Page 64 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)
“Don’t you dare, Relius,” War snarls. “Get back to the palace, or I’ll ram this dagger up your ass myself. You have to live. We’d all die for you. It’s what we swore, remember? Don’t look back.”
She turns me and shoves me into the fog.
I lose the battle. A tear chases down my cheek.
Behind me, I hear Wraith still sobbing.
Freya presses hard against my back. Daire presses closer as well. His wings stroke tentatively against my shoulders in comfort.
I don’t push him away.
My Golden Family are my true family. Best friends. Chosen because they’re the best at what they do and because I knew that they would be loyal.
Now, they’ve sacrificed themselves for me .
I never wanted them to.
Is this my fault?
I stagger forward, hacking at shadows.
Why can’t I be numb again? Why did Freya have to make me feel?
When you’re emotionless you can’t feel pain.
Grief, despair, rage.
“You’re burning up, love,” Daire’s concerned voice says above the screams. “Your pheromones are stronger too.”
Pulled out of my anguish, I sniff.
A strong rose scent wafts from Freya, stronger than it should be. Her body is like a furnace against mine.
I’m too hot too, close to falling into full rut.
I push a moth away from my face and swing around to face Daire and Freya.
They’re both pale.
Freya’s face is tear-stained. I touch the back of my hand to her forehead. Then I tip her chin back and lick her scent gland.
“You’re in heat.” I grab Daire by the hair and drag him closer, sniffing his throat. “And you’re falling into rut.”
“Aye, just like you are.” Daie meets my gaze challengingly. “Now you know how I felt, when I saw my forest burning on the Rite of Spring. How can we fight in this state? The three of us together are triggering a powerful reaction in each other. This isn’t going to be an easy one to ride out.”
I swallow.
Within minutes, we won’t even be able to walk, let alone fight .
Intoxicated by Freya’s scent, drawn to her irresistibly, I shudder.
My eyelashes flutter.
Last time I felt like this, I ended up collapsing in my study.
If I collapse now, then we all die.
Fuck.
“What do we do? I want to bond with both of you. I hoped…” Freya’s voice is small.
“We’re dead, aren’t we? Just like my parents were killed at Orm.
I’m going to be massacred in the same way.
I fucking hate vampires. I wanted revenge for my parents, and now they’re going to take the two men who I love and my life too. ”
She loves me…?
Daire looks just as pleased, as if he cares more about the love than the fact that we’re about to die.
Freya’s chest is rising and falling, as she draws in desperate, furious breaths.
When Daire meets my gaze, his expression is hard.
He looks like he’s struggling to get out the words; he’s moments from falling into full rut. “We haven’t tried everything yet. How does Hadrian feel about his Omega being stolen from him? Losing his mates, pack, and kingdom?”
“What the fuck are you playing at?” I growl.
Unexpectedly, a cloud of bats swirl from the fog. Their eyes are a glowing wine-red. They shrilly squeak, descending on us like a shroud.
I raise my arms over my face, flinching away from the battering of their leathery wings .
Freya screams, as the bats become tangled in her hair. Daire crumples forward onto her, protecting her with his wings.
My darkness howls.
And the Golden Dragon, Hadrian, breaks out from the place deep inside that I keep him restrained.
Instantly, Hadrian’s dagger extends into a full, blazing sword with golden flames that sizzle along its length.
Shadows wind around its hilt, up my arm, and around my body.
I back away from my pack, while the light of my sword drives back the fog, shadows, and all the Blood’s unnatural creatures in shrieking terror.
Yet I can’t control it. I never can.
I’ve let the darkness in, and now it will burn me entirely.
Burn this world.
I transform into my shifter form with a roar that rattles the windows of the tenements. My tail breaks down the remaining stalls. My wings smash the buildings, cracking through them like paper.
I raise my head on its long sinuous neck in fury, before breathing a line of fire up at the night sky.
Flames, flames, flames.
I will torch the moths into scorched blossoms, tumbling to ash over Bael.
The moths scatter, vomiting the moon back into the sky.
I roar in victory.
Aurelius…? A voice breaks into my mind .
I narrow my eyes at the fae who is boldly standing in front of me in a golden mask. He’s wearing my face.
I breathe in deeply, scenting him.
Pack.
Mate.
Hadrian , I snarl back.
Fear flashes across the fae’s face, before he steps in front of a pretty wolf shifter.
Our Omega.
The fae’s grin becomes vicious. Burn them all.
Surprised, I stare at him. Now, I know why he’s worthy to be my mate.
Unrestrained, I flap my wings and roar again.
Rats flee before me. The shadows retreat like they can hide from me.
Except, then I sniff again.
I can smell a deep rose scent: My Omega is in heat.
She needs me.
Immediately I wind out shadows, grabbing up my two mates and binding them to my back. Then with a powerful beat of my wings, I carry them off into the night sky.