by G. Bailey
Atti looks over at me, and the slight widening of his eyes is all he does before looking away. Dabriel and Wyatt are on either side of me. Alex and Leigha stay behind us.
"I didn't think you would be truly foolish enough to come here. I've always thought humans were cowards," the queen says when we stop in front of her. Dabriel moves to stand next to Wyatt, letting Atti come to my side; Atti rests his hand on my shoulder.
"Said the witch wearing a crown she stole, and who is sitting on a throne that doesn’t belong to her," I say loudly. The silence is echoing as she stares at me.
"Let’s hope you die quickly rather than having a prolonged death," she says, but her sneer gives her away. She hopes I suffer a long death.
"That's the only death you will get," Atti says, and she narrows her eyes.
“The angel prince and the vampire prince standing side-by-side. You should have introduced yourself to me at the castle. I would have made you very welcome,” she says, every word is a suggestion. Atti slides an arm around my waist when I step forward, stopping me from going closer. I have to close my eyes and beg my power to calm down.
“We are here with the true king and queen,” Wyatt replies. Dabriel doesn’t look her way as he steps in front of me.
"Good luck," Dabriel says, and Wyatt nods at me before he turns to walk away with Dabriel following. Alex and Leigha give me brief looks of worry before following the guys. Atti brings our entwined hands to his lips and places a long, sweet kiss on them. He moves back and bows to me.
"My true queen," he says loudly and winks at me before he turns to follow the others to where they are standing.
"Let's start," I hear Taliana say, and I look at her. Her pale complexion is slowly going red, and I smirk at her. They are mine, and I’m here to fight for them, she needs to get that.
The jealousy is clear all over her face as she leans back into her large, black throne. The metal gates screeching open makes me look down, and I take a step back when a burst of bright blue fire shoots out from the dark door. A large thud shakes the ground as the dragon shoots out of the door and lands a few metres away from me. It's huge, nearly as big as a house with blue scales covering every part of his body, except for some yellow ones that make a pattern down its back to its tail. Two large wings spread out, and his bright blue eyes lock onto mine. His face is slim, stretching down to his large mouth full of sharp teeth.
If this is his size when he’s young, I don’t want to see him fully grown.
"Meal," is hissed into my mind by a gravelly voice, and it takes me a second to realise it's the dragon who spoke to me.
"Nope, I'm so not a happy meal for you," I say as the dragon’s big wings flap once, twice, and he takes off into the sky. I look up, and I'm glad I do as he shoots a line of blue fire at me.
"Shit," I say and run out of the way. The fire manages to catch my arm, lightly burning, but not badly. I’m too worried about the shadow on the ground I can see; it means the dragon is following me. The dragon swoops low, and its massive claws wrap around my stomach, lifting me off the ground. Pressure fills my body. I embrace it, and when I can release it, I beg it to hit the dragon in my mind. I open my eyes as the blue wave hits the dragon’s stomach, and he screeches in pain. His claw scratches down my arm as he lets go. I’m glad to be free but not so much when I see how high we are. I’m falling to the ground with an alarming speed, but I manage to use my vampire speed to slow everything down and roll as I land. The crowd is shouting, screaming my name and other things I don’t understand.
The dragon lands with a thud in front of me, and I slip the dagger out of my belt. I know it won’t work, and I don’t think I can hurt him anyway; I feel sorry for him, he’s just hungry. The dragon stares at me, his very intelligent eyes go to the dagger, and I throw it onto the ground in between us.
"Princesss," the dragon hisses in my mind. I hold my hands up not needing the dagger.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I have no choice if you hurt me again," I say. The crowds are screaming at this point, I have no idea if they can hear me. I don't even know if they want me dead or alive at this point.
"Need food. Not hurt family of king," he hisses in my mind. His eyes go to my arm, and I look down at it, seeing it covered in my blood. Milo’s words come back to me.
