by his own people. Here, Múspellsheimr dragons, as well as a few Ancients, thought he was the epitome of strength. Alpha only beneath Leviathan.
Which meant this situation needed to be handled delicately if he hoped to achieve his goal.
He needed to keep the respect of his followers and appease his King and Queen at the same time. To that end, he needed Trinity to heed him yet still feel like she’d gotten her way. Because this version of her wasn’t just ruthlessly stubborn but rebellious to the bone.
So he offered her a happy medium she should be honored to receive.
