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I inhale hard through my nose, forcing myself to remain calm. “Scaldric never should have darkened the sky above your territory. Don't waste any of your breaths speaking his name, not unless you’re asking me to slaughter him at last.”

Her jaw drops. “Why are you being so possessive?”

“I'm always possessive of you.” I'm unable to keep the growl from my voice. “You are my mate.”

Her golden eyes burn with fire. “My life was not meaningless before I found my mate. I didn't guard my wealth for the sole purpose of being more attractive to a male.”

“Then tell me why.” I clench and unclench my jaw. “I'm listening. I'm trying to understand.”

She stalks away from me and paces through her empty cave. “I don't have time to argue with you.”

“I'm not trying to argue.”

“I need to find those pieces of shit who stole from me. Now.”

“Pyrah, I don't want you storming out of your lair in a fury and plunging into danger.”

She glares at me. “Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Telling me what to do.”

“I'm not. I'm worried about you. I want to keep you safe.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose as if I'm giving her a headache. “For fuck’s sake, Rook, I'm a dragon. Just get out of my way.”

I match her glare with my own. “Are you going to hunt down the thieves without me?”

“You don't seem to care that they stole my treasure.”

“That's not what I said.”

Her glare intensifies until I wonder if she's on the brink of shifting into a dragon and breathing fire. “You told me it didn't matter.”

“ You matter to me.” I force myself to retreat. “We’re both too angry. This isn't helpful. I'm going outside for some air.”

“You're leaving?”

“Yes.”

I exit the cave and escape into the cold mountain sunshine. I stand by the edge of the cliff and gnash my teeth. Why does Pyrah have such a hot temper? Her entire strategy can't be rage and rampant destruction. That's not a strategy at all.

Of course, if I told her this, she would think I'm being condescending. But why can't she just listen to me?

“Fuck!” My shout of frustration echoes off the slopes.

I should have known better than to argue with her about her treasure. It means more to her than I realized.

All that remains of her hoard fits in my pocket—a single silver coin.

I hold the coin in the palm of my hand. It’s ancient, stamped with the face of a queen I don’t recognize. Frowning, I read the words etched beneath her portrait: Long live Queen Pallora . This coin must be even older than I realized, since Pallora ruled over five hundred years ago.

Where did Pyrah find this coin? Dragon shifters don't live any longer than demons, so there’s no chance she was alive when it was minted. It would have already been old when she found it. This coin belongs in a museum, or at the very least, the royal treasury.

An idea gnaws at my mind like a wolf on a bone.

The thieves must have dropped this coin while stealing from her hoard. That means they must have touched it, and if they touched it, magic could be used to track them down. I have seen Lark cast this spell before.

I glance back at the cave, knowing full well that an angry dragon lurks within. Has she had enough time to cool down? I'm not sure I have myself. God, I still can't believe she's thinking of Scaldric. If only I could erase him from existence.

Damn it, I need to talk to Pyrah. Bracing myself, I return to her cave.

At least she's still human and hasn't shifted into a dragon. Yet. She glares at me. “I heard you.”

“Heard what?”

“Shouting profanity into the mountains.”

“I won't make a habit of it.”

“Hopefully the whole kingdom didn't hear you.” Her mouth twitches as if she's fighting a smirk, but she keeps glaring at me. “Have you come back with another argument?”

“No.” I glance down at my fist. The coin I'm holding digs into my skin. “I wanted to apologize.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I'm still angry at you.”

“I know.”

“You aren't wrong,” she says. “Not entirely.

Female dragons hoard treasure to impress their future mates.

It's an ancient tradition. But it's more than that, too.

Mothers pass on their treasure to their daughters.

The women in my family had an unbroken chain of inheritance lasting three hundred years.

I inherited my mother's gold and gems after she died.

That's all I have left of my mother. Had left of her.”

I swallow hard past the ache in my throat. “Pyrah, please forgive me. It was wrong of me to assume what this meant to you.”

“It’s as if they stole my memories of my mother from me.” Her eyes glitter like broken glass, though her tears remain unshed.

When I flatten out my hand, the silver coin gleams in the gloom of the cave. “Let me help you retake what has been stolen from you.”

“One coin. That's all I have left.”

I grimace. “The thieves must have touched this coin. That means we can hunt them down.”

“How?”

“Magic. My sister has cast this tracking spell before. I have seen her do it several times.”

Her gaze drops to the ground. “They can’t have gone far. The piss hasn’t even dried yet.”

I follow her gaze. In the corner of her cave, the stone floor still looks dark and wet. The foul scent hits my nose. A sickening mix of rage and disgust churns in my stomach.

“What kind of sick fucker would piss here after looting your treasure?” I ask, but it's not difficult to answer my own question. “They wanted to destroy and defile your home. Violate any sense of safety you had.”

Pyrah hugs herself, looking more vulnerable than she usually does. “Sometimes I hate being a dragon in this kingdom.”

“We will hunt them down together,” I say, decisively. “Every single one of these fuckers needs to die a slow, painful death.”

Restless, she paces through the emptiness of her cave. “I had thousands of coins, gemstones, and golden treasures. There must have been a small army of thieves.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. “It will take that much longer to kill them all.”

Not that I won’t enjoy every second of the slaughter. The demon blood in me calls for feral retribution.