by Meg Xuemei X
Henry shot into the palace like a black arrow. He squeezed between Rai and me and rubbed his shiny fur against my leg in affection. Rai scowled down at him, but restrained himself from scolding the beast. He knew Henry and Sybil were dear to me.
When Henry spotted the scouts who had abandoned him, he opened his jaw and snarled at them.
I rubbed the fur on his side, and he stopped snarling. “I know, Henry,” I said. “They aren’t very considerate and quite rude. You must forgive them. They fed you in the ship, didn’t they? They’ll take you to hunt when we all settle in.”
Rai laughed.
Henry turned one of his heads, his long tongue licking the back of my hand, then he gave Rai a somber look and trotted toward Jarrod’s group to make the path safe for me.
“How can any man argue with a beast,” Rai murmured, “especially a cute, tender one such as Henry?”
Only a dragon would think Henry was tender. I sent Rai a smile, and Iokul kissed the top of my head to remind me of his existence. I turned to beam at him.
Rai and Iokul held my hands, and together we walked through many turns in the halls, chapels, and spiral staircases.
The interior of the palace had a red and gold theme, except for the paintings on the wall. They depicted the dragons’ brutal hunt and our glorious past when humans and other sub-species had worshiped our kind as their gods. Those paintings had been crafted by humans. As a warrior race, dragons didn’t make much art.
Iokul looked up at Blaze’s dragon hovering near the domed ceilings.
The castle was built to accommodate a dragon’s need. There were either high windows or skylights in every chapel and chamber, an escape route when needed.
I wasn’t sure if other royal palaces were designed the same. My grandfather had never allowed me to stray far from the palace, let alone travel to other realms. If I fought him on his prohibition, he’d punished my guards.
We strode into the throne room. Jarrod stood in the center of a mosaic of red marble with golden patterns, staring at the throne of gold and blue gems.
Blue was the color of royalty. I had blue scales, and all my mates had the same midnight-blue scales on their dragon forms. No other dragons had blue scales.
“The dark force, the smoke entity, was here last time,” Jarrod murmured.
“We won’t miss it if it’s no longer here,” I said. “We’ll soon get everyone moved back.”
If my grandfather had abandoned the realm, I needed to step in right away and rebuild the kingdom. My people would be depending on me in this dire time.
A roar rose, disrupting my train of thoughts, then a dark-green dragon barged in from the back entrance—the passage for only the king and his attendants. His red glare fixed on me in hatred, and he opened his mouth and shot fire toward me.
Blaze bellowed furiously, cutting between us in a flash, and spewed his own lava-hot fire. The two fires twisted and locked. Thick sulfur and spice permeated the air.
Ancient wards protected the palace, but the dragon fire was too hot. The throne room wouldn’t collapse, but if their fight continued, some priceless paintings on the walls would melt.
“Segomo, how dare you! Step down! You’re attacking Princess Daisy, the heir to the throne! Back the fuck off if you want your fucking head to stay on your stupid neck!” Jarrod bellowed in rage.
But the dark-green dragon wasn’t listening—his eyes flashed with a killing light. He knew exactly who I was. He was here to kill me.
Segomo spat out another stream of fire, more powerful than the previous one, and Blaze tried to hold his ground. It wasn’t that Blaze was any less powerful, but Segomo had something else in his fire.
The scent of dark magic slammed into my nostrils, choking me.
Black magic had altered Segomo. No wonder he smelled wrong.
The guards urged me to leave the room, but I hissed at them. I’d been the monster of nightmares for centuries. I was not a defenseless damsel. I wouldn’t run from a mere rebellious dragon. If I wanted to establish my rule, my first day home wouldn’t be marked by cowardice.
It would be marked by victory.
At Iokul’s and Rai’s pleading looks, I sighed and retreated to the back of the hall to give my mates some peace of mind and the dragons more fighting room. That was the best I could do for them.
My two mates guarded me, and two other dragons hovered in the air in front of me to shield me.
Segomo noticed my withdrawal and snarled. He broke the fire match with Blaze, turned direction, and pounced at me.
