Page 228 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

He raised his blade toward the sky, and the army charged.

NINETY-FIVE

DIANNA

Below us were scorched plains and the remnants of buildings crumbling in pieces, destroyed by creatures who had been far larger and far too powerful. Kaden had once told me of creatures far older than us that could block out the sun. The old days had been brutal.

I whipped and dove away from Kaden’s snapping jaws and Isaiah’s razor-sharp claws. Blood leaked from my side, one eye half shut, but I refused to surrender or stop fighting. I wanted blood for what Kaden had done, and I planned to take it. My wing hurt from where I hadn’t been quick enough, and Isaiah’s claw had ripped at the membrane. I saw the outline of his tail as he moved between clouds of smoke and ash. I drew in another thunderous breath and unleashed a tunnel of flame. Isaiah’s screech was music to my ears.

Thunder roared behind me, the sound of Kaden’s wings. In all of our thousand years, I had never seen his true form. He’d never shown me, just like he’d never shared anything with me. The girl in the desert would have cowered at the sight of this massive beast. The jet black and crimson scales flowed like ink over his heavy, muscled body, and he wore the array of spikes that jutted from his head like a crown. But me? This Dianna? The girl who fought and bled and carved her way to some semblance of peace saw it and saw fucking red.

Kaden followed me across the sooty, crimson sky. A raw screech emitted from my throat as I tossed flame at his chasing form. I had hurt Isaiah, and I had already learned in this fight that Isaiah was one of Kaden’s weaknesses. He loved his brother, and I would do everything in my power to maim him.

I swooped to the right and down just as he lunged forward. My smaller, sleeker form was faster than his heavy, massive one, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t agile and skilled. I heard him spin above me to follow. I coasted before banking left, my wings widespread. Another half-turn, and I tipped my head to the side, using my good eye to watch the sky for the Ig’Morruthen, who was just as wounded as me. I didn’t need to see through the smoke to smell the blood.

My nostrils flared, and I slammed my wings against the air, charging through the clouds, prepared to rip and claw. My body jerked sideways. Two against one was an unfair fight, and I was paying for it.

Fuck.

My side screamed and bled where Kaden’s jaws clamped around me. I angled my neck, reaching for him, jaws snapping and peeling scales from his skin. He roared but gripped me tighter. His teeth sank deeper into my body, and I felt his fangs scrape against bone. I whipped my tail, slamming it against him, desperate to get him to let me go. He dove, the ground coming into focus just before he tossed me toward the crumbling buildings. Wood split as I tumbled through two or more houses. My body came to a stop, my form shaking as I returned to myself. I pushed up on shaky arms, spitting blood as I cupped my side. My hand came away covered in blood.

“Fuck.”

It wasn’t deep enough to kill, but it would definitely slow me down. My heart hammered in my chest, and with every rapid beat, more of my blood poured out of me. Every single part of me ached, and my lungs hurt with each gasped breath, but I would not surrender to him, to them, to any fucking one. I’d drag them to Iassulyn with me.

My head whipped up when I heard a loud thud that caused the ground to shake. It was quickly followed by another. They were on the ground. I had a split second to wonder what I was going to do before the side of the house was ripped away.

“I forgot how good you tasted,” Kaden said as he walked in. He swiped my blood from his chin and licked his fingers clean.

I grimaced in revulsion as I held my side, scooting back on the broken floor. “I hate you.”

Kaden’s smile only widened. “That was smart, Dianna. Hurt us in our true forms, and you’d be able to kill us. Who told you that? I didn’t. Was it your dead boyfriend?”

Isaiah snapped his fanged teeth as they returned to normal. The spikes over his head disappeared as he reclaimed his mortal form.

“Actually,” I spat blood to the floor, “it was Tobias before I cut him in half. Wanna join him so you can take him to task for sharing secrets? Come here.”

Isaiah whistled, clearly amused. I watched their shadows throw disjointed shapes on the walls as they stepped inside the ruined building. “So she did kill a King of Yejedin?”

Kaden’s brow flicked up. “She did,” he said, pride filling his voice. “But you weren’t trained in aerial fights, Dianna.”

They both stepped over broken wooden planks, pieces of cracked stone crunching beneath their boots. Half of Kaden’s face and his shoulder were covered in blood, and I saw the bite marks where my teeth had sunk deep into his armored chest. Isaiah grinned, following a few steps behind Kaden and nearly as battered.

Satisfaction filled me, and I forced myself to my feet. I may be in immense pain, but I’d given just as good as I’d got. My entire being was suffused with agony, but I wouldn’t show it. I’d never give him the satisfaction.

I flexed my hand, letting them see the wound along with the cuts on my head and arms. “I don’t know. I think I did pretty well.”

Isaiah’s grin widened, showing off his bloody teeth. “Not nearly.”

I grabbed my twisted, broken wrist and reset it. “Wipe the grin from your face. I’ve been fucked harder than you hit. You’ve done nothing.”

“She is a nasty little thing,” Isaiah said, glancing at Kaden. “Is that why you are in love with her?”

“That, among other reasons,” Kaden answered.

Isaiah smirked, and I watched as his crimson eyes went a shade darker. The blood on his arms and brow moved of its own accord, racing back to the cuts it had escaped from, sealing the skin. My stomach sank as Kaden’s wound healed as well.

He controlled the blood. Not only could he heal himself, but he could heal others.

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