by Ann Denton
Abbas reached for my hand. “I want to work with you for our mutual benefit,” Abbas raised his lips to my hand and gave it a gentle kiss. “And I will give you your mind-talker back in exchange for our official engagement."
My insides collapsed in fear and relief. Fear for what I might be taking on with Abbas and relief for Quinn. A brief flash of gratitude toward Declan also passed through my head. Everything had worked out exactly as he’d said it would. And so I stuck to the script, continuing to act reticent and cautious. "I don't like going into this blindly. Without knowing your end game."
Abbas leaned forward and brushed my forehead with a kiss. "My end game is the same as anyone else's."
“I highly doubt that.”
"Well, what do you think I want?"
"To escape your father's control?" I guessed. "To be the only one of your brothers to have a claim on Evaness. To--"
"To fall in love?" Abbas asked.
"No," I scoffed. "World domination is more likely."
He bit his lip and grinned. "You see right through me. I like that."
I sighed. "You can stop with the compliments. Release Quinn and you'll get your way."
“You gave me Quinn. You want this alliance as much as I do. You’re desperate for it, even.”
I grabbed Abbas’ hand and raised our entwined fingers. That was the signal. The herald trumpeted beside us, blasting my ears. And then he took up his bullhorn and announced our engagement as a sign of peace and treaty between the kingdoms of Cheryn and Evaness.
Below, Meeker looked furious. He cut a path through the crowd, no doubt to send a pigeon carrying an angry message to Sedara.
Everyone else cheered.
Abbas waved at the thronging masses below and turned to me with a bright smile.
“So eager, love,” he grinned at me. “You must feel backed into quite a corner.”
I gave a false look of worry after Meeker, who was just a speck in the distance at this point.
Abbas followed my glance, calm resolution settling over his features as he saw what he thought I perceived as my biggest threat.
“The chains,” I reminded him. “I don’t even know how you got an enchanted object through the gates.”
Abbas shook his head. “A man can’t reveal all his secrets. Where’s the magic in that?” He raised his hand and mouthed a few words.
The blue glow around Quinn’s neck ceased, and Connor pulled the evil thing off of Quinn, tossing it onto the ground. It skittered across the stone, landing near my feet.
I stared at Quinn long and hard as he rubbed his chest and then shook the feeling back into his hands, as though they’d been asleep.
Are you okay? I asked.
Yes. And I think I got what you wanted when you went into the world domination bit. Abbas has memories of the dragon. He’s the one who met with the rebels.
I turned to Abbas and smiled, taking in the how the torches lining the balcony offset the rich golden embroidery of his undershirt. I met his deep brown eyes dead on. “Would you please place my crown on my head, darling?” I asked in an annoyingly saccharine voice as a servant brought up the crown of Evaness on a pillow. The crown was tall, studded with seashells and diamonds and turquoise.
“Of course,” Abbas grinned darkly.
I tried not to smirk at his superiority. I dipped into my curtsy and allowed him to fit the crown to my head.
I waited while the herald said the words that made me queen. I didn’t listen to a single one, all of my attention focused on what came next.
“And now,” the herald cried out, “your Queen and the Prince of Cheryn will sign their engagement documents.”
A quill and a scroll were brought forward. The same document each of my other suitors had signed. With one special addition from Cerena.
I signed on the line indicated and handed the quill to Abbas, letting nervous worry cross my features for a single second before I smothered it.
Abbas caught the look and grinned. “You should be nervous.” He signed his name with flourish. “For all the things I plan to do.”
I put a hand to my chest in mock worry.
“Oh no, Prince Abbas. You don’t plan to mislead or desert me, do you? You are aware you just signed a magically binding document?”
“What?”
“Oh yes. This particular engagement document ensures you’ll never find release with another woman again.”
Abbas’ face turned puce. “I’m nearly immortal.”
“Yes. Oh dear. That could be problematic. Unless of course, you’re into corpses?” I held up my hands and gave a suggestive shrug. “It also does one other thing.”
