by Meg Xuemei X
That didn’t appease me. He looked like he wanted to jump up and come to me and take me in his arms, but he didn’t move. His hands balled into fists before he released them as he restrained himself.
“You felt the great evil in the hall, didn’t you?” he asked softly.
“What is it?” I demanded.
The light dimmed in his eyes and cold rage flashed by. An instant later, he smiled at me again. “You rejected my comfort and an easy way out of this. You chose to stay here to fight for those who you care about.”
I narrowed my eyes. At some point, I’d stopped trembling. Somehow, his smile seemed to have that effect on me. Elvey was ancient, and he was also sunshine.
“You took me there just to test me?”
“That was only part of it,” he said. “That was just the beginning. There’ll be trials of fire in your path. If you think your life of slavery here is hard, think again. You won’t be any safer after you leave this shelter, neither are those who accompany you.”
My heart skipped a beat. He talked as if I would for sure break off the curse and leave this planet. But it hadn’t dropped off me, despite having kissed all three dragon princes. I didn’t feel any lighter, nor did I feel free. That was how I was supposed to feel when the curse left me, right?
A stray thought brushed across my awareness to contradict me. I’d felt my dragon stirring inside me, when Elvey had kissed me. No, he hadn’t really kissed me. Or had he?
“Is that why you showed me all the lies and illusions?”
Something dark flashed in his eyes. He knew what I meant.
Damn it. Where did this obsession with him come from? And this time I knew I couldn’t blame him for my own actions.
Was it because that glamour kiss had been too good to pass by? It had made my dragon surface for a moment, and I’d been so convinced that he was my true love.
What would it be like to really kiss him?
I bit my inner cheek again and let the sting take my mind off the carnal thoughts.
“Glamour, yes,” he said lazily, trying to defuse the sexual tension between us, yet he still studied me with interest. “But it was no lie. None of what we felt and feel is a lie.”
Had he just read my mind? But I knew he hadn’t invaded my head. Maybe my face told him everything.
“I don’t believe you,” I hissed. “You toyed with me. You abused my trust.”
“Which was necessary,” he said. “But you got your revenge. You got some strength in your punch, my darling Daisy.”
I didn’t want to hit him again. “Then don’t make an enemy out of me, darling Elvey.”
He laughed, running his hand over his curly, lavender hair, which looked more bluish under the dim light. That gesture carried innocent charm, mixing with sexiness. My heart jerked.
His grin was gone when he spoke again. “I’ll never be your enemy, Daisy. You can trust my words on that. But when you meet your real enemies, do what you did when you broke my glamour. You have the magic of light deep inside you. It’s your most lethal weapon. Learn to find it again. Learn to find a way to let it out, or you might not survive what you’ll be facing next time. You have enemies, who are more powerful than I.”
“Are they the ones who cursed me? Give me the names of my enemies.”
“It’s not the time to attract their attention to you before you’re ready, Daisy dearest.”
I knew he wouldn’t reveal anything if he didn’t feel like it, no matter how hard I tried. I glared at him.
“And I have every reason for you to live,” he said softly.
I snickered. “Your own selfish reason?”
“Yes, my own selfish reason,” he said, intense hunger darkening his vivid blue eyes. Then his gaze dipped to my lips.
He wanted me, but I didn’t plan on kissing him or inviting him to, not after what he’d showed me, not after how he’d kissed me and tasted me with an illusion.
Yet my lips zinged with want, and my body vibrated with need.
As if responding to my desire, Elvey rose to his feet and came toward me.
I threw a hand in the air, palm facing him. “Stay where you are, Elvey. I don’t want to hurt you again.”
I didn’t really stand a chance if he defended himself.
The dragon princes made my blood heat and my heart beat for them, but none of them riled me up like Elvey did. Rai, Blaze, and Iokul gave me a great sense of peace and solidity while they stoked my lust. But when Elvey showed up, he shook things up and kicked the wheel to run faster than I could pursue. And he made me chase it.
Elvey brought changes and chaos.
Not exactly a bad thing, a voice said in my head.
Elvey toned down his expression as mildly as he could, as if he was trying to calm a feisty feline that had been pushed to the corner.
I had the urge to change to my Furies and watch how he tried to tame this kitty.
He sighed and leaned back against the tree. “I might be dangerous, even cruel and lethal, but never to you.”
“Why does it matter to you whether or not I live?” I asked harshly.
“My own existence and my worth are tied to your survival.”
I didn’t hear lie in his voice, but I snickered, which was part of my defense mechanism. I couldn’t afford to let him take advantage of my vulnerability again.
“I would never hurt you, at least not intentionally,” he said.
“Did you get into my head again?”
“I don’t need to do that, and I won’t do that to you. You wear everything on your sleeve, even though you try to keep your face blank. I’m good at detecting any hidden emotions. I’ve had centuries of practices.”
“How is your existence tied to me? It seems you’ve lived well and long enough without me.”
He laughed without merit, but he did not retort. “Okay, what if I say my future is tied to you?”
Despite my cold exterior, my pulse picked up.
Was he my true mate?
