Page 2 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER TWO

Kora barely had time to register that she was going to the land of the dragons before light replaced the shadowy cavern. So many voices… She stiffened, expecting to see dragons towering over her.

But she didn’t see different-colored scales. She saw people. Even children running, their laughter floating between numerous conversations.

Everyone fell silent as they noticed their arrival.

Kora realized her arm was still extended from having grabbed Rhi’s hand, but the Fae was no longer there. She lowered her arm to her side and scanned the faces of the men, women, and children. They looked normal. Like anyone else. But she knew they weren’t. How many were dragons? All?

“Breathe,” Merrill whispered from beside her. “You’re safe here.”

Safe? With dragons? That simply didn’t compute. Not after decades of running and hiding, hearing the screams of her family in her nightmares. She inhaled, waiting to smell the stench of evil. But there was none. Not even Villette’s lingering stench.

A man with blond hair pushed through the crowd, his face breaking into a wide smile as he approached Merrill. His long strides ate up the distance. Then he enveloped Merrill in a tight embrace. Kora sidled away to give them room, but she noticed that Merrill was slow to return the hug. Almost as if he wasn’t sure he should.

“You have been sorely missed, brother.” The man leaned back, his deep brown eyes raking over Merrill. His grin faded, replaced by concern. “We’ve been worried.”

Merrill gave him a fleeting smile. “I know.”

Another man stepped forward, controlled and commanding. His blond hair was trimmed short on the sides with longer waves on top. His eyes were as dark as a midnight sky. The other male stepped away in obvious deference.

Merrill lifted his chin as the black-eyed man approached. Kora braced as the tension ratcheted up a notch. She put more space between them. Though she wasn’t without magic, facing off against a dragon meant certain death for hellhounds.

“It hasna been the same without you.”

They all had the same strange accent as Merrill did. Proof, she supposed, that she was standing among dragons. Had her family known they could change shape? She didn’t think they did. At least she had never heard them speak about such a thing.

Merrill looked away briefly. “I had to stay away.”

“I understand.” Then the man took a deep breath and turned to her. “Forgive us. We’ve been searching for Merrill for weeks. We feared Villette had harmed him, and we’re overjoyed to see him once more. I’m Con.”

Con. The Con. The one Merrill had urged Derek to seek out. The one who could have changed the entire trajectory if only Derek had spoken to him.

“This is Kora,” Merrill said. “She’s a hellhound.”

Surprise widened Con’s eyes for a fraction of a second. He bowed his head to her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Our kind destroyed her family,” Merrill stated.

Kora hadn’t thought the tension could get any worse, but with those five words, it did. She tried not to fidget under the intense stares of those around her. And there were many more than she had first thought. Con’s surprise shifted to alarm, and, dare she say it? Distress.

“Do we know which dragons crossed the border and committed such a crime?” Con asked.

Kora dragged in huge mouthfuls of air, but she couldn’t seem to loosen her lungs enough to take any in. Everything she had thought she knew and understood about her enemy had been violently ripped away and turned upside down. Her nemeses were no longer villains. Facts were being realigned. Derek was gone, and a dragon had said her family’s murder was a crime.

Her eyes burned with tears. She spun around, looking for a way out. She was shocked to discover the room was even larger than the cavern. There were stairs and doors everywhere. Which one would lead her out? She needed time to think, to adjust. To breathe.

Time Derek didn’t have.

“Follow me,” a woman said as she moved into Kora’s line of sight. “I can take you outside.”

Kora knew she shouldn’t trust anyone, but she trailed after the petite brunette anyway. No one stopped her. Kora didn’t look at anything as she hurried up the steep steps to a door. She burst past the woman to get outside and gulped in the fresh air.

She bent over, bracing her hands on her knees to gain control of her emotions that were steadily spinning out of control. Only when she was sure she wouldn’t break down did she straighten. Kora found herself standing at the narrow point of a fertile canyon with steep walls of lush green rising up on either side and extending into the distance as it widened.

“Raynia Canyon. It is something to behold, isn’t it?”

Kora looked over her shoulder to find the brunette leaning against an enormous, exposed root protruding from a crack in the canyon wall. Behind the spiderweb of roots, she saw arched double doors.

“I’m Sian.” The woman gave her a warm smile.

“Kora.”

Sian pushed away from the root. “I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I’ve been around the Dragon Kings long enough to tell you that you are safe with them. Though, sometimes, I don’t think they understand how their numbers can intimidate.”

Kora swallowed and nodded, wrapping her arms around her middle. “You trust them, then?”

“Completely. For a long time, just three of us called Iron Hall home. Me, Jenefer, and Tamlyn. Tamlyn is a Banshee. The murders of the magical children at Stonemore drew her here. Jenefer is an Amazon, and I’m an Alchemist. We did what we could to help Tamlyn, but she ran into trouble one day. Cullen, a Dragon King, saved her and the child that night, and he has been with us ever since. He’s not just her mate. He’s also my friend. All the Kings are.”