“What?” Abbas snapped.
I leaned forward, my voice a hoarse, angry growl. “If you ever betray me, you’ll end up just like Wyle.”
I let Abbas stew in his anger for a minute before I added to it.
I turned to wave happily to the crowd. Through my fake smile, I said, “You wondered why I made this so easy for you. Your brother flying around my lands, eating cattle and poisoning the crops with his breath, being led toward my little sister, is rather a nuisance. And since I’m going to kill him, I don’t want your father declaring war on me.”
Abbas jaw dropped. Just minutely. But enough for me to read the shock in his gaze.
I turned pressed a kiss against his furious face.
The crowd went wild.
Chapter Thirty-Two
To my shock, Abbas transformed the kiss. He slid his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my face closer. His tongue snaked in between my lips and tangled with mine. He sucked my tongue into his mouth and tugged on it. Then he released it and bit down on my lower lip. He feathered his lips over mine as he pulled back and met my eyes.
He left me panting.
“Like I said before, Bloss, it’s adorable when you bring out your little claws.” He let go of me then, took a step backward, and held up the blue ring he wore. He stroked it once with his finger.
A terrible roar filled the sky.
And there, in the distance, backed by the setting sun, appeared a black-winged nightmare. A dragon.
“Shite.”
I whirled to see my knights, their jaws gaping, their expressions shocked.
“Get Avia below! NOW!” I screeched at the servants. They all scrambled to get inside, dragging my sister with them.
I grabbed up the bullhorn the herald had dropped. The crowd below could not see the monster yet. I had to get them out of the courtyard but avoid mass panic. “Everyone please form orderly lines and proceed into the palace, immediately. My first action as Queen of Evaness is to invite you all to share a feast with me. Noble and common alike. Tonight, we celebrate Evaness.”
A cheer went up through the crowd.
Ryan stepped to the edge of the balcony and gave a hand signal to his soldiers, who immediately helped everyone into orderly lines. At a second hand signal, his troops even started diverting people to side entrances and servant entrances.
I turned to find Jorad facing me.
I stared sternly at him. “Fire War protocol, Jorad. Get everyone to ballroom, get the food. Then make the announcement that they need to relocate to the fireproof dungeons. Only make that announcement once Ryan’s men have the ballroom secured.”
Jorad gave a brisk nod and left.
I turned back to spy the beast flapping its wings, coming closer. The last of the sun’s rays glinted off its iridescent blue scales. The beast released a jet of black flame.
It was as though I had tunnel vision. The dragon was the only thing I could see as my heart thrummed like a war drum in my chest. Nothing else existed.
This was why I’d come back. To save my sister from this beast. To save Evaness.
I took a deep, bracing breath. I ignored the tremors that shot through my limbs.
“I need a gargoyle,” I whispered.
“No,” my husbands’ chorused. Even Connor.
“I can’t fight it
here.”
“Darling,” a deadly purr sounded in my ear. “Why ever not?”
In my shock, I’d completely forgotten Abbas. Everyone had. Seeing the dragon had made him cease to exist. He was a lesser threat. What was one man compared to a monster?
He had capitalized on that. Used the moment to scoop up the elven chain. A chain he now slid over my head.
“I think you should fight the dragon. Right here.” At his words, the metal started to melt and meld with my skin and the chain gave off a blue glow.
My knights surged forward.
“I suppose I could have her throw herself off the castle,” Abbas said.
They froze.
“Climb up on the railing, Bloss,” Abbas ordered.
I tried to fight it. But my limbs moved separately from my mind. They moved as though they were tugged by invisible strings. They were slightly jerky, like puppet limbs. I was tugged up onto the railing by those strings. I struggled with my massive ball gown. I nearly slipped and tumbled twice.
Hands wrapped around my waist and lifted me into place. Large hands. Ryan’s hands.
“Take your hands off her,” Abbas commanded.
Ryan slowly removed his hands, once he was sure I had my balance.
“Don’t!” Connor whispered. I don’t know if he was begging me not to jump or begging Abbas not to make me.
