Page 30 of Wings of Destruction

Tristan swipes his knuckles against his eyes to clear them. “Dragon’s teeth, I needed that.”

“My future is funny to you?” the redhead gripes. “Or is your life depressing enough that you need to feed on others’ misery to feel better about yourself?”

She’s not struggling anymore but energy coils tightly in her bunched muscles. One wrong move and she’ll sense my weakness and react.

“Future? Darling, you’re not going to DragonSpear,” Tristan corrects, his tone dripping with false sympathy. “You have an entirely different future in front of you and I personally can’t wait to see it.”

The soldiers suppress their snickers of superiority but only just. No one says a word as Tristan tears the acceptance letter into pieces with one impressive yank.

I glance behind me in time to watch his gaze burn over her, pausing on her breasts and her hips.

“Enough,” I grind out. “Stop fighting. You’re outmanned.”

She stops moving and I look away. I want to break something. I may shatter my fist if I send it against the cavern wall, but will it matter? I’ve shattered bones in the sparring ring before.

Or this may be a good thing. My exhausted mind churns endlessly through the possibilities of taking the redhead to DragonSpear. I may be able to use her to my advantage. This beautiful creature, with fire in her soul, spurred by vengeance, can be useful to my plans.

Which means I’m going to need to keep her close.

And do my best to make sure she’s out of Tristan’s widespread reach before he destroys her as well.

Seven

Morgan

I’m coming apart at the seams. My skin is too tight and threatening to split with the pressure building inside of me.

The tall, dark, dragon riding gilded parasite with the pretty eyes smirks at the tall, golden, dragon riding gilded parasite with the cold dead eyes. It’s clear they’re related because the size of their egos match. Or maybe the golden one is a little bit larger of a gilded parasite because he’s the one who tried to gut me like a fish.

My neck twinges and if I focus on the pain for too long, it grows, and so does my panic.

There is no way out of this. If I make a break for the mouth of the cave, they’ll finish the job. They are both tall and imposing. Their long legs will carry them much faster than me. And if those two weren’t enough, their guards are another wall to surmount.

I’m not strong enough to do it.

One of the children hiccups over a sob and I tear in two as seamlessly as my letter from DragonSpear. It was stupid to keep it with me and give them fodder to use against me.

Another mistake.

Besides, running means abandoning my people, the same people my mother used her dying wish to urge me to protect.

“Cousin, see reason,” the dark one says. “I’m serious.”

He pins me in place, subduing me with minimal effort while I’m panting like a wild boar chased through the underbrush by hunters. I got in one hit, one bloody hit where I heard his teeth click together and he reared back, but I got grated palms and humiliation for my efforts when he pulled me to him on my belly.

He’s strong.

If his performance earlier hadn’t given away his skills, the way he handled me today did. There’s no mistaking the challenge in his jutted chin. Or the expertise backing him up.

“What reason?” The blond one laughs and shrugs his massive shoulders up to his ears. “You’re trying to save her because you want to bed her. It’s as clear as day. You’ve never taken a war prize before. It makes sense you’d want one who challenges you.”

The dark one bristles. “As delightful a picture as you paint, I have a different scene in mind.”

“One where she no doubt ends up on her knees.”

The dark one’s fingers tighten around me, and I clamp down to stop from crying out. I’ll not go anywhere willingly.

His attention is fractured. He’s staring down his cousin with his features carefully wiped clean of any depth, then glancing at me, taking my measure. Figuring me out. I glare at him and slick my tongue against my lips. An experiment. A stupid one.