He met my gaze. There was such fierce longing in his eyes that I forgave him instantly for the stunt he’d pulled. He might have done that with good intentions—he wanted me to be prepared for whatever dangers ahead of me.
“Is your Queen Tianna the one who cursed me?”
A sudden harshness swept away the pining in his eyes like violent wind.
“Do not say her name,” he snarled. “Do not draw her attention to you.”
I felt a chill climbing up my spine, but I didn’t let it show on my face as I narrowed my eyes on him. “So, she terrifies even you?”
“I do not worry about myself,” he said coldly, morphing into another person who was utterly alien to me. “Do not whisper her name to give her power,” he warned further.
“Then tell me about Who-Should-Not-Be-Whispered. How is she connected to me? Is she my enemy?”
His face turned ashen.
“Your time of staying Fae is limited, as is mine,” he said, his voice hard yet controlled. “I have no intention of letting any third party look into our conversation.”
He was telling me he wasn’t free.
Blood tie. He was enslaved by his blood tie to Queen Tianna.
He didn’t want me to say her name, for fear the queen would hear me. Was she the evil that had creeped up on me in the great hall?
Was she listening through Elvey now?
Icy rage like no other coursed in my bloodstreams, as if in my soul, I knew someone took what was mine.
Mine.
“My true purpose to seeking your audience today, Queen Fury,” Elvey said blankly as if someone was indeed watching him, but I could not tell, other than that he shivered for a second. “Is to issue a challenge of a duel.”
“You want to duel me?”
“In my counsel, captain Fomorian will duel any of the champions you choose, or yourself, for that matter, in the old arena of the City of Nine of Pandemonium. The winner takes all. If your champion wins, no hunter here will go after you agai
n, and you’ll also win my ship Mistress. But if Fomorian wins, he’ll take your heads—all three of them.”
“What if we refuse?” I said, my voice filling with steely ice.
“My ship will bomb and burn your jungle to rubble with everyone inside, until nothing remains,” he said, his voice inhuman and merciless. “Your best move is to accept the challenge.”
“You and your demons can easily ambush us in the arena,” I said.
“I’ll make sure no one cheats,” he said. Even his former smile of sunshine turned to blade now.
“How can I trust your word that it will be a fair game?” I said to my enemy.
“You can’t trust anyone,” he said. “But the duel is your only way out of here. Win or die.”
A flash of light blurred in front of me, and Elvey vanished with it.
CHAPTER 18
I flew back toward my chamber, my two Furies following me in a straight line. The jungle was spacious, but still didn’t have enough room for three of us to fly next to each other with our massive wings.
My mind wandered between Elvey and the dragon princes. It wasn’t like I had to choose between them. Elvey had played me for a fool before he’d delivered the ultimatum. He’d chosen to make an enemy out of me.
Then why did I feel like my heart was bleeding when I tore our connection off? I needed to harden my heart, so when I met him on the battlefield, I’d do what I had to do. Elvey had made it clear it was me against him and his demons.
I caught a blur of movement beneath me. As I looked, Rai, Blaze, and Iokul rushed toward me. They’d refused to wait in the chamber for me and tracked me down there.
My Fury forms landed before them, and the dragon princes were swift to brake themselves on our collision course.
Relief flashed by their eyes as they saw all of me was unharmed.
Iokul reached me first. The ice dragon hugged me to him. I was surprised. He had been the one who had mostly stayed behind and let his brothers get to me first. He was ice that had only burned when we’d fucked in the pool. Yet when he looked at me from afar and thought I wasn’t watching, I could always spot the smoldering heat in his eyes.
Blaze had mentioned casually that Iokul didn’t like people touching him, except for me.
He must have been really worried for me that he didn’t mind melting a little.
Iokul pressed his forehead on mine, and then he kissed my scaled lips, sending tiny tingling of pleasure over my skin.
His glacier burned just as hot as fire.
So far, all three dragon princes had kissed both of my Fury and Fae forms, yet I was still the Fury beasts.
The curse remained in me.
I closed my eyes as the comprehension shook me. When I had wrapped myself in Elvey’s illusion of kiss, my instinct had roared that he was my true mate. Even now I still felt the impact of that glamour kiss—haunting, deliciously addictive, and setting me on edge.
Part of me knew how the real kiss between us would be—it would be the death of fire. It would make me the moth throwing herself at the fatal flame to burn herself to dust.
The dragon princes’ kisses—no matter if they came from ice, fire, or thunder and lightning—had no disguise, but solidity and beautiful lust.
At the moment, I’d made my decision.
True loves or not—let them be damned.
I had no care if the dragon princes could break my curse or not.
Our bond had been forged, and that was what mattered.
If they would have me as what I was now—one hour a day in Fae form, the rest in my beastly forms—I’d be theirs.
“Hop on,” I told them.
They hesitated.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on,” I said. “We’ll reach my chamber faster. Plus, you don’t want me to travel alone.”
Hardly alone, actually, since I was three.