I tried to lift my hand. I couldn’t. I tried again, swallowing down bile. I tried a finger. I couldn’t move anything. My body felt separate from me. As if there was a thick barrier of bandages between my brain and my limbs. I was still inside. But I couldn’t break out. I was trapped.
If Abbas bid me to jump I’d have no choice. I knew it. I felt the surety of it. I had no control. Even though I tried to fight it, I had no control.
I kept my gaze firmly ahead, though my stomach churned. I cared less about my death than the death of the men behind me, the knights who’d saved my kingdom when I’d run away as a melodramatic teenager. Their faces flashed through my mind as the dragon grew close enough for me to see the orange-red color of his eyes. Connor. Ryan. Declan. Quinn.
Can you hear me? Quinn’s voice cut through the gauze surrounding my body and penetrated my mind.
Yes! I shouted internally in my relief. I could still reach someone. Someone knew I was still there, buried inside a spell.
Abbas leaned forward at that moment, stroking my ankle as the dragon approached the capital city, Marscha. “Your Majesty, I am so eager to see how you defend your kingdom. Raise your hands.”
My hands flew up of their own accord, making me lose my balance. I tilted forward. The cobblestones of the courtyard leered at me. I felt myself tilt through the air.
Ryan’s arm snaked out and grabbed my waist; he was the only reason I didn’t fall to my death. He didn’t let me go this time.
Abbas didn’t seem at all disturbed by the near-loss of his puppet. His next command was smooth and even. “Blast that dragon with peace power until you’ve ended it or it has ended you.”
He let go of my ankle as my hands started to emit a green burst of peace power. My wrists ripped open, blood trickled down my arms.
Fear bubbled up from my stomach and filled my mouth; I was drowning in it.
Ryan let go of me and I tilted forward again; I was as frozen as a porcelain doll, still blasting peace power from my hands as I fell—two sets of arms pulled me out of the air. Declan and Connor tried to pull me down from the railing, but my body wouldn’t allow it. Abbas had ordered it. And so they helped me balance on it.
I heard a thump behind me. I hoped that Ryan had smashed Abbas into the stones so hard the other man’s brain littered the floor.
Quinn’s voice sounded inside my head. Ryan says you have one minute to come up with a plan, or he’s going to spank you.
Was that Abbas? Did he knock him out? I need a gargoyle. I need to leave—
Smack! The hit didn’t do much to penetrate my ball gown. But it shocked me as my body rocked forward in Connor and Declan’s arms.
I was planning dammit! I was planning.
Leaving isn’t an option, Dove. You need a plan for all of us.
Declan’s the planner. Sard! Can’t he just… I dunno, transform the dragon into a rabbit?
Quinn went silent for a minute. The hands around my waist shifted. Declan’s left.
“I’ve never used my power on sentient things,” Declan said.
“Test it on Abbas,” Ryan ordered.
“Well, he’s knocked out, so he’s not really sentient,” Declan pondered.
“Just do it,” Connor yelled. “That thing’s almost here!”
The screams had started in the capital, as people on the streets spotted the monster. As it grew closer, its colossal size became more and more apparent. The dragon’s black wings stretched as wide as two houses. Smoke curled out of its nostrils. It opened its mouth and I could see the red-hot glow—
“NO!” I blasted more peace power, ignoring the fact that a jagged cut ripped open in my right thigh. Blood shot out with each beat of my heart. It gushed down my legs. It soaked my skirt. The pain made it impossible for me to hold weight on it; I shifted and Connor struggled to keep me balanced.
In the distance, the dragon shook his head as though startled. But he didn’t flame the house beneath him.
I didn’t revel in that tiny victory. I was past emotions. I was fading. I felt lightheaded. My eyelids flickered.
I think I’m going to faint, I told Quinn.
Ryan! Quinn’s mindspeak blasted all of us. Heal her now. And don’t stop healing her! Forget us! Heal her.
Wait. Were they hurt? Did I hurt them? I asked myself.
