“You know she isn’t any better than th-this one,” he mumbled, slapping a hand on the naked woman’s backside.“Maybe even worse. H-how the fuck did you manage to fool all of Kalmena? Why did they pay you so much for her joy?”
I sucked in a breath, and the only reason I didn’t release it with a burst of fire was the consideration for the helpless woman on his shoulder.
With a sharp beating of my wings, I lurched at him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up into the air with me. The woman slipped from his shoulder, and I caught her, hauling her under my arm like I’d done with the human male before her.
Ray coughed against my grip, then made a meek attempt to disperse into shadows but only managed to make his outline waver for a moment or two.
I brought his face to mine and growled, “Where is she?”
My breath hissed between my fangs with a burst of sparks and smoke, blowing back Ray’s dirty hair and scorching his eyebrows.
He wiggled in my grip like a worm on a line.
“K-kill him…” he croaked, trying to turn his head to where Zayr was standing by the wall.
Zayr’s chest rose with a sigh as he lifted his sword.
“You heard the order, General,” he said grimly. “I’ll have to kill you unless…unless you kill him first.”
“W-what?” Ray squeezed through his throat, his eyes bulging out.
“Gladly.” I bared my fangs in a smirk.
Zayr lunged into an attack, putting in a real effort to stab me with his sword. I swerved away from his blade, but maneuvering in flight wasn’t easy in this enclosed space. The listless woman under my arm also slowed me down.
“Where is she?” I hissed into Ray’s face, shaking him like a rag doll.
“Mazra has her. I swear! I have nothing to do?—”
Zayr stabbed me in my right thigh. Ripping through my skirt, his blade slid against the dragon scales underneath, causing no harm. But Zayr turned around quickly, getting ready for another blow.
“Kill him, General.” He panted heavily, wiping his brow with his forearm before lunging for me again.
Fury bubbled and rose, ready to erupt from my chest like hot lava. But it wasn’t directed at Zayr.
“Useless, pathetic male not worth the skin you wear,” I growled, squeezing Ray’s neck in my claws.
He garbled a curse as dark, bloodied foam stained his lips. With a lash of my tail, I sliced his head off his body, sending it rolling down the corridor.
The woman jerked under my arm and gripped my wrist, then opened her mouth in an ear-splitting shrill.
Zayr stopped as if suddenly frozen, halting his sword mid-thrust.
“Fuuuck,” he drawled, rolling back his shoulders and straightening his spine. “I didn’t think I’d ever be free from him.”
He kicked his former master’s head, sending it rocking and bobbing into a side corridor and out of sight. I tossed aside Ray’s headless body like the useless sack of flesh he’d always been.
“Do you know where they’re keeping my woman?” I asked Zayr. No longer tied by his vow, he had no reason to keep the truth from me.
“Mazra has her,” he said, then gestured down the side corridor. “Right there at the end of this tunnel.”
My heart thudded against my ribs, ready to break through. Elaine was close. Right here. I had to get to her. Now.
I had no time to take the naked woman to Prince Rha’s people because I couldn’t stay away from Elaine for another moment. Neither would I trust a Joy Vessel to Zayr. I’d sooner trust him with my life than with the life of the helpless humanwoman whose true value was more gold than Zayr had ever seen in his life.
But of course, I didn’t want to see him dead or captured by the royal warriors, either.
“Don’t go outside or you’ll be killed,” I told him. “And don’t wander into the caves either, you’ll burn. Go straight to Ray’s water reservoir underground and stay there until it’s all over.”