Why didn't I think of it before? I'm quarter demon and of the demon king’s family. I might be able to get out of this by demanding him not to hurt me. There must be at least one benefit of having messed up family members.
"Fly away," I say, and he steps closer.
"Cannot. The witches block the top," the dragon hisses, and I look up to see a faint, white movement over the arena. I didn’t notice it before, but, of course, they have a strong barrier up. The dragon moves another step closer.
"Winter, what are you doing? Run!" Atti says in my mind.
"No!" I turn around and shout. I take the other dagger out of my belt and throw it at the queen. I aim it just in front of her throne, at her feet. She starts glowing black as she stands. A large falcon flies from out the skies and lands on her shoulder. The falcon is the size of a cat, with beady eyes, a large beak, and is all black in colour. I have a feeling it’s using a glamor. It must be her familiar.
The arena goes quiet as I walk up to the dragon, my insides screaming to stop this and walk away. Another part of me, the dark part, loves this creature and recognises it as my own. Just like I did with Milo.
I place my shaky hand on its large nose. The scales are warmer than I expected them to be, enough that it’s likely he is burning my hand. I don’t move my hand away though.
"What's your name?" I ask him.
"Demon name is long," he hisses in my mind.
"Well, blue dragon, I'm Winter," I say.
"Princesss," he hisses in my mind.
"What are you doing?" is shouted across the arena by Taliana. I smile gently at the dragon, his eyes watching me, and then I turn to face her.
"Winning with peace and not death!" I shout back, my words echoing around the arena.
"That's not our way, and you cannot win unless you kill it. It's a demon," she spits out.
"Isn't the falcon sitting on your arm a demon as well?" I respond.
She doesn't answer, but her angry eyes watch me as I address the crowd.
"You expect everything to be won with death!" I shout. Silence is all I get from the witches sitting with their cloaks up.
"I am no witch. I am no human, not anymore. This is my way, and this creature does not deserve death any more than the familiars you have next to you," I say, and I see a few people remove their hoods and stand.
"The goddess wouldn't want this death. The dragon should be free," I shout. I feel the power in my words, a power I don’t recognise as it takes over me. My arms start glowing blue as I lock eyes with Taliana. She is glowing black; her hands have black smoke flowing out of them onto the floor.
"Freedom," I hear someone whisper in my mind, and another person says it, and another.
The witches all start dropping their cloaks as they shout the word in my mind and in everyone else’s. It becomes deafening, but I stand still as I look back at the queen.
"You win this," Taliana spits out and storms off.
Atti walks over to me and pulls me into a kiss. The crowd cheers loudly, and I pull away with a little blush.
"I believe I have a dragon to return home," he tells me.
"Where is your home?" I ask, turning to meet the dragon’s eyes.
"Let me fly to where I choose," he hisses in my mind.
"He wants you to lower the wards up there," I say, and Atti nods. I watch as he disappears, and not long after, the ward goes. The dragon lowers its head and then takes off into the sky.
"Debt will be repaid, princess," he hisses into my mind as he disappears from view.
Fifty-Five
Winter
"Let's look at your arm, I saw it cut," Dabriel says. I pull my top off, since I have a vest top on u
nderneath it, and show him my arm. We left the arena quickly after the dragon flew away; the witches all disappeared as well. Atti said he was proud of me, and that I did the right thing, even if I scared him. We’re in the spare bedroom, I’m not sure why, but it’s where Dabriel took me once we got back to Atti’s house. I look down when he wipes the dry blood away, and he frowns as he turns my arm over. The skin is clean and the burn I got on the top of my arm is nearly all gone too.
"How? You’re healing like an angel," Dabriel says, and he leans back.
"Don't vampires heal like this?" I ask.
"Not from a magic fire or a cut that deep. It would take at least a day. My people can make natural healing herbs and put magic into them, but even that wouldn’t heal a magic burn that fast," he tells me.
"Must have been your blood," I comment, and he shakes his head.
"No, vampires have had angel blood before, and all it does is make them a little stronger," he says quietly and watches me.
