Fraser shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.” His jaw tensed. “The goddess took me to a separate realm, milord. Gaia is not all there is.”
“A separate realm?” Rayse stood and started pacing. He ran a hand over his hair.
“She rules in a city named Ayesrial. We aren’t the only dragons, not even the strongest. Gaia is all we know, but there’s a whole other world out there. A city of dragons.”
It sounded to Rayse like a long tale of horseshit. The scale was too large for him to wrap his mind around. A whole city?
“Its larger than Everndale,” Fraser continued. “Larger than the whole of Yvrdeen and Falron combined, even.”
“How would one get there?”
“Magic. There are certain spells. Ones the Mother don’t reveal easily.”
“This is a lot to process.”
“Be prepared, milord.”
“Prepared?”
“She has squadrons of dragons,” Fraser said. “Her trusted warriors. Drakin, she calls them. Should she want Gaia, it will be easy to take. And judging by what she made Marzia do, you’re not on her good side.”
“What does the goddess want with me?”
“I don’t know.”
Rayse exhaled a long breath. He wanted to go back to Constance. He had wronged her and accused her of something she hadn’t done. He needed to apologize. He had made her cry. He cursed internally. He was such a terrible mate.
“Bring Marzia here,” Rayse said. “I’ll see what Constance can do. I’m not even sure if she’ll help.”
Fraser dropped to the floor and knelt. The warrior placed a hand over his chest. “Thank you, milord.”
“Go. Hurry before I change my mind.”
What was taking Fraser so long? Marzia breathed warm air into her hands and rubbed them together. The embers were dimming. She scooted over to the campfire and added more wood.
She hated being this alone all the time. The darkness was killing her. She felt like she was slipping, losing it as the guilt of the murders accompanied her thoughts and chipped at her conscience.
“Forgive me,” she told them.
The voices continued to torment her.
“Please,” she begged. “Leave me alone.”
Fraser had to return soon. She was cold without him, and she couldn’t rest, not unless she had his presence as comfort.
He’s back here in Gaia, she told herself. We’ll be fine.
After he returned, they’d go into hiding and live a life in peace together. It would be blissful and perfect. She would finally release herself from this nightmare, and she wouldn’t have to fear for her life. She could spend the rest of her days with her lover, sitting on the back of his wings while their many sons flew next to them in dragonling form.
A smile brushed her lips as she pictured their future. It was going to be wonderful. She envisioned happiness, days without worries. She curled up, pulling her coat close. She shut her eyes and shook back and forth, trying to forget the chilling air and the pain throbbing through her ankle.
Their future would be nothing like this cold, damp place, where she only had the whirring sounds of the winds as unwanted companions. It would be warm, with sunny skies and Fraser at her side. Despite the voices, she smiled, and hummed a soft tune to lessen the thumping of her heart.
A figure blocked the moonlight from her cave. She stirred and lifted her head from her knees. She glanced at the entrance and grinned. “Fraser—”
There was something wrong about him. His shoulders were hunched over, and his steps were quiet. Too quiet. Like an animal stalking its prey.
She stood up while wondering what was wrong with her mate. “Love, are you all right?”
As he moved closer, the flames from the campfire lit his features. He was looking at her not with the warmth she expected, but hate.
“Love?”
Realization of what was happening dawned on her. She inched back. “Fraser, it’s me.”
A growl ripped through his chest.
She backed into the cave. Fright crawled under her skin.
“Please,” she begged.
He snarled and leapt at her.
Chapter 19
Constance’s eyes fluttered open. She hadn’t experienced any bad dreams or horrible traumatic flashbacks. She had been in a deep, dreamless sleep, something she was incredibly grateful for.
The first face she saw when waking up was Rayse. He was lying next to her, in his ever-present perfection. She hadn’t even realized he’d joined her in their bed last night. She had subconsciously nuzzled up to him in her sleep. Her pulse raced, as it usually did when he came close. His skin was too comfortable against hers, and bathed her with warmth. She trailed her hand down his chest to his stomach and traced the muscles of his abdomen.
His eyes blinked open. They met hers and her breath hitched. “Morning, little fire,” he said, his usually coarse, raspy voice somehow soothing.
“Good morning.”
The dawn’s sunlight shone through the curtains in a light orange, casting faint shadows on Rayse’s face. He stared down at her with his obsidian gaze, making her throat dry.
“Are you still mad?” he said. He no longer held the accusatory demeanor he had yesterday.
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Slept well?”
“It was good.”
He ran his hand through her locks and kissed her temple. She heard him breathing in deeply. “I’m sorry, little fire.”
“For?” she asked.
“Fraser told me the truth. That you aren’t the culprit.”
“Of course I’m not.” The affirmation of her innocence sent sparks through her chest. She tensed. “Fraser’s back? How is Marzia?”
“That’s the thing… they need your help.”
“With what?”
“They’re running away from the Dragon Mother. The goddess has been the mastermind behind all this.”
A lump formed in her throat. “What?”
