I had nothing to do with my father’s despicable ways and the sooner the bastard let go of that the sooner I would be trusted by his damn people. I was beginning to think coming here was a grave mistake on my part. I had a limited amount time and a lot to accomplish.
“Is there a reason you feel the need to punish me for my father’s sins? I’m not the one who sent a woman to his weyr. However, you did.” My voice was as cold as ice and everyone in the room sat up straighter and became visibly uncomfortable. The hostility was thick.
“It was not my choice,” Nicolai shouted and slammed his fists on the table in front of me sending paper flying everywhere.
The veins in his neck stood out and his Dragon was dangerously close to the surface. Had this woman been his mate? His lover?
“Our sister went on her own,” Seth said quietly. “We knew nothing of it until it was far too late. I didn’t see it coming.”
The bile in my stomach rose and it was all I could do to hold back my own shift and go attack my father.
My God, I could end the regime on my own. No one else needed to die. My father wanted me dead. Maybe if I just showed up unexpectedly, I’d have a chance to kill him where he stood. I’d most likely die a violent death after the fact, but what was one life compared to all the lives he’d taken already? And I had something my father didn’t have—something he’d never have. We both had hatred within us, but I had my son—and love was far stronger than hate. My son would always be loved and taken care of—I’d made sure of that. I just needed to make his world a safer place. That I could do. I had to.
I was now convinced my being here was wrong. Seth was the damn Seer. If he didn’t see his own sister’s death, why should I believe that he saw my help would end my father’s reign of terror?
“It’s not an exact science,” Elaina said as she stood and put her hand on an ashen Seth’s shoulder. “Seth’s visions tend to the positive, not the negative. There is no way he could have known.”
“I’m sorry,” I said to Elaina and Seth. “Sorry is a paltry word, but it’s all I have.”
She nodded and sat back down.
“Blood is thick, Princess,” Nicolai stated and stood his ground. “You have his blood. You have his ways.”
“Actually it’s not,” I disagreed and went toe to toe with Nicolai. “It’s rather watery and means little to nothing to my father. Ask my mother and my three brothers. Oh wait, you can’t because he murdered them with his bare hands right in front of me. So if you believe my ways are similar to my father’s, you are more of a fool than I thought you were to have insisted I come here in the first place.”
Small fires began to ignite off of both Nicolai and me. Five more minutes and the entire room would be engulfed in flames.
“Stop it. Now,” Seth said as he stood and came between his brother and myself. “My vision is clear. We will succeed together. It’s the only way.”
Silver smoke drifted ominously from Nicolai’s nose and his eyes glowed a brilliant green. He wanted to tear my head off and I was feeling dangerously close to returning the favor.
He was dressed casually in jeans and a green t-shirt that matched his eyes. It was completely distracting and I stared at the table so I wouldn’t kill him or jump him. The Dragons watched in rabid fascination wondering if someone—meaning me—was going to die.
Seth, Elaina and Lenny pulled Nicolai back while about a dozen more Dragons—male and female—sat forward and looked on.
The females watched Nicolai with hungry eyes, which infuriated me. We were here to figure out how to off my father, not get laid by an arrogant asshole.
Inhaling slowly and exhaling even slower, I made eye contact with Seth and decided to give it one more try. If they still refused to accept me I would leave—vision or no.
“My father’s inner circle is solid,” I said evenly, ignoring what had passed only moments ago. “They might not love him, but they’re loyal.”
“Why?” Seth asked.
I was no longer angry with Seth and he had regained my trust. He’d kept my secret about Daniel which was more than I’d expected. After a long talk, I’d realized he’d never led me to believe we were anything more than friends and he still treated me exactly the same as before.
He was a hugger and a hand holder. Seth was kind and affectionate with everyone. I wasn’t jealous when he touched others. I just loved when he touched me. It was brotherly and protective. For him and for Daniel, I would try.
“Because he has something on everyone. That’s how he works. If my father isn’t blackmailing someone, he threatens the lives of the people his inner circle love. And they are not idle threats. He makes good on his promises.”
I shuddered remembering how much pleasure he’d taken in tearing my older brothers and mother to shreds. It was hundreds of years ago, but the memory had played in my mind and my nightmares since the horrid day.
“So she’s staying?” a leggy and obnoxious, beautiful blonde Dragon named Maria demanded, staring daggers at me.
Several Dragons around the large table hissed under their breath and I raised my eyebrows at the hostility. I had known it would be hard to win them over, but I was getting weary of the veiled threats. I’d been sleeping holding my knives the entire week. It was getting old fast. If Nicolai didn’t show me respect, none of them would.
