And because of that, Max and Sera were about to be eaten by gallu.
Max groaned in frustration. His entire life had been screwed by the gods messing with things they should have left alone. And that included his mother and her fascination with his father. But for one horny afternoon, he wouldn't have even been conceived.
Right now, Max would have been deeply grateful had his father kept it in his pants and not gone dallying with the bitch who spawned him. How much alcohol had his mother plied him with, anyway?
Irritated about it, Max gently grabbed Sera back from the way they were headed, and pulled her down an offshoot. He had no idea where this led. But it seemed a bit safer than the way they'd been going.
All the powers he had and not a one could help them out of this. What then was the use?
"It'll be all right, Max."
He hesitated at her encouraging tone. "I'm glad you still have your optimism. Mine slammed into a wall a while back. I think it now has a concussion."
"I have faith in you."
"Since when?"
"Always." She placed her hand on his arm. "Do you know why I chose you that night in the drinking den?"
"I was the only sober male in the room?"
She laughed. "No. In that room full of warriors, you stood out as the most fierce. While they clumped together for protection and safety, you stood alone. Fearless. Defiant. It was the sexiest thing I've ever seen. You were everything I'd always wanted to be, but never had the courage for."
Max paused as her words struck a tender place in his heart that left him feeling strangely vulnerable. No one had ever said anything so kind to him. Oddly enough, he'd never felt particularly heroic. Most days, he just felt lost and adrift. He barely got through them.
But he wanted to be a hero for her.
"Oh Seramia ... you are far braver than I."
"How do you figure?"
"Your biggest fear has always been the dragons who killed your family. Of them coming back to slaughter what you love. Instead of hiding and running, you taught yourself to fight them and confront them. Any time the call went out for battle, you were the first one saddled and ready. And when the Fates tied your life to the very thing you despised most, you accepted it and allowed me into your home, all the while you waited for my betrayal."
"That wasn't courage. What I did to you was so wrong. I blamed you for what other dragons did. Instead of judging you by your actions and heart, I judged you by theirs and by my own fear."
"You were human. And there's nothing wrong with that."
Seraphina swallowed against the tears choking her. She still didn't know how he could accept her for who and what she was. Maybe that was the dragon heart inside him. It enabled him to see the world so differently at times. Clearer. More concisely.
She envied him that ability. To her, everyone and everything was viewed through a veil of hazy suspicion. And he was right. Trust had never come easily to her. There had been too many women in her tribe who'd tried to pull her down and lie about her to Nala so that they could replace her as champion. Even Nala, lying about Max to hurt them both.
Sera had never known who to trust, except herself.
Until now.
In all her life, he was the only one she could have faith in. Her dragon had never sought to betray her.
"So how do we get out of this, Max?"
Max paused as a radical idea hit him. Really radical. The kind that would either save them or damn the entire world. Too bad he didn't know which and wouldn't be able to tell until he pulled the switch.
Then it would be too late.
But then that was life. Sometimes you had to take that leap and pray.
Skidding to a stop, he pulled Sera against him. Just in case the worst happened. If he had to die, he wanted it to be with her in his arms. He just hoped she didn't pay for one of his stupid mistakes.
"Max?"
He didn't respond, rather he used his powers to access the Tablet and speak an ancient language he hadn't used since the day he'd slain his mother for her last betrayal.
Seraphina could barely breathe as Maxis formed a tight wall of protective muscle around her. She knew he was doing this to keep her safe, but at the moment she just wanted to draw an unencumbered breath. His heartbeat pounded beneath her cheek as a strange light began to illuminate around them.
She had no idea what he was doing until white smoke began billowing out of the floor and walls. Iridescent and translucent, it was beautiful, and swayed as if it were dancing. The gallu drew up short as if mesmerized by the rhythmic movements. The mist began to spiral and form larger shapes.
Pausing, Namtar cursed at the demons. Then he urged them to disperse. "Run! It's the liliti!"
But it was too late. The liliti descended on them with a hungry vengeance, like piranha who hadn't eaten in decades.
When they came toward Max, he let out a burst of fire that drove them back. Moving in the opposite direction, he pulled Sera after him.
"That was horrifying!"
"I know. Let's hope they have no way out of here. But it was all I could think of. After what you said about waking your sisters, I remembered that my mother would be here in Ikalla, sleeping, too. As her son, I have the ability to summon them."
"That is even more terrifying."
"And one of the very few benefits that come with being my mother's son, and having been suckled by her sisters."
She scowled at his words. "But I thought you told me you weren't suckled."
He gave her a bitter smile. "It's not the same way human mothers nurse their young. Believe me, it's much more harsh and uncomfortable."
That was all he needed to say. She definitely didn't want more information than that, given what she knew of him and his people. "I'm sorry, Maxis."
"For what?"
"Everything that's been done to you. And for the fact that you look so tired right now. I wish I could find a safe place for you to sleep for a little while."
He kissed her cheek. "It's all good."
