Page 10 of I Dream of Dragons

“Screw you, Phaethon,” I mutter, and glance at him just in time to see his dark eyes widen. His hands jerk, and more blood drips from his nose as they clench.

Then he turns his back to me, broad shoulders stiff.

Did I catch the great and mighty Eosphor by surprise? Not used to people dismissing him, is he? Or even answering back.

Well, he’s in for a treat. He’d better get used to it. I used to be meek. I used to be scared. I was a mere human, back then, too young and innocent to live.

Since then I’ve been through grief and death, and I’ll be damned before I let an arrogant male—of any race—order me around, talk down to me and think he can walk all over me.

I remember how respectful Mars had been. How gentle, but also glad to let me be myself, have my own plans and dreams, create my own future. He only wanted to be a part of it. To be by my side.

It was one of the reasons why I fell for him.

That, and I admit I’m partial to male beauty. How could I resist? He was tempting, stunning. Glorious.

“Beware of beauty.”

Jai turns toward me once more, his mouth tight. I take in his tall, muscular build and those shoulders you could rest the palace on, the tousled black hair and the chiseled jaw, the high cheekbones marked with those dark symbols, the dark, long-fringed eyes, the full lips, currently tilting into a cold smirk, and think…Well, too late to save myself now.

CHAPTER FOUR

RAE

The barge moves steadily over the sea, the telchin’s magic pushing it around the islets demarcating the sea arena. The wind blows back my hair, and I let it empty my head. I need to prepare for the games. I need all my focus to do this.

But Jai reaches for me. “Show me your hand.”

I jerk back. “No.”

He frowns. “I said, show me your hand.”

“Why should I?” I watch his face for signs. “Is it Jai I’m speaking to?”

He sighs. “Yeah, it’s me.” He’s standing so close beside me he’s exuding warmth and that scent of his, smoky and masculine. Hard to ignore. “What’s wrong?”

I shrug. What could be wrong, apart from his rejection? Phaethon’s nastiness? The king’s reveal and the mark he put on me? What else could be upsetting me today?

“There has only been one woman for me, and that’s fate. Fate can’t be undone.”

Yes, that stings the most. That he’s still in love with another.

“You went to the king,” he says.

“He wanted to see me. I obeyed. Not much of a choice. Where didyougo last night?” I won’t admit even to myself that I had expected him to show up in my room after I left the king’s apartments. Not least, because I shouldn’t want him to. Shouldn’t need him to.

His dark eyes flash. “There are rumors that you spent the night with him. That he marked you.”

I stiffen. “And how is that any of your business?”

Jaw clenching, he grabs my hand and lifts it. Turns it over and glares at my wrist. “Hells. It’s true. You let him mark you? You accepted his mark?”

I grind my teeth. “I did.”

“Why?Fuck me,makhair, why?”

That word again… He sounds like Jai. He definitely looks like Jai. But how can I be sure? When the man in front of you is in fact two… how can you trust him?

I just shake my head.