"So, this is weird?" I ask, and he nods.
"What's wrong? I can feel your worry through the bond," Wyatt says, coming into the small bedroom, and Atti follows closing the door behind him.
"She healed herself," Dabriel says as he links his hands with mine, and Wyatt walks over to me. He kneels in front of me and takes my now healed arm so he can look at it.
"I've been thinking about something," Wyatt says, and he stands up.
"When Winter shared blood with Jaxson, she developed the power to aim perfectly. After a chat with Alex, it's clear she didn't always have that power," he says.
"Then when I gave her my blood, that blue power developed," Wyatt says.
"You think I'm somehow gaining more powers when I take your blood?" I ask. It makes a lot of sense. Maybe that’s my power from my goddess side, as well as the animal connection, or maybe the dream-calling is.
"I’ll get Leigha, she’ll tell us if you have a new power," Wyatt says and walks out.
"I think the connection with animals is a goddess gift of mine, and dream-calling a demon power perhaps. I’m not sure what this one is," I say, and Atti comes to sit next to me.
"I wonder what you will get when you feed on me," Atti says and takes my hand in his.
"No idea, I don't seem to be getting the same powers as you," I comment.
"Well, Jaxson does have a deadly aim, but it certainly isn’t like yours," Atti tells me.
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen Wyatt glowing blue recently,” I add, and Atti smirks.
“I think your demon half has some effect on that power,” Dabriel says, and I turn to him.
“Why?” I ask him.
“Most demons glow a shade of blue, and I can see their auras as well. They are blue like yours, but yours is lighter,” he tells me.
"Let’s have at it then," Leigha comes into the room, with Wyatt following. I hold my hand out, she takes it, and a few seconds later, she breaks away.
"New healing power, as well as the others," she says, and I nod. I knew she was going to say that.
"I guess the new power will help," I say.
"You were impressive in the arena," Atti says, and I smile slightly. I only did what felt natural.
"I can’t see the next task," Dabriel says, and he looks down at me with worry.
“Faster, pony,” I hear and glance towards the open doorway just in time to see Milo riding on Jewel’s back. Milo even has a ribbon, and he’s swinging it around in the air.
We all burst into laughter, even Leigha. That’s not something you see every day.
Fifty-Six
Winter
“Get up, and let’s go out, you look bored,” Atti says as he walks into his lounge. He’s dressed more casually than usual, in jeans and a tight, black shirt. I wouldn’t say I’m bored, I’m just seeing how many of my chocolate biscuits I can balance on Mags’s head as she sleeps on my lap in her glamor. I get to seven before Atti speaks, and she moves her head. The biscuits fall to the ground as Mags looks up at me. She gets off my lap and walks out, pushing her body against Atti’s leg as she goes.
“I’m not bored, exactly,” I say, and Atti just smiles as he comes over and pulls me up to his chest. He wraps his arms around me and gently leans down to press a simple kiss to my lips.
We disappear as he pulls away from the kiss. When I open my eyes, I see that we are at the pack.
"Thought you might miss a broody fucker that lives here," Atti shrugs, and I laugh.
"I hope she does," Jaxson says, coming out of the front door and walking over to me. Jaxson is just wearing jeans and a grey shirt, but he somehow manages to look every bit the dangerous and sexy Wolfman I love. His hair is newly shaved at the sides; the top part is shorter, letting me see his bright green eyes. Jaxson doesn't care that I am standing next to Atti, as his hand goes into my hair and his lips meet mine. I moan as the taste of him fills my senses; I underestimated how much I missed him.
"This is strangely turning me on," Atti says, and I break away from Jaxson with a small smile.
"I really didn't need to know that, witch," Leigha says as she walks past us all. I can’t help the small laugh that escapes when Atti winks at me.
"Anna’s in labour, I was close to calling for you," Jaxson says, and I lean back, shocked.
"Me?" I ask nervously. Why the hell would she want me at the birth of her child?
