Page 5 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

Chapter five

Alastair

R ed clouds my vision as I tear over the dark rooftops after my prey. My wings beat heavily, promising pain with every snap of the leather against the frigid air. I smell his fear, following it like a hunting hound.

“He’s close,” Lily shouts from my back to overcome the whistling wind. “Left.”

I bank hard and feel her weight shift between my shoulder blades as she accommodates, leaning into the turn. He’s in my sight now, the putrid worm, running down the lane toward the old Bull’s gambling house-turned-refuge for the displaced.

Lily’s thighs grasp my sides harder as she lets go of my neck. I feel the magic coursing through her, a powerful surge of heat across my back. One of the stones in front of the fleeing fool juts out, tripping him.

I descend fast, slamming to the ground behind him. He screams and tries to scramble away on hands and knees. I grab his ankle and pull him from the ground with a deep snarl. He pulls a dagger from his waistband and slashes my thigh, but the blade can’t penetrate my scales .

I grab his wrist and squeeze until it pops. The quiet of early morning is shattered by his screams, and the blade clatters to the stones. His pants turn a darker shade at the crotch.

Lily hops off my back and circles around to the bandit.

“What did the princess say to the thief?” she asks with a broad grin.

I don’t much care for the way she plays with the fools we hunt, but it always brings a smile to her face. A smile I’ve sorely missed for weeks. A little play is worth a glimpse of that devious gleam in her eyes.

“I swear I didn’t do nothin’!” he screams, piss trailing up his chest and dripping off his greasy hair.

Lily twists her fingers and his body goes rigid. She grabs his right arm and turns his hand, revealing the brand of her discharged rune-ward on his palm in blazing green light.

She tsks. “And you didn’t even try to answer my riddle. No fun.”

“Please, Princess Liliana, I would never,” he grunts out through clenched teeth. “I swear I didn’t.”

“You didn’t ? Or didn’t know you’d be caught?” she asks as she riffles through his dropped bag. “How did you even get into the Nest?”

“I didn’t!” he screams.

I give his ankle a solid shake, breaking the hold of Lily’s petrification. “Answer your princess with honesty and we might spare your life.”

He devolves into deep sobs but says nothing as Lily roots for the pilfered goods.

“Found it!” she exclaims, holding up the book. The hellish rune scribed on the front of it makes my scalp itch, so I look away, staring instead at the thief .

“Ashai, save me!” he screams at the tome like the dark goddess might hear him through it. Maybe she can.

“Plop him on his head; just a quick bonk to knock him unconscious for Zane,” Lily says.

I drop my arm and his scream is cut short by his skull hitting the stones. She picks up the thief’s bag and puts the book back in it before looping the strap over her shoulder. She turns to me, her face flushed and eyes lusty.

She shimmies her shoulders. “Good work, monster co—”

“Lily,” I growl, my demonic voice making her shiver.

“Conqueror,” she says, gesturing to the man crumpled on the ground between us. “You’ve conquered another monster.”

She steps over him and pushes onto her toes as she stretches her arms toward my face. Her hands are cold and soft against my scales, their touch sending presently unwanted feelings buzzing through my veins. My discipline relents for a single, fleeting moment, and I lean into her touch.

“We need to return him to the Nest for questioning,” I say, enjoying the way her fingers caress the ridges of my demon’s armor.

“All work and no play.” She sighs, her hands slipping from my face.

I snatch her wrists and pull her close, leaning down so I can smell the rose scent of her skin and hair. “There will be time to play soon. Be a good girl for me, and I’ll make it worth your while.”

Her chest heaves. “And if I misbehave?”

I lean down, my lips brushing along her jaw as I reach her ear. She shivers again and the primal beast in me wants to misbehave, too. But there’s a war to be won, and a dark goddess to kill.

“Not a single orgasm for you,” I whisper, then nip her earlobe .

She smirks when I pull back. “As if you could stop yourself. You want them just as much as I do.”

