“So, this is your mate,” Dane speaks up for me, questioning me with his gaze. “The Shadow in the Sky?”
“Correct,” Storm answers for me, even as I open my mouth to reply.
“Let me introduce him. We may be separate, but no amount of cowardice in a mateship bond can destroy the destiny of the two mates. So let me introduce the Legend from the Tempest Lands.
“I know him well enough…” I glance to Dane and Aneurin, who nod to me, while Storm’s eyes do not waver from my form and the outfit I chose to wear.
Skimpy ribbons and lace that barely cover my tits and ass. I look like an exotic Dragon whore, but that’s the point…to induce a reaction.
I’ve caught him in my trap already; it is all too easy and perfect so far.
I smile brightly and lift my chin as I continue, “Storm, meet Dane and Aneurin, the Dragon Lords of the Dusk Horde. They have valued leadership qualities, big hearts, and keen minds.
“Dane, Aneurin, this is Storm, the pathetic, scared, and unworthy Dragon Lord of the Butchered Horde. He lives without a spine, a heart, or the nerve to bond with his only mate.
“He wishes to make an alliance with you. His assets are guaranteed abandonment, weak loyalty, feigned knowledge, and a gross sense of entitlement.
“Cruelty is his middle name, and love is as meaningless to him as the shit that comes out of his a—”
“An ill-advised fledgling,” Storm says, cutting me off with a snarl, “has spent the last three weeks getting stupider every day. How fantastic.”
And then it blows, so high. I have never experienced such rage.
“Strange that you leave for the purpose of seeking out others, wearing that whore’s outfit!” Storm also lets loose on me, and by this stage, everyone’s voices start to fade as they listen in to the drama.
“Oh, it’s going to be fun fucking you back into line, sweetheart.” Storm shakes his head and growls this low, but it still echoes across the halls.
I am happy with my last snarl.
However, I spin to face the silence of the crowd before I can see his temper snap.
I’m that stupid.
“Not in here.” I turn to see Colton stand and point to the door. “Make-up Dragon sex isn’t happening; it’s a family night. Get a room!”
Colton laughs his head off while clinking his brass jug with Alexa, who winks at me.
Now the crowd laughs too—well, all of the crowd except Dane, Aneurin, and the Silver Breeds who stand either in shock, or in forced shock, to avoid laughing lest Storm put them on a twelve-hour nonstop scout of the skies.
Through the laughter, I storm my way through the crowd until I reach the very end.
And I do not look over my shoulder.
I just keep walking, and by the time I reach the steps to the castle, I sit and hold my knees steady in my hands.
Now that I’ve let my temper loose and screamed out what I wanted to say for so long, I feel teary, but I refuse to cry.
I hear a familiar scrapping behind me, and I look over my shoulder, half expecting to see Storm’s boots.
Instead, I cry out in delight at the sight before me.
Two baby dragons the size of mortal teens, already my height, shuffle their talons along the marble as their bright eyes assess me.
Their wings are held close, and they lean in hesitantly, not sure if I am truly Silver.
“It’s me,” I gasp. “It’s a different outfit, but—” I gasp as they both grin in delight and dance around me, their wings flapping and their fire shooting to my face to welcome me.
I grab Rawk around the neck and hug him, and drool hits my back shoulder…and then I turn and grasp Zoraul, who spits fire at Rawk for drooling on their mother. “I’m so glad to see you two.”
They both snuggle into me, giving me a big hug with their warm Dragon wings, but our reunion doesn’t last long.
“Scat!”
Rawk and Zoraul jerk away from me and lift off abruptly, swooping away into the forest just a few hundred feet away over the cobbled road and a dividing paddock.
My smile drops, and my hands drop to my sides as Storm stands in the archway of the open doors.
“Have you made your alliance?” I ask him in a monotone.
“Surprisingly, yes,” Storm growls back, and it’s a low tone I’ve only ever heard him use on his Horde members. When he’s extremely angry. But never on me, until this moment. Huh, good.
“Good.” Again I use a monotone. “Have a quick flight back to Water Fallen Lakeside. The sooner you’re out of my sight, the sooner I can stop fighting off the urge to vomit.”
This one comment seems to do it.
Storm’s eyes harden and glaze over; a hot and angry type of lust in the form of a dangerous black-and-purple aura now floats around his form.
Despite this, a rare type of satisfaction fills my belly.
Revenge; I achieved it.
I made him as angry as he made me.
But now, I have the opportunity to urge him on further into that pit of fury…and I want to take it.
“Pipsqueak,” Storm says neutrally, another bad sign, “this lesson is going to hurt.”
“I can’t possibly hurt more than I have in the last twenty-two days, Storm,” I say, letting vulnerability slip through and almost instantly regretting it.
Storm latches onto my admission in an instant.
He smirks widely and cruelly while his eyes swim with many intentions, all bad.
“You’re going to bleed, pipsqueak.”
“So will you,” I hiss back at him, and his form instantly mirages.
Only for the mirage to turn…
…into the sudden heat at my back.
“Not me, Silver. Just you.”
