Page 28 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kora’s yelp of pain cut through the roars and the clash of bodies, piercing Derek’s heart. He jerked his head toward the sound and saw her soar through the air before landing awkwardly. Miena was over her in a heartbeat.

Then Miena’s green eyes leveled on him as her voice filled his mind. “Did you think I was that gullible?”

He snarled in fury as he pulled away from the others and flew straight at her. He didn’t care what she did to him. The only thing that mattered was Kora. Derek extended his hands, talons outstretched. Just before he closed his fingers around Miena, she vanished, taking Kora with her.

Denial was a bellow reverberating in his head. He landed in a panic, staring at the spot where Kora had been as if his thoughts could rematerialize her. There were only a few drops of blood.

“You think you know loss,” Miena’s voice said in his head. “You’ve only begun to understand what it means. It’s time the two of you get acquainted.”

Derek recoiled at her triumphant laughter bouncing in his head. He should’ve known. He should’ve recognized that Miena hadn’t believed him. But he wanted it so badly that he had missed the signs. Because he wanted a future.

He wanted Kora.

“Derek!”

Lotti’s shout scattered his bleak thoughts. He turned his head and found her pointing up. Derek lifted his gaze and saw dragons flying at them from all sides. Gordon pulled away from the Kings long enough for the wave of dragons to reach him. Then the bombardment began.

With Miena gone, Derek heard the Kings’ voices again. Con barked orders to everyone, including him. Derek was torn. He wanted to go after Kora, but he was doomed to fail if he faced Miena alone. She expected him to chase her. And while it killed him to remain, he had to do it.

Derek launched himself into the air, joining the Kings so they were wing to wing—a barricade that would make anyone think twice. Below, the three sisters—Lotti, Villette, and Eurielle—positioned themselves.

He became lost in the battle as he moved from foe to foe, attacking and evading, striking and dodging. He took out two, then a third. He had just raked his talons across a fourth’s throat, killing it, only to have a dozen tiny dragons with pink scales swarm him.

They covered him from head to tail, slashing and biting. He swiped at them with his hands, knocking them away, only for them to return. They ripped at his wings and clawed at his belly. He tucked and rolled to the left before snapping out his wings. It dislodged several of the Pinks.

He captured a few, but a roar of pain ripped from him as more sank their claws into his neck and a still-healing wound. They went for his eyes with teeth and talons. The more he flung off, the more appeared. As suddenly as the Pinks had arrived, they were gone. Derek looked from the small dragons plummeting to the ground around him and spotted Villette staring up at him. She nodded before turning to face another attack. Derek didn’t have time to think about that as he saw Hector battling three dragons. He hurried to join the King.

Derek glimpsed Rhi on an enemy’s back, plunging a sword into their neck before teleporting to another. Trees burned with dragon fire. Scorch marks cut through the canopy and the ground. Derek welcomed the bitterness that fueled his rage. Every swipe of his talons, hit of his wings, and stab of his tail got him closer to going after Kora.

He welcomed the pain of his wounds and the sensation of his enemy’s blood. It fed the beast of battle, the one that would fight for its mate until the end of days.

Derek turned to look for his next opponent, but there were none. He swung to the other side but only saw Kings. He looked down and spotted Con and Brandr in human form with Rhi. Merrill flew low over the dead. Alasdair, still in dragon form, stood next to Gordon, whose head was barely attached to his body. Villette, Eurielle, and Lotti walked among the fallen.

Exhaustion finally reared its head. Derek drifted to the ground, shifting just before he landed. The sight of so many dead dragons sickened him. They shouldn’t be fighting among themselves. They should have joined forces against Miena. There was another worry, though. Where had Miena gotten the dragons? His gaze slid to Villette. Her clothes were stained with dirt and blood, but he couldn’t tell if any of it was hers. As if sensing him, she met his gaze.

“She knew,” Derek said. “Miena knew I lied.”

Eurielle replied, “I tried to warn you.”

“Where did she take Kora?” Brandr asked Villette.

But Derek knew. “Stonemore.”

Villette nodded slowly.

“Then what are we waiting on?” Lotti asked. “We should go.”

A long, low growl rumbled from Alasdair. Derek turned and saw Gordon’s body healing. Alasdair sank his teeth into Gordon’s throat and ripped his head completely off his body.

“The others are healing,” Rhi called out.

Derek looked around to see that the dragons’ wounds were, in fact, mending.

“Villette. Is this you?” Eurielle asked.

All of them turned their attention to her. She flinched. It was slight, but Derek saw it, nonetheless. As did everyone else.

“Bloody fucking hell,” Brandr bit out. “These are the dragons captured in the thorn forest.”

Derek frowned, his attention divided between the developing commotion and the dragons twitching and coming back to life.

“What did you do?” Con bellowed.

Villette wasn’t cowed. She held the King of King’s gaze. “Do you think we created Derek and the others out of magic alone?”

“That explains why our magic isn’t working on them as it should,” Eurielle muttered.

Lotti’s face flushed with anger. “You should have told us.”

“Yes, I should have,” Villette admitted.

“How are you controlling them?” Lotti demanded.

Villette shot her an incredulous glare. “I’m not. I’m on your side. The last I saw of these, they were dead. Miena has control of them. They’re like Gordon. Shells. Everything that made them who they were is gone. They’re soldiers. They take orders, carry them out, and return.”

