by Ginna Moran
The world zooms around me, and I shriek in agony at the intense pain brought on by the glowing hands tangled in my hair. Someone drags me up and back to the cave. The rocks slice and scrape my back. I can’t stop the tears from trickling from my eyes.
I land on the warm rock floor, and a figure materializes above me. Blue electricity flickers in Lazlo’s eyes as his face sharpens in my view. A sadistic smile curves his lips. He has the gall to press his shiny shoe into my stomach hard enough to make me gag.
“Get up, Delphia. Don’t make me spell you. It’s far easier to transport you if you just comply. If you don’t, I will stop your heart this second.” Lazlo unsheathes a golden dagger, sparkling in the firelight.
I lock my fingers to his leg, trying to yank it out from under him. “Fuck off. I’m not going.”
Lazlo narrows his eyes and aims the dagger at me. “Difficult like your bitch of a mother. Last chance. Stop fighting or die.”
“Nova, fight!” Maddox yells, his voice ripping through my mind.
Fire explodes through the cave, sending heat through my body.
“Fight!” Kash says, his voice swirling with Maddox’s.
I gasp at Kash’s presence, my body reacting to realizing he’s okay.
Lazlo growls and grabs the front of my shirt, hoisting me upright. I flail and punch, swinging my arms, doing whatever I can to get him to let me go. Electricity ignites in his free hand, and he drops it onto my legs, zapping me with power. I screech and thrash as my muscles pulse and shudder. I fall to my back with a thud, the pain hard to push through.
“Nova, please. Don’t stop fighting,” Rowan says, his voice sounding low and whispery in my mind. “Don’t let him take you.”
I summon my strength and launch myself forward, tackling Lazlo around his legs. He falls back under my attack, hitting the ground hard. I claw my way up his body, my veins glowing like lava. Heat cascades over me, and I feel as if my dragon will burst from me at any second.
Reaching down, I grab the front of Lazlo’s shirt and prepare to punch him in his face. He intercepts my hand, his strength enough to make me scream. He squeezes my fingers, the intense pain shadowing the edges of my vision. If he doesn’t stop, he’ll break my hand.
“Stop fighting,” Lazlo commands, his eyes glowing with blue power.
“Never,” I say, gritting my teeth. “Just let me the fuck go.”
“I didn’t want it to be this way, but you left me no choice, Delphia.” Lazlo shoves me off him, tackling me to the ground.
A roar echoes through the cave, followed by another and another as the Drekis close in on us. Heat wafts through the air, the scent of cinnamon giving me the strength to swing my arm and punch Lazlo in the throat.
But I’m too slow.
Locking his fingers to my wrist, he pins me down. I don’t have a chance to scream or plead for my life. I can’t even think about the Drekis’ names. I close my eyes and brace for the gold dagger to end my life.
Lazlo jabs the blade into my stomach, and I scream.
I pray for a swift death.
Chapter 18
Prison Break
I BLINK IN and out of consciousness, the pain coursing through every molecule on my body making it impossible to remain awake. The cool darkness of my mind is as sweet as what my death that never came was supposed to be.
A soft cry keeps me from fading away, and I roll onto my side. The deep ache in my belly forces me to curl in on myself. I breathe a deep lungful of stale air, focusing on listening to my surroundings. Water trickles from somewhere nearby, and the hum of power creates static in the air. The scent of dirt, earthy and green, leads me to believe I’m somewhere outside. Perhaps the expansive forest surrounding the prison. But I can’t be sure. I’m not even sure if I’m truly alive or not. I felt the blade stab into me. I felt something inside me sever, my soul feeling as if it abandoned me to drop my body into this hell.
“We must cross now,” a feminine voice says, snapping my attention away from the soft crying. “They are already on the hunt. The magical barrier around the prison has been restored. You underestimated the High Council, Lazlo. Not to mention how the sky now thunders with guardians in search of Delphia.”
“I need time. Collect on every debt within those blasted walls if you have to. Create as much chaos as you can to keep the Drekis away.” Lazlo’s cool hand slaps my cheek. “I can’t have them involved.”
I try to remain still under his unwanted touch.