I fought to stay awake. I thought the arms around my waist might feel wet. Sticky.
Sard.
Ryan and Quinn held a silent argument behind me.
Until Quinn’s shout accidentally reverberated through our heads. —We won’t drop her!
“I’ll siphon off whatever rage I can,” Connor said. “Just do it, Ry. She’s getting pale.”
I started to wobble. My vision blinked in and out.
Warm pink light surrounded me. The magic buzzed over my skin, knitting it together. But the magic wasn’t just healing. It was tenderness itself. It felt like a summer night full of lightning bugs. It filled me. Until I felt like a shimmering pink light myself. Like a stained-glass window. Like the dawning sun.
The magic faded and my eyes opened. I could see clearly again. And there was no summer night or pink dawn. There was the wind, growling at me. And the howl of a dragon making the hairs on my arm stand up.
Ryan’s voice sounded near my ear, “Bloss, he made you use your power. But tone it down. Wait. Until the beast gets closer.” He stroked my hair once; his hand trembled as he struggled for control.
Awe filled me.
He’s right. He’s a genius. What was I thinking? I’m an idiot! I shouted at myself.
I toned down the green glow until it was hardly visible. And though my wounds reopened, they bled more slowly. They were the slashes of a thin knife, instead of the jagged hacks of an ax.
Footsteps sounded and then I heard a thunk, thunk, thunk as Ryan pounded the wall behind us. He roared. The sound made the hairs on my arms stand up. Pebbles clattered to the ground. The wall wouldn’t last long.
Is everyone inside? I asked Quinn because I was too scared to look below. Too scared to take stock of how many people I might shred to pieces.
Quinn didn’t answer me.
Is everyone—
Shut it. I’m helping Dec.
I focused back on my foe, determined not to distract Quinn and Declan. The dragon was halfway through Marscha. Five more beats of his wings and he’d be in the dead space in front of the castle.
Declan! Can he—
“Sard!” Declan’s curse answered my question. Whatever he’d done, whatever he’d tried, wasn’t working. “Sentient creatures are a no-go!”
Bloss, you have anot
her minute. We need a new plan.
I, what? No! It’s almost here! Run. You all need to run. Or I’ll drain you. Save Avia. Save the people in the castle.
Smack! Somehow, my ass stung. Even through the skirt.
Another minute. Go, Bloss.
Near the dragon I saw a flock of birds appear. They swarmed the beast. He paused momentarily, and then flamed them. But instead of dropping, they just disappeared. Quinn was distracting the beast with hallucinations.
What’s the plan, Bloss? I heard the fatigue in Quinn’s inner voice. That had taken a lot out of him. I doubted he could do it again.
Ryan needs to get Meeker. We need the spell to unlock this sarding chain and get it off me.
Ryan has to heal you. Quinn’s voice bellowed through all our heads. Connor. Take the edge of his rage. Drink it in. NOW!
Make Connor hold my hand as he does it. Have them both get their hands into my peace blast.
Two sets of hands reached out along my arms. Ryan’s pink power glowed around me. Connor’s power was absorption, and he siphoned off some of my pain and some of Ryan’s rage. I heard him grind his teeth together. I could only hope he didn’t try to take on too much. I was about to tell Quinn to stop him when—
Smack!
I screamed internally at Quinn. Asswipe! I came up with a plan!
I sent my men after Meeker. We need more!
Sard! I—my brain felt empty. Tapped out. I didn’t know what to do.
If Dec can’t just minimize the dragon, what can he do? He can’t maximize my power. That will kill us all. It would take too much blood. The words slammed into my mind like a battering ram.
I yelled at Quinn. What’s the opposite of blood?
What?
Dec reduces the opposite. What can he reduce to make blood?
Lips pressed against my arm.
What’s the opposite of blood? Quinn yelled at us all.
The dragon was almost to the moat. Sarding hell. It was too late. I might have thought of a solution. But it was too late. My brain started shorting out in panic. My heart started pulsing so hard I felt it in my throat.