Maria was hot for teacher and saw me as a threat to her chances with Nicolai. I was very aware she didn’t give a damn whose daughter I was. She was thinking with her crotch as most Dragons did. Maria and at least ten other horny female Dragons could not have been more wrong. I wanted nothing to do with the pig. The sexual chemistry between Nicolai and me was unavoidable and everyone had noticed, including Seth. Seth had even tried to talk to me about it, which didn’t end well—for him.
“She has a name,” I said calmly as I sat back in my chair and narrowed my eyes at her. “It’s Dima and I’d suggest you use it…Maria. I’m equally as in charge as Nicolai and I will brook no insubordinate behavior. Are we clear…Maria?”
“I will listen to Nicolai, not her,” she snapped angrily. “If she persists, I will challenge her.”
The room went silent and my grin widened. Maybe I didn’t have Nicolai’s respect, but Maria had just given me the opening to get everyone else’s. The entirety of the room watched with bloodthirsty interest. God, Dragons were so predictable.
“Ohhhh Maria, Maria, Maria, that’s such a short sighted choice. However, I will accept your challenge. I’ve been itching to beat the hell out of someone the whole miserable week I’ve been here. Since it’s not appropriate for me to kick Nicolai’s ass being that we’re partners and all, I suppose tearing you apart will suffice. Does sundown work for you?” I inquired politely.
Nicolai’s audible grunt of displeasure at my show of disrespect for him somewhat satisfied my need to throat punch him—not completely, but enough to hold me over.
Elaina pressed her hand to her mouth to hide a small smile, but Lenny did no such thing. His grin was wide and his appreciation for me increased. That pleased me for some bizarre reason. He’d not spoken more than two words to me since we’d arrived at the compound, but I knew he was constantly watching.
“I didn’t challenge you. I believe I said I was going to challenge you,” Maria spat, but didn’t completely back down.
“I beg to differ. I heard challenge, I accepted. And you will regret it,” I explained slowly as if English was her second language. “Are you withdrawing?
“Of course not,” she shot back angrily. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Since what my kind understood most was violence, it was fitting that I fight someone to gain respect. Maria was an ideal choice. I didn’t like her and she certainly didn’t like me. However, she needed to respect me. They all did and if it took some bloodshed, far be it from me to decline.
“I look forward to it,” I said. “Sundown or midnight?”
Maria wasn’t quite as
confident as she was only moments ago, but a Dragon never walked away from a challenge—ever.
“Sundown will be fine,” she said with a sneer, making her attractive face ugly. “Dragon or human?”
Everyone waited in silence for my answer. Nicolai seemed particularly intrigued—he was most likely hoping I got my ass handed to me. He would be sorely disappointed.
I just shrugged. “Your choice,” I told her. “I’ll win either way.”
Maria stood and turned her back on me—a blatant show of disdain. With a nod to Nicolai and the others, she left the room.
Slowly I let my glance scan the room, I made eye contact with every Dragon there. These were the lieutenants of the Resistance and if they didn’t back me in here, they wouldn’t back me in battle. I didn’t know their pasts and I didn’t care to, but they could not have been as violent and as horrific as mine. I didn’t need their undying love, but I needed their trust and I needed to trust them in return.
“I’ll say this once and then I’m done. I have been through hell and back so many times, I can’t tell the difference anymore. The Marias in life don’t bother me. I can tear them to shreds then go to a tea party. My heart is hard and I care about very little. However, my sense of justice and injustice is very clear. My life is dedicated to destroying my father like he destroyed my mother and brothers, along with countless others. I don’t give a damn if any of you like me, but you will respect me or I will leave your petty Resistance and kill my father all by my lonesome.” I took a deep breath and continued. “You have not succeeded alone, so I would suggest embracing my presence. According to Seth, without me you will continue to fail.”
“I do believe you have not succeeded on your own either, Princess,” Nicolai stated in measured tone as he watched me with an expression I could define.
It looked somewhat like begrudging respect, but I wouldn’t lay money on it.
“This is true,” I conceded. “But I have more reason than ever to destroy him. I have everything to lose. This makes me far more dangerous than I’ve been in all my 499 years, Asscrack.”
“What did you just call me?” Nicolai asked with a disbelieving look of horror on his stupidly pretty face.
All eyes in the room were now wide with amused shock. Apparently irreverence and violence gained points with these fire breathers.
“Asscrack,” I replied evenly. “However, if you’re more comfortable with Assbucket or Asscanoe, I’ll happily oblige. You stop with the Princess crap and I’ll stop with the ass names.”
Shaking his head and biting back a grin he nodded. “You win this round…Dima.”
Damn it to hell, my name sounded like sex on his lips—and he knew it. I couldn’t catch a break here if it bit me.
“So Dima, you say you’re 499?” he asked with far too much interest for my liking.
“Are you deaf?” I shot back to titters from the peanut gallery of Dragons watching.
They were beginning to like me…maybe.
