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)
“We’re both working angles to come out ahead.” Trin strolled farther away from the tree, moving into the small clearing where they’d stopped. The rest of the world had fallen away from them, making it so easy to forget that humans even existed.
“This isn’t an angle. When I tell you I don’t want to the throne, I’m serious. As you can see, I have a new family and a mate that I plan to remain with. To do that, I have to make sure mother dearest doesn’t destroy the fucking world.”
Trin’s lips twisted into a frown, and he glared at the ground. He remained silent for a couple of heartbeats before giving a shake of his head. “I’m not here about that. It’s the dragon.”
“What about the dragon?” Xiang barked, his heart leaping into his chest. What the hell was Belladonna planning now? Protecting Kai was hard enough when the dragon was so damn stubborn and didn’t believe anyone should need to protect him. It was made worse by the fact that they couldn’t guess when the fae queen would strike next.
“Can you control it?” Trin shot at him.
Xiang’s hand tightened on his hilt to the point of his knuckles cracking. Muscles ached and twitched, demanding he attack the elf standing opposite him right this second. “Kai is not some animal you can force into being your attack dog. He’s a sentient, intelligent being, and he doesn’t appreciate having his hoard raided by a pack of thieves.”
Trin blinked at him, his lips parting, but nothing came out. A moment later, he regained his composure enough to speak. “The dragon talks to you. I’ve only been there when she summoned the monster once, and it just roars at her.”
That was it. Xiang tightened his fist on his sword as he charged Trin. Unfortunately, he didn’t get more than two steps before Rei collided with him, wrapping his arms around his waist to hold him.
“He’s not a monster!” Xiang bellowed, not caring that Trin was now holding a blade in his right hand. Or that several other elves popped out from behind trees to point drawn arrows at both of them. “Would you be all that willing to talk to your captor?”
“Whoa there, lover boy!” Rei cried, trying to cajole Xiang into getting a hold of his temper. Not the easiest thing. These assholes were not only the source of Kai’s suffering, but they thought he was a simple beast to be ordered about.
“I just want to kill them a little bit,” Xiang snarled as he ground his teeth together.
Rei pressed his head against the side of Xiang’s and lowered his voice, “I’m sure you do, but you’re going to get hurt, and Kai won’t like that. Can we afford to piss him off right now?”
No, a pissed off, overprotective dragon was the last thing they needed. There would be no stopping him from flying off to stomp on some fae, which would put him right back into their hands. In other words, creating a mess similar to the one Xiang was close to making now.
“Fine,” Xiang grumbled as he stopped trying to break free to kill Rei’s half brother.
“To defeat Belladonna, you must take the dragon from her,” Trin continued, though he didn’t put away his sword, nor did the other elves retreat. “She’s growing more powerful with the elimination of the human towns, but she’s pouring all her newfound power into tightening her control on the dragon. The spells required to summon it…er…him…are very taxing.”
“So, you’re saying she’s at her weakest when she summons the dragon,” Rei leaped in, but Trin was frowning.
“She’s surrounded by guards when she casts the summoning spells. We’d have to take out the entire army to get close, particularly since the dragon fights her commands. Hundreds died the last time he was summoned.”
Xiang barely hid his grin of pride. Yes, Kai had returned to him covered in blood and near death, but his dragon had taken out a hell of a lot of fae before he left.
“If you can’t get near her when she’s casting the spell, can you get the sword she stole from the dragon?” Xiang demanded.
Trin flashed them a look that wasn’t at all reassuring. His lips quirked as if he were laughing. “Would you trust me with that blade in my hand?”
“The only person I trust with the sword is the dragon it belongs to,” Rei replied without a breath of hesitation. “It needs to be returned to him.”
The dark elf stared at them in silence. When he spoke, the answer felt grudging. “She’s rarely without it. When it leaves her side at night, it is heavily guarded.”
In short, Trin hadn’t made a grab for it yet because he’d been unable to devise a workable plan that would allow him to steal it. He needed help, and Xiang was more than willing to provide it. However, that was likely going to mean sneaking into the fae castle, and there was no way he could do that without Rei.