Kora knew that none of the dragons here had slain her family, but after fearing dragons for so long, it wasn’t easy to put that aside and trust them.

What about Derek?

He was different. She hadn’t known that he was one of those responsible for the hellhounds’ deaths until after she had gotten to know him. Until after she had fallen for him. He might have taken lives, but he had done it after being manipulated and lied to. In her mind, Villette was to blame.

Thinking of her brought to mind Miena and everything yet to come. Kora looked once more at the canyon’s green slopes and then turned to the door. “I’m ready to return.”

Sian led her back inside. This time, Kora took in everything. The vestibule was large enough for four men to stand side by side without touching. The steps were smooth and perfectly rectangular, with a glow to them. She couldn’t decide if it came from within or was part of the stone itself.

As she descended the stairs, Kora counted seven different stairways and over a dozen doors on either side of the incredibly large room. Light drew her attention to its source several hundred feet above. Her steps slowed as she saw the complex, intersecting root system, allowing both light and water from the outside to filter in. Liquid dripped from the roots into a large pool beneath the tree in the center of the room.

She scanned the chamber again and found four giant heads carved from the rock. One faced north, the others were turned south, east, and west. East and west had their eyes closed and slight grins while north and south had open eyes.

Kora was entranced by the time she reached the bottom. “What is this place?”

“Iron Hall,” Con said. “The underground city was abandoned long ago. Half of it extends across the border onto our land. It has become a place of refuge for those in need, as well as our friends.”

As he spoke, she realized that the room had cleared out, leaving only her, Merrill, and Con. Even Sian had disappeared.

“We gather when there’s trouble,” Merrill explained. “I should have warned you.”

She walked to the stone edge that retained the water and looked into the dark pool. “I never thought I would be standing with dragons, much less asking them for help.” She turned to face the two men. “I also never expected to fall in love with one.”

“I didna get much from Rhi before she left, other than that there’s trouble.” Con looked between them. “Whatever happened at Stonemore, the two of you have a home here.”

Merrill shook his head. “It isna me Kora speaks of. It’s Derek.”

“Derek?”

Only the slightest tightening of Con’s features alerted Kora that he was shocked. She had a feeling he kept tight control of his emotions. Dragon Kings. That’s what everyone kept calling them. What made them different? What made them Kings?

“Aye. And he’s a King,” Merrill said.

Con’s shoulders lifted with his inhale. “I think you two had better start from the beginning.”

“What is a Dragon King?” Kora asked.

Merrill walked to the pool and sat on the edge. “For us, it is when the magic of our world chooses us to rule our clans. Only Kings can shift from dragon to human and back at will.”

“Magic didn’t choose Derek, but he can shift. We saw him,” she stated, looking directly at Merrill and daring him to lie.

Merrill’s dark blue eyes held hers. Then he looked at Con. “Villette and her sister, Miena, created Derek and Bryok. They actually crafted six eggs in total.”

“ Created ?” Con asked, his voice croaking with indignation. He spun around, took two steps, then turned back and ran a hand down his face, seemingly in control once more. “You said six eggs. There are others?”

“Derek guarded them,” Kora said. “One of Villette’s that hatched was wrong. They killed him. And she destroyed Miena’s third egg out of spite. Leaving only the other two.”

Rage rolled off Con. By the concern on Merrill’s face, it wasn’t something they saw often.

“Who the bloody hell do they think they are?” Con demanded in a voice as soft as a whisper.

Merrill grunted. “It gets worse. We doona know how, but Villette imprisoned Miena. It was Miena who had been trying to speak to me since I arrived at the palace. I ignored her. Villette’s magic, which prevented me from communicating with any of you, also dimmed Miena’s voice. Once Villette had Miena locked away, she used Derek and Bryok to hunt the only other beings able to kill the Star People.”

“Hellhounds,” Kora said. “Derek was sent to my village. My parents died, but my uncle, cousin, and brother got me away. We hid after that, but they continued their plan to bring Villette down.”

Con folded his arms across his chest. “Because you can smell evil.”

She blinked. “How do you know that?”

“You are no’ the first hellhound we’ve encountered. Xaneth is Rhi’s cousin and mated to a Reaper.”

Kora blinked, letting his words settle. Exhilaration and relief soared through her. She wasn’t the last. There were others. But with that realization came another. She slid her gaze to Merrill.

He shrugged. “You never asked.”

She had so many questions about this Xaneth, but they would have to wait. “Bryok killed my uncle, cousin, and brother not far from Stonemore. After that, I ran and hid.” Kora paused. “I shoved aside my magic and abilities after that. I fought against the need to hunt evil until I no longer smelled it. Until I forgot how to be a hellhound. And all those decades, Villette was taking innocent lives. She sent her dragons to kill and terrorize humans.”

A muscle ticked in Con’s jaw. “Why?”

