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“You are no more than a cambion.” His voice hisses like smoke. “A half-breed with corrupt blood, your seed useless and incapable of fathering a child.”

His words hit me in the gut. I know I’m sterile, unable to get Pyrah pregnant, but sometimes I wish this was a secret. Everyone in the kingdom seems to know my weakness.

Pyrah arches her wing over me, a protective gesture. “Don’t you dare insult my mate and expect to walk away from here unscathed.”

Scaldric’s deep voice rumbles with menace. “Because of him, you will bleed.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No.” He tilts his massive head to one side. “You are a woman. If your womb fails to grow the seed within it, you will bleed.”

Surprise darts through me. Does he speak the truth? I keep my stare locked on my enemy. “Why are you here, Scaldric? To fight?”

“Not to fight but to warn you.” Scaldric lashes his tail back and forth. “Queen Dulcamara is hunting for you.”

I arch an eyebrow at his stupidity. “We know.”

“The queen has placed a bounty on both of your heads, a fortune to whoever brings back the Gray Prince and his red dragon. She won’t rest until you are hers.”

“Why would you warn us?” Pyrah asks. “We have no reason to trust you.”

Scaldric spreads his enormous wings. “Because no bounty can compare to you, my lovely Pyrah. Your fierce beauty outshines all the gold in the world. We belong together, my mate, and I will win you back.”

What a piece of shit. His pretty words stink worse than a cesspit.

I glance back at Pyrah. “We could kill him.” I say it with the bravado of a monster hunter who does this every day.

“No.” She folds her wings against her spine. “Scaldric, I spared your life for a reason. Don’t make me regret it.”

Scaldric tilts his head, inspecting her with predatory curiosity. “I owe you a debt. Allow me to repay it by keeping you safe.”

“Safe?” She spits out the word. “How?”

“I don’t trust that demon to protect you. While you bleed, you won’t be able to shift into a dragon. Let me fly over your territory during your time of weakness and watch over you.”

“Like hell you will,” I mutter.

Scaldric ignores me. “You will return to me, Pyrah. I will wait for however long it takes.”

The golden dragon lunges into flight. His pounding wings create a wind that scatters fallen leaves and rose petals into the air. Bracing myself, I shield my eyes with my arm. He soars higher over the Thornwood before vanishing from sight behind the canopy of trees.

I return my sword to its scabbard. Today isn’t, sadly, his day to die.

Pyrah relinquishes her dragon form, her body shuddering back into that of a woman. Her draconic ferocity fades away and betrays a deep vulnerability that she has often kept hidden. Her eyes look haunted with the fear of someone who has been prey before.

I touch her on the elbow. “Are you all right?” I ask.

“You were right,” she murmurs. “We can’t stay here.”

The adrenaline begins to fade away from my blood, though I still can’t shake the primal urge to fight. “Every time Scaldric looks at you, I want to carve his eyes from his skull.”

“Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

I’m unable to stop a growl from escaping my throat. “Pyrah, I admire your desire to protect your species, but Scaldric deserves to die. He has no respect for your independence.”

“I know.” She forces out the words as if they taste bitter. “But please don’t become a dragonslayer. You’re nothing like the man who killed my mother, or all the men who tried to kill me.”

I grit my teeth. “I don’t want you to look at me that way.”

“Have you ever killed a dragon before?”

“Never. But Scaldric knows the boundaries of your territory. He won’t wait for you to come to him, not when he can hunt you down and take you when you’re at your most vulnerable.”

“God, he’s such a bastard.”

I cock my head. “ I’m a bastard," I say, mildly enough.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

I shrug, not even insulted. “Everybody knows I’m the king’s demon bastard. The word gets stale.”

Her throat works as she swallows hard, clearly still bothered by what she said. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” It’s the truth, one that I have been aware of since I was no more than a boy. “I understand what you meant.”

“Thank you, Rook,” she says.

She stands on her toes and kisses me. I return the kiss, my fangs a sharp hint against her lips. My arms hook around her waist and hold her closer. She can never be close enough. The warmth of her body acts like a talisman that unravels some of the tension in my gut.

When we break apart, her fingers trace the scars on her neck, where Scaldric bit her without her consent. The haunted look in her eyes deepens, as if she’s lost in a painful memory.

“I wish I could erase these,” she says.

“Scars are reminders of our survival.” I wait for her to meet my gaze. “And reminders of our strength.”

“Sometimes, I don’t feel strong.”

Her words surprise me. “Pyrah, you are the strongest woman I have ever met. I’m in awe of how much you have overcome. I wish only that I was able to mark you as my mate.” By tomorrow, it seems likely that no trace of my fangs will linger upon her skin.

She smiles sadly. “Only a dragon can mark another dragon.”

“I will find another way to mark you.”

I never thought I would be blessed with such a fierce, beautiful woman as my mate. Whenever anyone looks at her, they should know these truths: she is mine and I will protect her with my life. Nothing in these worlds—not the Overworld nor the Underworld—will stop me.