by Meg Xuemei X
And there was one kind of monster among them I could barely control. The Phantom. He was half-beast and half-elemental—in essence, a creature born out of nightmares. I’d been surprised that he hadn’t challenged my position when I’d taken over the jungle as the new queen, but then, he preferred to keep to himself and had no interest in ruling.
He liked cleaning up any carnage, which was useful to me and scary sometimes, considering what he would and could do.
For now, other than the dead and the escaped shifters, my beast army had rounded up the prisoners, waiting for me to enact judgment, justice, or punishment.
But all I wanted was to return to my chamber and take a nap to recharge.
I would conduct the business tomorrow.
~
Dawn arrived. Though it didn’t matter much if it was day or night; the jungle was in perpetual shade.
I awoke in my high chamber of white stone in the depth of the jungle. No aliens had ever ventured this far to reach my haunt, so it lent me a feeling of safety. The chamber had a vast natural pool of spring water under the skylight.
The civilization that had once built this chamber for the royal’s recreation had long since gone. Akem had eaten them away.
Comfy cushions scattered on the marble floor doubled as my beds. My Fae form preferred a real bed with four poles, but my Fury beasts wouldn’t even mind the hard, cold ground. But since I only had an hour a day as a Fae, comfort and luxury didn’t concern me.
I wanted a bath, but I had no time for it. Henry and Sybil both kept flashing pictures in my head, so I had better first check on the prisoners my monsters had rounded up for me.
I jogged to the closet and selected a red velvet gown.
It hugged my shape and flowed at my feet as I glided forward.
Sybil perched on a beam, watching me. She was one of the most curious creatures I’d ever met.
Henry, my hellhound, paced outside. He’d be my ride today since I hadn’t taken my Fury form. I could outrun him in my Fae form as well, but today I had a regal image to keep as the queen of the jungle.
As soon as I settled on his back and grabbed two of his small horns, he burst forward like black wind and took me right to the captives.
Eight survivors, battered, bloody, and reeking of fear, were gathered around a large tree in a circle, their back against the trunk.
My beast army surrounded them. They were hungry, but they wouldn’t snack on the alien hunters until I gave the order. They sat on their haunches, their jaws dripping with saliva, and snarled now and then.
In the City of Nine, the only rule was to kill or to be killed; and in the jungle, it was eat or be eaten. There were different ranks of predators in my jungle, but when they faced outsiders, they always worked together.
As soon as the hunters saw me, their mean faces filled with hope.
“Mistress, have mercy!” one of them begged.
Henry snarled, and the other beasts echoed his call, but I silenced them with a mental leash.
I slid off my hound and approached the prisoners.
My red gown flowed around me, its low neck exposing the swell my breasts. As I walked around the men, every one of them stared at my face with awe before dipping their gazes down at my breasts, their eyes instantly filled with lust.
It was a test. I needed to see their reactions toward me. This bunch was a mean, sorry lot, and I would be damned if any happened to be my true love.
But I wouldn’t pass a chance for the unfortunate possibility. I also pushed back the dark thought that one, or all of my true loves—if they’d come—might be dead already.
I had to prowl on and hope for the best.
I scanned every one of them coldly.
“Who’s your leader?” I asked. “And who is with which group?”
It turned out they were all on their own, except for a big, bearded man who had two henchmen with him.
“Kneel,” I ordered.
All the men immediately knelt without resistance.
I stopped before the bearded man, held my breath so I didn’t need to inhale his unpleasant smell, then I bent and pressed my mouth against his thick, blood-encrusted lips.
Yuck! It felt like I’d just kissed an eel.
He opened his mouth, more than eager to give me his tongue.
I pulled back and slapped him, wiping the smug smile off his stupid face.
My mongers growled behind me, and the bearded man widened his eyes in terror and huddled himself lower onto the ground.
“I’ll kiss each one of you in turn,” I said, “and you’ll not kiss me back, unless I order you to. Either that or I’ll have my beasts feed on you.”