“Do you have a death wish?” he shot back with full laughter now coming from the occupants of the room.
“Some would say yes, but I would patently disagree,” I said coolly—apparently I was a little hasty with the like thing. “The only death I wish for is that of my father. Anymore questions?”
“Just one,” he said and crossed into my personal space.
His scent made me dizzy and I longed to either caress him or punch him—both would have satisfied. Although I was leaning toward the punch.
“Why do you have everything to lose? What is this everything you speak of?”
Me and my damn mouth. With a covert look at Seth, I raised my eyes to the man I couldn’t stand and who made me want things I would never have. “That’s for me to know and no one else to find out. Some secrets are meant to be kept, Nicolai. I’m quite sure you have some doozies.”
“Does your secret affect the lives of my people?” he demanded with narrowed eyes.
“Only in that it will make me fight harder for the end of the man who wants all of us destroyed. And that’s all any of you will ever need to know.”
With that, I turned to walk out of the room. I was done playing nice with Dragons. The faster my father was eliminated, the faster I could leave and never lay eyes on any of these people again.
“One more thing, Princess,” Nicolai said.
I ground my teeth at the repeated mention of my title and waited.
“Try not to kill Maria tonight. The Resistance can’t afford to lose too many.”
He raised an eyebrow and gave me a smirk that made me like him a little, not that he ever would know. I shrugged and gave him a mock salute.
“I’ll do my best, but that will depend on her, Asslump,” I replied as I turned on my heel and left.
The laughter and shocked gasps from the Dragons in the room were music to my ears—not to mention Nicolai’s indignant, furious grunt. But this was too difficult to keep up for long. My inner Dragon had ideas about Nicolai that were not going to happen in this lifetime—tamping her down was becoming increasingly exhausting. Not to mention constantly watching my back sucked.
Being around so many of my own kind was waking up my sexual appetites—it wasn’t Nicolai at all. Maybe I should find someone here to put out the fire. It might clear my head and make my inner Dragon shut the hell up. However, the best scenario was eliminating my father and getting out of here as quickly as possible before I did something stupid.
There were many reasons my being here was a bad idea…the very least of them was my attraction to the man who clearly hated me and I despised in return. They didn’t want me here and I didn’t want to be here, but I was practical enough to realize I needed them. They just had to realize they needed me as well.
My father’s downfall could not come soon enough.
***
“You probably shouldn’t kill her,” Lenny said as came from out of nowhere and caught up with my brisk pace.
It was almost sundown as I made my way to the outdoor training area of the compound. It was enormous, as we were Dragons after all and needed an absurd amount of space when we shifted. Lenny’s company was a welcome relief from my own jumbled thoughts.
Lenny shortened his stride. His legs were much longer than mine.
“Why’s that?” I asked. “She’s disrespectful and I’m losing ground here. I don’t have time to slowly earn trust. One quick beheading and I’m in,” I said half-joking half-not.
The thought was actually repugnant to me. In my long life, I’d only killed in self-defense or in defense of someone else. Sadly, I’d had to defend myself repeatedly over the years and I had become quite adept at ending lives. My father’s assassins were never far behind me. I realized early on that you didn’t have to like something to be good at it.
“You’ll be sorry,” Lenny said.
“Lenny, the cryptic stuff isn’t really working for me. If you’ve got a point, then get to it. I would hazard a guess that Maria is going to go for the kill. I’d also guess that she’s a sloppy and easily distracted fighter by the way she conducts herself in life. She’s also stupid.”
“Really?” Lenny asked with a slight grin.
“Yep. She’s stupid because she’s fighting me over a man. A man I don’t want—a man who utterly disgusts me. She could die because of petty jealously. Men are simply not worth dying for.”
“All men?” he asked, pulling me to a halt and making direct eye contact.
My stomach lurched as I wondered what he meant. Did he know about Daniel? He had powers I couldn’t even begin to explain—could he read minds? I stared back evenly and considered my words carefully.
“There is one male I would die for. I’d die for him happily,” I said holding his gaze. “Is that the answer you were looking for?”
“It is,” he replied with a knowing smile.
“It’s not Nicolai,” I blurted, then smacked myself in the head and quickly resumed walking. Oh my God. Where in the hell did tha
t come from?
Lenny chuckled, nodded and kept pace next to me. “No one knows what the future will hold.”
“Lenny you’re kind of a walking nightmare and you’re starting to ride my nerves.”
“Yes, well, I’m good like that,” he replied. “But back to the matter at hand. Don’t kill Maria.”
“Is that all I’m going to get here?” Frustrated didn’t begin to cover my feelings. I was almost ready to have a go at Lenny.
“Do you want more?”
“It might be a bit helpful,” I snapped sarcastically as he tried to suppress a grin.
He failed.
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