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T HE DRAGON LANDED ON THE turret of the castle that had belonged to her first human. The woman who lived here now slid down her wing and into the window, and the dragon resisted the urge to shake her off.

The black-haired demon turned to her.

“When I call you, you come. That’s how this works.”

The dragon turned her snout toward the magician who had made her too many promises to count. She huffed hot air at the woman, but she didn’t budge.

The woman—Mallow—tilted her head at the dragon and met her stare. “You doubt me, but I’ll be rid of this prophecy soon. I am close to eliminating the heir. Then you’ll complete the bond with me.”

Maybe , the dragon thought. Maybe I just don’t like you that much.

Mallow narrowed her black eyes. “I can only complete my promise to you if you bond with me. You’re the one prohibiting that.”

The dragon huffed again, sending a harsh wind into Mallow’s chamber, disturbing papers and blowing paintings off the walls.

Mallow just stared her down.

The dragon pushed off from the tower, flying away. She hated humans.

She beat her wings against the air and coasted around the mountains to the rocky terrain on the other side of the cliff, to the nest where that demon had found her in the first place.

For over five hundred years she’d lived in peace, unless she was disturbed by a human. Humans had a way of mucking things up for her.

Case in point …

The dragon landed lightly on the ledge of her cave, smelling more humans than she liked to have around.

The man with the rust hair and the woman missing half an arm were back. The dragon snarled.

The man turned and held his hands up in peace, bowing deeply. The woman followed.

“We just need a moment. And if you won’t allow anything else, we’ll leave.”

Humans had a habit of multiplying that the dragon hated. She folded her wings and settled herself on the ledge, staring them down.

The rusty-haired man nodded in thanks. He was nicer than his father at least.

From the back of the cave, her boy came into the light. He hugged the other two, and the dragon listened as the rust-haired one showed him a slip of paper too small to see.

“So you’ve made contact?” her boy said.

He was excited. And the dragon knew what came next. She sighed, staring at the lonely mountainside. She knew she couldn’t keep him. He wasn’t hers in the way a dragon child could be. But something about him had called to her, begging her to save him.

But saving him meant dealing with all his … friends . She snarled at the word.

“Dragon,” her boy called anxiously. “It’s time. If you’ll allow me to go, I need to.”

The dragon huffed, refusing to look at him.

When these two had come for him the last time, they’d all decided that it was safer for her boy to stay here. Foolishly, the dragon thought he’d chosen her that day. That he would have preferred to stay.

She wished she’d never taken him with her two months ago. That day near the lake as the dust billowed up into a cloud and the battle sizzled under her talons.

She’d grown fond of him. And now he wanted to go.

“Thank you for healing me and keeping me safe,” he said. “But I have to get to my sister. I know you had one once. And I hope you remember what that bond means.”

Bond , the dragon thought derisively. She thought she’d known a bond again.

When the demon woman climbed up this mountain and promised to make her a dragon mate, the dragon had agreed to a bond.

But from the moment she opened her magic up to the demon, she’d known it wasn’t right.

She’d felt Mallow’s power and had mistaken that for the right partner.

But the boy had more of what the dragon yearned for in his blood than Mallow could begin to dream of.

And now he wanted to leave. Fine.

The dragon turned her snout back to him, pressed her nose to his side, and moved her tail out of his path.

“Thank you. I hope we meet again,” the boy said. “I want to introduce you to my sister. If anyone can figure out how a magician can make a dragon’s mate, it’s her.”

The dragon rolled her eyes, sick of hearing about this sister already.

“Come on, Rory,” the woman with one arm said. “We’ll get you caught up.”

Rory reached his hand out for the dragon’s snout, and she huffed, pushing him back.

She took off into the sky, determined to forget about the rose prince and the itch she had to belong to him.