It’s true. I live to hear her scream my name in ecstasy. But if it means keeping her safe, I will deny her. “Test me and you’ll find out, princess.”

“Oh, bossy Alastair,” she croons. “My favorite.”

If I had just a hair less restraint, it would be over for her. She seems to see the war in my eyes and smiles playfully.

“Come on, let’s get this dickwad back to the Nest,” she says, shoving the toe of her boot into the man’s ribs. I grab him under the arms and haul him against my side, then reach for Lily. She shakes her head. “We’ll be too heavy.”

“We’ll walk then,” I say, knowing just what’s on her mind.

She whines, pouting. “Please, Alastair. I swear I won’t do anything dangerous this time.”

“Did I not tell you to behave?” I ask, turning away with the unconscious man.

“I swear I will,” she says, walking backwards beside me so she can continue to have her disarming pout in full view. “Nothing fancy. Straight to the Nest. I promise.”

She clasps her hands under her chin and bats her eyes. It’s my undoing.

“Nothing fancy,” I say, pointing a talon at her.

She jumps and claps with a squeal of delight, then pulls off her shirt. I suck in a gasp at the sight, trying not to let that last hair of restraint snap.

She’s wearing a tight, backless bralette—one of Cecillia’s designs, no doubt. She turns around and exposes her neck to me. I trace my thumb over the runes etched down her spine and they come alive with my magic .

Bones shift under her skin, cracking and groaning to accommodate the modification we made together, one that I locked with my magic until she’s proficient.

Slits open beside her shoulder blades and white bones spear out.

Lily yelps, bending forward at the waist as she breathes heavily for an entirely different reason than moments ago.

The arching wings flex as thin, rubbery humerus bones grow out. Strings of green magic thread between the points like a web and then, with a burst of light, solidify into pale skin.

“Whoo!” she shouts gleefully as she stretches her back and rolls her shoulders.

“That never gets any less painful,” she says as she turns, knocking me with the tip of her wing. She grabs at it with a murmured “oops” and smooths over the spot.

“You’re sure you can do this?” I ask.

She nods. “Positive. I’ve added new muscle tissue just for them and practiced my balance every day this week.”

“If you fall, I can’t catch you,” I warn, gesturing to the man under my arm. It’s a lie, of course. I would drop this fool in an instant to catch her.

She turns her head up and fluffs her wings. “I’ll just fly lower to the ground.”

Even in war, when we’re tasked with hunting thieves and fighting the queen’s puppets, she finds ways to be happy. She is brightness in these dark times, my sun and stars.

My wings snap out behind me. “Ready?”

She bends her knees and wiggles her butt. “More than.”

I snort. “Nothing fancy.”

“All right, Daddy, I heard you. ”

Tight warmth spreads through my chest and I move before I can stop myself, capturing her arm. I pull her into me and lean down until we share the same love-laden breath. Her eyes sparkle with delight as she kneads her lower lip with her teeth.

“My life is bound to yours. When you bleed, I bleed.”

The heat in her eyes softens to something amorous, and gentle. Her cool fingers slide up my chest to my cheek and she pushes onto her toes, closing the distance between our lips. The kiss is soft—reverent—lacking the crude playfulness she’s normally full of.

It soothes my fears.

She drops back to her heels, her gaze still soft. “I love you.”

My breath escapes me. I didn’t think it would still feel this way, like she’s fire taking all my air.

“Let’s get this ruffian back to the Nest, Daddy,” she says and tweaks my nose with a grin.

Before I can respond, she takes off at a run with her wings folded in just the way I showed her.

I chase her, lumbering awkwardly from the weight of the man under my arm.

When she nears the end of the lane, her wings snap open and she leaps.

I hold my breath, prepared to toss the man aside to catch her.

With two powerful pumps, she ascends into the pink morning sky. A smile paints my face as relief, and pride, fills my chest.

My queen.