“Now don’t you go blaming me. What do you take me for an—Goddess save me.” Slim gripped his stomach as if he feared his guts may fall out.
“Flarking hell.” Cabbage, the last man to succumb, clasped his stomach as well and lurched to his feet. Sweat dotted his brow. “Slim! You bloody bastard. You’ve poisoned us.”
In unison, the three of them bolted for the woods, shouting, “Watch the dragon!”
I blinked at the empty camp. “What in the seven hells just happened?”
“I thought they’d never leave,” said the sweetest voice I’d ever heard in my long life.
Serafina.
That dying ember sparked, my heart soaring.
She sawed a short dagger into the rope around my muzzle. “Why are you still a dragon? If you were a man, you could slip out of these.”
“Poison arrows,”I answered through the Draconian mind link.
“The laxative I snuck into their stew was far too kind,” she snarled.
She’d drugged them? Brilliant girl.“I could kiss you.”
Her eyes flicked up, fierce and unyielding. “Save it for after we escape.”
The ropes securing my muzzle dropped to the ground. I rolled my lips and flexed my jaw.“How did you get here? Where’s Alaric?”
“He tried to seduce me,” she spat, voice tight with anger. “Right before he tossed me in the dungeon.”
“Seduce you?”The scales along my neck rattled, dragonflame smoldering. First, I’d pull out his talons one by one, then—
“He failed,” she added, interrupting my plans. “Hence the dungeon. I escaped, stole a horse, and followed your flame through our bond. Just as you said you could do with me.”
My chest swelled, the dim spark at my center glowing brighter still. My mate was more than beautiful—she was unstoppable. She freed another rope, and I twisted, snapping through the rest with my teeth.
“Hurry,” she demanded. “The hunters could recover at any time.”
Together, we slashed the net and tethers that secured me, enough that I could crawl my way out. Once free, I drew a deep breath, feeling as though an entire mountain had lifted off my shoulders.
“Hop up,”I ordered, desperate to keep her out of reach. These hunters would die for what they’d done to me. But if theylaid so much as a finger on her, I’d make their deaths slow and agonizing.
She scurried up my foreleg and onto my back. “Let’s fly out of here.”
“Can’t. The poison weakened me.”Nor did I desire to leave—not yet.
I didn’t have long to wait as Lars staggered into the clearing from the woods. He hiked up his pants, confusion flashing across his face as he took in the sight of me standing free.
“What the—”
I lowered my head and blasted him with a molten stream of fire. I’d heard far too much of his blathering.
He ignited instantly, his scream ripping through the night.
“Don’t look, Sera.”
“Oh, I’m looking.” Her furious words sent a tingle of delight through my veins. “I heard what these monsters had planned for you.” Beautiful, smart, and bloodthirsty. Perfect.
Lar’s piercing shriek echoed through the trees, and his cohorts raced from their woodland toilets. They stared, mouths agape, at their leader, who screamed and writhed in the flames.
“Boss?” Slim’s voice cracked. His gaze swung to me, and horror blanched his face. “Hathor’s ballsack. Now, see here, Dragon.” He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “We were just kidding around. No harm done. Right?”
