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The king snatched a pillow off the sofa and smoothed his hand across the fabric while licking his busted lip. “Then kill a dragon and take it before they can burn it.”
Selig repressed a sigh. Not very smart at all. “Do you want to anger a thousand dragons?” He didn’t bother hiding the derision in his voice. “Even if you survived their wrath, the few loyal remaining dragons and riders will turn on you.”
“Dammit!” The king ripped open the pillow, scattering feathers everywhere. “I need something to ride!”
“I’m sorry,” Selig answered while growing ever tired of this demon’s tantrums. “There is nothing.”
The king plucked a feather from the pillow, twirling it between his fingers. “What about the wyvern that we recovered from the ocean?”
Selig’s blood turned to sludge. “Princess Tarianya Avias’s pet? Are you mad?”
The king shrugged, then sniffed the feather before shoving it in his mouth. “What care I if it was her pet?”
Selig knew they were at war. He also knew they would inevitably have to face the white witches again. Still, the thought of defiling a white witch’s wyvern made his blood run cold. “She will be furious when she finds out.” And she wouldn’t show Selig an ounce of mercy. He still wasn’t sure if the demons could win this war. He had to appear neutral to the white witches, just in case he needed to beg for his life.
“She will be dead soon anyway,” the demon king said, red flashing in his eye as his gray pallor turned an alarming shade of crimson for just a heartbeat before changing back. “Bring me that wyvern.”
Great. The demon king was probably a metamorphi, a demon version of a shifter, which meant he might be stupid, but he wasn’t weak. Selig swallowed, thinking more and more he should’ve stabbed the king in the back when he’d had the chance.
Shiri
I RESTED MY HEAD ON Drae’s chest while we followed Isa and Triss over the jungle landscape toward the massive, smoking cone with thin rivulets of lava running down its sides. We quickly flew around it, the radiating heat causing me to break out in a sweat. Once the towering cylinder was behind us, my relief turned to shock as I spied what looked like a cyclone of debris flying through the sky. But no, those were wyverns, so many I lost count. A thousand, ten thousand? I was shocked they didn’t run into each other with their erratic flapping. Their agonized squawks pierced the air, and I knew they were mourning their lost friend.
Tari’s wyvern let out a cry so keen my heart broke from it. I was so consumed watching my sister lean over the wyvern’s neck, patting her leathery skin, that I hadn’t noticed the temple until we were almost upon it. My breath caught when I realized the stone pyramid jutting from the jungle was the exact replica of the Temple of Kyan that Malvolia had made me destroy.
We landed in a lovely clearing of knee-high grass, and I was shocked to see several figures in coarse brown robes lined up in front of the temple.
After my mates set Ember, Aurora, and me on the ground and Tari and her mates climbed off her wyvern, the girls ran straight for Finn. He scooped them into his arms, easily carrying them against his broad chest. When the giggling girls kissed his cheeks, I forced myself to look away, a blade of jealousy piercing my heart. My nieces had always been sweet, but I’d never seen them be so affectionate with anyone, not even me.
I fanned my face as heat seeped into my pores and sweat pooled between my breasts. Either the friction from the wyverns overhead, the proximity to the volcano, or the lack of a breeze deep in the jungle made it much hotter here than the other side of the island.
Isa pinned her wings behind her, flashing a broad grin while bowing to Tari and me. Welcome to Ignisium.
Tari clasped her hands together, looking above us. “It’s lovely.”
I followed her line of sight. The wyverns still flew in erratic circles overhead. I cringed, hoping none of them decided to use the bathroom midair. When Tari’s wyvern whimpered, she gave her a nod, and the beast clumsily jumped into the air, soaring with the others.
“What is this place?” Nikkos asked aloud while spinning a slow circle.
We were surrounded by lush jungle, the trees so tall they blotted out most of the volcano behind us.
“Isa says this place is called Ignisium,” Tari said aloud.
I swallowed, realizing my mates couldn’t hear the dragon’s thoughts.
Two of the robed figures stepped forward, pulling down their hoods. It took me a moment to register their fawn-like ears and furry cheeks.
Aurora jutted a finger toward them. “Satyrs!” she squealed.
Ember gasped. “Like Mrs. Euphemia and Crispin!”
“Yes, we are.” One of the satyrs, an older woman with tawny skin and a long silver braid, winked at the girls. Then she turned toward us, bowing low. “Goddesses, I am High Priestess Esther.” She nodded to the other satyr, who didn’t look older than me. “And this is Priestess Kaida.” She placed a hand across her heart. “It is an honor.”
I looked to Tari, who shrugged. I guess they’ve been expecting us, she said to me through thought while stroking her black rabbit’s ears when he poked his head out of the bag hanging like a sling across her chest.
I guess so, I answered.
“Where did you come from?” Tari asked her.
