Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
He opened his mouth to roar in her face, but the bitch held his sword over her head and stared him down. Magic pummeled his head and spine, pushing him into the dirt as if she’d placed a foot on his snout and stepped on him.
Sinking his front claws into the soft ground, he scooped up the earth and threw it, walloping some of the nearby elves. It wasn’t enough to hurt any of them, but it made his annoyance very clear. His tail thrashed, sweeping aside a cart, smashing the wood to splinters. If only he’d been born controlling fire. All of this would have been burning now.
“Stop, beast!” Belladonna roared, holding his sword aloft. The silver hilt winked in the morning light and the pale-blue blade shone as if calling out to him. Once again, guilt stabbed through him at the sight of the sword and some of his anger toward the fae queen faded.
This was his own fault. How could he have been so reckless with that sword? He’d thought he had adequate protection spells and guards over his hoard, but the fae had proved him wrong in the worst way. Even after a hundred years, he still couldn’t figure out how they’d gotten their hands on the sword.
But the how no longer mattered.
The fact was, she possessed the heart of his hoard, and when she had the magical power at hand, she could command him to do whatever she wished. That included harming Xiang and Xiang’s clan.
No.
That would never happen. He would never harm Xiang, and that included doing anything to his clan. Hurting them would destroy the vampire.
“Useless dragon, you grabbed the wrong vampire!” Belladonna hissed. She lowered the sword with an angry whoosh as it sliced through the air. “You were supposed to take the one most precious to the crown prince.”
Kai said nothing. He never spoke to the queen. If she wanted to think he was nothing more than an animal, so be it.
The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t realized he’d nabbed the wrong person until he’d overheard Xiang talking to himself days later in the hoard. That early morning had been a mess of dead bodies and a flourish of magic. When he’d appeared at the queen’s summons, he’d still been taking in the chaos. She’d pointed the sword and issued her command. There had been a flash of motion, and then one vampire had remained where she’d indicated. How was he supposed to know Xiang had pushed his brother out of the way?
“I’m assuming you still have the creature in your clutches,” Belladonna continued, her tone dismissive. “I command you to kill it and deliver the body to his people.”
A surge of energy rushed through Kai, urging him to return his hoard, all while Belladonna’s command echoed through his brain. Digging his claws into the earth, Kai roared loud enough so that it could be heard for hundreds of kilometers. He didn’t care. He wasn’t moving.
Around him, the elves whispered, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying over the rush of blood in his ears. It couldn’t be good. The elf queen’s pale face flushed red, and she shook the sword at him.
“I command you to kill the vampire and deliver his body to his people,” she repeated, her voice loud and slightly hoarse in her rage.
Kai roared again, even as the pain ripped through his body and dug deep into muscle and sinew.
Kill, kill, kill, repeated through his brain.
Pushing off his rear feet, Kai launched forward, intending to rend all the gathered fae into bloody chunks, but he immediately slammed into a magical barrier. He clawed and bit at it, but got no closer to the fae queen. Arrows soared through the air and bounced off his golden scales. They couldn’t harm him, but that didn’t matter. He was harming himself plenty, fighting her command.
“Obey me, dragon!” Belladonna shouted, her voice cracking. The pallor of her face had shifted from white to gray. The power required to command him was draining her life force. If he could hang on a little while longer, she might kill herself in her efforts to command him.
Except he had nothing left. The agony of fighting her commands was destroying him. The strength that had held him in place was now gone. He couldn’t hold on any longer.
With a last roar, Kai coughed up blood and soared into the air. He needed to get away from the queen and her control over him. Pain clouded his vision. He cut through the air, swift and nearly soundless, moving purely on instinct.
However, that instinct was carrying him to the one place he felt safe. His hoard. Back to Xiang. The one spot he didn’t want to go. He wasn’t sure if he had enough strength left to fight the magical impulse goading him to kill the vampire. The wind swept away tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. Blood filled his mouth and trickled past his fangs.