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Someone was going to die tonight, but it wasn’t going to be me. Because I had a score to settle. Before the sun rose, Grigory was going to pay for killing my mother.

And then he was going to pay for threatening my mates.

Chapter Twenty-Two

FERGUS

Faster. Faster. Faster.

The word throbbed in my head like a mantra, its beat matching the sweep of my wings as Bram and I streaked toward Krovnosta. We’d crossed the continent in a blur, rocketing over green fields and gleaming cities shining like gems in the darkness. Now the Urals rose all around us, the jagged peaks capped with snow. We approached Ludovic’s territory at last.

But I didn’t relax.

Over and over, the scene from the loch replayed in my head. The vampires had been huge, their armor-clad bodies looming over Halina’s petite form. When she’d whirled, the look on her face had cut me to my core.

She’d been terrified.

What did they want with her? She’d said the leeches cared nothing for her. That her father barely remembered her name.

A fool. And probably a dead one.

Which meant her brother was prince.

Aleksander. Tonight, Krovnosta would have another dead prince. No one harmed a dragon’s female and lived.

But I had to find her first.

Faster. Faster. Faster.

My heart raced. My muscles screamed. My beast roared, thirsting for revenge. It burned inside me. I opened my mouth and released a stream of fire.

Beside me, Bram shot me a disapproving look. But only for a second. As soon as the expression appeared in his eyes, it was gone, replaced with something flat and emotionless. It was the look of a Sovereign Guard—a cold-blooded killing machine trained to eliminate threats. He saved his fire for those who had taken our female.

My beast purred, pleased with our mate.

Clouds parted, and a turret appeared.

Castle Krovnosta. Vampire territory. A place dragons were forbidden to venture.

Fuck that.

I plastered my wings to my sides and canted my head down, slicing through the air. The sky around me lightened. Dawn was coming. More turrets appeared, and rays of sunlight sparkled off the snow that dusted the castle’s towers.

Movement caught my eye—and my heart skipped a beat.

On a balcony high on one of the castle’s walls, two miniature figures edged into the open. Sunlight struck one’s hair, turning it to fire.

It was Halina…and a taller, black-haired male advanced on her with a dagger.

Putting her between his blade and the sun.

Fire gathered in my throat.

At my side, Bram roared, the sound like a sonic boom.

The sun’s warmth heated my wings.

I flew faster.