Page 16 of Beautiful Beast

Everything turned to chaos as the dragon swept down over the gardens, close enough to smell the fire on its breath and feel the powerful beat of its wings. The courtiers ran, sprinting for the cover of the palace while the soldiers surged out of it, rallying to the Prince. The dragon killer.

Arrows followed the blue dragon like arcing rain. Nothing touched it. As it banked up and around to come back toward us, I couldn’t help but notice that it was beautiful. The color of the sky lined with silver. Sparkling. Death and beauty wrapped into one. Like it had dressed up in blues to match the occasion.

“There.” Someone shouted in time for a second black dragon to sweep over us from the other direction. Fire burst from its mouth, burning a line straight in my direction. I turned and ran, diving out of the way of flame and wind, my dress tearing as I fell.

The heat from the flames had grazed me, but I wasn’t burned by some miracle.

Black wings circled, landing past the dais where the wedding was to take place, shaking the ground with every step. Fire glowed in its eyes and smoke poured from its mouth.

The gaze it swept over us was fearsome. So intelligent and calculating. Everything I’d ever heard about dragons was true and not true and holy fucking stars there were dragons. My mind caught up to my body, realizing I was still sprawled on the ground near the ruined aisle, gaping.

“Load the cannons,” King Edwan roared as soldiers in Craisos’s colors scrambled for the battlements that guarded this part of the gardens, backed up against the mountains. They’d brought their weapons with them. Of course they had. And everyone knew that Prince Andaros and his father couldn’t be touched with dragon fire. How it was done was a closely guarded secret.

Which meant?—

Andaros realized what I had at the same time and sprinted for me. There was genuine concern on his face as he hauled me to my feet. “Go,” he said. “Get somewhere else. You aren’t safe here.”

“I can?—”

“Go, Katalena.”

I tried. An earthquake shook the ground. I was thrown once more, bouquet tumbling, shedding petals as Varí clung to me for dear life. My hair started to come undone and my dress was tangled in my legs, but I tried to get up and move.

It wasn’t an earthquake. A third dragon had landed next to us. Red and molten in color. He blocked out the sun as he stared down at me and Andaros, the prince stepping between us and raising his sword.

The red dragon looked down at the prince with what looked like a smirk before those golden eyes fell on me.

“Go, Katalena. It can’t harm me. I will find you as soon as I can.”

Rage at my own cowardice flared, but these dragons didn’t know I wasn’t their enemy, and right now they wouldn’t think twice about killing me. And Varí with me.

I turned and ran.

My skirts were too large and cumbersome to do so quickly, even when I pulled them up. Turned over chairs caught at them and the plants of the garden tore at the delicate seams, leaving me running in tatters. The entrances to the gardens were too far away now. Even the archway where I’d waited was merely an alcove. To get inside the palace… I’d never make it.

Whirling, I went for the walls instead. If I found a place out of sight, maybe I could survive.

“Come on, beast.” I looked back as Andaros spat the word. “I’ll deal with you just as I have your kin.” His sword glinted in the sunlight, raised to strike. The image was that of a warrior and a hero facing off against the enemy. If he won, artists would paint that image and bards would sing of it in taverns for the rest of our lives.

Across the garden, the black dragon kept the guards distracted trying to corner it, and the blue one flew overhead. But they hadn’t used their fire again. The strip of land that had been struck still burned, turning the air to shimmering glass around it. A warning of what they could do and had not fully done. They could have burned us all in a moment, and they hadn’t.

Even now, the great black beast merely blocked arrows with his claws and tail. He didn’t retaliate.

They’re here for a reason.

The red dragon’s eyes locked on mine for a breath.

“Don’t you fucking look at her. Look at me, demon. You won’t touch her.”

Andaros moved like he’d done this a hundred times before, and I supposed he had. Charging the dragon and sweeping for an outstretched wing.

But the dragon’s wing was there for a reason. He never saw the tail coming. It whipped around so fast, knocking into Andaros’s side. The spikes impaled him through the armor and he flew. His body crashed into the stairs of the dais, and he didn’t move again. Eyes closed, legs at bad angles…

There was every chance he could be dead. And I was a monster for the part of me that was glad of the possibility. But he moved. Not much. Just a shift of his arm. So he wasn’t dead.

Edwan screamed and ran for the red dragon, aiming to avenge his son. The King of Craisos met the same fate, swept away in the other direction. I could not see where he fell or if he’d survived.

And the red dragon stared at me. Saw me.

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