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“Then why don’t you set a good example and back off, Rai?” Blaze said. “Feel free to leave Iokul and me in the game. And I believe I’ll beat him this time. Fire burns ice. It’s not the other way around. Fire gets a woman hot, and ice will only turn her off.”
Iokul sneered with enough disdain, but he did not comment. Likely, the ice prince was more of a strategist than the red-blooded fire dragon.
“I’ll leave the ring if it were any other woman,” Rai said, “but not with Daisy, not after I got her scent in my blood. And as the oldest among you, I’m entitled to the first pick.”
Thank you all for treating me like a lovely bone!One of my Furies snickered.
“You’re only older by a minute and a half,” Blaze said. “That doesn’t count for much. Even our father refused to name which one of us should be the heir, since we were all born on the same day.”
“The old argument bores me,” Iokul chimed in. “That’s the exact thing that has pitted us against each other for a century.”
They were indeed younger for me. Nine hundred years old wasn’t really old, but one hundred was young for a dragon. I wondered how old Elvey was—he scented both ancient and young. Everything about him was a puzzle. And he knew more about me than I did. I bet he knew everything about my curse.
I needed to get hold of him, the sooner the better, once these three were done with their debate.
“I’m tired of this argument as well,” Rai said.
“You brought it up,” Blaze said.
“Let’s quit fighting each other for once,” Rai said in exasperation. “It hasn’t worked in the past. It’s only wounded us all. This time we’ll win the most-desired woman in a civilized way. We protect her. We take out the hunters. And then, we’ll revisit winning her heart, and may the best man win.”
“No cheating in the process,” Blaze said.
“Agreed,” Rai said.
When they didn’t hear from the ice dragon on the collective decision, Rai raised both eyebrows. “Iokul? You’re more than welcome to withdraw.”
“Hell no!” Iokul said. “But in the end, it’s not up to us. Daisy has to choose.”
That was the first sensible thing they’d said since they’d entered my chamber.
The three dragons turned togaze at me intently, as if expecting I would—even in my beastly form—give them my judgment or cede to their plan.
But I’d finally had enough. I wasn’t a prize for anyone to win.
It was time to put these young, alpha dragons in their places.
“Thank you for treating me like a bone a horde of dogs are fighting over, boys,” I said, my voice sounding hoarse even in my ear, but I didn’t see any of the princes frown at me, though they did look a bit taken aback at my sudden verbal opinion.
Clearly, they’d thought I wouldn’t be able to talk in my beastly form.
“I didn’t mean that, Daisy,” Rai said.
“I would never disrespect you, Princess Daisy Danaenyth,” Blaze said, his voice overlapping his brothers.
I didn’t want to get into another debate, so I said it sharply, “I won’t choose.”
“What do you mean you won’t choose?” All three voices demanded at the same time, and three pairs of eager eyes all focused on me. Iokul had left his post and joined his brothers, as if everyone’s life was at stake.
Rai’s sapphire eyes caressed me without touch, intending to make me change my mind and pick him.
Blaze narrowed his fiery eyes, not in a threatening way, but in curiosity.
Iokul had the fire burning equally hot behind his glacial wall.
All of them were staggering-hot with powerful bodies.
Their masks, infused to cover half of their faces because of the hex, made my heart ache for their suffering.
