by Meg Xuemei X
Blaze and Iokul were at either side of me. Iokul tried to get the towel from Blaze, but Blaze refused, so while Blaze massaged my head, Iokul patted my face.
“Daisy isn’t a cat, Iokul,” Blaze said, annoyed.
“She likes the way I touch her.” Iokul then asked me gently, “Don’t you, honey?”
I wasn’t going to take sides.
They were all great warriors. I’d seen how lithe and powerful they were when they’d wielded their swords. But regretfully, I had to admit they were all a bit clumsy to get me dry and settle down. I bet they’d never served anyone before.
Even so, pleasure zinged on my skin wherever they touched. I had to fight hard not to purr and moan, especially when I heard hushed whispers from the men away from us. My super Fae hearing didn’t miss anything.
“She must be a dragon tamer, or a formidable witch,” Quintrell said to his companions. “My prince has never acted like that before. It’s like some frenzy seized him. I don’t even know how to rescue him anymore.”
“She might just be the one who will lift our curses,” Chiron said.
“Don’t get your hopes up yet,” someone else said. “We’ve failed for a century.”
My interest drifted away from them and their gossiping since the princes’ potent presence demanded all my attention. Their pure male scent—home and fire and storm and snow and faint pine—blanketed me like a safety net.
I inhaled a lungful of their scent and let it settle in my bloodstream.
Iokul gave his brothers an unhappy look as they took care of me, then a spark glinted in his eyes, as if he’d just had a brilliant idea.
He managed to find a spot in front of me, dropped to one knee, and gazed into my eyes with all the tenderness in the world. “You did a fabulous job today, love.” He made his voice purr. “You led twenty-one hunters into the Vampire Tower, and they never came out.”
He now turned the situation around as if Blaze and Rai were my servants, but he was the gentle lover, who knew how to get to my heart. Blaze and Rai soon caught up with Iokul’s intention and gave him a harsh glare.
“My—our Daisy—is brave and witty,” Rai said with a smile, turned my face, and planted a hot kiss on my lips. He took over just like that.
“I think Daisy will feel more comfortable resting on the cushion than on a leg,” Blaze said, trying to pull me up from Rai’s lap.
Just then, Sybil flew in with two wings.
I blinked.
That pumped sheer will back into my addled head and some strength into my legs, so I was able to jump up from Rai’s lap and struggle free of the embraces of all the dragon princes.
“My messenger is here,” I said. “I need to talk to her.”
I stumbled toward her since it wasn’t as easy as I’d thought to untangle myself from three incredibly hot, possessive dragons.
I stretched my hand and Sybil landed on my arm.
What happened, Sybil? I asked.
Sybil chirped sharply and happily. Elvey is what happened.
She proudly spread her wings to the full for me to inspect.
I’m glad. But how?
Magic, Daisy!
I know it’s magic at work. I need details.
Sybil flashed a series of pictures with sounds in my head.
She was talented and intelligent. Akem had used her as his messenger. The mean, formidable elemental was now all alone, locked inside the Wickedest Witch’s ship and served as a quantum battery. He would miss Sybil.
She could also phase through sold walls, like me. But unlike me, she had no problem staying inconspicuous. That was why she was the best spy one could dream of.
After I sorted out Sybil’s information in a linear order, the images flowed with good sound effects.
Sybil had followed Elvey, who was exploring the Witch Tower.
He reached the top marble floor and stood outside the chamber where the Wickedest Witch had resided. Elvey recited a few words of Power. A visible wave hit a thin curtain of fire and darkness that guarded the door. I recognized it as the ward that had kept me out in the past.
Even though Fiammetta had left, the residual of her ward was still in place. I wondered if Elvey could have disabled her ward when it had been the most potent. Even Akem had failed to breach it after she’d ingrained her most powerful magic, the TimeFire, into it.
“A formidable witch,” Elvey murmured in appreciation and strolled into the chamber.
