Page 34 of Spectacle

“Leave her, she can do this. The first change is always the worst.”

My legs fuse together and elongate, my hair shrinks away, and I feel bony protrusions growing from my head. My mouth fills with razor-sharp teeth, and my vision changes, the sounds of everyone’s heartbeats becoming more pronounced. My nature becomes more primal, and it’s all I can do to control myself from lunging at one of the warm-blooded creatures in the room.

The dragons and Saxon feel different—not as warm-blooded as the others—and when my focus slips to Silac, his cold-blooded nature calls to mine. I hiss, my tongue flicking in and out, but I keep my gaze firmly on the two-way mirror in front of me and the creature on the other side. I’m not sure how to control turning someone to stone, so I’m going to have to do some experimenting. There’s no time like the present. I’ll practice with the creature I just mimicked.

“Step out of the room and let me through,” I say, my voice changing. It’s lower, and the S’s are very sibilant.

“Are you okay, Lila?” Tirrian asks, knowing it’s a struggle to control my more basic instincts in another form.

“Yes, just go and let me practice on him.” I still don’t risk looking at any of them—not only because I’m afraid of turning them to stone but, if I’m honest with myself, I also don’t want to see them looking at me with horror in their eyes.

“We don’t need to step out,” Tallon says, her fingers flying across the control board. “I’ve adjusted it so you can pass back and forth, and you can leave when you have what you want,” she explains, and I nod that I heard her, still not wanting to risk looking at them.

I slither into the cell, and the captured basilisk goes on alert, rising and hissing at me.

“Who are you? What do you want? Where the fuck am I?” he demands.

“How do you activate the petrifying power?” I ignore his questions, and he hisses at me, lunging forward with his mouth open. Jesus, he has way more fangs than an Earth snake. I hadn’t even noticed my own mouth. I react quickly and slap him on the nose, and he yelps and slithers backward again. I use my tongue to feel around my mouth, but my teeth are normal. I guess we can will them to change on command.

I see his eyes swirl, and I feel a wave of power, but it seems to slide right off me. Basilisks can’t turn each other into stone. I knew that instinctively, so I didn’t even flinch, but with him trying to demonstrate it, it triggered the innate knowledge inside me, just like my mimic powers are supposed to work. I now know how to petrify a person, but most importantly, I know how to reverse it—a drop of basilisk blood placed on the forehead of the victim. It looks like I’m going to bleed a lot tonight.

“Who are you? I know all the basilisks on Fluxx, and I don’t recognize you,” the snake man demands, but I ignore him. I have what I came for, so I turn and slither back the way we came. Link stands in front of everyone, wearing his mirrored glasses.

“Look at me, Lila,” he demands when I keep my eyes on the ground. I’ve mostly wrestled the more primal nature of this creature into submission, but there’s a scent in the air that makes me hungry. I flick my tongue out to taste it and groan as the flavor reaches my taste buds, my eyes zeroing in on who it is—Silac. My basilisk wants to lick him all over, but I grit my teeth and avert my eyes, even though I know how to trigger the powers now. I have to be patient. Our time is coming, and it won’t be as a basilisk.

I look up at Link and activate my powers, staring directly into his mirror-covered eyes. I feel the power creep out, but it quickly rebounds when it hits the mirror, and Link remains flesh and blood and nanobots. I heave out a sigh of relief that it didn’t work, and a wide grin spreads across his lips.

“Excellent. Just as I thought. You can change back, Lila,” he tells me, and with a sigh of relief, I let the form go.

“Right, if we’re all done here, then I have something I need to show Lila. We’ll meet you at the launch pad when it’s time to leave for the warehouse.” Tirrian grabs my hand and drags me out of the room before I can even speak. I hear everyone else laugh as we leave the containment area and move deeper into the mountain.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Tirrian

My dragon has been riding me hard since Lila changed in front of everyone else. I hated that she had to prove she could, but I couldn’t help feeling immensely proud when everyone admired her. I knew she was going to ignore Ioldres, the bitch not even worth the air my mate breathes, but I wasn’t going to stand for any of her petty behavior. I also don’t like the way she looked at my brothers. She’s cunning and conniving, and I have no doubt she’s going to end up roasted or as a meal for one of their dragons. Mine pushed for that, but we don’t have time for a diplomatic incident. We have more important matters to worry about.

I feel for Silac. I would feel the same if it were my parents suffering, but my dragon is not patient, and he wants to show our hoard to our mate.

With her hand clasped in mine, I drag her deeper into the mountainside. All dragons in our clan keep their hoards here. It’s the safest place for them, and they are easily accessible when dragons feel the need to be one with their treasure. It’s almost like a bank with rows and rows of vault doors coded to each individual dragon in the clan. Some are more impressive than others, but together, they hold an eye watering amount of wealth and are guarded well.

I nod my head to the guards who stand at the entrance to the facility. They are all smart enough to keep their eyes cast downward and away from my scantily clad mate, but I can’t stop the rumble in my chest. My dragon is making sure they keep their gaze there.

We move farther into the repository, since the royal family vaults are the farthest away from the entrance. We get to the separate section that contains my and my family’s. There are five sealed doors, and I see six more new vaults, their doors wide open and ready for the children and Lila to start their own hoards. I can’t wait for the babies to visit so they can pick out what they want from mine to start their own collection.

First, though, I need to fuck my wife on top of my own hoard, allowing her scent to fill the room. Lila shivers behind me, and I realize how cold it is down here.

“God, I’m sorry, I forgot that you would be cold. Come here.” I pull her into my arms and allow my heat to warm my own body, giving her the warmth she needs. She shivers again and snuggles into my arms, which has my dragon roaring with delight.

I push my finger onto the sensor spike, and it absorbs my blood before I hear the door click open. I shift Lila to one arm and use the other to pull the door wide enough for us to slip through before sealing us in. I turn us around to face my treasures, and this time, I can’t stop the purr that escapes my mouth. My dragons are pleased at seeing all their treasure and that our mate now knows how well we can provide for her and our children.

“Holy fuck!” Lila’s mouth drops open, and she steps out of my embrace as she takes in the vault with wide-eyed astonishment. “I feel like I’ve stepped into Scrooge McDuck’s vault,” she mumbles, and my dragons growl.

“Who is this Scrooge McDuck, and why were you in his vault?” I demand, and she giggles, waving a hand at me.

“I wasn’t, and he’s not real.” She waves me off as she takes a step closer to the massive pile of coins, gold, and jewels that make up the majority of my treasure. “Where did you get all this?” she asks me, and I puff up my chest.

“I have worked hard for the dragon crown for many years, and these are my rewards,” I tell her, and she turns to look at me, arching an eyebrow.

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