Page 12 of Queen of the Cursed Egg
Ziggy gets ready to speak when he notices our mate. That look that he usually gets before he starts shit with me fades, and he smiles. His eyes glow a little brighter as he watches her interacting with members of his pride. “I never thought I would live to see a dragon accept us so easily.”
“Mina is different, and she’s exactly what this continent needs.” I glance back at our mate, and I watch her entire face light up seeing Ziggy.
“My Ziggy!” Mina squeals, and the students that surrounded her move, helping her down off the tabletop. She runs to Ziggy and purrs so deeply for him I can feel it in my chest, the vibration traveling through the air to where I stand. To everyone’s shock, she presses her nose to the underside of his jaw and closes her eyes. The level of shock on everyone’s faces is incredible, jaws dropping and eyes widening throughout the cafeteria.
“My Mina,” he purrs back to her and rubs his face all over hers, marking her with his scent. Before he can say anything else, she drags him over to me, her fingers wrapped firmly around his wrist.
“We need to go to Balor’s office.” Her eyes dart from Ziggy to me, then back to Ziggy again, a mixture of urgency and anticipation swirling in their golden depths.
“Okay, done.” Ziggy says as he reaches out and grabs ahold of me and Mina, then phases us to my office on the other side of campus in Ranathor Keep. The sensation of phasing feels like being pulled through cold honey, my skin tingling as we rematerialize in my office, the familiar scent of old books and leather welcoming us.
“Why did we need to come here?” I ask, and Mina is already going for the straps on Ziggy’s leathers, her fingers working with determined precision. “Um? Mina?”
She turns and looks at me, then winks, her lashes fluttering against her alabaster cheeks. The scent of wild jasmine and something uniquely her fills my nostrils as she moves. Slowly, she pivots and gazes up at Ziggy. “Do you trust me?” Her eyes lose their golden glow and turn entirely human as she looks up at him, vulnerable and open in a way she rarely allows herself to be.
“With my very life.” He stills her hand over his heart as he looks down into her eyes, the width of his palm covering her smaller one. I can hear the soft rustle of fabric as they connect. For once, the green glow in his eyes is subdued, like banked embers rather than a raging fire.
She nods slowly as she peels the jacket off of him. The leather makes a soft whisper as it slides down his muscled arms and pulls his shirt over his head. The muscles of his torso ripple with the movement, his skin golden in the soft light filtering through my office windows. The scent of his skin—cedar and something primal—intensifies as he stands bare-chested before us.
In a move that shocks us both silent, she shifts her left hand and plucks a scale from her wrist. The sound is like a cork being pulledfrom a bottle—a soft pop that seems to echo in the quiet room. I taste metal in the air, like the charge before a lightning strike. The scale is heavily armored and more silver than emerald, glittering with an inner light that casts tiny prisms across the walls. “I don’t know if it will live on you,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “But I would like to gift you a scale.” She cradles the scale in her hands, offering it to him like the precious treasure it is, her palms cupped as if holding water.
“Dragons never offer their scales to non-dragons.” He turns his head away for a moment, his jaw working with emotion, before looking back at her. I can hear his heart racing from where I stand. “I will treasure this for as long as I live and then some.” He presses his lips to Mina’s forehead for a moment, the gesture tender and reverent, then waits, his chest rising and falling with quickened breaths.
“This is going to hurt.” She plunges a talon into the muscle of his chest over his heart, the sound of tearing flesh making my chest ache in sympathy. The coppery scent of blood fills the air as she sticks the meat of her scale in the hole. We watch as the tissue slowly mends around the scale, blood beading, then disappearing as the wound knits itself closed. Mina looks anxious as she watches to see if it lives or not, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. The scent of her fear is sharp and metallic—filling the air between us with an almost tangible thickness.
Ziggy caresses Mina’s face and makes her look up at him, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. Before she can resist, he kisses her. My eyes remain locked on the scale on his chest. It’s still vibrant and very much alive, pulsing slightly with each beat of his heart, casting a faint glow against his skin. Apparently, fated mates that aren’t dragons can wear a dragon’s scale. “Look...” is all I say to break their kiss, my voice sounding strange even to my own ears, rough with emotion.