Still, she felt guilty over it. She'd brought them to his door and led them straight to him. Instead of feeding him to the demons, she should have protected him with the same resolve and integrity he would have shown.
Never again will I be so selfish.
But then motherhood had taught her that. How to put someone else and their needs before hers. To value another being more than herself. Strange how Max, the animal, had been born with that sense of how he was part of a larger whole and his life wasn't as important as the continuation of others. Or maybe it was his being male. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that it'd taken the birth of her children before she'd understood it.
How she wished she could have loved him back in their past the way she could now.
It's not too late.
At least she hoped that was true.
Yet as they made their way through the dark nether world, she wondered.
All of a sudden, Max froze in front of her so quickly that she slammed into his back. He remained completely ramrod stiff and still.
She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong when she saw.
There in front of her was Nala and the rest of her Amazon tribe. Only they weren't stone, or in the process of returning to stone.
They appeared completely normal. As if nothing had happened or that demons weren't out to kill or eat them.
Confused, Seraphina stepped around her mate and approached Nala, who wore a peculiar welcoming smile on her face. "Basilinna?"
Nala let out a relieved breath. "There you are! We thought we'd have to send out a patrol to find you."
That weird feeling of trepidation worsened. Something definitely wasn't right. "We came to free you, Max and I."
She laughed again as if Sera was insane. "That was never the bargain, child. The bargain was that Kessar would overthrow the Greek gods from Olympus and surrender it to me, and in turn, I would give him your mate. He just fulfilled his part. Now I'm going t
16
Max couldn't breathe as he heard those harsh words and was instantly taken back to the day when Sera had surrendered him to her tribe for his harrowing. He still remembered the cold resignation on her face as they hauled him out to beat him.
The way she'd just stood there ...
Like he deserved it. As if she didn't care at all what they did to him.
A part of him had died that day. The biggest being his heart that had never completely healed.
Now, she was going to do it to him again. Only this time, Kessar would kill him. He knew it with every part of himself. There was no chance of survival.
Had this been her plan all along? Was that why she'd been so desperate to find her sisters while they were here?
You're such a fool. When are you going to learn that you'll never come first with your mate?
Seraphina saw the expression on Maxis's face. In that moment, she knew what he thought and it slapped her hard. Not that he doubted her.
The fact that she deserved his doubt.
Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. "I made you a promise, baby. I intend to keep it."
With those words spoken, she did what she'd never done before. She stepped back, turned toward her queen, and let loose a burst of fire at them all.
"And I'm fulfilling mine, Nala. Anyone wants a piece of my mate has to come through me. You want to fight? You better arm up, bitches." She let loose one more shot before she grabbed Max about his waist and pulled him back the way they'd come.
He stumbled and almost fell as they ran. "You just attacked your tribe."
"No. I just defended my mate."
"You shot fire at them."
She paused to glance at him. "Are we really going to waste time reliving it?"
"We're definitely doing something." He cracked an adorable grin. "Arm up, bitches?"
"You left me alone too long with Fury."
He laughed at the same time her tribe was closing in and gaining ground faster than she cared for. Arrows shot past them. "Arm up, Strah Draga."
With those words, he turned into his dragon form. She jumped into her saddle and held on tight.
Max rose up on his hind legs and used his wings to create a massive wind that sent them tumbling back on their asses.
In that moment, she loved him even more. "You don't have to take mercy on them for me. They wanted to tilt the dragon. Let them tilt."
"Are you sure?"
She leaned down over his neck and kissed it. "Positive. In this battle, you're the only one who matters to me."
"In that case..." Max threw his head back and let loose his Bane-Cry.
It was something no drakomas did lightly and was reserved for only when their lives were under dire threat, and they had no way out. In all the centuries he'd lived, he'd never made the cry. He'd only answered them.
Mostly because he'd never cared whether or not he survived a fight.
For the first time, he wanted to live. And he fought the Amazons and gallu with everything he had. They came at him with spears and claws, and he unleashed his fire and magick at them, while he whipped at them with his tail.
He banged at the ground, causing the stalactites to fall down on top of them. Several screamed as they were impaled.
Still they kept coming.
Max couldn't teleport out. The gallu wouldn't release the nether gates. Which meant none of his drakomai brethren could get in.
But it didn't stop his demonic aunts from helping. They circled and ran at the gallu and Amazons, doing their best to protect him and Sera.
He kept inching back into the darkness, trying to find some way out of this mess and dark realm.
As he went back, he lost his footing and fell, and tumbled down the side of a ravine.
Sera's gasp echoed in his ears.
For a moment, his heart stopped beating as he feared he'd lost her. Then, he felt her hands on his scales, near her saddle, clutching at his body. "I'm still here," she breathed.
Reassured, he extended his wings and caught the light breeze so that they could ride it through the unseen black. The very edge of his talons scraped against the sides of the walls, but it seemed large enough to hold him. "Can you see anything?"
"No. You?"
"Nothing."
Suddenly, he heard Kessar screaming out. "If you want me to release you, dragon, give us the Tablet and Bowl."