He scanned the room before treading to the window and glancing at the partially-broken terrace. A post-apocalyptic city sprawled beneath. Residual fire burned in some sections with trails of smoke drifting into the air like black poem.
“Interesting,” he said.
I had no idea if he’d meant it, or if he’d been sarcastic.
As if on cue, a comet blazed through the dim sky. The rock hit the wolf clan’s old compound, now taken by a band of criminals and exiles.
Elvey watched the fire and smoke surge into the sky with an untouched expression.
The meteorite hits were scarcer after Akem had left, so we weren’t in impending danger now. However, Pandemonium would still go up in flames one day.
The sonic blast rocked the tower, but Elvey remained unfazed.
Then a second character entered the scene. Sybil, who hid herself above a broad beam, gave the new one a full scan for my benefit before focusing on his jet-black horns that had to be three feet long. She seemed fascinated by his horns.
I recognized him as the demon captain Fomorian. He was a giant species with green skin. He approached Elvey with the very intention of towering over him, especially with his horns, but Elvey didn’t even turn.
It was obvious who dominated the room.
Through Sybil, I could feel power rolling off Elvey.
“I’ve been wondering where you have been, Lord Elvey,” Fomorian drawled. “You’ve done a lot of sightseeing, engaged in some unusual activities, and refused to share information.”
My bitter curiosity rose. What had he been up to since he’d vanished from my chamber in a flash of light? I hated to admit that I craved to know more about him.
“What do you want to know, Fomorian?” Elvey said. There wasn’t the slightest emotion in his richly masculine voice. “By the way, I brought down the ward in the tower, or you wouldn’t be able to enter. A very powerful witch used to live here. Her magical imprint still lingers.”
There was regret in his voice, as if he longed to meet her. Sharp jealousy suddenly stabbed me and made my throat dry and tight.
What was that for? I didn’t own him. I had only known him for less than an hour without even a kiss, and for fifteen minutes of that one hour, he’d been engaged in a swordfight and verbal spars with Blaze. So, why was I so possessive of him, especially since I already had three princes?
If they knew, they’d be hurt. I darted an ashamed glance at them. The princes watched me attentively but didn’t disturb me while I retrieved information from Sybil.
To my selfish relief, I could shield my mind from them if I desired, though we seemed to have links between us now.
“Thank you, Lord Elvey, for kindly lowering the ward,” the demon captain said in a sarcastic tone, his purple lips pulling back to show a mouthful of jagged teeth. “I just owe you another favor. Oh, right, never owe a Fae a favor. But I don’t know if it really counts, since you’re only a half-blood.”
I’d been right then when I’d guessed he was a half-Fae like me.
“Why are you here, Fomorian?” Elvey still didn’t turn to face his companion, as if the smoke twirling into the gloomy sky in the distance was more intriguing. “I thought you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”
“Did I have a choice when Queen Tianna paired us up on this trip?” Fomorian spat. “And I have to listen to your lame orders while you have no care for this mission to be successful.”
Was Queen Tianna a Fae queen, a demon queen, or something else? I held my breath as I worked my way throug
h Sybil’s memories.
“That’s where you’re mistaken,” Elvey said coldly and casually. “I very much intend for this mission to be successful. I have a personal interest in it.”
“I know where your interest lies!”
Elvey turned around and regarded his companion with a pitiful look.
“The half-blood Fae girl, like you, tried to trick us into the black tower,” Fomorian said, obviously trying to further goad his opponent.
My heat skipped a beat. His calling me half-blood Fae had just revealed that the demons knew exactly who I was. He knew my three Fury forms were a ruse.
He was a true enemy who had come to hunt me, sent by his queen.
So, Queen Tianna could be the one who had something to do with my curse. But how had I offended her? I hadn’t even met her. I’d never done any harm to anyone before I’d been teleported to this doomed planet as a monster slave.
Elvey chuckled. “Isn’t she clever? If she’d known that your species is hive-minded, she would have used a different strategy. If she hadn’t tossed two of your minions into the tower, you wouldn’t have known the Vampire Tower can trap your kind.”
