Mystery meat?
The cocky smile stretched across his face heats my blood, and I force myself to pull in a deep breath to calm the rising tide of anger simmering in my gut. Unfortunately, the overwhelming stench of male dragon does nothing to soothe me, and the growl still reverberating in my chest grows louder.
“I think she likes you, Aes,” Jori quips, moving closer despite my body language and snarl warning him against it.
He reaches for my arm like he expects me to offer it up for the taking, so I grab his wrist and yank him forward and down so I can knee him in the face. Unfortunately, my strength is waning and he’s huge, so my knee never connects with anything vital, but he does stumble a bit, and that feels like some sort of victory. Small as it might be.
“She’s a spicy lizard,” Ogdan whistles, approaching from my other side. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, lass, but one way or another, youarecoming with us.”
There’s a lilt to his voice that speaks of a world long forgotten. A place of fairy rings and fair folk and an island once painted in innumerable shades of green. One that’s now nothing more than ash and rock. There was a wyvern I once knew who sounded a lot like him. She told the best tales about the old worlds and the times before.
“What’s the easy way?” I ask with a glare before once again glancing around, hopeful for some surprise way out. There still isn’t one.
The impenetrable ring of dragons has dispersed, but I’m boxed in by a wall consisting of Aeson, Ogdan, Jori, and Blondie, whose name I haven’t heard yet. Other drakes have taken it upon themselves to direct the traffic we’re disrupting to move around us, while people are standing on the sidewalks watching what’s happening. However, as soon as they spot any approaching drakes, they scramble off, their curiosity instantly cured.
“The easy way is I ask you nicely, and you do as you’re told,” Ogdan answers smoothly.
“And the hard option?”
A smile teases one corner of the large male’s lips. “I ask you nicely, and then Imakeyou do as you’re told.”
I take a moment to weigh my options. I’m tempted to choose the hard way. If it would gain me anything other than embarrassment, I just might—for no other reason than to be a pain in the ass—but my adrenaline is crashing and my limbs already feel the toll of my mad dash through the city streets.
I want to fight, but I’m not stupid. For now, the drakes aren’t trying to kill me, which means I should save my strength for when that changes…because it most definitely will, and probably soon.
Chapter 6
“THE EASY WAY, I GUESS…for now,” I concede, crossing my arms over my chest and scowling up at the redheaded male in black scale armor, who’s finding this exchange entirely too amusing.
It’s unsettling. I always figured The Horde had one setting, arrogant and severe, but the playful air about this drake has me off-kilter when I really can’t afford to be. Ogdan’s smile grows wider and he waves a hand in the direction of the onyx lirocar to the left. Five drakes stand around it as though they’re waiting on me to load up.
I notice there’s a drake that’s half a foot smaller than the others. Initially I discount the detail as unimportant until they turn around and I realize it’s a female. Her black hair is buzzed close to the scalp, making her pretty bronze face look harsher. Well, that and thedon’t fucking talk to meair about her. Her scale armor is a deep green, and while smaller in stature, she’s as fit and formidable as the males around her.
Despite myself, I’m instantly curious about how she’s here and why, but I tuck all my questions away and move toward the vehicle as ordered. Ogdan falls into step next to me, his gray eyes studying my every move. I can’t tell if he’s being curious or cautious. Probably both.
We approach the vehicle, and the agitation I’m attempting to ignore—because I can’t do shit about it—only grows. I’ve never been in a lirocar before. The autos and sandcycles we drive in The Scorch are nothing more than scrap that’s been pieced together with a blowtorch and a death wish. This vehicle, however, is more like a piece of art. I’m hesitant to even touch it.
I peek inside the airboat, unable to help myself, and find the interior is as lush and spacious as you’d expect. There are wood accents, buttery soft looking seats, and a clear disregard for practicality because everything is done in tones of cream and taupe. I’m pretty sure I’m staining things just by looking at them. Lucky for me, people who drive shit like this don’t care about paltry things like dirt. They’ll just get the interior redone at the first sign of soiling, or better yet, throw the whole car out and buy a new one. The haters from the bathroom sure as shit got one thing right—these things cost more than the GDP of most territories.
I stand there awkwardly and continue to just stare. I know I’m supposed to get in, but I have no idea where to sit now that I’m looming in the open doorway of this behemoth. There’s a bank of three seats that back up to a privacy screen I assume is separating us from the driver and front passenger. Another bank of three seats butt up against the back, and there are two captain’s chairs in the middle that face each other from opposite sides of the vehicle.
Picking up on my obvious discomfort, Ogdan brushes past me and climbs in first, showing me how it’s done. I pull in a deep breath, blow it out, and then move to follow, ignoring everything inside of me screaming not to.
“Into the mouth of the dragon,” I mumble under my breath as I step into the luxurious leather and teak interior.
A low chuckle from behind me tells me my comment hasn’t gone as unnoticed as I thought it would. I look back to find the blond climbing in. Light from the interior dances across his scale armor, and I discern that it is, in fact, dark blue.
“Not quite, Frills, but I’d be happy to introduce you to all the pleasures that can be had in the mouth of a dragon if you’re interested,” he offers with a naughty smile and a cheeky wag of his eyebrows.
“Chastain! Unless you want your tongue ripped out, you will not speak to her like that again. Understood?”
Chastain’s back snaps straight and his mouth clamps closed. “My apologies, Commander. I’m used to teasing Tove. Won’t happen again,” he shouts, military sharp, saluting Aeson as the dark drake strides closer to the open doorway. He stops and leans toward the blond.
“Tove is Tove. Lorn will gut you if he hears you talking like that, and I’m not far off from doing the same. Get your shit together. We don’t even know her.”
Chastain nods apologetically at Aeson and then climbs into the lirocar, plopping down into a seat at the back.
I decide on one of the captain’s chairs, not wanting to be close enough to touch any of the drakes piling in. I settle and look up just in time to see Commander Aeson drop down in the seat opposite me.