“It’s not the Drekis circling the skies. They’re not the only ones searching for the Drakovich descendant. It’s another clan.” The woman’s voice lowers in annoyance. “Why you chose to take this one is beyond me. You should’ve let her rot.”
“Considering she is much like her mother, I find value in her,” Lazlo snaps. “And obviously there is something about her that we might find of some use since the dragons gather. We could use her to our advantage and proceed with our plan. The High Council will be far too concerned with this mess that they won’t even realize what’s about to come.”
“I trust you, brother. Do not fail us.” A strange smoky scent, followed by a burst of white light, turns my vision red. The woman vanishes, leaving my mind reeling.
Cold fingers dig into my chin as Lazlo grips my face and jerks my head toward him. “Open your mouth. I need you in better shape.”
I clench my jaw, not giving into his demand.
The fucker digs his nails into my cheeks and shoves his fingers to my lips, prying at my mouth to get me to open up. I thrash under him, refusing to stop fighting just like the Drekis told me, and contort my leg to hook it around Lazlo’s neck from behind, pulling him closer to me. Jerking my head up, I head-butt him in the chin. He grumbles and jams his finger into my stomach wound, sending agony through me.
I scream, only to have Lazlo shove something strangely sweet and sticky, and hot as hell, in my mouth. He slaps his hand over my lips, forcing me to swallow the gross lump of jelly-like substance.
“If you’d prefer to do things the difficult way, I could cut off those brandings and see what happens.” Lazlo grabs my wrist, freaking me out. “It might give me enough time to get you through to break the barrier. The gate will not be able to withstand the interruption in power and the force of the Drakovich dragon breaking free. So what would you prefer? I don’t care either way. I will get what I want from you. Now eat more.”
Lazlo pinches another piece of jelly substance between his fingers and hovers it to my lips. I reluctantly open my mouth and let him place it on my tongue. I gag at the overly sweet flavor, but he’s quick to cover my mouth, forcing me to swallow.
Lazlo links his fingers to the front of my jumpsuit and pops open the buttons on my middle without asking. I whack him as he tries to unfasten one over my breast, making him laugh. Pressing his hand to my chest, he pins me in place and slips his hand across my stomach. I cringe and buck my body, repulsed by his touch.
“Oh, stop it. Dragons aren’t my type. I was only checking to see if your wound healed since you had to be so difficult.” Lazlo locks his hand to my wrist and yanks my hand up to get a closer look. “I will barely have time to take care of these, but first...”
Tugging a collar from a bag, he wraps it around my neck before I can fight. It locks in place, scorching my skin with magic. The pain thankfully fades as quickly as it did with the brands, but my muscles tense and shudder, reacting in a way that sends panic through me.
“There. A collar to tame your beast. Now, hold still so I can deactivate your brands.” Lazlo gets to his feet and waltzes a few feet away.
I turn my gaze to him, wondering if I can manage to scramble to my feet while his back is turned. A cry sounds over my heavy breathing, and I gawk at Rose, curled in on herself, blood dripping from her chest and a sparkling silver substance trickling from her un-clipped wings, the rings ripped off.
“I bet this trickster fairy regrets bargaining with you over her escape now,” Lazlo says to me w
ith a wicked grin. Rose whimpers as he drags her to her feet by her wings. “Lucky for you, Delphia, you will no longer have a debt with her. She will serve us well.”
Digging his fingers into Rose’s wings, he coats his hand in the glittering liquid substance. Rose glowers and fights against Lazlo, but he’s far too strong for her. A part of her wing disintegrates under Lazlo’s touch. My heart slides into my stomach, my whole body reacting to the pain he puts her through.
“Brekiticha vulosa mahiter explusiviton,” Lazlo says, deepening his voice. His eyes light with blue electricity at the foreign words not from the Mortal World. Power hums through the air, zinging through me. In the distance, thunder claps, and a bolt of lightning crackles across the sky. “Delphia Drakovich luminatisto fyreh nekorb.”
The brands on my hands erupt in red light. My skin sizzles and smoke wafts, but I don’t feel any pain.
“Eerf reh tes morf eht nogard avallisito batinitestia!” A flash of light blinds me with his words, and the world disappears for a few seconds, maybe a few minutes.