All the prisoners dropped their gazes.
They’d regarded me either their salvation or prize. There was no such thing here. They were all new on Pandemonium, and for that they would learn a hard lesson.
I kissed those cold, dried lips one by one. It was no different than kissing toads.
It was distasteful and disappointing.
My mind drifted to the delicious, fiery kiss I’d shared with Blaze.
Did it mean he was my true love? I couldn’t be sure. Maybe a fire dragon could make any female feel the spark. Jealousy stabbed me at the center of my chest, puzzling me.
It was the first time I’d felt so possessive toward a man.
I’d visit the dragon camp soon and kiss every dragon man or entice them to my lair one by one.
“I’m going to release three of you,” I said. “Each one of you will deliver my message to a different ship as I assign you. Tell the hunters if any of them enter my jungle alone, he’ll be granted a safe path and an audience with the Queen of Pandemonium. But should they come in groups to hunt any of my beasts, including the Furies, they’ll surely be the spicy meat between my monsters’ teeth. If you fail to send my words as I intended, my beasts will hunt you down to hell, and you’ll wish you never formed in your mother’s womb. Now, who’s volunteering?”
All of them thrust up their hands and started punching each other to show their strength to be selected as my messengers.
A bellow rose behind me.
Here comes another one for a kiss, Queen Fury. Sybil snickered. He doesn’t look like he can be your king either.
I turned.
Two giant Lamashtus shoved a limp dragon shifter my way, and the warrior snarled back. I raised a hand to stop the Lamashtus from getting more abusive. We used to have seven Lamashtus, but the Archangel and his wolf shifter friends had eliminated five of them.
I repeated what I’d said to the new captive about the kissing rule, and then I kissed him. I scented that he had a dragon inside, just like Blaze. It wasn’t as bad as when I’d kissed the other hunters. However, the kiss with this dragon shifter was nowhere near as impressive as the kiss I had shared with Blaze. It was blander than stale water. There was no spark or connection, and I had no desire to kiss him again.
I sent him back to the dragon camp with my message, and two other lucky men to the other two ships after they swore a blood oath.
I interrogated the rest of the captives, until I was certain they had told me all they knew.
There wasn’t much I hadn’t gotten from spying on the dragon ship the other day. As soon as the Lamashtus led the remaining prisoners out of my sight, I changed to the Furies.
I still had over half an hour left in my Fae form. I needed to save the minutes for the day just in case any new hunter stumbled into my lair alone.
CHAPTER 7
One of my Furies traveled in the sky, watching the ground. The other perched atop the skylight of my chamber. And I napped on a cushion at the edge of the pool, sweeping my red-scaled tail into the spring water to ease the pain.
Morphing between my cursed form and Fae form was nowhere near as easy as shifting between my Fae self and my natural dragon form. The change not only caused unbearable, tearing pain, it consumed my energy and weakened me. But every day I took pains to go through i
t and stay a Fae as long as I could, so I could remember who I was and not be swallowed by the cursed beasts. Pain also keeps the madness at bay.
One coming! A shriek warned in my head, then two of my alter egos plunged toward me from the open skylight just as I opened an eye from my half sleep.
I cried out in agony and changed.
The pain was so great I lost my balance and fell into the pool.
“Are you all right, lass?” a cool voice asked.
My heart pounded in near panic despite the concern in his voice.
My messengers hadn’t reached the ships I had assigned them to. How had this one gotten here so soon? How had he passed my monster guards unnoticed and found my secret chamber deep in the jungle?
If he intended to hurt me before I could change back to Furies and defend myself—
The next instant, he was at the bank, his silver eyes gazing down at me, a mask with the symbol of an ice dragon infused to half of his face. Fortunately, it left his sculpted, sensual lips alone.
How would it feel to kiss those lips? My tongue darted out to wet my lips. I could give it a try in my Fae form. I needed some good, sweet lips to kiss to erase the horrid kisses I had endured today.