“Derek believed the dragons were enslaved,” Merrill answered.

Kora nodded. “Villette convinced him that some Star People and humans with magic were holding the dragons.”

“How does stirring up hate for dragons and magic help her cause?” Con asked.

Merrill’s lips twisted. “It didn’t. It was just a way for her to gain power. She told Derek various lies, and he believed her, wanting to see his kin freed.”

“Blindly?” Con asked.

Anger burned through Kora. “Nay, not blindly. She repeatedly wiped his mind when he questioned her and discovered that she lied. And no one else told him differently.”

“Bloody hell.” Con shook his head, then looked at Kora. “Where do you come in?”

“When I decided it was time to face the past, I went after Villette, knowing one of us would die. But I was tired of running and hiding. My and Derek’s paths crossed. There was an…um…attraction. He offered to take me to Stonemore and get me inside. I had planned for us to part ways once I got through the gate, but we ended up remaining together.”

Merrill propped a foot on the pool’s edge. “Meanwhile, Villette returned to the palace, badly burned.”

“We hoped it had killed her,” Con interjected.

“It nearly did. She got away before you could, but the wounds severely weakened her. It allowed Miena’s voice to grow louder and reach Derek and me. She hinted at Derek’s memories being taken and promised answers if he freed her.”

Kora shifted uncomfortably. “I might have trusted Derek to get me to the city, but I didn’t tell him I was a hellhound. He found that out after I died battling the priests. He was shocked but didn’t tell Villette.” Kora saw Merrill and Con exchange a look but couldn’t read either of them. “I didn’t want Derek to get hurt, so I went after Villette alone. It didn’t go well. I was transported somewhere else, and she sent a dragon after me.”

“Bryok?” Con asked.

Merrill shook his head. “An Amethyst. One who looked verra much like Alasdair.”

“His brother. Gordon,” Con said.

Kora stomach tightened. “That’s what Villette called him. Gordon.”

“How the fuck did she get Alasdair’s dead brother?” Merrill demanded, his visage darkening with fury.

Con lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Your guess is as good as ours. Alasdair has killed him twice, and he always comes back to life.”

“Derek killed him once, and then I did. Then we saw him alive. Fuck,” Merrill muttered.

Con nodded at Kora, so she continued. “Derek found me. He’s the reason I was able to get away. Then Bryok came. Derek gave me his cuff and sent me back to look for a woman named Katla. He said she was in Stonemore, looking for Villette. That’s when I saw him change for the first time.”

“Interesting,” Con said. “Did you find Katla?”

“I did. After I explained who I was and asked for her help, she agreed. The priests took her before we could get to Villette, though. They plan to kill her.”

Con’s nostrils flared. “They’ll have a harder time than they realize.”

“Who is she?” Merrill asked.

“It’s a long story. One to tell after we get this current situation taken care of.”

Kora was curious about the story, too, but it would have to wait. She continued. “I then went to the only other person I knew who wanted Villette dead.”

“Merrill,” Con replied.

Kora nodded. “Aye.”

“I knew Derek was in trouble,” Merrill said. “I had Kora take me to him using the cuff. It was a good thing. By then, he was fighting both Bryok and Gordon. I evened the score, but he was gravely wounded in the battle. Before I could get us out of there, Villette appeared.”

“That’s when you reached out to me?” Con asked.

Merrill bowed his head in agreement.

Kora hadn’t known any of that. She had only caught a glimpse of Derek in battle. It had been vicious. “After I left Merrill,” she said, “I went to Miena. Derek had spoken to her. He didn’t know whether he believed her, and I…” She paused and swallowed. “I should’ve known better than to release her. I knew she was evil. I smelled it. But I needed help.”

“You believed her. Doona beat yourself up over it. It was a tough situation,” Merrill said.

“One made even more so when Miena didn’t kill Villette as promised. Instead, she took Derek and Gordon.”

Merrill shot her a crooked smile. “But no’ me. You saved me from that nightmare.”

“How?” Con asked.

“Derek took Bryok’s cuff and gave it to me. Derek didna know Miena made them and thus bound the wearer to her. She prevented me from removing it, but Kora ripped it off before Miena forced me to follow her,” Merrill explained.

“Then he saved me from dragon fire.” Kora shrugged. “Miena left with Derek to wipe his memories and send him to Earth to kill the dragons there and then everyone else.”

Con’s mouth parted in shock. “What?” he bellowed.

Merrill raised his hand. “I already sent Rhi to warn Ulrik.”

“We need to get to Earth,” Con said as he turned to walk away. “Lotti!”

Kora looked at Merrill, her brows raised. “If that’s where Derek is, then that’s where I need to be.”

“If he smells you, he’ll kill you.”

“If he…if he loves me, then he won’t hurt me.” At least, she hoped he wouldn’t.

Merrill stared at her for a long moment. “And if he comes after you?”

“It’s a chance I’ll have to take.”