"She wants you here," Jaxson confirms my worries.
"Okay, let’s go," I say, because I can’t say no when I hear a scream come from the house. Jaxson grabs my arm gently as I walk past.
"Esta is up there, she’s a midwife," he says, and I nod.
"You’re my mate. We don't have to argue or hate each other anymore. It’s the past," I say. I can’t say I like her, but she hasn’t actively tried to go after Jaxson for months. He told me she is mated with another wolf she met when the packs joined. She’s moved on, and the past is the past. It’s not like I don’t have enough enemies as it is.
"You’re too nice, Love," Atti says, and I wink at him. I turn and walk into the house, leaving the guys to catch up. The two wolves at the door lower their heads when they see me, and I look back to see my guys watching me as I open the wooden doors. They look so strong standing next to one another. Atti is slightly taller than Jaxson, but Jaxson is a little wider in his shoulders and arms. I close the door behind me, and a scream directs my attention upstairs. I follow the noise until I find Anna's room. I knock before coming in, and Anna is on her side in her large bed. There’s a wooden cot on one side, and a changing unit filled with things for the baby.
Esta stands at the side; her back going rigid when she senses me. She turns to stare at me, I don’t know why I feel threatened around her, but I do. I don’t get it.
"Winter!" Anna shouts, and I look down to see myself going blue.
"Shit! Sorry, Anna, I can't control the glowing," I say. I didn’t even notice I was doing it.
"Come here," she says before she screams again. I run over and pull a chair close to her bed. I hold her hand, her other is holding her stomach.
"Here, wipe her face while I see what's going on," Esta hands a cold, wet hand towel to me, and I nod as I take it. I do as Esta says, and Anna rolls onto her back with Esta’s help. She checks her over.
"So close, I can see your baby’s head," Esta says, and I give her a shocked look. She just looks at me like I'm an idiot.
"Push for me when you get the next contraction, Anna," she says, and Anna squeezes my hand tight as she screams. I don't dare move in the next few minutes until we hear a baby cry. I choke back tears as Esta passes a small baby wrapped in a white towel to Anna.
"A girl," Esta says, and I look in shock at the little one. Girls are so rare for wolves, and this girl is a child of an alpha to boot. She has a bit of blonde hair on her head, and she opens her eyes. They’re blue, just like Fergus’s. Anna bursts into tears, and I kiss her forehead.
"She looks just like her dad," I say, and Anna nod
s watching her baby.
"Her name is Marie, after my mother. Her middle name is Winter after you. The queen that will give her a future," Anna says, she meets my eyes, and I nod. It’s the first time I realise that I’m not just fighting for a future for me; I am fighting for a future for all of the children. If that’s not a reason to fight, then I don’t know what is.
"Thank you," I say, and she goes back to staring at her little baby.
"Why don't you go and tell everyone?" Esta says. It's not rude because I know she has to clean up Anna.
"Okay. Is that alright?" I ask Anna, and she nods, still staring at her little one.
I walk out and down the stairs. Everyone is sitting in the lounge, and Freddy runs up to me.
"Is the baby okay? We heard a cry," Freddy says.
"Yes, you have a new cousin. A girl called Marie Winter," I say, and everyone starts clapping. Jaxson meets my eyes, and his smile is so wide, I can't help but grin back. Wyatt nods at me, his gaze watching Freddy closely. It must be strange to talk of babies when he missed Freddy being that young.
Wyatt looks as hot as always. I notice his hair looks a mess, like he’s been running his fingers through it. I kind of like it. He’s a hot mess. He’s dressed in jeans and a white shirt, so casual compared to what I’m used to seeing him in.
"The first girl born in two years for the packs. The first alpha girl in fifty years," Lucinda says, coming into the room, and she comes over to me. I give her a hug when Freddy moves away, and she smiles.
"I’ll go and see if I can help," she says and walks up the stairs. Freddy pulls my hand and leads me to the sofa.
"Wyatt, how are the vampires?" I ask him.