“But you know! You smelled the ensnaring magic in the black tower.” Fomorian glowered. “But you didn’t tell me anything about it. I could have gotten myself into the tower and be trapped forever. That’s exactly what you want, isn’t it?”
“Even if you got into that tower, you’d wiggle your way out,” Elvey said in a bored tone. “Probably after a few centuries.”
“Do not underestimate me, Elvey.” Fomorian’s voice was laced with the promise of black revenge. “I’m not that easy to get rid of, unlike others you eliminated. You’ll need to watch your back this time.”
“Oh, I can watch my back just fine,” Elvey said, a cold smile tugging the corner of his sensual mouth, his magic tensing like a whip.
Sybil had almost flapped her one wing and escaped the witch’s room, but good Sybil had held still.
The demon wasn’t immune to the rippling power in the room and stepped back, a surprised, angry look crossing his dark-green face. “If you think I’m afraid of you, you’re truly mistaken, Lord Elvey. I didn’t come on this trip unprepared when I was informed who I’d end up with. The queen gave me a spell that’s lethal enough to subdue your power. Consider yourself warned and learn to behave in front of me.”
If I were him, I would never reveal that. It was best to let your opponent underestimate you. But it seemed that the demon captain couldn’t help himself, which meant Elvey had always had the upper hand in their past dealings. And the demon captain didn’t want to give up any chance to threaten his adversary.
I should take advantage of their dislike of each other. Fomorian for sure wanted my heads, but Elvey wanted something else.
What did Elvey want? How could I get hold of him and pry more information out of him?
Of all the hunters, Elvey and Fomorian seemed to be the only two who had known my true identity before they had headed here. And they hadn’t been sent by my crazy grandfather.
“Blame yourself for being out of the queen’s favor,” Fomorian continued. “Quit your little, pathetic rebellion acts, and you might get your spot back, though it won’t be easy.”
Elvey yawned. “How long will you be content to be her lap dog?”
Anger flashed in the demon captain’s charcoal eyes. “You aren’t above me, Elvey. You just don’t realize it yet.” He then guffawed, as if suddenly he got it. “Oh, you realize it. You hate every minute of it that you’re as much her slave bonded by blood as I am.”
Elvey swallowed, and for the first time, rage, colder than glaciers, burned in his eyes.
Knowing he had finally hit a nerve, the demon captain chortled heartily. “You don’t want her favor. You want freedom. I see. You’ve tried as subtly as you can for centuries to be free of her, but you failed repeatedly and pathetically. The queen will never release you, not until she breaks you completely.”
An ache expanded in my chest. What power did the nasty queen possess to enslave the formidable Fae mage? My thoughts drifted to Akem for a second. Could she be more powerful than the entity? Elvey didn’t want to return to her, but if the blood bond required it, he would have no choice.
Just like I was shackled here by a curse.
A hatred I’d never known toward the dark queen filled in my heart.
“Wait,” Fomorian continued to gloat, as if this was his time to shine. “If Queen Tianna learns that you let go of the half-dragon, half-Fae bitch when you had the chance to disconnect her head from her neck, she’ll shatter your bones until they heal and shatter them again when we return. She’s probably learned as much as she needs through our blood bond.” He regarded Elvey with a predatory interest. “You can’t really block her through your shield, can you?”
Elvey regained his composure with a careless, yet cruel smile, as if nothing in the world ever mattered to him, not the sky falling, and not his dire fate.
“Leave me, Captain Fomorian,” Elvey said formally, menace exuding from his icy cold voice, going with it was his power that thinned the air.
Fomorian panted, face darkening to purple for a second as if he struggled breathing. He seemed to want to throw something at Elvey to stop the mage’s power, but instead he stepped back. “If we don’t have the Furies’ heads, the queen will have ours,” he sneered. “Keep that in mind.” Then he turned and stormed off.
Elvey flicked a finger, and the door shut behind the demon captain.
He returned to gaze out the window.
