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Too spent, too weak from my full day of healing, all I can manage is to kneel before it, to adopt the fetal position near its nostrils that puff out smoke and embers. In the darkness facing the Dragon, I am but a little gold blossom next to his scaled, dark fortress. Within the desolation of the bond of his mind, I go deep and beg him,Neo…where are you, Neo?
The Dragon rumbles, shaking its wings, heat roiling in its belly, promising fire. Swarms of Neo’s shades encompass my gold form, but all he does is nudge me with that armored nose and exhale. I hug my arms to my chest as one great dragon breath stirs my curls to fly from my face, baring me.
The Dragon’s voice barrages the air surrounding my light blossom of a figure. Its warm breath purrs across me, rousing all my nerve endings to tingle.If you are going to give me a child anytime soon, Elysia, then I will rectify this situation.
Oh, Saints! When did we discuss that? Yes, I want that. I’ve always desired a baby, afamily, but it’s too soon. That he desires the same thing grants me hope to expand my chest. Until I consider Lux…
I will destroy this Scourge and protect our future,insists Neo.Or I cannot call myself the Prince of Destruction.
I remember the words of the Goddess:Only once you defeat this Scourge will you find the next piece the Courts have forgotten.
Me, not Neo. I cannot possibly share that. The Triumvirate oath forbids it. But I’m too weak to do anything but curl my head into my chest, curls eclipsing my face. Inside our bond, his Dragon scents me, belly rumbling with possessive need. I feel that rumbling down to my toes.
When I depart from the bond, when I stare up at Neo, I chew on my inner cheek, debating, but it’s not the right time to argue. My Halo is too dim. And he is nothing but dark Destruction. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to fear him, not when he’s bearing me this way, not after everything that’s happened the past day.
Neo carries me into the belly of the beast, right into that lair with its amber throne and pillars and the husks of broken egg-like encasings. Pools of black Scourge toxin lie inside each one from the drained capillaries, but somehow, I understand that toxin is dead now—nullified by my Halo power.
Suddenly, Neo cranes his head down to me, eyes black as a moonless Tenth Court night. Deep and not lovely or dark but impregnated with violent emotion.
“You came here? You did this?” His voice is a low thunder, an omen. My chest hitches. Everything inside me screams to,run and hide, Elysia. But I seal my lips together and touch my chest to will my heart to slow. The Prince gazes at the husks, and I imagine he can scent the bones above our heads.
“Neo, I—”
“Answer me,” he commands in a voice I recognize. The same voice that commanded me to kneel in the Inner Circle.
“I came here. I set them free.” I don’t mention how Syn helped with the last because I imagine any association with Thanatos would only trigger him more. I tread light—as if I’m walking on dragon eggshells.
Something like thunder rumbles from inside him. “What the fuck am I going to do with you?”
A righteous fury invades my heart, and I claw at his tunic, demanding he put me down, eggshells be damned. He sets me down, harder than necessary, which prompts another spark of anger inside me.
“Youkept me from the border, Prince,” I point at this new Scourge of Destruction, careless of how he seizes, how he tremors, how his horns begin to extend from his head. “Youleft me to the likes of Idrys. Onyourorders, I was not permitted to go beyond the walls. So, I phased under them instead.” Seething, he stalks toward me, hands balled at his sides, those horns curling out even more at my words. I ball my hands into fists. “I won’t apologize for any of it. I won’t apologize for killing countless ghouls, dealing with Pan to get here, or finding the lair. I won’t apologize for doing what I was created to do.”
“Elysia…Iwill do whatIwas created to do,” threatens Neo, hands gathering up the skirt attachments and digging into my waist. Only when I hear the sound and feel the ripping fabric do I realize his claws have grown. His muscles swell, armored scales budding, tearing through his tunic, ridding himself of the cage of buttons. That destructive force, that Scourge undulates around us, tempting, threatening, inflicting.
A deep pang lodges in my throat. I have to do something. I vowed to be his shield. It’s time for me to protect both of us from his danger. Somehow, I wrestle for a second wind, an adrenaline rush to stoke my blood.
Desperate, I launch my Halo power into him like a golden net and climb up him. Hands firm, I climb him like a tower, shocking him. Those claws retract, and his hands descend to the underside of my thighs to haul me up. Without hesitation, I slam my mouth against his to temper his Dragon muscles.
Everything inside me screams to run, but I can’t. Because I am strong enough to bear his burdens, to share his darkness, just as he is strong enough to bear mine. No, I won’t take his abuse. I’ll challenge his beliefs, but damn it to hell, I want his darkness. I wanteverything.
My body softens the instant he kisses me back. When I finish plundering his mouth, pillaging his depths, the silver veins overwhelming his neck have faded. He doesn’t stop. His tongue travels past the seam of my mouth to taste me. I moan into his mouth. A kaleidoscope of butterflies flutters to life in my belly.
With my legs wound around his waist, with his member bulging against my sex, with his bulwark of strength reminding me of the time he bore us up on our honeymoon, I recognize I won’t last. One flesh hunts me, stalks me.
It doesn’t have to be perfect like before. If I want this, if I want him, wantmore…
Winded, I pull away and remind him about his promise. “Lovely, dark, and deep, Neo!” I mumble, my mouth swollen against his, breathless and worn. “Secret,” I hint and note his eyes sinking upon mine, that familiar seductive silver mist returning as I arch my neck and tempt him with one flesh. Because the last thing I want is for us to make love in this beast’s belly. “The aesthetics here are horrible.” Teasing with a shy smirk, I shrug, swinging my curls over my shoulder.
Neo returns, chuckling, laughing, boisterous as he cinches his hands around my rear, sturdy, before charging out of the pit and into the hub. “Damn it all to hell, woman. I’ll never know how you manage to infuriate me one moment and then tame me in the next.”
“Can a Dragon be tamed?” I wonder, rubbing my lips along his neck.
He tightens his grip on me, his arousal throbbing through his breeches. My lips part, but I’m too breathless to do anything but listen. “Never. But I swear, Elysia, you hold my chains. And I don’t know how to react to it all.” He whispers against my mouth. “Lux stays in her tower, lets me defend it all I want. You…damn it, Elysia. You’re not even in the tower. You’re some warrioress of light rising higher than me and defending my drawbridge.”
I smile at that image, an image that he grants me inside my head, but Neo chastises me, “Stop smiling.” I throw him a look, brow wrinkling, but Neo wrenches me closer and promises against my mouth, “I love you, Elysia. But you cannot be higher than me. I will make an exception now and then for you to act as my shield under these extreme circumstances…in our bed, before my sister. Remember, my love, you are still my bride. You are not higher in my Court. You are not higher than me. And I do not need you to be my shield or my deliverance. You may be my healer. My grace. The soother of my soul. But that is all.”
We’ll see about that, Neo. We will see…I tap his jaw and kiss his mouth, feather-light as he carries me out of the pit and right into a throng of Fallen!
