Sergei made a derisive sound. “He’s lucky I still need him, or I’d have ripped his throat out and left him to rot out there. We didn’t find anything we were looking for.”
Alashiya’s eyes flicked back to Taevas. They widened slightly in a silent plea.Go,she seemed to say. But he couldn’t go. He couldn’t do anything except stand there and watch as his Chosen confronted a man from his nightmares. Even if the ground released him, what could he do?
Sergei could shift. Taevas couldn’t. He wouldn’t stand a chance.
“A lot of people feel that way about Monty.” She took a few small steps to one side, away from Taevas. Linked by his tail, Sergei followed her.
Taevas caught a glimpse of his profile again as Sergei glanced at the forest. “He talked a lot about you when we were out hunting. Couldn’t seem to stop himself. It felt a bit like he was trying to warn me away from his territory.” A sharp smile revealed Sergei’s pointed canines. “People never seem to grasp that dragons will take whatever they want — and if someone wants it too, it makes it even better. We love a challenge.”
“Oh. Can’t say I knew that either.”
“You’ve really never met a dragon before?”
Alashiya licked her lips. “No. Never.”
Something in Sergei’s voice changed. “If you do see another dragon, will you tell me? I’m not actually out here on a hunting trip. My cousin was flying near here recently and we think he went down not too far from town. We’ve looked everywhere, but there hasn’t been any sign of him. Or Ithoughtwe’d looked everywhere. Monty never said anything about there being a big chunk of land we might’ve missed.”
Alashiya’s voice was remarkably level when she replied, “I’m sorry about your cousin. That must be awful. But I haven’t seen him. I have wards up to keep trespassers out, so he couldn’t havewandered in without me knowing. Monty knows that, too, since they also keephimout. That’s probably why he didn’t say anything.”
Sounding thoughtful, Sergei asked, “How much land do you have? Must be a lot to make him want it so bad.”
She offered him a wan smile. “Not a lot. Just very well taken care of. Lots of game and places for it to hide.”
Sergei looked over his shoulder again, his dark eyes narrowed. “I see. Are those…” He paused, assessing the trees with a sharpened interest. “Why do I feel wards?”
She waved the question off. “Nymphs always ward their land.”
“And you’re really the only one who lives out here?”
Alashiya cleared her throat. “Yes. It’s just me.”
“No clan? No visitors?”
“I live alone and I don’t get visitors.”
Sergei didn’t sound entirely convinced. “I thought nymphs lived in big clans. I don’t understand why you’d be out here by yourself.”
Alashiya took a real step away this time. The dragon’s tail slid down her leg to rattle quietly above the packed earth that lined the shallow ditch in which they stood. Her expression was shuttered when she bluntly explained, “My grove was small to begin with, but not long after we moved to Birchdale, a rogue shifter pack tried to take our land. Most were killed. Some left. It was just me and my grandparents until they passed away.”
The air squeezed out of Taevas’s lungs. It didn’t matter that he’d heard the story before. It still hit him like a punch to the gut.
My Shiya, no wonder you’re so afraid of the world.
And yet she stood there, staring into the eyes of a ghost who could tear her apart with so little effort, as bold and dignified as the queen she was born to be.
Moving toward his SUV, Sergei warned her, “Well, then it’s clearly not safe for you to be alone in these woods. You have no idea who could be wandering your land. You’ll pack a bag and beready for me to pick you up tonight.” Circling the front of the vehicle, he cast the woods another sweeping look, unaware that Taevas stared back at him.
Alashiya turned stiffly to face him. With her back to the woods, Taevas couldn’t make out her expression, but he could hear the barely hidden revulsion in her voice when she asked, “Why would I need a bag?”
Sergei’s smile was slow and full of heat. It was a look Taevas had never seen on Jaak’s face, and instantly shattered the link between the two men in his mind, freeing him at last from the child’s fear that held him prisoner.
This was no old, cruel despot who used the vulnerability of his people to control them. This wasn’t the man who’d tortured and executed hisisa.This wasn’t the monster who kept his mother in solitary confinement for years, just to make sure she felt the death of her Chosen every day.
This was just a man. A dragon of no standing, no rank, no honor. His size was impressive and his horns were gilded, but Taevas had never heard of him. If he was related to Jaak, then that was his only claim to notoriety. And what a pitiful one that would be.
Fire replaced that bile that had scalded Taevas’s throat when Sergei dared to givehisChosen that lustful, indulgent look. “Pretty thing, don’t you want to get out of this shithole? I’m going on a trip and I plan on taking you with me.”
“Where?”
