When she finishes cleaning me, Lythian puts away the bowl, cloths, and oil. She smooths out the red bedcovers, making everything look perfect. Then she brushes my hair, working out the tangles until it spreads around me like a copper halo.
I’m an animal to the slaughter.
She lights candles that flicker like runes, and the smell of incense wraps around me, dizzying my senses. Lythian watches me closely, as if I might disappear or explode at any moment.
When she’s determined that everything is perfect, she narrows her eyes on me.
“The goddess has chosen you for this. I have prepared you. You’re ready. Tonight, you will take my mates’ seed into your womb and fulfil what the goddess designed.”
“I belong to no goddess,” I hiss. “And I will never carry another child against my will.”
She smiles calmly. “Accept, and it will be less painful. You might even enjoy it. They are talented lovers.” She taps her lips with a long, manicured finger. “Then again, you area frail human, and your body isn't designed for the strength and size of a dragon.”
Cold terror slides up my spine.
I have been formed to accept my mates without issue, but not these strangers.
She gestures toward the far end of the chamber, and the first of her mates enters.
Tael.
His bronze eyes gleam, and his corded muscles shift as he approaches. His skin also carries the sheen of oil, and as he nears, I unwillingly draw in his scent of fire and cedar as I inhale with fear.
He moves like a beast trapped in a human body with slow, predatory grace.
The cloak is heavy and suffocating. I flex my fingers, but my magic is gone.
Where are they?
Kelan.
Ronyn.
Darial.
They promised they’d keep me safe. They promised I’d never have to go through this again.
Tael kneels before me and reaches for the hem of the cloak as the other men gather behind him.
Fear and dread make me tense as I silently beg my mates to come. The worst parts of my past are happening again. I’m alone and as powerless as I was when Gregory took me.
My chest tightens until I can hardly breathe.
I pull at the tether again, but it’s useless. I cry out as it tears my skin.
Tael peels back the heavy cloak, easing it up between my thighs whilst leaving my legs covered. As soon as air touchesmy skin, my magic sparks, but it’s too weak to hurt anyone. Instead, light gathers above me, faint at first, then steadily growing, spilling outward in a warm, golden glow.The air shimmers, as though the world has slipped slightly out of place, everything wavering at the edges.
Then three shapes begin to form within the light. They do not simply appear, they unfold, their outlines shifting and soft, suspended in a hazy brilliance like sunlight filtering through water.
I blink, trying to make sense of it.
This isn’t right. My magic should be protecting me, rising instinctively to answer my need. Instead, it stays silent, distant, as if it is no longer mine to command, delivering only this useless mirage.
Frustration tightens in my chest, and I grit my teeth, reaching for it again, only to find nothing there.
But instead of Tael proceeding, he narrows his eyes, and Lythian cries out.
The three glowing shapes come into focus, one black, one gold, one red, floating above me in a stream of starlight.
