Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 84949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Either that, or I'll make him a tasty snack.
8
MHAL
I always think the heavy hand of the Salorian lifting from my mind will be like the dawn, a slow rise to consciousness.
Instead, it is a lightning bolt, quick and brutal, and I am thrust back into my own body from the gray abyss of nothingness. I awaken with a bellow of rage, fury boiling through my form. I spread my wings, tail lashing in anger.
How dare he?
How DARE he? It is not to be borne, this upstart Salorian, daring to take over my mind. Does he not know who I am? The queen will hear of this.
I flick my tail in anger, and it smacks against something soft.
"Ouch! Fkkinstopit!" A hand dares to grab at the tip of my tail, as if it can cease its motion. "Whttryewdoin?"
I give it one last flick, just because I can, and then breathe deep.
And freeze.
I know that scent. It's the female I have smelled, despite the disgusting layers of human scents all piled together.
It is my female.
Is…this a trap? I narrow my eyes, lowering my head to get a good look at her. The lair we are in is dark, but I do not need much light to see. Her scent will tell me plenty.
The scent of the Salorian lingers in the room. It especially lingers on the wooden piece near my female, so I bat it aside with my claws, pleased when it flies across to the wall and shatters into a thousand pieces.
The female gets to her feet, and a fear scent touches her. She thinks I am violent? She has no idea. I am furious with rage. I am bitter that the Salorian has taken me, despite the fact that I am Queen's Guard. I am…I am…
I am blank.
I have no memories of self. This alarms me, but surely it will return the moment the Salorian's grip is gone for good. I shake myself, flicking my wings, as if that will somehow ease the shadow of him from my spirit, and then grab the small human female into my claws.
She lets out a shriek the moment I touch her, and her fear scent doubles.
She is afraid of me? I am offended. She had no fear scent when the Salorian was here, but the sight of me? The male that will protect her and care for her? This is what frightens her?
Or is there another female nearby, waiting to challenge her for the right to approach me? I flare my nostrils, scanning the room for scents, but hers is the only one. The others are old, and unimportant.
I lift her from the ground, and a metal chain jerks. The female makes a cry of pain and I realize the Salorian has tied her down—tethered her to this spot. Fury blasts through me, and I grab the chain in my claws and yank, hard. The chain snaps, and a large chunk of the stone floor comes up with it. I send both flying against the wall, to land near the shattered remains of the wood.
She makes another sound of distress in her throat, and I lift her even with my head, so I can study her.
She has a mane that flutters as I breathe on her, wispy like feathers and downy. It does not sit still, but drifts around her head as she moves, and it is a curious golden brown shade, too dark to be the appropriate color of a mating female. Her skin is pale, without a hint of red to it, and her face is small and round. Her figure is small and round, too.
Her scent is incredible. But other than that, she is unremarkable.
She is also human. I war with this concept, because I loathe the humans that pollute this strange land. I despise their smells. I hate their existence. And yet…and yet…I do not hate her.
I do not know why she is mine, but she is. And I am keeping her.
"Plsputmedown," the female babbles, making noises in her throat.
Is something wrong with her mouth? I peer at her, watching closely. She makes the sounds again, and I lift a claw, only to have her bat it away.
Rude creature. I tuck her against my chest and settle in, stretching my wings and studying my surroundings. Now that I have my female, I want to leave the human hive behind. The stench of it is overwhelming and distracting, and it makes it hard to concentrate on the good scent of my mate. There is a distant scent of other drakoni, and I wonder if there are other females nearby. I wonder if this one has challenged others to be mine.
I eye my mate. She takes one small hand and pushes against my scales, as if determined that I should let her go. Well, that is not going to happen. You might as well stop now, I chide her. You belong to me.