Burn (Dragon Souls)

by Penelope Fletcher

  “I still do not believe she gave you up. I cannot. I–” The male shut up at the sound of shifting rocks skittering down the boulder they hid behind.

  They were discovered.

  Tired of being hunted like a dog, Ryuk stood, and stared straight into the dead eyes of his uncle-by-marriage.

  Viktor shifted into dragonskin and fearlessly attacked the hundred-strong legion of Battle Mages closing rank around them.

  Chin lifting, Ryuk snorted derisively as his uncle circled him. He would show no fear. He met the man’s gaze steadily. “Zaki.”

  The Battle Lord eyed the ragged would-be-King before him then let his attention drift to the indigo Dragon roaring as fiery whips of magick bit into his scales and pinned him to the harsh desert sand.

  “Does it bring you comfort, Ryuk, to know I will kill your pet slowly?” He looked around. “I do not see the crone. Did you tire of her?” A sick grin split his thick lips. “You kept her around a long time, ugly, used up thing. But I suppose pussy is pussy, eh, boy?”

  As the man spouted his bile, Ryuk’s mind wandered. His life had not been all bad. There had been hungry nights. Sleepless nights. Nights spent with his body on fire and only his tears for comfort. Bloody nights of death caused by his hands. They could never be washed clean. Then there had been a glorious time of sunshine. In the darker hours, he thought back to that time. He thought of himself not as a Prince, but as a child assassin who found home in the arms of a woman. He thought of himself as Boy. Bitterness had long dug poisoned claws into his heart. She betrayed him, but he could not stop loving her. He missed her every moment of everyday, and wished he had seen her one last time, soaked in her sunshine one more moment, before they dragged him back to hell. He wished he could feel her soft, protective touch upon his brow, her lips pressing against his cheek as she sought to soothe him. Her love had been a solid, all encompassing thing he’d been both drawn to and terrified of.

  A sharp slap to his cheek brought him back. Harsh reality. No sunshine, no love. There was hatred and endless dark.

  The drapes of Zaki’s crimson tagelmust fluttered in a sandy breeze. He lifted his sabre. The sharp edge was angled to cleanly sever head from body. The hooked blade gleamed dully in the moonlight.

  Ryuk closed his eyes.

  Endless sunshine.

  Love.

  “Mother,” he whispered.

  Darkness descended.

  A ragged scream of pain tore from the pit of Marina’s soul.

  She jerked straight up in bed.

  Sweat poured down her face, and she scrubbed her palm over her pounding heart, flailed a hand over the furs seeking the comfort of her husband’s heat.

  Awakened by her cry, Koen’s predator gaze already peered into the gloom of their chamber. He protectively curved his body around her when he found no physical threat. “Treasure?”

  Doors carved from ice burst open.

  Naked and enraged, Jakob stormed into the room.

  Clearly wrenched from the depths of sleep, he slammed to stop, legs braced, arms held out ready to grapple a foe.

  When he found no opponent he straightened, his broad chest heaving.

  His sliver eyes clouded with confusion. “Marina?”

  A worried guard hovered in the doorway, katana drawn. “My Lord?”

  “Secure the royal young,” Jakob replied tersely, finalizing the order with a stern look over his shoulder. “Double their guard. And do not let them wheedle their way in here.”

  The guard saluted then fled.

  Gripping Koen’s arms, Marina stared beseechingly into his rugged face. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gasped for air. “I felt him. He needs me, Koen. It wasn’t a dream. Don’t tell me it’s just a dream. Believe me.” Her head fell onto his shoulder and her body shuddered as she wept.

  Koen Raad stroked the smooth expanse of his mate’s trembling back. He jerked his head, silently commanding Jakob to seal the entrance. He brushed the satin fall of Marina’s hair behind her sweat-dampened shoulders. He cupped her face in his hands, rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks. “Look at me. Breathe.”

  She did, and part of him calmed. Her eyes were wide with fear, but focused, lucid.

  His mate had become a strong female few dared cross. In the beginning there had been as many attempts on her life as their had on his. Their uncompromisingly brutal response to all threats soon had the Courts cooling their heels, accepting Emperor and Empress Raad where here to stay.