Blaze slammed into Segomo, blocking his path, and tearing into him in rage.
The fire dragon wouldn’t allow anyone to get between him and his mate.
Rai raised his blast gun and fired at Segomo, but a wave of smoke emitted out of Segomo, shielding him.
It was exactly the same foul magic the demon captain had possessed.
“Foul demon magic! Take him down!” Rai snarled.
All of the guards opened fire on Segomo, but no bullets or beams could break through his smoke shield.
Iokul shifted. His silver scales reflected off the fire. The ice dragon shot strong icy currents at Segomo. The ice reduced the heat of the enemy dragon’s fire, but it couldn’t breach the shield of darkness, either.
Two dragon guards rammed into Segomo, trying to throw him to the ground, and Quintrell waited to tear into him. But Segomo’s shield of smoke blasted them all away, and they crashed into the walls, ceiling, and the ground.
Rai snarled in rage.
The hellhound echoed the snarl and leaped into the air to bite the enemy dragon, but he merely spun in the air and tumbled down, unable to reach the height. He tried again. When it came to defending me, Henry was fierce.
Rai threw his hands up, lightning bolts darting toward Segomo but the smoke walls around Segomo diffused all the bolts.
Realizing what his smoke could do, Segomo tossed it at Blaze. My prince’s fire dwindled as the dark force pinned him to the ceiling.
Rai and Iokul threw all they had at Segomo, but to no avail. The smoke was a living evil, its power binding everyone, and it was coming to me.
“Daisy, run!” my mates screamed at me.
There wasn’t enough time, and under no circumstances would I leave my mates behind.
The green dragon stalked toward me with measured steps, his crimson gaze staring down at me, marking me as his prey.
Fear became a tangible thing inside me, and I believed Segomo smelled it, because he cocked his head and grinned.
Elvey had warned me. “You won’t be any safer after you leave this shelter. Neither will those who accompany you.”
I was scarcely home, yet my enemy had already sent me this welcome gift. But I was a predator, more so than this thing. When I’d had the Fury curse upon me, I’d been the biggest, meanest predator on Pandemonium. Now that I was both dragon and Fae, the predator in me was no less savage.
I wouldn’t let this foul thing hurt my mates and warriors again.
White Light was my most lethal weapon. I’d once deployed it to expel the pure evil when I’d danced with Elvey in the great hall. And when I’d mated with all my three mates, the Light had awoken in me.
I hadn’t mastered it or practiced enough since I’d spent a lot of time in bed with my mates.
It wasn’t that I’d tried to overcompensate for nine centuries of forced celibacy. But who could resist the three hottest, insanely gorgeous dragon men, who all offered all sorts of mind-blowing pleasure in every imaginable way?
All three of them desired me with an intensity that matched my own and devoted themselves to me.
I’d tried to summon my White Light while my mates had battled Segomo, but it had merely fizzled and died out. It occurred to me that my power needed stimulation. The Light had come to me when I’d danced with Elvey and it’d surfaced again when my mates and I roared out our wild orgasms.
Rai roared, lightning exuding out of him and breaking through t
he binding of the dark smoke.
He wouldn’t let that thing get to me, his mate. In a flash, he stood between Segomo and me. “Get out of here, Daisy,” he ordered.
I stepped up to him and placed my hand on his arm. “Strike me with your lightning. Pour it into me.”
He glared at me, his eyes flashing. “I won’t hurt you. I need you to get the hell out now! Please.” That last word was a plea.
“Trust me,” I urged, my eyes starting to glow as they fixed on Segomo with determination. “Just trust me, Rai.”
The smoke-possessed dragon had marked me as his prey. He thought I had nowhere to run.
Rai sent a trail of lightning into me, and I felt his energy buzz within me.
“More!” I demanded.
As soon as he saw his lightning boosted me instead of hurting me, he poured all he had into me. I threw my hands into the air. A burst of White Light and lightning surged out of me and slammed into Segomo, just as his combined fire and foul smoke dashed toward me.