Max let out a tired sigh at a demand he knew he could never meet. There was no way he could surrender either of those objects to a creature like Kessar. He would be too destructive with them.
"Looks like a nice vacation home. What do you think?"
"Sure," Sera said in the same playful tone. "Put up some curtains. A little color. Shrunken heads. We can make do. Particularly if we nail Kessar's hide to the wall. That would be a lovely decoration. Don't you agree?"
"Throw in Nala's scalp and ... aye. Quite homey."
Seraphina laughed. Only her dragon could manage to be so amusing when things were this serious and frightening.
"What's your answer, dragon?" Kessar demanded again.
Max sped up.
And slammed into a net.
Terrified he'd crush or hurt Sera, he immediately changed forms and caught her against him. Unfortunately, when he did so, she'd already pulled out her knife to try and cut the ropes. A knife that went deep into his very human stomach.
Sera's features paled. "Max?"
Unable to breathe from the unexpected pain and depth of the cut, he fell back and used every bit of magick he could to hold his human form. He had to. There wasn't enough room in the net for the two of them if he were a dragon.
He'd kill her.
Seraphina shook as she saw how much blood was pouring out his side. "What have I done?"
His breathing ragged, he gave her a sad smile. "You have to run, Sera." He handed her the small Tablet and placed it in her hand. "Don't let them catch you."
"I can't leave you like this."
"You have to. Think of your children. They need you." His hand trembling, he kissed her. "I love you, Seramia." And with that, he cut through the net with his claw. "Use your dragon form and fly."
Sera fell through the rough hemp cord, and changed, but she didn't go far. She couldn't. Especially not when she looked back to see him lying inert in the net, waiting to die.
Alone.
And all because of her.
Refusing to let it end like this, she went back for him.
The instant he saw her hovering dragon body, he glared at her. "Sera! What are you doing?"
"We got into this together and we're getting out that way." As carefully as she could, she cradled him with her dragon arms to her chest, and gained a whole new appreciation for his restraint. He made it appear so easy to use his dragon body like a human's, but it wasn't. It required a whole different kind of dexterity and skills.
And as she flew, she prayed for a miracle.
One she knew wouldn't come as his breathing grew fainter and fainter, and the demons came closer and closer.
"Don't leave me, Maxis. Please..."
Just as she thought she might have slipped past their enemies, a bright flash in front of them blinded her.
And more enemies surrounded them.
17
Max came awake to a strange mechanical humming noise. Like a vaporizer or something. It blended in with the faint sound of zydeco and laughter. Cars passing by on the street outside.
Of a crowded bar and metal music from next door ...
"Don't move!"
Blinking open his eyes, he found Sera sitting on the floor by his side, stroking his snout. But the most shocking part was the fact that his dragon's head was cradled in her lap.
And her breasts were pressed against his cheek.
Um, yeah ...
He had no desire whatsoever to move from this position. Especially since she held his head at an angle that allowed him to see straight down her shirt, and the fact that she didn't have on a bra. Something that made his mouth water and his heart race.
In spite of the pain, he went rock hard. Thankfully, he was lying on his stomach so that the only one who knew about this uncomfortable situation was him. And the floor beneath him, which probably wasn't any happier about it than he was.
"Am I dead?"
She frowned at him. "Why do you ask that?"
"This doesn't feel real. My room ... You." Dead or dreaming seemed the two most logic conclusions, and if it was a dream, he'd like to think he'd already be naked with her.
"It's real. As is the accidental stabbing I gave you when we were caught."
Damn, that hadn't been a dream. No wonder his side hurt so much. At least now he knew his memory was whole.
"You sure it was an accident?"
"Ah, now who's being mean?"
"Still you."
She snorted at him. "Yeah well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it."
If he wasn't in so much pain, he might have joined her laughter, but he still wasn't convinced she hadn't done it intentionally.
Is he awake?
Max started at the sound of Illarion's voice in his head. Before he could move, his brother came forward to stand in his field of vision. Alongside Falcyn, who knelt beside Sera.
Yeah, he was back to fearing death again, especially with Falcyn here to check in on him. Hell must have frozen over and a few other catastrophes for that to happen.
Falcyn picked up his ear and coldly let it flop back over his eyes. "You took a nasty wound and spill. If not for your swan, you'd have never survived."
Sera visibly cringed. "If not for me, he wouldn't have been injured."
"Well..." Falcyn wrinkled his nose. "Win some. Lose some. Besides, we've all wanted to stab him at times. You're just lucky you got to do it first."
Max laughed, then groaned. Leave it to his brother, the asshole. Ignoring Falcyn, he looked back at Sera. "So what happened, anyway? How did we get out of there?"
"They answered your Bane-Cry. It just took them a little while to break through the shields that were holding them out and preventing them from helping."
"And your sisters?"
She lifted her chin as a cold ruthlessness darkened her eyes. "My sisters died beside my mother when I was a girl. The Amazon tribe I was tied to is still serving the gallu, for who knows what purposes. That's their choice."
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