And from his warm gaze, I knew he liked what he saw about me.
My lips parted, my eyes widened, and I cringed further into the water.
“I won’t hurt you. I’ll never hurt you,” he said. “On my honor. I’m Iokul.”
Iokul had been the one who had sniffed me out and exposed me from my perch atop the New Hope.
He looked stunned to see me, as if he hadn’t expected to find me so easily or under such circumstances. I bet seeing an innocent, naked young woman in the forest full of deadly monsters would have that kind of effect on any man.
“Do you understand speech?” he asked.
I didn’t answer him, but my eyes never left him. I smelled ice magic in him. It was light, but enough to cover up his scent.
No wonder my monsters hadn’t discerned him. It was quite impressive that he could get past my guards and reach my chamber in such stealthy fashion. I would need to enhance the security of my chamber.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “I came alone so you wouldn’t be scared.”
His brother, the fire Dragon Prince, had said the same thing.
“It’s not safe for you to be alone in the jungle,” he continued, his voice gentle and calm, yet it held an undertone of seduction. My pulse spiked. “In fact, everywhere on this planet screams danger. I’m bringing you to my ship, and you’ll be safer there.”
Then I’d be their prisoner? Not a chance.
I needed to kiss him. And to get what I wanted, I needed to get him into the water with me. I pondered what to do, still staring at him intently.
I stumbled, as if in fear, and dropped on my ass, but not before I let out a helpless whimper. I sank down until the water completely covered my head.
A huge splash hit near me as Iokul dove into the water. His strong hands hooked under my armpits and he lifted me out of the water.
We broke the surface of the water, and I gasped for air.
I clasped my hands around his neck as he carried me to the shallow part of the pool.
“You’re safe now, lass,” he said. “You’re with me. I’ll guard you.”
I gazed back at him, our faces so close that our breaths intermingled. He didn’t let me go. Instead, his arm slid around my waist possessively.
His male scent, harsh and noble at the same time, ice blended with pine, wafted toward me. He smelled like a distant home that had faded from my memory so long ago.
He inhaled my scent, too, as if he hadn’t smelled anything quite like it and couldn’t get enough of me. A sense of awe glinted in his eyes, and fire ignited behind that glacial wall.
I’d brought out the hidden flame from the ice dragon.
What does it mean? I swallowed. Can he be the one?
“I can hardly believe that I found you,” he said, his whisper a caress. “It’s like I’ve been looking for you forever.”
Fire slithered up, not into my eyes but between my thighs, flames of lust licking at my core.
“Who are you?” I asked. “How did you even find this place? And what’s your true purpose here?”
He smiled disarmingly. I hadn’t expected the icy dragon to smile like that—all sexy and smooth. Wasn’t he supposed to be all frosty, cold, and stiff? That smile just melted me. My heart fluttered, my blood heated, and my skin turned hot.
It would end badly for me if my knees went so weak just because I was naked in a gorgeous man’s arms. But then I hadn’t been in the arms of any man who was so hot and smelled so enticing that it addled my mind, for centuries.
No, that was incorrect. I’d been entangled in his brother’s arms, our bodies practically melded together.
“So, you do speak,” he said, broadening his enchanting smile.
“Of course, I can speak,” I said, my voice husky and hoarse.
I couldn’t help it. I wished I could purr softly like the knockout witch, or even the pretty vampire princess, but I hadn’t practiced. I hadn’t spoken physically to anyone for a very long time, and when I’d first talked to the Archangel and proposed an alliance against Akem, the insensitive Archangel had arched his eyebrows at my voice.
Iokul was much kinder. He didn’t seem to be put off by my rough voice. He seemed only happy that I was talking to him.
“Now you must answer my questions,” I said, trying to sound firm, before I completely lost my head to the carnal need I could barely control.
