Page 101 of Maleen

I smirk over at her. “Fuck the sunset, it doesn’t compare to your beauty.”

She reddens and rolls her eyes, but I know she loves it. “Thank you, Jesp. Are you nervous?”

That’s when I really look at her and notice how tense she is. “Always.” She glances over at me like she wasn’t expecting a serious answer. “But that’s what keeps me going. It’s how I keep myself alive. As confident as I seem, it only takes one little mistake for everything to come crumbling down. Nairiden Woods was a good reminder of that.”

“Yeah,” she whispers.

Tisur holds out his wing as a bridge to Vasari and swings his neck around, gesturing for me to go over to her. “I was already planning on jumping over there, but thank you for the lift.”

I run across the boney part of his wing and jump in behind Rav, holding her close and breathing in her scent. “I swear that I will do everything I can to make sure we all walk out of there—and every other fucked up situation we get into—alive.”

She leans back against me and we watch as the realm melts into darkness. “Let’s do this,” she whispers.

THE SEVEN OF us on top of our dragons crawl slowly through the tunnels, deeper into the mountain. Vasari and Ravina lead the group of us with Rozen and Ember pulling up the rear with Killian. As much as we didn’t want our mate in the front, we understand that the dragon Queen is her bonded dragon, and dragons respect a show of strength, so her hiding behind all of us would not have fared well.

Tisur explained to me earlier that Vasari was well respected before but mostly kept to herself, only stepping into situations when the dragons couldn’t resolve them on their own. Now? She’s taking up the mantle her mother has laid out before her. But first is putting the brainwashed dragons where they can’t hurt anyone.

Roars and scuffling get louder the closer we get. Talons scraping on stone echo through the cave system.

“We are getting closer, prepare yourselves. We don’t know how ugly this is going to get,” Rav murmurs through the bond, and a wisp of Szellemi magick coats the earth with damp air as she makes sure Roz and Ember have the warning too.

We appear out of the tunnel into a cavernous space, filled to the brim with dragons of all colors except white. The only white dragons currently in this room are Evisdor and Ivna.

Vasari walks toward the center of the room where a large stone dais is sitting. Dragons move out of the way, most dipping their long necks toward the ground as she passes. A few stand there uncaring, almost like there’s no one home upstairs, and one of them snarls, snapping its teeth at her. The large red dragon is only slightly bigger than Vasari, but I can’t help holding my breath.

Tisur tenses but doesn’t move. “I trust my mate can handle this. She is the most powerful dragon alive. Relax, rider,” he says with ease, but I can sense he’s nervous. “We will always be nervous when our Queen is in danger, but this is for her to handle. Your mate too, if she is to be respected as Queen. Remember this.”

I can see Nero from here puffing his chest up at the beast, and it makes me shake my head in amusement. I swear that bird feels no fear. But like him, I want to dismember anyone who even looks at Rav the wrong way.

Vasari snaps at the dragon’s neck, sinking her razor sharp teeth into the tough flesh. She growls—a warning.

The beast doesn’t give up, and swings around Vasari, going straight for Ravina. My heart climbs into my throat and her name threatens to leave my mouth, but I know I can’t distract them. Fuck this, I’m not going to try to not feel the fear. Instead I’m going to take a page from Killian’s book and tan her ass for making me feel this way. I know he still needs to dish out his punishments from what happened in the Nairiden Woods. Knowing him, he’s probably saving up all her infractions so he can cash them all in at the same time.

Time seems to slow down as the beast inches toward her. Ravina leans backward until she’s almost flat against her dragon’s back. Vasari swings her body out of the way and goes in for the kill. Her teeth and talons grab onto the red beast and slam it toward the ground before a resounding crack echoes through the space—the snapping of its neck.

Her eyes narrow as she dares another to try her, and when no one else does, she flies to the top of the stone dais and we are moving again. Tisur positions himself on her right flank, and we overlook everything from up here.

The others surround her and the room falls silent. “It’s time,” Ravina states, sounding slightly out of breath, nerves most likely from almost becoming dragon food.

Yeah, definitely taking a page out of Killian’s book.

Evisdor and Ivna step forward and suddenly the room is full of movement as dragons herd other dragons across the room. I watch in fascination as at least forty of the one hundred and fifty beasts here are separated from the group into a deep alcove. They seem apathetic, like they’re waiting for a command. These must be the ones that are brainwashed, made to be nothing but lap dogs until given the order to kill.

The white dragons and Vasari blow out hot breaths of shadowflame and I watch in fascination as the three of them work together quickly to meld stones together, creating a wall that will keep the beasts imprisoned until we can figure out a way to clear their minds of the Soul Stone corruption.

I glance over at Killian, Talyn and Roz to see they are just as amazed as I am. Well, one problem down, only a million more to go.

Vasari flies back up to the dais and stops beside me. Rav is breathing heavy but still looks like her magnificent self, even if she’s covered in a smokey residue. Nero is perched on her shoulder, looking as if he killed the red beast himself and locked away all the other dragons, and it’s hard not to smile.

“We did it,” I laugh.

But she doesn’t. “Jesper… Kill…” she glances over at him and I see his back straighten, sensing something is wrong. She takes a deep breath. “So good news: when Vasari and I entered the main room, the dragons were mostly happy to see her back. But we discovered something.”

“What is it?” Killian asks, the rough smokey timber of his voice rolling over Rav in a way that makes her shiver, and I want to use my tongue to get her to do it again.

“Both your fathers are here.”

The heat fades and I feel like I’m drenched in a cold shower before my anger reignites a different kind of heat. “Here? At Phixmery?” I confirm.