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“You cannot do this! No Dragon has ever mated with a Witch.”

Rurik was in too much of a good mood for the green Dragon to truly upset him.

“It is irrelevant, I cannot take it back.”

“The Elders will not approve, Rurik!”

Glov stomped his paw forward.

With a growl, he lifted his foot until it rested on the edge of the tub and was clear for all to see. “I did not lose a toe for anyone to tell me they do not approve!”

“You lost a toe?” Amalia leaned forward to look at his foot to see he was indeed missing a digit next to his pinkie toe.

“Yes. I am falling apart, soon there will be nothing left of me.”

Amalia laughed at how dramatic he was being, but he was quite fond of all his body parts.

“Is that why you called me here? To tell me you have done something as wicked as this and laugh about it in front of me while in a bath?”

Rurik brought his foot back into the water while his hand came up to cover the mark he’d placed on Amalia.

“No. I had not expected you to arrive so soon. I often forget how skilled Falen is.”

“Tell me what it is you want so that I may leave.”

“I do not think you will want to leave when I tell you, but... if you were to walk down my tunnel into the main room-” Rurik turned his head in that direction. “You will see Strolguil the Vast’s head mounted on my wall.”

Rurik would need to speak with Glov now that he was here. He planned to inform him of both his and Amalia’s accounts of the day so that he could pass the information to the Elders since he was unwilling to leave his recovering female by herself.

Rurik and Amalia had one last battle to face. He knew the meeting would be long, and if it didn’t go in his way, could end in him regrettably spilling the blood of his own kind.

Glov’s eyes widened and the aggressive tension in his body left him to be replaced with surprise.

“You have finally killed him?”

“Yes. He is no more. And, with such a daring feat, nobody is allowed to command me or tell me that I cannot have what I want.” Then he wrapped his arm across her neck so he could cup the side of her face to push her cheek against his own. “Especially when she is the one who helped me do it.”

Chapter 38

Three nights had passed since the night of the black moon, two since Glov’s visit, and Amalia had finally woken up like herself again... mostly.

Each day she’d been gaining strength, especially the first where she spent most of her time coming in and out of sleep. She’d gained enough energy to do something, like bathe or cook so she could eat, before she started feeling drained again.

Like a puppy with a new toy, the Dragon seemed to hover around her. She was unsure if that was because he had bonded with her or because she was unwell.

Glov had still been in the lair when she’d woken the first day, but he’d quickly been dismissed. She’d found them both standing in front of Strolguil’s head in their Dragon forms, talking about the events of the black moon, as well as recounting some of the terrible things he’d done over his long life.

The night of Glov’s arrival, Rurik had slept under his treasure, crawling into it since he hadn’t slept since the night before the black moon.

This morning, she woke up alone.

Not in the mood for cooking, she made her way to the food alcove and just ate fruit while she was there. Then she went to hunt Rurik down, wondering where he was.

She didn’t really need to look far. As she was walking down the tunnel, she could see a handful of books had been carelessly thrown out of an alcove. Her brows creased together in concern until she saw another fly out as though it had been carelessly tossed.

Just as she was coming to the alcove and was about to enter the room, she had to duck when a book was tossed over his shoulder. She peeked inside when she heard growling.

“Blasted! Where is it?” Rurik cursed to himself in his human form.