“You might want to reconsider helping Marzia…”
Lucidity spiked through her. She pulled herself up into a seating position. It was too much for her to take in. “Why? She’s my friend.”
“She poisoned you, love. She’s been the one running around with you as a disguise and killing—”
“Marzia would never do that.”
“That’s what happened. Fraser admitted it. But Marzia did it under the Mother’s compulsion, and she failed her last order to kill Yoca, so now she’s being hunted down. They might need you to cloak them.”
This was a trick. Rayse was playing with her. She inspected his expression for the smallest hint of teasing, and was horrified to find none. “I can’t go against the Mother. She’s a god.”
Rayse brushed his hand over hers and then took it gently. “You’re the only chance they have.”
“I… I can’t. Rayse, please. Wait. Let me breathe.”
She closed her eyes and searched her mind for some calm. She heard him sitting up, too, so his face was level with hers. “I’m sorry, little fire,” he said again. “I never should have doubted you.”
She allowed her eyelids to blink open. He was so close… he had been countless times in the months they lived together, but she could never get used to the hard-jawed look he showed her. His nose nuzzled hers, then he was capturing her in a dizzying kiss. The kind that made her whole body numb and her knees weak. She tried to steady her racing heart, but it wouldn’t stop beating loudly against her ribcage.
“I never should have doubted you,” he said.
“You had reason to.”
“But I should have known you wouldn’t do something so terrible.” He kissed her again. “I love you.”
“I won’t keep secrets anymore. I promise. I love you too, Rayse. With all my heart. More than anything. We’ll form a proper bond and you won’t have reason to doubt me anymore. I’m so sorry.”
“I know, little fire.”
He smoothed his hand over her hair and pressed her deeply toward him.
Then she felt it. The lust coming off him in waves. It was starting to hold on to her, too, and need clawed over her with a hunger that drove her crazy. She rested her hands around Rayse’s sides, trying to drag herself back to reality, but what Rayse was doing to her with his lips was making her mind weak.
“I haven’t had you in too long, little fire,” he said.
She saw black wings spreading out from behind him. His eyes turned into slits. He wasn’t looking at her as a man, but a dragon—a predator. She didn’t care. She liked the feeling of him backing her down, taking her in his throes of hunger. She continued to stare at his wings. They were so beautiful. She reached out and ran her fingers gently down their leathery texture.
He groaned into the nape of her neck and pushed her down onto the bed. She let herself fall under his weight. Something hard was nudging her thigh. She reached down for his member, stroking it. Fire lit in Rayse’s gaze, which encouraged her more.
He tugged her frock aside. Suddenly it was too obtrusive, and needed to be removed. Her mate’s skin became hotter, and it almost burned to the touch. She felt his cock on her folds, but it was blocked by the fabric of his pants, and that frustrated her. She reached up and tried to tug his pants down. It was finally removed, and he entered her. He leaned down so his entire frame covered hers, his elbows at her sides. She was looking right into his eyes as he moved in her— deep, making her full. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
He whispered sweet nothings into her ear. She responded with soft mewling to each one of them.
This was perfect.
They were perfect.
And then it all went wrong.
A chill blew through the air. It didn’t feel right. She sensed the dark magic. It made her insides coil and her head hurt.
Fear took her.
A growl rumbled from Rayse’s throat. Not the lustful kind she was expecting to hear, but a warning. He’d never directed one as terrifying as this toward her. It was always to their enemies.
“Rayse?”
She saw red flashing in his eyes.
Déjà vu seeped through her. This had happened once before… before he’d left her and they’d separated. “No,” she whispered. She pushed him. The suddenness of her movement managed to startle him, and he fell backward. She pulled her dress back up and scampered away from Rayse.
Her instincts told her he wouldn’t stop his assault this time.
He stared at her with the beady eyes of burning hatred.
“You don’t want to do this,” she said quickly, her mind turning up a blank. She feared for herself, but mostly for Rayse. What would he be like after he killed her, if he did so? She couldn’t bear the thought of him spiraling into a pit of self-hatred, to become like the victims who had fallen under the Dragon Mother’s games.
She had no soul beads around her. Nothing to fight back with. With all her strength, she felt for the magic possessing him. Its presence hit her hard, sending her head reeling backward. The power was too dark… too vile for her to grasp.
She tried to plead with him, begged him to come to his senses. But he reached into her hair before she could react, and threw her to the ground.
You don’t want to hurt her…
A part of Rayse was trying to stop him. But the other side was stronger, and it won. White-hot anger flashed through him, gripping at him like an invasive force. He threw his head back and snarled. He wanted the emotion to go away, but it filled him, gushing in so violently he couldn’t resist.
You don’t want to hurt her… stop…
He threw himself against the wall and backed away from Constance. Two emotions flickered through him—love, then hate. Back and forth.
The hate won.
Don’t hurt her.
What was that voice telling him? It failed to make any sense. Of course he wanted to hurt this woman—kill her. She was worse than an insect to him. A nuisance he couldn’t wait to erase from existence.
