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“Thank you.” The elven woman whispered and clasped her hands together, “Now, do you think Julio will care if you get after-work drinks with me and Louisa, or what?”

Chapter 6

It was rare for Alessandro’s patience to be tested. Contrary to popular belief, it had been ages since he’d given in to his anger and ripped the wings off the backs of those who annoyed him. He’d grown.

He knew his long gone favorite punishment kept most of his dragons in line. His Elemental Generals were a secondary line of reinforcement of the rules and regulations that riddled the Draconian Thunder, but it was fear of his wrath that kept them a mostly peaceful race.

Now that everyone, including the generals, had lost control, there were many trying their hand at a shot for power.

The fire dragons were the most hard pressed. He’d extinguished too many runaway fireballs for his liking.

Blaise was the youngest of the generals and the most hot headed. His demeanor had been the reason his dragons lacked the discipline the other elementals had, but he was formidable. As one of Terra’s top combat students, he never had his guard down, no matter how relaxed he seemed.

Alessandro glared over at him as he snuffed the life from the stray fireball he’d caught on his claw.

Blaise pressed the young fire dragon’s face into the ground and bowed his own head. “Sorry, my king. The idiot sneezed wrong and accidentally shot that, right, Mateo?”

Deciding not to risk a mouth full of dirt, the dragon gave a sharp nod of his head, which Alessandro knew had to be just as uncomfortable, seeing as Blaise hadn’t let up on his grip.

Alessandro growled his displeasure and continued his walk to Naseem’s home.

The bald-headed dragon was pacing his balcony when Alessandro found him.

“That bad?” Alessandro asked, leaning against the door frame.

Naseem snapped his eyes in surprise towards the Dragon King. Oh yes, it was bad. Naseem, like Blaise, always had his guard up.

The air general grimaced, “Your timing astounds me. I’ve barely had a second to digest it myself.”

“Who?”

Instead of speaking, Naseem extended his fingers. On the ground, Alessandro hadn’t noticed the magic circle until the broken pieces of magic Naseem had collected from the scene of the crime crawled to show the unmistakable dark blue and purple streaks. Even unfinished, the purple circle of dragon magic was visible. The blue inside noted it even further as a water elemental. Tendrils of cursed magic that had shielded the pieces from immediate recognition skirted the border of the spell, contained, but not dissipated.

It wouldn’t have been enough to determine which water dragon it had come from, but the Thunder only had one who had recently left home.

He had to pause before he lashed out his rage and alerted all of Draconis to his immense displeasure. The last thing he wanted was to see the woman again, but ignoring her had proven to be more dangerous than he could have imagined. To think an ex-lover would seek vengeance by trying to destroy his Thunder.

He scowled. He had known better than to get involved with Elaine Hitori, the Thunder’s sweetheart, but she had been relentless in her pursuit of him and had gained the support of all but one of his generals.

Charmed by her drive, he had given in and they began dating. She’d been a great lay, but in the end, that was all she could offer him. Under the impression of an assured future together, Elaine began executing Dragon Queen duties, passing orders and convincing the Thunder that she spoke for him.

The manipulations on ensuring everyone she’d had the power to do whatever she wanted resulted in the only time he had to break a relationship off in public. Having gotten on the bad side of most of the Thunder through her abuse of power, she had only a few allies and he had assumed her recent absence in Draconis and Dragon City was her attempt to get back on her feet.

Apparently, she had been biding her time to attack the people who shunned her.

He cracked his neck as he stood to his full towering height and he reached out with his magic to get a lock on her signal. Surprise filled him as he realized where the dragon was situated. A few feet from the unique magical signature that was the Traveling Cabin.

“Your eyes are glowing crimson, Alessandro. Think before you react.” Naseem’s voice halted him from phasing out. “She is one of us. She has rights.”

Smoke curled from his nostrils as Alessandro attempted to reign in his beast.

“Her rights were forfeit the moment she attacked Draconis.” Was all he got out before the vision of Naseem’s balcony crumbled away.

XOXOXOXO

Rowan awoke to the sound of a dull thudding. For a moment, she thought it was a raging hangover she hadn’t meant to bring on by trying to make Kin feel better about his loss of control. But as the pounding grew more insistent, then turned downright hostile, she shook off the dregs of sleep from her mind and gathered magic.

The cabin quaked as whoever was outside was trying to blast their way in. Her home fired back its own attack. Rowan heard the snap of trees. She could imagine a body being thrown across the mountain her cabin had settled in for the night.