Artemis’s dragon glowed white. He could summon an ocean of strength, but my storms smothered his control over the water because I controlled wind and electricity. I made his own water lethal against him.
He quickly pivoted his efforts, staying out of reach and calculating slyer maneuvers to either escape or evade. Then he turned his sights on Maze. His speed quickened and every assault was aimed at hurting her instead of me.
Clever but expected.
My dragon growled his vehemence, twirling away from another attack the other dragon tried to land on our mate. The slippery snake swept away, only to attack from below. But as was my formidable mate’s way, she deftly evaded each strike.
With practiced grace, Maze dashed from top to bottom, never hesitating or second-guessing her skill. My power might’ve kept her from falling, but the way the two of us worked in unison, I doubt she needed it.
Grazing her fingers along my sensitive stomach, she worked her way to my head and tossed me a cute wink when I tilted it to catch sight of her. She jumped and climbed like a nimble little creature of the forest before taking hold of my horn.
Her soft body leaned and pressed against it, molding her curves to the firm length of bone, and I swear Maze awakened nerves that hadn’t existed in this body before she touched me. Again, her hands caressed the surface as if she knew my dragon needed the reassurance. And perhaps she did.
Because Maze was the cleverest of them all.
Our enemy’s next attack came suddenly, but Maze was ready. As if knowing exactly what to do, she severed our connection and leapt after the swooping beast. The slow-motion dive was painfulto watch, but she finally latched onto the other dragon and drove her blade into his eye.
A violent roar was ripped from Artemis. Blood poured down his scaled mouth and he snapped his jaw in an attempt to grab her. She dodged razor sharp teeth and clung to his horn. He swayed, in pain and temporarily disoriented, then spiraled out of control toward the ocean.
My own vicious roar thundered across the sky as I dove after them, wings sloped against my sides. Maze hadn’t succumbed to the free fall; she’d already sunk her blade into the other eye to fully blind the dragon.
Calling out to me, she kicked off the top of his head. My heart nearly broke free of my chest as my mate shot straight down, not far from the water’s surface. I increased my speed and caught her just before she could collide with a rogue wave.
Artemis slammed into the sea seconds later. The harsh sound echoed across the air as the waves swallowed his lithe form and dragged him down into the perilous depths.
He might be blinded, but the ocean was his faction’s territory and he could navigate it by memory alone. I couldn’t risk him escaping. His eyes would heal. He’d regain his strength and bring the fight to our doorstep. For my mate’s sake, I’d end this cleanly and without involving our factions in a bloody war.
Maze shouted over thunder claps and whistling wind, our connection in place once more to keep her latched onto me. “All you, big guy. Let’s show this asshole why you don’t mess with the Sky Demons!”
My dragon huffed with pride.
Our mate was going to be an incredible leader. I couldn’t wait to usher in a new age with her by my side. Maze had proven my distaste for humans was warped by the history I had with them, and I wanted to believe there were more like her out there. Strong, brave, and kind. I wanted to believe there weremore than the scourge of her leadership. Iris surely thought so. It was my turn to hope for more—for a future where humans and dragons coexisted in harmony rather than brutality.
I owed my mate that much after all she’d suffered.
With her body pressed against mine, legs and arms clinging, I could finally breathe again. I speared straight into the sea and got my mouth around Artemis’s thin dragon neck before soaring into the sky again.
The blind dragon thrashed and attempted to get away, curling his body around mine in a vice grip, but it wouldn’t be enough. I’d already dragged my claws across his underbelly. And after a few minutes, Artemis went limp. Another vicious roar fled me as I opened my jaw and released the dead king. He hit the water and disappeared into the sea.
I left him to his watery grave and returned to the top of the mountain, where I quickly inspected Maze for injuries. She didn’t fight me. She let me assess every bruise, every cut, every mark to satisfy the unhinged dragon inside my head. The flesh was already mending. I let loose a sigh and wrapped my arms around her, pressing my face into her soft hair in silent victory.
Out of my periphery, Pyro used his body to shield the small human I now knew to be Maze’s sister. “Will you be taking our territory by dissolving our faction into yours?”
Casting my eyes his direction, I kept Maze close to my side. Her hand absently trailed up and down my naked back, another soothing caress as if she instinctively knew I needed it. “Not if you would be willing to rule in your brother’s place and honor the new terms I intend to set after this…betrayal.”
Pyro couldn’t hide his curiosity. “You would trust me to lead after my brother brought me and my kin here to ambush you? After years of breaking our vow to you?”
It was a fair question. It wasn’t likely he’d been in the dark about his brother’s intention to dethrone me, but then I caughtsight of the person my mate had spent most of her life thinking was dead.
The similarities were there in the shape of the other female’s face. In her eyes, nose, and mouth. Like Maze, Luna had strength in her gaze. She was covered in bruises and scars from years of mistreatment, but still she didn’t cower in my presence. Even after I sliced open another dragon. If anything, she was openly curious about my connection to Maze.
My little beast lifted her eyes to mine, our mind link asking the question her mouth wouldn’t. She was determined to trust me, but her questions floundered one after another—concerned for her sister’s fate, worried she’d be forced to abandon the only family she had left, not sure who she’d choose if made to. Her intense and still-growing turmoil warped even my own thoughts to barely recognizable things.
Huffing at the little beast, I cupped her cheek and brushed my thumb across petal-soft skin the color of soft rays of the sun.
She was so soft and beautiful even when fear deepened every line of her face. Maze was never truly afraid for herself. It was only ever for others. My kind mate would sacrifice everything to protect the ones she loved. It was something I didn’t understand until I met her.
The fear of losing.