Sybil carefully preened her feathers, waiting for Elvey to step away from the window, so she could phase out of it. She was eager to return to me before she forgot things.
Elvey turned and looked up at Sybil, who perched on the broad beam, with a grin. “Hello, Sybil.”
“How—how do you know my name?” she demanded furiously.
“Your thoughts are loud enough for anyone to hear,” Elvey said with a deep, coaxing voice.
I narrowed my eyes. Was he trying to charm my favorite spy?
“Not that loud,” Sybil protested.
“Fine, but you’ve been following me all this time, haven’t you? Did Daisy send you to spy on me?”
I felt my face flame.
“I’m not telling you,” Sybil said.
“You’re very protective of her. That’s good,” Elvey said with approval. “You’re loyal and honorable. Those are rare and fine qualities.”
Sybil almost lost balance with her one wing. She moved to a lower beam but nodded solemnly. “I’m loyal and honorable. My former master abandoned me, but Queen Fury will never desert me. She gave her word! She’s honorable, too.”
“It takes one to know one.”
Sybil chirped happily in agreement.
No one could easily spot her presence without her showing herself to them, and no one had ever spoken to her and treated her with fondness, except I, and now Elvey.
She obviously appreciated his flattery.
“Come here, Sybil. Let me take a look at your wing. I might fix you.”
“I’m not going to trust a stranger,” Sybil said.
Elvey laughed his rich, silver laughter. “I’m hardly a stranger. I was with Daisy the other day. If it wasn’t for the rude dragons, who have a penchant of spoiling everything, she would have graced me with a kiss.”
Sybil giggled. “The dragons don’t know they’re rude.”
I blinked. I didn’t know that she could giggle.
Elvey sighed. “Maybe you’ll teach them manners?”
Sybil pondered. “I probably will.”
I smelled trouble.
“Now come here, Sybil,” Elvey said.
Sybil flapped her wing, dove, and landed on Elvey’s strong arm. While she tilted her head to study him, he stroked the stump of her broken wing gently.
“Who did this to you?” Anger laced in his voice.
“Archangel Gabriel. I used to b
e Akem’s mouthpiece. The Archangel didn’t like what I said about his witch mate, so he hurt me.”
“Son of a bitch! When I meet him—”
“He left to the stars. They say there are lots of stars in another part of the universe. When Queen Fury leaves, she’ll take me and all her monsters with her.”
“How about I help her leave?”
“You will do that?”
Elvey smiled at Sybil, and she was stunned by his even, white teeth.
A light, the color of peach, glowed around Sybil’s wing stump. Like a miracle, her wing grew back with the light until it reached full length.
I pulled out of her memories.
She now waited for me to absorb the information and pecked my arm with her beak before turning to preen her shiny, white feathers.
This Elvey is a very nice man, she insisted as she gazed at me meaningfully. And super-hot. I hope you don’t hurt him.
I’m not going to eat him.
You know what I mean, Sybil said. And he requested your audience, Queen Daisy Fury.
CHAPTER 17
It took me a while to convince my mates to let me go meet Elvey. I could just sneak out to see Elvey, but I didn’t want to go around them in secret.
We had a relationship now, all of us, and for this to work, there should be no lies between us.
“It’s necessary to meet with Elvey,” I told the princes. “We need to find out the demons’ next move. Second, we have no ship. And third, I believe Elvey knows about my curse.” I didn’t offer my final reason—I craved to see him.
Elvey’s condition for the meeting was that I came alone.
The dragon princes then counter-proposed that he came to my high chamber alone.
Elvey refused.
The dragon princes were firm that I would not meet the warlock anywhere outside the jungle.
Sybil flew back and forth between Elvey and me as our messenger, more than happy to test the strength of her new wing.
In the end, we settled the meeting place at the north fringe of the forest that was opposite of the demons’ ship. I could fly there in less than fifteen minutes at high speed, or have Phantom shift me, and distance was not a concern for Elvey, since he could teleport.