Mina is the first to look down. Her eyes widen before she looks over at me, then back to the scale again, wonder and disbelief warring onher face. “Ziggy, it’s alive.” Her bottom lip quivers looking at it, a tear tracking down her cheek, leaving a glistening trail.
He reaches up slowly and touches it, his fingertips gentle against the gleaming surface. “It feels cool, like your scales do.” His eyes move to mine, the joy in them almost blinding, the green flaring brighter for a moment. “I feel like the bond is stronger.”
“It’s an incredible feeling,” I say with a smile and pat my chest where Mina’s scale rests, the familiar weight, and coolness a constant reminder of our bond. I have a feeling we’ll be hunting down mates to gift scales to today, the thought sending a thrill of anticipation through my veins. The idea of all of us carrying a piece of Mina makes my heart race with possessive pride, my skin heating at the thought.
“I wasn’t sure it would work,” Mina says, beaming, still examining the scale on Ziggy’s chest. Her fingers hover just above it, not quite touching, as if afraid to break the spell.
“What made you think to try?” I open my jacket and pull up my shirt so Mina can compare the two scales. Mine pulses in time with my heartbeat, a sliver of her essence permanently part of me.
“Something Thauglor and Klauth said.” She offers Ziggy back his shirt as she sits on the corner of my desk, the wood creaking slightly under her weight. “They said scales were exchanged between mates. Not dragon or dragon-blooded mates. Just the word mates.” She tilts her head and I can tell the minute she’s talking to one of the ancients in our nest. Her eyes go distant, and I catch the faint scent of something ancient and powerful. “They confirmed it is just mentioned as mates. They are also pleased that it lives, and they are encouraging me to gift the other mate’s scales.”
“I, for one, am ecstatic that it worked,” Ziggy says as he touches the scale through his shirt. The fabric does little to hide its glow. “Balor, did you notice after Mina bonded you that you’re stronger? Because Iam. And I think my shift is slightly bigger.” Ziggy’s eyes move from mine to Mina’s, then back to me again, his pupils dilating with excitement.
“Yeah, I did. My scales are stronger now that the ancients are in the bond…” The dots connect in my head, each one falling into place with a mental click. “The dragoness gains in power with each mate she takes.” I turn my head to Mina and stare at her, the realization heavy in my chest.
“Yeah, I’m gifting the scales to increase the size and strength of everyone’s shifts.” She pouts and crosses her arms over her chest. The scent of her—wild and untamed—grows stronger with her defensiveness.
“Wait, let me get this straight.” Ziggy moves to stand between us, his body heat radiating against my skin. “Your scale is going to make me stronger than what the bite did?” His eyes flare, glowing brighter than I’ve ever seen before, casting eerie shadows across his face.
“In theory, yes,” Mina says unapologetically. She tilts her head and then walks to the door, her footsteps barely audible on the hardwood floor. “I’m gonna go hunt down my other mates now. Love you.” She bounces forward and kisses Ziggy, the sound of their lips meeting briefly filling the room, then leaves my office. To say I’m stunned is an understatement. Everything I thought I knew has been officially shot to hell.
“Aren’t you on Mina duty?” Ziggy says as he pulls the collar of his shirt open to look down at his scale. The faint glow illuminates his face from below, giving him an otherworldly appearance.
“Shit.” I turn and run out into the hall, the soles of my boots pounding against the floor as I track my mate. Her scent is still fresh in the air—jasmine, ozone, and something uniquely her—leading me down the corridor. For a little thing, she sure is quick. The bond between us pulses, the scale on my chest cooling slightly as I movefarther from her. I quicken my pace, determined not to let her out of my sight again.
I make it halfway across the campus and I catch sight of Mina ducking into Callan’s office at Shadowcarve. I wonder how it’s going to work? A scale on a gryphon. I mean, a displacer beast was enough of a stretch. This is taking being unique to an entirely new level.
CHAPTER 8
Mina