  The Ice Realm burgeoned into a vibrant city that drew more settlers by the day. Construction was continuous, expanding the city limits to provide housing for their newly sworn citizens. The slave trade had been fully abolished almost four years past. Occasionally word reached them of a Dragon Lord gathering support to revive the flesh trades. Crushing opposition led by the Queen herself swiftly quelled it. Foundlings from the Drackai and Wyvrae thrived in the Royal Orphanage, cared for as members of a large family. The distinction and separation between peasant, citizen, merchant and noble remained great, but few of the needy starved or froze to death, as had been the accepted norm.

  Life was not perfect, but it came tremendously close.

  Their twin offspring were hair-raising terrors loved by all. Dark like their parents, their bottomless eyes were filled with piercing intelligence, and their angelic faces promised their looks would mature into breathtaking masculine beauty.

  No progeny was perfect, and their prettiness was something Koen resolved to fix with battle scars.

  Contentment was thwarted by a steely streak of darkness.

  Marina dreamed of the offspring they lost. She woke panicking, and spent the days after in a perpetual cloud of misery. Even after the birth of their sons, she never stopped longing for the golden-haired child she claimed as her own. She’d attempted to track him in the past – to no avail – yet never had she begged and pleaded as if not to find him would kill her.

  “Zaki has him, Koen.” She grabbed his wrists, grip white-knuckled. “He’s hurting him.”

  “Marina–”

  “Send for Mikhail.” Her voice cracked like whip. Gathering a mantle of power, she held him tighter, the Dragon rising to take control. “Anastasia too.”

  “She will bring her mate,” Jakob warned, watching all with palpable apprehension.

  The male was known to be rabid in the protection of his Queen.

  Marina hissed. “I’ll put up with Daniil if I must.”

  Koen’s beast snarled as his mate wrestled for control with him. Her own creature stared back stonily. Marina exhaled shakily as their Dragons battled for dominance, both unwilling to yield.

  Therefore, to break the deadlock, she sent her appeal to the male she loved. “I’ve done as you asked. I’ve stood aside waiting for the war to be over. Seven years,” she breathed. Her head tossed as if she were in drgaonskin shaking her horns. “No more. I can’t stay here knowing he’s suffering. I no longer care if you believe me. No more excuses. The boys are older, the Realm is thriving, and the Emperor is safe.”

  Both males shared a look of alarm.

  Her chin lifted imperiously. “I’m not afraid to go alone. One female entering the Barren won’t start a war.”

  “You are not just any female,” Jakob said sharply.

  “Look me in the eye and tell me if this was your offspring you wouldn’t do the same.”

  Jakob ground his back teeth together.

  “I am sick of staring into the Wastelands wondering if today is the day I’m brought word Zaki has murdered him.” Her shoulders squared. She swept aside the furs and climbed off the large bed carved from a solid slab of ice. “We’re going into the Barren and putting B–Ryuk on that throne.”

  Jakob tilted his head. “I am coming with you.” Uncompromising. Final.

  Marina Zar, Queen of the Ice Realm and Guardian of the Dragon Emperor met her mate’s implacable stare. “You’re coming too. Cathryn will watch the twins.”

  Hearing the beautiful Regent�
��s name, Jakob growled low in his throat. The sound cut as he realized his blunder, and he averted his gaze when his Queen smirked in amusement.

  Koen Raad stared into his Treasure’s onyx eyes and knew he had lost the battle. He left the bed. Banding an arm around her waist, he hauled her slight weight to his chest.

  He firmly gripped the nape of her neck.

  It had never been done.

  Should they break the treaty and enter the Barren hunting a Battle Lord, interfering with the monarch of their enemy, their lives would be forfeit.

  There would be blood.

  Death.

  Destruction.

  The mystical power of his Dragon soul overflowed to merge and blend with hers in an elemental clash of fire and ice.

  Sliding a hand up his chest, Marina cupped his throat.

  When Koen Raad smiled, it was predatory. “Very well.”

  Did you love Burn? Then you should read Chaos Theory by Penelope Fletcher!

  Kali doesn't know what to make of Blue. His mind intrigues her, and his body attracts her in the worst way. Fascinated, she accepts when he asks her on a date then is abducted by aliens. Kali escapes captivity to discover planet Earth under attack, and the only thing standing between life and death is Blue, a boy alien to her in every way conceivable.

  Read more at Penelope Fletcher’s site.