He snapped his head back and his vision cleared. He ignored the indentation he had made in the wall. He stared at the woman he had thrown on the ground and stalked to her. He picked her up and slammed her back down again.
He heard a crack as her body smacked against the wooden floor. The beast in him cheered and reveled in the pleasure of harming this contemptible creature.
“Get hold of your senses, love,” she said. “She… The Dragon Mother is controlling you.”
A flash of clarity swept through him. He regained his mind, and with it, the terror that followed. He had sworn to protect this woman with his life, and now… What was happening? He gritted his jaw and fought for control.
Please… don’t… He prayed to the goddess, wondering if she could hear his thoughts. Why was she making him do something so terrible? He knelt down as the pain of fighting back spiked through him. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to stop the wickedness crawling through his insides.
But the anger was too strong to hold back.
Kill.
That single word overpowered him. It was the only thing he thought to do. Without hesitation, he delivered a swift kick to Constance’s stomach. The coughing and moan of pain that came after made his blood pulse with delight.
She looked up at him, most of her eyes covered by her tangled mess of hair. She didn’t utter a curse, instead looking at him with mourning sadness. Another plea escaped from her lips, this time hoarse. She coughed, and blood splattered from her lips and onto the ground. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve.
She looked like a bony rat, struggling to survive.
He couldn’t stand to stare at her disgusting face.
Bathing in his rage, he bent down and circled his hands around her neck. It was so thin, so easily breakable. “Die,” he said, the darkness of his tone sounding foreign to him.
She clawed at his hands. This world deserved to be rid of such vermin.
She wheezed. “Ple…aseee…”
He felt her growing cold in his grip. His dragon growled with delight at the death. It cheered him on, reveled in taking away the life of this creature.
“Plea…”
She blacked out before she could finish.
How easy it was to kill her. Why hadn’t he done this earlier?
He snorted his disgust, then added more pressure to his grip. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, and how her breathing was starting to slow. He waited until her entire body went limp. He smiled, then released his hold, pleased with himself.
“Thank you, Rayse,” came a hypnotizing voice. It belonged to a woman.
He directed his glance to the voice and met the eyes of the Dragon Mother.
She snapped her fingers and lifted the spell from him.
Immediately, the panic that had been suppressed rose. It slammed through his chest, thrashing like a beast. Tears fell from his face. “Constance!” He released his weight from his mate. He had been crushing her. She was still frail from her coma.
“Nonononono! What have I done?” He smoothed his hand over her skin. “Talk to me.” He hugged her closely to his chest. She was lifeless. Dead. “Talk to me, little fire. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Please wake up. Don’t leave me, please.”
He rocked back and forth with her in his arms, sobbing like he never had before in his five hundred years. “Constance, please.” He felt for her pulse and breath. It was like grasping at straws. She had to come back. She couldn’t be dead, not after he’d waited for her for so long. She had just woken up. She had just become his.
She couldn’t…
“Don’t leave me,” he cried. “Don’t. Please, little fire, please don’t.”
What had he done to deserve such damnation?
It felt as if he was being torn apart into a million pieces, put together, then torn apart again. The grief was crippling, worse than any physical wound he’d ever suffered. He had his hand on Constance’s ches
t, hoping to feel a heartbeat, but what he received was… nothing. The stillness of it was enough to make any sane man lose his senses.
The sensations of him killing her just moments ago burned strongly in his head. He had enjoyed it. It was the Dragon Mother’s fault.
He flicked his gaze up at the terrible source of evil. He was about to utter a string of curses when his eyes caught the image of Fraser and Marzia dangling behind the Mother, held up by magic that she seemed to be siphoning from them. They were like soulless dolls—corpses.
“What have you done?” he said, his voice coming out as barely a whisper.
“My magic needed to refuel. You couples are always so potent.” The words coming out of the Mother’s mouth were so melodic and beautiful that his skin crawled. Now that he knew what she truly was, the ephemeral parts of her seemed demonic.
“Bring her back,” he said. Part of him grieved the loss of his friend, but the side of him that ached for Constance overwhelmed that. “If there’s anyone who can bring my mate back, it’s you.”
The Dragon Mother chuckled. The noise was akin to nails on a chalkboard. “And why would I do that?”
“I served you. I was a faithful believer all my life.”
“And for that, you were foolish.”
It was barely noticeable—merely a feather of a presence. But he felt it anyway. For a moment, Rayse sensed a gentle heartbeat spreading from his mate’s chest. He tensed with anticipation. “Constance?” He gazed down at his mate’s grayed-out face. Hope rose within him, sparking like a match.
“I’ll be taking her.” The Dragon Mother made a nonchalant gesture, and chains of power emanated from her wrist toward Rayse and Constance. They snaked around his mate and pried his hands from her.
He roared and struggled with every ounce of his might. I won’t let her be torn from me, he thought. But his strength was nothing compared to the Mother’s, and her magic took hold of him. He was held down despite all his efforts.
Shadowed Lies Page 18