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Dawn came, and the snowy mountains were visible on the clear day. Without the cloud coverage, it was even colder, so cold that I actually looked forward to my captivity with the Teeth just so I would be warm.
My father had told me he would visit the Teeth for a conversation. Perhaps I would get lucky and arrive when he was already there. Just as the thought passed through my mind, my eyes lifted to the two colored dots in the sky. At first, I thought they were birds, but as they drew closer, I saw the brilliance of their scales.
I quickly glanced at Aurelias. His eyes seemed to be on the mountains ahead, oblivious to the skies.
When they came closer, I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could. “Father!” I waved my arms frantically, hoping the dragons would hear my cry, that they would look down and see me throwing my arms about to get their attention. “Father!”
Aurelias tugged me off the horse and threw me in the snow. He secured his hand over my mouth, and he gagged me before he tightened the ropes around my head.
My eyes went up, seeing the scales pass across the sky and disappear.
15
AURELIAS
Her father passed by with two enormous dragons—and I could have lost my head. But he was too high to hear her screams, too set on his destination to notice the two figures below. I could defeat her father in battle, but I couldn’t defeat him when he had a dragon.
I kept her gagged the rest of the way. She’d already given me a headache with all the questions, with all the attempts to run away and knee me in the groin. The sooner I delivered her to the Teeth, the sooner I could return home where I belonged. My father must have been angry when Kingsnake returned and I didn’t. He must also be angry that I still hadn’t returned, even though months had passed.
Maybe they assumed I was dead.
We approached the gate to the Crags, the Teeth’s kingdom, and once they recognized me in the distance, the guards opened the gate to allow me entry.
Harlow started to fight the bindings on the horse, doing whatever she could in a desperate attempt to free herself. But the rope was too tight, and she didn’t have the brute strength to tear through thick strands like that.
Once we entered the kingdom and the gate shut behind me, she stopped trying.
I pulled her down from the horse and cut the bindings around her ankles so she could walk.
She kept a straight face, looked indifferent, but inside, she was swamped by a tidal wave of fear. I could feel it in the chasm of her chest, feel the racing of her heart, the desperation inside her small little body.
I lowered my voice and addressed her. “Just do what they say, and they’ll let you go.”
Her eyes shifted to me, and the hatred in that gaze was so potent it was nearly poisonous. If her hands were free, they would be around my neck that very moment, squeezing the life out of me. She jerked her head back—and spat on me. “My father will flay you alive—and then feed your skin to his dragon.”
I let the spit sit on my face. Didn’t feel like an insult when I’d felt that same spit in my mouth and on my dick. My eyes shifted away and looked at Rancor as he approached, dressed in all black, a subtle grin on his face. “Took longer than expected, but you’ve paid your debt.” His eyes were on Harlow, looking her up and down carefully. “She has her father’s eyes.”
She spat on him just the way she’d spat on me.
Rancor slowly wiped it away with his cloak. “And his spirit.” He snapped his fingers. “Take her away.”
Two Teeth moved in on her, and she swung her arms at one and hit him in the face with both fists. Then she kicked the other right in the knee. It all happened quickly, like she’d been waiting for the right moment. And then she took off, picking a random direction and sticking to it.
I didn’t chase after her. My job was done.
Rancor nodded to the others, and then an entire fleet was after her. “We’ll have fun playing with her.”
My eyes shifted back to his, feeling a darkness pool in my stomach at his words. “You know what they say. You aren’t supposed to play with your food.”
A grotesque smile moved on to his face, showing extra teeth I didn’t possess. “Yes. But food is rarely as succulent and beautiful.”
The tightness was still in my stomach, a flood of unease I hadn’t felt since the dragons passed by. “I doubt you’ll make much progress with King Rolfe once he knows what you’ve done with his daughter.”
“It won’t matter. She’ll be dead before he gets here anyway.”
The numbness kicked in, the kind that made me lose sensation in both my feet and hands. The cold didn’t affect me at all. I could have been next to a warm fireplace and wouldn’t know the difference. “That wasn’t the plan.”
“Well, plans changed. King Rolfe was just here before you arrived.”