As soon as my White Light ate away the smoke and neutralized the fire, all the warriors were freed from the binding.
Rai’s bolts of lightning impaled Segomo’s scales, and Blaze wasted no time sending his fire toward the green dragon and burned him to a charred heap, which unfortunately dropped onto the throne.
Quintrell lifted the dead dragon and hurled him off of the throne. He gave me a meaningful glance, as if wanting me to appreciate him keeping the throne clean for me.
Jarrod shifted to his human form and stared at Segomo, sorrow clouding his face. “He was a good dragon. The smoke corrupted him.”
“I don’t give a fuck if he was a saint,” Blaze said, still in rage. “He tried to hurt my mate. Anyone who wants to harm a hair on my mate’s head deserves worse than being burned to charred meat. The fucker died too easily.”
I’d have preferred to spare him and interrogate him. Segomo had been a mere tool. My true enemy had known that I’d returned, but I still didn’t know who my enemy was. I had no proof that it was the dark Fae Queen.
I’d come back to a broken kingdom where danger lurked everywhere, and my grandfather had gone mad and missing, and burned his own home.
“How many dragons are affected by the filthy smoke, Jarrod?” Blaze asked.
It’d taken all of us to take down one smoke-possessed dragon. If there were many more of them—
“I don’t know,” Jarrod said grimly. “I hope he’s the only one.”
“Your realm isn’t safe, Daisy,” Blaze said.
My mates wanted us to withdraw to the Oslan Dominion and put me in a high tower where they could bar the doors and windows to keep me safe.
I’d talked to them about their overprotectiveness, and they’d agreed to back off. But whenever danger headed my way, they returned to their former stance.
“We need to investigate this further,” I said, turning to Jarrod. “I didn’t recognize Segomo. Was he one of the royal guards while I was in the realm?”
“He was a new dragon,” Jarrod said. “He rose to the rank of Captain of the Guard last year. When His Majesty abandoned the realm, Segomo disappeared as well. He didn’t follow the king but lurked here to waylay you.”
“What happened to my grandfather’s old captain?” I asked.
“Captain Skylark Faded,” Jarrod said, sorrow in his eyes.
Although dragons were immortals, we could Fade. Time could wear us out and make us tired of living. I hoped Jarrod didn’t follow in his captain’s footsteps. His friends had parted from him, including Adrian. My heart ached at the thought of Adrian. I prayed he wouldn’t Fade somewhere. I’d prevailed after nine centuries of misery; he should, too.
My thoughts returned to Jarrod. “What happened to your face, Jarrod?” I asked, my fists forming. “Who hurt you?”
“It’s a long story, Your Highness,” Jarrod said. “I’ll tell you some other time. Now, if you have a moment, I’d like to give you a quick overview of the realm and the court as I best can. Things have changed a lot during the centuries you were gone.”
I nodded in appreciation.
On our trip home, Rai, Blaze, and Iokul—mostly Iokul—tried to fill me in with the current state of the two dragon realms, two Fae realms, and human-dominated legions.
I had so many questions, especially when it came to my own realm.
I glanced to where Segomo’s corpse had been. My mates’ men had removed it, but the room still reeked with the stench of foul magic and a dragon’s death.
“Let’s get some fresh air,” I said, and shifted to my dragon form.
My mates gazed at me with admiration before shifting themselves. They loved my both forms. When I was a dragon, they adored the shimmering scarlet and midnight blue of my scales.
I surged toward the ceiling to see if the skylight would recognize my magical signatures after centuries of my absence.
It whooshed open as I neared, and I flew into the sky.
Some of the guards also shifted and followed my mates and me into the air, while the rest stayed to search for threats. Henry whimpered down below, and Chiron, the dragon healer, grabbed him and flew up. Chiron had been taking good care of Henry, so the hellhound didn’t struggle, trusting the dragon not to drop him.
We landed at the back exit of the golden palace.
I inhaled a lungful of crisp air as I regarded a patch of greens that had escaped my grandfather’s madness.
I pondered. “It’ll take a while to rebuild.”