Nine centuries of celibacy was a bitch, and it had hit me even harder when I’d watched part of the Archangel and his mate’s scorching hot coupling. The Archangel had thrust his large cock so forcefully, yet tenderly into his mate. It’d had me full of envy and enraged for days.
“My name is Iokul, as I first introduced myself. I’m one of the three dragon princes who came on this trip. You saw my brothers when you slept atop of our ship. How long were you there, watching us? I was disappointed in my brothers that they didn’t even scent you while you smelled so good. What’s your second question, lass?”
I tilted my head to look at him. He was shamelessly flirting with me. He gave me another playful smile and wrapped an arm around me tighter, as if afraid that I would run away again.
I had no intention to run, at least not yet.
My naked body pressed against his armored one. Neither of us seemed to pay much attention to anything except each other and our mingled breath. Neither of us wanted to move one inch away from each other. While the pull tugged me to him more aggressively, I resisted it, despite my body rebelling against my will. I needed to get some answers now, or I would never get them.
Pushing down the desire that assaulted me like fire hail was one of the hardest things I had to do, but if I didn’t take the hard path, there wouldn’t be a path for me.
He inhaled my scent again and I could tell how badly he wanted to bury his masked face in my shoulder to get more. I brushed the diamond stud in his earlobe and he shivered in pleasure.
“More answers?” I breathed out.
“Right, you asked me how I got here,” he said, his voice deep and flirty, which made my skin tingle with desire. “I remembered your scent and traced it here, but it wasn’t easy. It took me a while. At some point, I lost your scent, but I managed it in the end. I was lucky.”
Luck didn’t exist on Pandemonium, neither did coincidence.
“You have ice magic. You disguised your scent,” I said.
Fleeting astonishment flashed in his eyes, and through the reflection of my eyes in his, I spotted a small teasing and defiant fire dancing in my eyes, which said, I’m not all that naïve and defenseless, so do not lie or play games with me.
“I’m an ice dragon,” he said. “Ice is my magic, but I have access to only the iceberg of my magic.”
“Why?” I demanded. “I’d like you to
take off your mask. I can’t accompany a stranger to his ship.”
I was testing Iokul. The fire Dragon Prince had said he couldn’t remove the mask. I wanted to know if any of them lied to me.
His smile dropped. His eyes darkened to gunmetal gray, fury and despair brewing in them.
“I can’t,” he said. “We—all my brothers—were cursed with wearing it.”
Something about him—his curse and his honesty—hammered into my chest, and my heart bled for him.
He hadn’t tried to deceive me. He’d revealed his name, his dragon nature, and his curse. He wasn’t an inexperienced, adolescent dragon. I’d seen how he’d interacted with his brothers and the dragon guards, and how they’d reacted to him. He actually seemed to be the most untouched, complex warrior in his team. Yet he chose to trust me, as if he already knew about me.
And I felt the unseen tie between us, like magic.
I kept my cool gaze on him, though I bet he saw my white-hot passion boiling beneath.
He studied me. “I’m contradictory,” he said, “but I’ve never acted like this before, throwing caution to the wind and showing you my belly when I barely know you. If I hadn’t scented you and known who you are, I’d have thought you bewitched me and would take certain actions against you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Scent me? What scent?” My heart raced like the wild wind. Had he realized who I was?
“You smell like home and sky,” he murmured, his eyes returning to silver and filling with pure male desire.
The liquid fire that had been licking between my legs ravished my tender, aching flesh.
I didn’t know who made the first move, but our lips crashed so hard that I hit his teeth. He immediately adjusted and softened the impact.
His lips, formerly cold, probably as the ice dragon should have been, warmed up instantly. His mouth enveloped me, and he devoured me as if he had the luxury of all the time in the world. He didn’t push. He didn’t rush, but savored me, and at the same time showed me pleasure as if I deserved it all.
Slow burn. That’s what was happening.
It was as if snowflakes had started falling on my lips and melted at my warmth.