The female’s eyes smoldered with a strange hunger. As if she were combating the urge to swallow her like a tasty morsel.
“Perhaps you’re right,” the dragon purred.
“That would be a first.” Goosebumps crawled over Wynn’s skin. Something had changed in the air. A new sense of heaviness that pressed against her with a blatant threat. “You admit you’ve been tainted by the evil?”
Heat blasted over Wynn, blistering her skin as she stumbled back to evade the punishment.
“It’s not evil. It’s power. Raw power!” Gabriela roared. “And it’s mine. It’s always been mine. I was just too frightened to claim it.”
“It’s always been yours?” Wynn struggled to think through the pain. Her skin felt as if it were being flayed from her body. “Are you saying you’re the corruption?”
“It was corrupted because I tried to deny my true destiny.”
Wynn pressed against the wall as Gabriela towered over her, an iridescent magic silhouetting her as if she were about to shift into her dragon form. This was it. Wynn had spent two centuries living on the edge of disaster, always assuming that luck and sheer audacity would get her through. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d always known there would be a day when she took one too many risks.
And this was it.
She was about to be... Well, she didn’t know exactly what the dragon intended to do, but it was going to be awful. And there was very little hope she’d survive the experience.
But even as she braced herself for the hideous death about to smash her into oblivion, she realized that the shimmer wasn’tcoming from Gabriela. It was coming from the strand of magic that snaked through the portal and attached to her back.
She didn’t know why the magic was flaring, but she could sense the power was connected to a dragon. A dragon who wasn’t Gabriela. And while there was no predicting if the mysterious shimmer was a good or bad thing, there was the possibility she could use it to her advantage.
“And what’s your true destiny?” Wynn asked, playing for time as she tried to focus on the strands of magic inside her.
If she could tap into the unknown magic, she might be able to distract Gabriela and escape.
It wasn’t a great plan, but it was better than nothing.
“I was created to ruleallthe worlds. Dragons. Demons. Vampires. Even the humans. That’s why I was given the magic.”
Wynn rolled her eyes as she cautiously inched to the side. She needed to get closer to the strand to see if it was even possible to absorb the magic.
“That’s quite a destiny,” she muttered, ignoring the blistering heat as she tried to skirt around Gabriela’s pulsing aura. She didn’t want that green taint touching her. “So why are you stuck in this pit?”
“Zion.” The name came out in a hiss and Wynn had a sudden memory of the robed male who’d tried to keep Gabriela from unleashing the corruption. “I thought I could trust him. He’d been my most loyal servant for centuries. But as soon as I embraced the magic, he stabbed me in the back. I had no choice but to flee his vicious attack.”
Wynn hid her shock as realization hit her. The strand belonged to Zion. That was the only reasonable explanation.Hewas the one who’d sacrificed himself to close the rift, not this egotistical bitch. She moved another step closer.
“And you brought the dragons with you?” she asked, more to keep Gabriela boasting about her glorious future than any interest in her answers.
“They belong to me.”
“No.” A male voice shook the air and Wynn was forced to squeeze shut her eyes as the shimmering magic became a blast of white light. “They are no longer pawns to be exploited by an overly ambitious bitch.”
“You,” Gabriela rasped in fury.
Wynn abruptly forced open her eyes, enduring the blinding glare as relief blasted through her.
“Azh.”
Wynn barely resisted the urge to launch herself toward the male stepping through the portal. She’d sensed he was okay, but that didn’t mean she didn’t need to examine every inch of his hard, flawless body to assure herself that he was completely unharmed. Not to mention the fact that she was giddy with happiness that she wasn’t going to have to face the dragon alone.
But an inner voice warned her not to disturb Azh’s concentration. Not when she could feel the oppressive heat as their powers clashed in the confined space.
“I knew you were going to be a pain in the ass the moment you appeared,” Gabriela rasped, her aura marbled with veins of sickly green magic.
Azh offered a mocking smile, his eyes filled with storm clouds as flames danced over his body. The scent of scorched metal swelled until the air was so thick it was hard for Wynn to breathe.