Jarrod smiled. “You’ll lead us to rebuild the realm, Your Highness.”
“Who else knew Princess Daisy had returned?” Iokul asked. He was the most cautious and suspicious one among my mates. “We didn’t broadcast it, and we cloaked our spaceship.”
Jarrod shook his head. “I didn’t know. I came to check the castle once a day after all the dragons left. I hadn’t expected to see Her Highness.”
“Someone obviously knew about our return,” Rai said.
Jarrod nodded gravely. “There’re enemies in the realm.”
I turned to gaze upon the sparkling town under the hill in the distance. Near it, pillars of flames gathered at the bank of the vast lake.
Jarrod followed my line of sight. “The king left the towns alone.”
My heart pained. “Who suffered the most losses?”
“The humans who had the least dragon blood,” Jarrod said, averting his gaze. “They didn’t fare well with dragon fire.”
Humans who only had trace amounts of dragon blood had always been looked down on by the dragon community. Not by me, though. The injustice in all the worlds saddened me.
“Jarrod, I need you to summon what’s left of the court,” I said. “From this day on, you’ll act as my Captain of the Guard.”
“I’ll be honored to hold the position, Your Highness,” Jarrod said, bowing. “Until Adrian returns.” After a pause, he continued in a grave voice. “And I have to inform you about Lady Lysandra. King Daghda took her as his consort three months ago.”
My grandfather had married right before he sent the hunters after me.
“She’s called for a High Council meeting of all six cities from her new home in the City of Amethyst. I believe she wants to officially ascend the throne as the realm’s new queen.”
CHAPTER 3
Our unofficial honeymoon ended the moment our ship had touched down on the Dragon Realm.
The more I learned about my realm, the more dismayed I became, and the more desperate my mates were to whisk me off to their kingdom.
“The castle was burned. Danger is everywhere,” Blaze said. “Jarrod doesn’t even know how many infected, psychopathic dragons are out there. In the Oslan Dominion, no one would dare lay a finger on you, and we can protect you better.”
Iokul, who usually disagreed with Blaze on everything, nodded. “Mistress will get us to our kingdom in a few hours.”
That they wanted to leave so soon disappointed me. I knew it would take a lot of effort
to rebuild my realm, but this was my home. They needed to regard it as theirs as well. They were my mates, and we’d promised each other we were all in this together.
“So, we’ll just dump ourselves in your kingdom like this?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
“It might take a while for our people to get used to the idea of all three of us having one mate,” Rai said carefully. “But they’ll get over it. It’s our choice. The king will have to accept it as well.”
“And with this union,” said Iokul, “none of the political parties or our mothers can divide us again.”
“You’ll be Oslan’s princess and future queen,” Blaze said. “The people will adore you.”
I wasn’t worried about whether the Oslanians would accept me or not. We’d wade through court politics when we finally visited the Oslan Dominion.
“I understand it’ll be a lot easier and safer to go to your homeland,” I said. “But I never promised that we’d be safe here. My grandfather sent two ships of hunters to take my heads. We expected there’d be difficulties in my realm.”
Jarrod stared at me. “The king regards you as the apple of his eye. He’d never harm you. I believe he was being influenced by another.”
“Influenced or not,” Blaze said. “We were attacked. I say we leave for Oslan, set up headquarters, and operate from there. We need to have our backs covered. Here, arrows fly from every direction, and who knows which ones will get you.”
I tightened my lips into a thin line. “It won’t work that way. If I can’t stand with my people through thick and thin, then I don’t deserve to rule them.”
Frustration flashed through Blaze’s golden eyes. He had a notorious temper. Mating with me hadn’t changed that. “You can’t rule anyone if you’re dead,” he snapped.
Rai gave Blaze a warning look.
His biting tone humiliated me, though I understood why he was borderline paranoid. “I survived just fine before all of you came along, and I am older than any of you!”
“Is it so bad that we want you to be safe and survive even longer?” Blaze bit out.
We were all still new in this relationship and none of us were experts. I’d been naïve when I’d thought we would have no quarrels after we mated.