Page 37

The Dragon Slayer was friends of the dragons? Because that shit made total sense.

“They’d fucking try,”One dragon snarled.

“They’d lose.”Another hissed.

“Great, more chest beating cavemen. Just what I didn’t need.”

“Perception is everything, princess. If they fear your reputation, they don’t seek to fuck with you.

We descended through the clouds, and I felt my head growing heavier. The dragon I rode lowered its head, and the wind crashed into my face. A shockingly painful amount of pressure pulsed inside my skull, and I was knocked back on the creature’s scale-covered spine. The obsidian dragon shot forward to act as a windbreaker, which was probably the only reason I didn’t topple off the beast.

“She’s fucking human, Ronin. Be careful with her or she will die before we reach the peak of the mountain range.”

“Fucking hell,” I whispered thickly. Lifting my hand to touch my temple, I peered through the spots dancing in my vision as the surrounding clouds began darkening.

“I’m going to pass out.” It seemed inevitable. The pain rushing through my head joined with the burning acid still humming through my veins. My body went heavy and weightless simultaneously and I listed hazardously. A bevy of violent curses filled my mind even as my vision blacked out and sucked me into the velvety bliss of nothingness.

I woke to a hard bed beneath my cheek, and when I tried to sit up, the room spun around me. It forced me to place the back of my hand against my lips as my breakfast threatened to come back up. Holding on to the blankets, I fought against the room spinning around me.

“Delicate little thing, aren’t you?” Asked a deep, scratchy voice.

Turning toward the owner, I frowned when I found Knox leaning against the wall. “Knox?” I whispered, swallowing back the saliva building in my mouth.

“Basilius Karnavious,” he informed coldly. “You’d be Aria Hecate, the little lost princess everyone can’t wait to get their hands on.”

“Aria Primrose Hecate Prometheus Karnavious,” I amended for him.

“I wouldn’t lie to me, woman. You won’t like me if you force me to cut out that tongue. It would be a waste to take it without feeling what it could do first.” He folded his powerfully muscled arms over his chest, glaring at me.

“I’m not lying to you. Knox Karnavious is my mate.”

“That’s almost believable, except I’m his brother and I know better. Next lie?” His words were a rasping purr of promise and threat. The eyes so similar to Knox’s slid to the doorway as another man with similar blonde hair and oceanic-eyes strolled in.

“She talking?” the newcomer asked.

“Indeed, she is. In fact, the princess claims that she’s married to Knox.” Basilius and the new guy laughed. “I don’t think Knox would enjoy her spreading lies of marriage, especially when she’s a Prometheus bitch.”

“Knox wouldn’t touch a Prometheus female, not even with Killian’s cock. Save your lies for someone willing to buy them because we sure as shit don’t, little girl.” The owner of the voice seemed younger than Basilius, who continued to stare at me as if I was a meal he wanted to devour.

“So, what’s your story?” asked a third man I hadn’t noticed before. Still moving slowly, I turned just enough to look at him. He was sitting on the bed, devouring me with ravenous eyes.

Like Basilius, he had an uncanny resemblance to Knox, and I came to the conclusion that they must be brothers. The realization that they didn’t know what had happened to him or Liliana made sense since they’d been cut off from the Nine Realms, but I had my own puzzles to focus on. The last one in his line who’d held the ability to transform into a fire-breathing dragon was their grandmother, which meant something in this realm allowed them to take their dragon form. That made me question whether Hecate had intervened or if there was an internal constraint within the Nine Realms that hindered their ability to transform into beasts.

Ember was studying each male as if they were a meal she could devour. But her gaze continually returned to Basilius, even as she rattled. Although my guess was that Basilius looked and smelled like Knox, Ember’s undivided attention laser focused on him, remaining there entirely too long to be considered anything other than improper.

“It’s not him, Ember. Cool your shit.”

“But how do you know? Could it be him for like a long enough time to get off?”

“Absolutely not.”I snorted, which had Basilius’s eyes thinning.

They were dressed in poorly sewn pants and tunics that were threadbare and too thin to conceal the coiling muscles beneath the fabric. The brothers were clean shaven, save for Basilius, who had the same facial hair Knox had on his sharp jawline.

Dark, wispy ink covered his muscular arms and danced up his throat to his jawline, which was the only difference he held from Knox. As if he sensed me staring, his lips curled into a self-assured smirk that made my thighs clench against the imagery of him between them that he created. His dark head tipped and his oceanic-colored eyes leisurely returned the favor, growing hooded as they caressed over my breasts before landing on my exposed thighs.

“You came here from another realm. I’d like to know which realm it was?” he asked without taking his eyes from my naked thighs.

“The Nine Realms.”