The screeching above increased, and a quick glance over my shoulder told me that the Compasses were not doing so great now. The third dragon had somehow repaired that original damage and was back up, tag-teaming with the dragon fighting Braxton and Maximus. Was Larky’s marked curse unnaturally keeping his brothers alive too?
“We have to do it now,” I said.
With a roar, my dragon pushed herself to the front of my being, desperately trying to force me to change. I knew now why she was so much stronger than a regular dragon spirit, so much more in control and independent from me. She was never supposed to be a mated soul. She was the queen of dragons and her soul was pure power.
But I loved her as much as my wolf, meant to be or not.
“I’m going to shift,” I said to the sorcerer, trusting my dragon’s instinct. “It doesn’t look as if the quads are going to be back anytime soon, and at least in dragon form I’m fast and strong. With your help I might be able to take the king without them.” The odds were slim, but I would always give it a fighting shot.
Louis nodded, and I immediately removed the necklace and handed it to him. “Keep this until I need it, I don’t want it broken in the fight.”
I didn’t give him time to answer, and I didn’t bother taking my clothes off. I gave free rein to my beast, immediately connecting to the shifter magic inside. The change was seamless and no longer caused me any sort of pain. As my senses heightened, and vision sharpened, I felt calm and in control. My claws sank into the ground, gaining traction, and my tail whipped around and knocked back many of the marked who had been getting a little close.
Hell to the yes. I was awesome – okay, my dragon was awesome, but I was coming a close second just by knowing her.
I bound across the space between Larky and I, covering the distance in seconds. My dragon wanted to connect with Braxton, but I wouldn’t let her distract him while he was in such a precarious position. It was up to us to finish Larky first.
The king roared and strode forward. His beast was almost twice the size of mine as we barreled toward each other.
I’m going to kill you, I mentally projected.
You’re mine, Jessa. That dragon young you carry inside of you is mine. And I’ve come to take what’s mine.
That jovial nice-dude persona he’d worn around me was gone. I could hear the cold oppressor in his tone and I knew the real Larky was finally rising to the surface.
We clashed, and even my dragon winced at the weight behind him as he slammed into me. I shook myself, long neck swaying in an attempt to get my wits back. I couldn’t go at him front-on like that again; he’d just about knocked my head off. Rising to my full height, the two of us starting to circle around, I could feel Louis’ magic at my back, along with some familiar scents.
Cardia and Grace had found us.
I continued circling, keeping Larky as my main focus, although I was catching glimpses of more familiar faces. The dragon recognized them as friends and therefore was careful not to hurt them with her sweeping tail or bursts of flames.
Fiery anger clearly swirled in the eyes of the dragon king. I wondered what had him so extra roiled up. His voice slammed into my mind.
You should have been controllable like the rest, but as always those damn shining ones somehow knew this would happen. They knew that after I cursed the most powerful dragon soul and sent it out to be dragon mated to a shifter, together you would be stronger than my command.
Thank the gods for that. Imagine if I’d just capitulated. We’d all be screwed.
You should be at my side, standing against those quads, not carrying a bastard dragon child. We were destined to rule them all. I waited a thousand years for you to be born and unlock the mark. A thousand years for the perfect dragon mating which would produce shifter babies. A thousand years! His voice rose, his cool and calm demeanor disappearing under his rage.
He was losing control, and I was glad about that. Anger would have him make a mistake. Loss of emotions was the worst thing to happen in any fight.
I’ll rip that young from your belly and dump it in the barren prison of the shadow spawn. They’ll torture and control your dragon shifter child and then unleash him on the shining ones. Faerie will fall to the rule of the shadow spawn and Earth will be ruled by me.
Yeah, because the shadow spawn will be satisfied with just ruling Faerie.
He didn’t answer me, but I sensed that my words had struck a chord with him.
What a fucking idiot. He was going to release the shadow spawn, and let them annihilate the one race who could have fought against them, and then he expected they would contain their destruction just within Faerie. Sure. Not a single thing wrong with that plan.
He lunged toward me again, clumsier this time, almost as if he couldn’t help himself – like that time in his castle. I knew it was the tie between us. It called to the king.
As he stumbled another step, I thrust my wings sideways and pushed myself up and over the top of him, landing heavily on his back. Immediately my four claws dug in and I tore against his armored hide. He roared and bucked. I didn’t have enough traction to keep my footing and ended up flung free, claws full of scales coming with me.
I had to get beneath him. It was where he was most vulnerable, and the easiest access to his heart. I was wasting my time anywhere else.
Louis and the girls caught my attention. The sorcerer had his hands joined with Grace, their lips moving as they cast their spell. I felt the magic; it was strong, starting at Louis and extending outwards. More sorcerers joined in, all linking their magic, trying to offer me a shot at taking down king dick.