Energy hums through me, my spirit broken and seemingly spread nowhere and everywhere. Heat flourishes through me, burning from my hands and up my arms. My muscles ache with a need I’ve never felt before, and they clench and relax to the erratic beating of my heart.
“Delphia, you are free of the binds in which they contain you. Open your eyes, beautiful beast and let me see your dragon fire.” Lazlo’s voice booms through the air with another clap of thunder.
Snapping my eyes open, I stare at the world, now hazed and glowing with strange magic like I can see the life force in everything around me—from the shrubs to the trees, the bugs, the animals in the sky, everything. Confusion washes over me at the view of the world. Where I looked up at everything before, I now see into the treetops. Lazlo claps his hands from below, and fury rushes through me.
I open my mouth to scream, and with my breath explodes a stream of mesmerizing fire that swallows Lazlo whole for a second until it fades and he reappears, holding a ball of dragon fire in his hands. It’s now that I realize what the fuck is going on. The world has changed because I have changed. I’m no longer Nova Noble of the Mortal World. The cage in which the High Council contained me has been shattered, allowing my dragon—my true self—free. With certainty, I now know the truth of my existence. I am a dragon. I am the last female descendant of the Drakovich Clan. I—
Something tightens around my throat, stealing the thoughts from my mind. Lazlo stands in front of me, stretching his hands out as a glowing chain made of pure magic lashes from his hands to encircle me. His form shifts with his use of power, his mouth widening with fangs intended to protrude from the jaw of a beast and not a man. Wrapping the magical chain around his arm, he yanks it, dragging me forward. My dragon body tips, my mind struggling to process how to even move, and I land on my belly, shaking the ground around us.
“Relax, my sweet beast. Obey me and you’ll be fine. We will break through the gate soon.” Lazlo rests his palm to my snout.
I should be scared. I should be pissed off. But a huge part of me anticipates Lazlo opening the portal to the Mortal World. Why he needs me to do this, I have no idea. All I know is that I can’t wait to leave Magaelorum. Lazlo can’t possibly control me forever. I will figure out how to end him and return home.
Huffing a smoky breath through my nostrils, I refrain from trying to devour Lazlo. He returns my lack of action with a smile and turns his back toward me. Extending his arms, he raises them out and over his head. Magic crackles between his glittering palms, still coated with Rose’s blood. She floats to her feet, not touching the ground, locked in some sort of invisible trap. Her head lolls, and I can’t stop my heart from screaming as Lazlo shoots his power at her, igniting her in electric light.
“Eaf esor springitivia proburositolorum,” Lazlo says. Energy swirls through the air around us, blowing a breeze to lift Rose’s hair and sending her silver blood into a magical tornado. She gasps and yells, her musical voice echoing through the air.
“Nova! Nova use your bond. Call to your mates. They will find yo—” Rose screeches with another blast of Lazlo’s power that lights up her entire body. Brilliant blue light explodes from her as her form disappears into a cloud of sparkling magic.
Oh, fuck.
A roar escapes from my dragon mouth, the rumble quaking the world around us. Lazlo spins on his feet to face me, gathering more power into his hands, flicking it around me again in a chain that catches my muzzle, silencing me.
“Delphia, granto lassolioliem encantran flittin lunaromelious trecatal!” Lazlo shouts the words, yanking on the magical chain. “Your beast is mine!”
“No!” I scream the word in my mind, fighting the best I can against the restraints Lazlo drags toward the brilliant light that consumed Rose. “I’m not yours. I don’t belong to you. You can’t have me! I belong to the Drekis. I am theirs.”
The electric chain wrapping my snout snaps free, recoiling toward Lazlo. His eyes widen, and he dodges out of the way of my wrath. A strange smoky scent wafts through the air, and thunder claps in the sky—not thunder, the wings of dragons. The ground shudders beneath me, trembling at my fury.
Jerking my neck, I break the chain from my collar, and it whips around with my movements, sending fire cutting across the ground. Lazlo’s too slow to dodge it, and the buzzing chain collides into his legs. He falls off his feet and lands on his back with a thump. He howls in pain, using his arms to protect himself. A cage of power blocks my fiery breath, but I refuse to stop fighting. I’ll rip him in half like he claims I did to his brother. I will ensure he never hurts anyone again, but especially not me.
