“Adrian!” Layla gasped, clutching his face in her hands and pulling him up so she could see his eyes in the brocade-swaddled gloom. “How did you get in to the palace?”
“I once had an alter-ego here as serving staff, which I resurrected tonight – Tomas Renati, a young Crystal Dragon from Italy. Tomas is well-liked, so I was able to get on your dinner delivery tonight, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to come to you again.”
“I’ve spoken to Rhennic and Reginald.” Layla spoke quickly as Adrian kissed her neck again. “They’re on their way, with fighters.”
“How soon?” Adrian asked between kisses, keeping his voice low.
“Hopefully a day or two.” Layla spoke, even as she writhed beneath him.
“I haven’t been able to get messages through to anyone,” Adrian growled darkly, his aqua eyes flashing as he rose back up. “I tried calling Rhennic, Reginald, and Rachida from my jet, but only got voicemails and didn’t want to leave a detailed message without speaking to them in person. This matter is too important.”
“What have you learned in the palace?” Layla asked, watching him.
“Dusk is on King Markus’ shit-list,” Adrian fumed, “not just for re-starting the Egyptian clan without permission, but also because he managed to get so strong without telegraphing it for years. Markus is pissed. His show of cordiality today was just that – a show, Layla. Everyone is cowering from his rage right now, trying to not piss him off. Many of them are talking like Dusk is an actual challenger to Markus – the first one in centuries.”
“But I felt Markus’ power, Adrian!” Layla spoke quickly, shuddering. “He’s orders of magnitude stronger than Dusk! He tricked Dusk into believing his resonance was a near-match – luring Dusk here on purpose. Markus is going to try and kill Dusk, I know it. He controls his Royals here at the palace with his resonance somehow. They add their power to his when he fights. It must be why he’s never lost a dominance challenge.”
“I know.” Adrian spoke furiously, his aqua eyes burning in the gloom. “I didn’t know it back when I infiltrated here, because no one ever talked about it and as a Desert Dragon I couldn’t feel crystal resonances. But I can feel it shuddering through them all now because of my Bind to Dusk. Dusk is feeling it, too – the enormous magnitude of Markus’ power and how all the Royals here somehow resonate with their King. It’s a talent Dusk didn’t even think existed until now, that a Crystal Dragon could somehow resonate others into doing his bidding. It’s like Siren or Vampire mind-magic, but physical. Even when we get backup from Reginald and Rhennic, unless we can figure out how Markus is using his resonance to control all the Royals here—”
“We’re fucked.” Layla breathed, feeling that dark pit yawn deep inside her once more.
“Let’s just say we better hope Reginald and Rhennic bring alotof backup.” Adrian spoke soberly, though Layla could feel the deep fear in him as he kissed her lips. “They’re both powerful leaders who hold clout in their Lineages. If diplomacy fails, there’s always war.”
“War?” Layla breathed, her eyes wide.
“War.” Adrian agreed, his blue-green eyes dark now. “King Markus is a bastard, but until now, he’s been a bastard mostly to his own Lineage. But now he’s messing with something very dear to two of the most powerful Dragons in the Twilight Realm – not to mention that Dusk and I have a lot of strong allies we’ve cultivated over the years. All we need to do is stay alive through the Trials. Reginald, Rhennic, and the rest of our allies areourinsurance, Layla. Your Bind has never chosen weak lovers, and it’s our blessing now. I’m going to take a walk tonight in the gardens where the crystal-dampening is weakest and see how many of our allies I can get ahold of. Hopefully, we’ll have a tsunami of people descending on this palace soon. Sooner than Markus can move.”
With those words, Adrian pressed down, obliterating Layla with his kiss. His magic ripped into her until she cried out with pleasure into his mouth. With one last dark growl and a surge of cinnamon-jasmine winds, Adrian pushed to standing at the edge of the bed, inside the curtains. Staring down at her, his beloved body and face shimmered back into the Crystal Dragon server, his blue-green eyes the last to go.
“Watch for me. I love you.”
With that, Adrian flicked back the curtains and was out the door, rolling his trolley out and shutting the doors. Sitting up on the bed, Layla stared at the doors through the open curtains, hoping Adrian would come striding back in, though he didn’t. But as she felt his fire-bright love still coursing through her, her drakaina growled with a gold-red fury inside her veins. As Layla moved to the table to eat what Adrian had brought, knowing she would need strength, Layla felt her drakaina roar with an obliterating rage at King Markus.
A rage that made a hard wave of crimson-gold flame wash from her skin – singeing everything it touched.
CHAPTER 27 – CONTROL
Layla spent all of the next day simmering in her rooms. No one had come to speak with her, and the guards on her doors had not allowed her to leave or explore the palace. Her only contact all morning had been a new server who brought her breakfast and coffee, then came again at lunch with a second tray and some wine. Dressed in an emerald silk dressing-gown with a high collar and draping sleeves since the morning, Layla drifted in the late afternoon now as she picked through leftovers, thinking about Adrian and Dusk, wondering how they were. She’d spent the entire day sitting or standing before the fire and subtly practicing battle-magics, prepping for anything she might face in the coming days. But now her hands were cramping as she massaged her shoulders, then took Adrian’s phone out from a pocket of her dressing-gown and glanced at it for the hundredth time today.
Nothing.
Her phone had not rung again since Rhennic’s call, and Layla supposed King Markus’ people were probably blocking her calls with some kind of crystal resonance now. As Layla sipped more coffee, practicing fire manifestation again with the barest flicks of her fingertips, a knock came at her doors. Startled and wondering who it was, Layla set her china cup down and went to the doors, throwing them wide. But rather than Adrian, it was Davira who stood before her in a grey businesswoman’s suit, her smoky labradorite eyes hard and smudged in deep fatigue today.
“What are you doing here, Davira?” Layla spoke dispassionately as she faced King Markus’ well-coiffed emissary.
“I’ve come to tell you the King has requested an audience with you this evening.” She spoke as her grey eyes flashed with turquoise. “Get dressed, and I will take you to his audience at once.”
“So he can grill me about Dusk’s weaknesses and plan to kill him more efficiently?” Layla quipped, setting a hand on her hip and staring Davira down. “I don’t think so.”
Davira fretted with her slender hands. Glancing out the windows, she looked back to Layla. “Please. Layla. You have no idea what stress we are all under right now with Dusk’s Trials. Please don’t make this harder than it already is.”
Cocking her head, Layla watched the emissary. “Your King has been ruthless to you, hasn’t he? He’s raging about Dusk and is taking it out on everyone in the palace, isn’t he?”
Davira clammed up. She literally shut her mouth with a snap, though her wary smoky-grey eyes told Layla the truth. As Layla watched the King’s emissary, she suddenly wondered if Davira liked her job. Or if she simply did it because it was better than the alternative. An alternative none of the Royal Crystal Dragons at the palace were talking about.
“What does he have on you?” Layla asked, softer now. “What kind of hold does King Markus manifest on your resonance?”
“Layla. Please. Just get dressed.” Davira spoke harshly, glancing around at the crystal walls with wariness now. Watching every wall as if ghosts were about to spring from them, Davira looked back to Layla, but Layla could feel a fine tremor shivering the emissary now. Steadying herself, Davira looked to Layla’s walk-in closet. “Come. Let’s find you something to wear.”