“But—”
“We’re already in an unconventional relationship,” I said. “Riding on me isn’t going to make it better or worse. If you still object to it, that’s fine. I’ll just—”
Before I finished my words and flapped my wings to take off, Blaze mounted onto my back with a lithe leap, showing off his great skill. He pecked a kiss on my head.
Iokul sent him a withering look since he’d been the closest to me, but his brother had acted fast and had the main me to himself.
Rai and Iokul strode toward my alter egos.
We resumed our course. I’d never let anyone ride me before, and dragon princes were big and heavy. But we managed just fine and arrived at my chamber in less than a half hour.
“The demon captain Fomorian has issued a challenge,” I said, as soon as they were off my back, “a death duel between him and any of us in the old gladiator arena. The winner takes all. If we win, we’ll also take their ship.”
Rai nodded. “The only ship left that can take us off this planet. And if we lose, we’ll lose it all.”
“If we lose, they’ll want my head,” I said. “They want only my heads—all three of them. You and your men still have a chance to live.”
“Over my dead body will I let them have you,” Blaze said.
Iokul’s hand went for the hilt of his sword. “They’ll have to go through us to get to you.”
“It could be a trap,” Rai said. “Elvey and the demons are the worst kind. What if we refuse the duel and fight them with all we have?”
“Elvey threatened to bomb and level my jungle with everyone inside,” I said, and Blaze snarled in rage.
“They have the means to do just that as they have one of the most powerful battleships,” Rai said gravely.
New Hope had been destroyed, though it had taken down Falling Star.
“I thought Elvey would have volunteered for the duel,” Blaze said. He was still angry that Elvey had cut a piece of his armor last time. He wanted to duel with Elvey.
Elvey was much older than all of us. I figured he’d spent lots of time either on the battlefield or in the bedroom. A sour feeling rose in me at the idea that he’d had been with many different females. That was why he was such an excellent kisser, even though that kiss hadn’t been real. I shook off the images of him entangled with a woman in bed.
I had seen how he fought. It was better none of us dueled with him.
“Elvey nominated himself as a judge,” I said.
Blaze sneered. “No one will accept his position.”
“We’ve never fought Fomorian in person,” Rai said, “but we battled his minions. We don’t know how good the demon captain is.” He was always the most considerate one and liked to think things through from all angles.
“It doesn’t matter,” Iokul said. “I’ll duel him.”
“Not a chance,” Blaze said. “I’ll face him in the arena.”
“Then the three of us should fight it out and the winner will fight Fomorian,” said Rai.
Iokul sighed. “We’ve done this before. We all know when it comes to sword fighting I’m the best in the realm. This isn’t about vanity or bravery. Daisy’s life is on the line. I’ll duel Fomorian.”
Blaze and Rai silenced for a few seconds and nodded.
“Maybe I should duel him myself,” I said.
“Absolutely not,” all three princes yelled at the same time.
“Elvey didn’t say exactly what the rule is,” I said. “Three of my Furies can take one demon captain.”
“It’s the Old Country rule when it comes to dueling,” Rai said. “He doesn’t need to specify. And you’ll be nowhere near that arena when the duel occurs.”
There was no chance of that happening, but I didn’t intend to argue with them now.
“We’ll split our team,” Rai said. “Half will stay here to guard Daisy, and the other half will go to the arena.”
“Did Elvey set the time?” Iokul asked.
“High noon tomorrow,” I said.
“I’ll be ready,” said Iokul.
My throat tightened, and my lungs constricte
d. I turned my face away from the dragon princes, so they wouldn’t see the wretched fear in my eyes.
What if I lost him? What if I lost all of them?
“Daisy,” Iokul said. “I won’t lose. I’ve never lost in a swordfight. It’s the best solution for us. Winner takes it all, and we’ll take the ship and leave.”
Even so, I couldn’t leave. The curse bound me here. But at least they could leave. And I wanted them to leave me and the doomed planet behind.
However, I wanted to give them one last gift before they departed if we won.
“About my curse,” I started.
They shared a look. Pain and bitterness filled every dragon prince’s eyes.
“We know we aren’t your true loves, since the curse still binds you to your Fury forms,” Rai said. “We failed you.”
“No,” I said, my voice croaking.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t love you, Daisy,” Blaze said. “We’ve all fallen for you, no matter what form you take, but by fate, we aren’t destined for you.”
“Fate means nothing,” I said. “Fate doesn’t get to decide what true love is. For some reason, my curse stays with me, but it doesn’t mean you have to carry yours.”
They looked at me in bewilderment.
The term to lift their curses was that they either cut off my heads or make me fall in love with them.
I knew they’d never agree to cut my three heads.
“All of you are in my heart,” I said. “But you still can’t shift.”
I needed to let them have this knowledge that they were more than worthy of my love. Maybe all that was needed was to believe, and then their curses would fall off.
“Your curses should be gone by now,” I continued. “Have you tried to shift?”
Blaze shook his head with a wishful smile. “Just like you, we don’t feel the curses leaving us either.”
“Maybe we’ve done it wrong?” I said. “Maybe there’s something else we need to do?”
The princes’ masked faces lit up as they saw another hope.