Race crouchedin the shadows of the mountain’s ledge, on the outskirts of Caelvyrn. He’d barely made it through a disintegrating portal, spent the afternoon and entire night searching in this godsdamn realm, and still no trace of Ash or fucking Skaldr.
Again, he scanned the area, trying to pick up Ash’s energy—one that had sucker-punched him in the gut the moment he’d sucked on her bleeding wrist—and nothing. Not even a ping. Just a blasted headache threatening to crack his skull.
The faint traces of Lemuria’s ancient magic surrounded him as if to keep him there.
Jaw tight, he shrugged off the sensation.
Fiiiind her!His dragon clawed beneath his skin, wanting to tear this place apart stone by stone.
You need to calm down,Race snapped.I will find her.
Once he did, his old friend Skaldr would wish he’d stayed dead.
Fuck. Michael could never know he’d lost a potential psionic female todragons. It would be his damn head on the block.
Since he couldn’t get his claws around Skaldr’s throat, Race tracked Koal and Attor mentally, also searching for their pal.Their distinctive smells, tang of ozone and melted metal, grew stronger.
The moment Attor’s dragon form settled on the ledge and he shifted, Race slammed his fist into Attor’s jaw, sending him lurching back.
“You’re responsible for this shit, putting an innocent in danger!” he snarled. “Where did Skaldr take her?”
Attor grimaced and rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know.”
“You three were all in on this fucking fiasco to trap me here, yet you don’t know where he is?” he roared.
“Keep it down, Your Highness?—”
Race grabbed him by his throat, his claws digging into flesh. “You want to breathe, don’t ever call me that.”
The male jerked free. “Things are dire, Eracier. Malcarion’s raping the land with his greed for more riches and power. The mines are collapsing. Dormant volcanoes reignite. Dragons are dying.”
“Not my problem.”
“Maybe if you see, you’ll believe.”
Race cut him a cold stare.
Attor exhaled roughly, blood dripping down his throat. “You’re so like your sire, a hardhead.” A wry smile appeared and vanished. “Eracier, if the females catch wind you are here, they will come. You are still a blood-borne royal.”
A furious flutter of wings, then a whoosh echoed nearby. Moments later, Koal leaped down next to them. “Nothing.”
Race kept his gaze fixed on the distant city and the ancient volcanoes dotting the mountainous horizons, a few sputtering flames. “If one strand of her hair is harmed, I will incinerate you all.”
“We’ll find her,” Koal said quickly. “The eastern peaks first.” He leaped into the air as his form folded into itself, wingsbursting free. His massive coppery-gold dragon appeared, and he glided away.
Attor followed, his steel-gray dragon soaring off.
Fury scorching him, Race paced the ledge. Balls of fire fell from his palm, blasting the granite. His dragon snarled.Find her. Kill Skaldr.
It took several minutes to pull his rage deep into his gut.
Fly!his dragon trumpeted, yearning for Lemuria’s skies after so long away, but he couldn’t risk drawing attention. Malcarion’s forces were everywhere. And memories—memories he’d buried deep, clawed free?—
The screams as bodies fell, the laughter, blood everywhere…
Jaw clenched, he shut it out. Ash was who mattered. If anything happened to her?—
Burn it all,his dragon roared.She’s not Skaldr’s.