My claws scratch into the ground, leaving deep crevices as I close the distance. Lazlo bares his teeth and manages to push up on an elbow. He shoots power at me, knocking me back. I shriek and thrash, whacking trees out of my way. This form is far too big to get used to. I have wings and a tail and four legs instead of two. A long neck and pearlescent red and orange scales. All of these things slow me down instead of turning me into the agile, flexible Sky Dancer of Galaxy Gold’s.
Lazlo throws another blast of power at me, and then another and another. My chest tightens, my veins cooling. Ice drips through my body to replace the molten lava flowing in my soul. I try to breathe fire at him, but only steam escapes my mouth. Something’s wrong. He’s putting out my dragon fire, stealing every ounce of my warmth.
“Nova, fight. Get up and fight.” Rowan’s gruff voice hums in my mind.
Maddox growls, his presence in my head vibrating to my very soul. “Don’t you fucking stop, cookie. Show him he can’t tame you.”
“Show him the strength and power only found in the Drekis’ mate.” Kash’s wave of determination floods me, pushing my dragon form to straighten its shoulders and meet Lazlo’s glowing eyes.
Something hot and fiery and indescribable explodes in my core, battling the cold washing through me from Lazlo’s magic. Fear widens Lazlo’s eyes, and his magic falters, sputtering out with my roar that blows all the leaves off the tree behind him. Smoke pours from my nostrils a second before the smoldering dragon fire inside me bursts free more powerful than I’ve been able to manage. Lazlo curls in on himself, yelling through the white and yellow flames. The world trembles and he vanishes into thin air.
I drop to the ground at the exertion of summoning all of my strength. The brilliant light of the portal remains illuminating the world around me in a soft glow. Blinking the haze from my eyes, I lose myself to the magic, feeling it hum through the air. The soft voices of the Dreki brothers trickle through my mind, far quieter than they had been.
“Nova,” a soft, melodic voice says. “I need your help. Please, get up. You have to get up.”
Rose’s voice draws me from the swirl of the Drekis’ emotions coursing through my soul. Fluttering my eyes open, I stare at the moon above me and watch as a dragon speeds across the sky, breathing fire into the wind. Panic rushes through me at
the sight of the unfamiliar beast, though I’m not sure he can see me now in my human form below.
“Nova, come on. It’s closing. We have to hurry,” Rose says, her voice drawing my attention from the sky. “It might be our only chance to leave Magaelorum.”
“But the Drekis—”
Two clawed hands snatch my wrists, yanking me from the ground, cutting off my words. My world jostles, my body refusing to put up much of a fight as my back rests against a furry chest. Quillon restrains me against him, his arms resting under my naked breasts, his hairy nether region grazing my ass, but I don’t feel his dick.
“This is our only chance. We gotta move,” Quillon says. “Don’t fucking fight and trust me, Delphia.”
I buck in his arms, jerking my head back in an attempt to break from his hold. “How the fuck are you here? Let me go, asshole.”
“Not until we cross.” Quillon slings me under his arm, ignoring that I slap and punch his furry leg, ripping and pinching, doing anything I can think of to get him to release me. But I’m either too weak or he can take a lot of shit in his lycan form. “Rose, give me your hand.”
Rose groans from the ground, her skin as pink as her hair. She struggles to lift her arms to get help from the ground. Quillon drags her up and curls her over his shoulder. I can’t stop myself from jerking to meet her gaze. Silver blood drips from her nostrils, pointy ears, tear ducts, and the corner of her mouth. A part of me aches to see her in this condition but another part of me screams that these two aren’t my mates. They don’t care about me and will try to use me in the Mortal World.
Reaching out her hand, Rose touches my cheek. “You’ll feel better once we cross. Brace yourself, Nova. It’s about to get really cold for you.”
Quillon rushes us into the brilliant light, the world turning white like color and darkness no longer exist. My heart screams in pain, feeling as if it severs from my body. I gasp and yell, my muscles tensing. Something feels utterly and completely wrong. My mind and soul beg and scream and cry for me to break free from Quillon because if I don’t, I think I might just die. But my body refuses to cooperate, fading with my exhaustion.