“How do we kill them?” Derek asked. That was the only thing that mattered right now. They would deal with the rest after Miena was gone.

“You can’t.”

Con was wrath personified as he stalked to Villette, not stopping until he towered over her. His nostrils flared. Violence rolled off him in great waves. His words dripped with venom when he said, “Everything can die.”

“Take their heads,” Alasdair said into the charged silence.

Everyone turned to see him standing beside Gordon’s headless body. Behind Alasdair was dragon fire, and within the flames, amethyst scales.

“Like the Warriors,” Con said.

One side of Alasdair’s lips quirked in a grin. “Just like the Warriors.”

Derek had no idea who or what they were talking about, but it didn’t matter. He began taking the heads of dragons around him and threw them into a pile. It was repugnant. These were the kin he had fought so long and hard to free. Except they hadn’t been across the border. They’d been right where he was all those years. The only thing that made it less sickening was the knowledge that the dragons were already dead. He told himself they were allowing them to finally rest in peace as they always should have.

They weren’t quick enough, though. Half the dragons healed before they got to them and began another assault. Derek took to the sky. The moment the Pinks came at him, Derek went for their heads. It felt wrong to kill dragons that reminded him of younglings due to their size, but they were intent on carnage. He had no choice.

The group had a system now. The moment one of them killed an attacker, someone was on the ground to take their heads. It wasn’t long before Derek and the others were triumphant once more. But it didn’t feel like a victory.

Brandr and Merrill set the three piles of heads ablaze. Derek glanced at the sky. Would more come? He turned his head to Villette.

“How many more dead dragons do you have?” Hector asked her.

Apparently, Derek wasn’t the only one wondering.

“It isn’t as if I counted,” she answered.

Rhi wiped the blade of her sword clean on her pants. “Katla said she caught thousands of dragons in the thorns. There are only forty-three here.”

“Then more will come.” Villette paused. “Though if I know Miena, she’ll send them when we least expect it.”

Eurielle twisted her lips. “Villette’s right. We’re prepared for them now. Miena won’t send more yet.”

“Then we go for Kora,” Derek stated. Either they went or he would. But he was going. Period.

Villette’s face scrunched in rebuttal. “That’s exactly what Miena wants.”

“It’s what she’s going to get.”

Con came up beside Derek. “We’ll get Kora, but let’s be smart about it. She worked hard to get you back. We doona want to lose you again.”

Derek didn’t want to wait. “You speak with wisdom, but I have to go to her.”

“Kora isn’t hurt,” Villette said. “I would know. I would feel it. Miena hasn’t hurt her.”

Yet hung in the air. It was coming. They all knew it.

Eurielle said, “We played into Miena’s hands already. We shouldn’t do it again.”

They were right. But knowing that and accepting it were two different things. Derek kept seeing Kora’s body on the ground, twisted and bent. He nodded in agreement. It was the best he could do.

“What does Miena want?” Hector asked.

Villette started to laugh before her face creased in pain. She cried out as she fell to her knees and then onto her side. Eurielle was the first to reach her. When she turned Villette over, she was unconscious, and blood soaked her gown beneath the armor. Eurielle ripped it away to reveal a large gash across Villette’s stomach.

The yet had come sooner rather than later.

“The binding vow,” Lotti murmured.

Eurielle frowned at them as she pressed her hand over the wound. “The pain delivered on Villette will be five times what Kora experiences. It will also take Villette longer to heal.”

“Allow me,” Con said.

Derek watched as Con put a hand on Villette. The blood halted, and the wound closed before his eyes. Derek wished Con would’ve gotten to Kora in the arena before she died. She might come back from death, but she also experienced unimaginable pain before and after.

“Should you have done that?” Merrill asked.

Derek understood his reservation because he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—forget that Villette was the enemy.

“She can’t help if she’s unconscious,” Eurielle replied.

Alasdair grunted. “I’m not sure if she’ll be much help when awake.”

“I disagree,” Villette said as she opened her eyes.

Her gaze went to Eurielle first. The sisters said nothing as Eurielle got to her feet and moved away. A flare of surprise widened Villette’s lids when she noticed Con beside her. He, too, straightened and stepped back.

Villette pushed herself into a seated position and looked down at the blood-soaked material. By the time she stood, the ruined gown and armor had been replaced by a flowy, pale yellow dress. She tipped her head to Con. “Thank you. That won’t be the last time Miena hurts me and Kora. We need to find them quickly.”

“I just said that.” Derek balled his hand into a fist.

Villette briefly looked at him. “And I said it’s what she wants. That doesn’t mean I didn’t agree with you.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Rhi asked.

Villette look at Eurielle and Lotti. “We three should go to her.”

“The fuck you will,” Alasdair declared. “No’ without me.”

Lotti put her hand on his arm. “Hear Villette out.”

He looked askance at Lotti but held his tongue.

“Well?” Merrill urged.

Villette adjusted her hair to cover the burns on her face. “There’s no use trying to deceive her. She’ll expect everything we come up with. The best thing we can do is go at her with the truth.”

“And what might that be?” Eurielle asked.

Villette grinned. “That we’ve come—alone—to get Kora.” Just as Merrill parted his lips to speak, she turned to him and said, “Remember what just happened to me. Anything done to Kora, I feel, and vice versa. I want Kora away from my sister more than any of you do.”

“You want us to stay back and wait?” Derek asked. Because that wasn’t happening.

“On the contrary,” Villette replied.