A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

I glanced back at Tamara. “You guys can go and get some rest. I think we’ll be fine in the castle.”

Tamara glanced at Ehno before giving me a curt nod and walking around us and into the castle. The other dragons followed her in, probably headed to check out their old lodgings and see what state they were in. They’d all been in the demons’ clutches with me, and many of them had been away from home for years.

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble,” Ehno said quietly as we started forward, heading inside at a slower pace.

“You all need to stop being at odds with each other,” I replied, feeling a flutter as I neared Nyfain. “Because I will tell you this—when we were all charging in here, I realized how effective it was to have the dragons in the air and the wolves on the ground. What we couldn’t do from above, you finished from below. Just think if there were faeries throwing magic into the mix, too.” I glanced back at Calia. “Now that would be a good time, wouldn’t it?”

A small smile blossomed on Calia’s face. “Dragons,” she murmured, shaking her head slightly. “Battle is a treat to you.”

“A strong unit crushing one’s adversaries…yeah. It excites me.” I shrugged with a laugh. “Still, we’d be unstoppable.”

“It is my hope that we will put that to the test before long,” she replied as we climbed the stairs. “We will need to work together to rip Dolion down from his perch.”

My stomach flipped when I saw Nyfain. He was on the second floor, checking rooms with Hadriel in tow. Nyfain had donned a rumpled shirt and some shoes, one of the laces still undone. His tousled hair tumbled down over his forehead, and his muscles rippled beneath the threadbare fabric.

“Oh my,” Calia said softly, a note of alarm in her voice. “That’s…”

Nyfain glanced my way as we neared, frustration in his expression, and held up a single finger for me. He couldn’t walk away just yet. Hadriel gave me a long-suffering look from behind him.

“I recognize him,” Calia whispered. “It’s hard not to remember a man who is so very beautiful but in a terrifying way. He was betrothed to someone in our court a long time ago. I very clearly remember his intensity. He scared half the court, even when he was on his best behavior.”

A sudden flash of rage stole my breath. I pressed a palm to my chest, trying to still the feeling that threatened to drag me under.

I hadn’t been ready for the intensity of my reaction. When Nyfain’s ex-fiancée crossed my mind before, it hadn’t torn through me like that.

What’d you expect? my dragon thought. He’s ours. We’ve claimed him. Obviously we’re going to kill anything that touches him. Logic.

That was going to take some getting used to.

“Sixteen years ago,” I said through gritted teeth, “and please don’t mention her again. I’m not exactly…rational when it comes to him just now.”

“Sorry, yes, of course,” Calia said. “He’s a Syflora, isn’t he? Am I remembering correctly?”

“What’s a Syflora?” asked Denski, Govam’s second-in-command, who stood right behind him, at the head of the demon group.

“They have magic in their song,” Calia replied, studying him. “They can help natural things grow and flourish. It is a very rare gift, helpful for the healing arts and creating natural remedies. I remember the royal family thinking it would be a great blessing to introduce that magic into their bloodline.”

The rage blistered this time, tinging my vision and making me wobble where I stood.

“Stop talking about that,” Govam barked at her, stepping forward quickly and putting himself between me and her. “Can’t you see it is affecting her?”

“It’s fine.” I wiped my suddenly slick forehead. “It’s fine. Just a little rage among friends. But yes, Calia, please stop mentioning…”

The thought of him having babies with another—

I bent over and braced my hands on my knees.

“Just…stop mentioning that whole thing,” I said.

“Are dragons really so possessive?” one of the faeries whispered.

One of the female wolves answered her. “The imprint is still fresh, probably not even fully settled. I remember wanting to rip the face off anyone who so much as looked at my Raymond. I don’t think I would’ve had the control to stop from braining someone who talked about my mate… Well, what she just talked about.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “That’s the gist of it, yes. And dragons are very possessive, yes. They will fight to the death if someone touches their mate.”

“Not just dragons,” Ehno murmured.

“See? We’re not so different, are we?” I straightened up with effort as Nyfain walked toward us. His gaze stuck to me all the way down the hall until he was right in front of me, his heat bathing my flesh, his proximity loosening the tight coils of anger within me.