Total pages in book: 220
Estimated words: 205637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 823(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 205637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 823(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
Patrols of village shifters roamed the trees below us as we made our way, cut through with Weston’s wolves. I made sure not to outstrip them, flying slowly as they loped beneath us. I wanted to show that we were a unit, all of us. That our success against the demon king hadn’t been a fluke and we’d be stronger if we stuck together.
My heart started to hammer as we approached the edge of the kingdom without a glimpse of the demons and faeries.
Land, I told my dragon.
She angled down quickly, the ground rushing up to meet us, and shifted, and my human body tumbled along the ground.
I know you know how to fucking land, you asshole, I told her, dragging myself to my feet and shaking it off. You’re making me look like a fool in front of the others.
I only kinda know how to land. This made it look like we were in a hurry.
The list of things we needed to work on was growing rapidly.
The other dragons landed behind me, joining me just outside of the previously erected magical wall. The wolves jogged up in their animal forms.
In this spot, it was easy to see the effect of the demon magic on our land—one side of the invisible line was lush and green, the other side twisted and blackened and robbed of life.
“Where’d they go?” Tamara asked, pointing out heavy treads from what must’ve been demon boots.
While I caught whiffs of their scents, it wasn’t distinct enough for me to follow them, and the treads disappeared after a few steps. It was almost like they’d tried to keep their path hidden.
“No bodies,” Jade said, circling out to scan the area. “No blood. Those are good signs.”
Ehno, now a large gray wolf, growled softly before making a show of putting his nose to the ground. He jogged forward like that, then turned back, asking me to follow.
I needed to learn to read wolf better so he didn’t have to mime his intent.
“Their noses are clearly better than ours,” I said, motioning for him to continue and then jogging after him. “They’re better at tracking. Follow on two feet so that we can communicate if we have to. I don’t think I have the energy for rapid-fire shifting.”
“Me neither,” Tamara murmured. “I’m exhausted. Thank the goddess the prince has a heart and will let us rest before we start to rebuild. I don’t think I can keep going much longer.”
I didn’t bother asking what the mad king would’ve demanded. It was pretty clear.
In a moment, it was evident where we were going—right back to the boats. Once there, we saw the rowboats we used to get to shore had been taken in and tied up, keeping anyone from heading out to them.
“Smart,” I said, readying to shift. “They probably worried one of our people would come out this far, searching for demons, and didn’t want to risk a confrontation.”
“Or maybe they were just tired and wanted a bed.” Jade rubbed her eyes.
“Or that, yeah.” I smirked and shifted, wondering how the hell I was going to get onto the demons’ boat without crashing into it. My dragon shifted in the air, and I dropped like a stone onto the deck, landing hard on my butt and then falling back and clunking my head.
Problem solved, she thought.
There weren’t enough swear words in the world to properly get my feelings across, so I just pushed myself to standing and thought about how to get revenge without killing us both.
As the rest of the dragons circled overhead, the captain emerged. He quickly alerted the others to our presence.
“It worked,” Govam said when he met me on the deck. His dusky gray eyes twinkled. “Is your kingdom in one piece?”
“It hasn’t been in one piece for years, Govam, you know that. But we did do it, yes. We chased them out.”
I heaved a shuddering sigh and let myself smile, still struggling to process everything. Nyfain and I had freed our kingdom from the demons’ clutches.
I was banging the golden prince!
Would you calm the fuck down? my dragon thought in annoyance. Don’t make me keep reminding you that—
Yes, yes, I know.
I tried to wipe what I knew was a stupid grin from my face, except desire was pooling within Nyfain now, curling and growing and heating up. I felt his longing for me and my equally strong need to get back to him. To feel his body under my fingers. To get lost in his touch. It wasn’t just a sexual need for him—it was a strange sort of throbbing. A pull that gripped my middle and kept yanking to get me moving toward him. He felt like a part of me, like half of me, actually, and everything in me was desperate to merge those halves. It had to be a side effect of the imprinting. There was so much to do, and now so much to sort out—the queen, the wolves, establishing trade again, getting supplies—but all I wanted was to revel in Nyfain’s body. To feel his soft lips glide down my scorching flesh.