Page 55 of Dragon Prince of New York

Of course, sleep was the last thing on my mind. Escape and panic came way before exhaustion. There were no windows in the room and only one door, locked and guarded. Not a lot of options, which meant lots of time for ruminating. I oscillated through a range of anger, fear, confusion, and denial before I finally fell asleep on the floor.

This morning, all I feel is numb.

After watching Kyro and the Queen’s guards shift into dragons, I couldn’t hold on to my doubt, and I didn’t have the energy to care. Now, I’m on Kyro’s back—his dragon back—as he flies out over the ocean past the Statue of Liberty.

“Where are we going?” I yell, hoping the Queen, whose name I still haven’t gotten, can hear me over the wind.

She’s riding on the back of one of the other dragons, wearing a summery white dress that I would ask to borrow if one of my friends wore it. Her red hair is loose, and she looks a lot more relaxed than I’m sure I do.

“Your niece’s naming ceremony,” she calls back, somehow sounding regal even when shouting.

“Niece?” Jess hadn’t told me the sex of the baby, and here I am finding it out from an enemy. Though I can’t say the Queen has treated me particularly poorly, apart from that first threat to kill me.

A small island juts out of the water, and steep cliffs welcome us coldly. In the center, there’s a building like a sandstone temple. Definitely don’t remember this being on any map I’ve ever seen. It must be magically warded or some shit. Fuck, I can’t believe how quickly I’m buying into all this and already assuming magic must exist since dragons do.

When we land, the men shift back into their human forms, naked now. I avert my eyes, but within moments they’ve dressed in loose, white linen pants someone must have been carrying.

In front of the temple, four people wait for us, Midas, his grandmother, Jethro, and Cyrus. Our eyes meet and hold. A shaky breath leaves me as relief floods my chest. I want to run to him, but when I take a step forward, Kyro is there, throwing his arm in front of me to keep me where we stand at the top of the cliffs.

“Are you okay?” Cyrus asks, voice tight. I can see every muscle straining toward me, but he doesn’t move.

“She’s fine,” the Queen replies before I can say anything.

I give a quick nod to let Cyrus know it’s the truth. His shoulders only marginally relax. If I hadn’t spent so much time with him, I might not have noticed.

“Congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Midas Ra.” The Queen doesn’t bow or anything, but there’s a slight dip of her chin that seems almost respectful.

His gaze is fierce. I’m surprised she doesn’t quiver under it. I’m unnerved, and I’m his family.

“What do you want, Adrianna?”

Huh, guess that’s her name. For some reason I expected something more surprising or unique.

“You know what I want, Midas.”

“You want to steal the city from us.” His chest inflates as he steps forward and puffs smoke from his nose. Huh, that’s new. Or at least, I haven’t seen him do that before. Dragon. Right. Still wrapping my mind around that.

“I want to do business in New York,” Adrianna answers, calm as ever. “I don’t desire to take anything from you. I’m not my parents.”

“Then why kidnap an innocent?”

“Didn’t think she was so innocent.” Even her shrug is elegant. “And I needed a bargaining chip. A way to get you to meet with me to discuss new terms of the treaty, since you’ve been refusing.”

A man steps out of the temple and whispers something to Midas.

“It’s time,” Midas says. “Hand her over. We’ll discuss a new treaty after the ceremony.”

“I don’t think so.” The Queen loops her arm around mine. “I’ve grown rather fond of her, and I don’t want you reneging on our agreement.”

“How dare you imply—”

Cyrus puts a hand on his brother's shoulder to stop him. “We’ll swear an oath on the goddess.”

“In blood?”

Cyrus nods. “I swear on the goddess and my blood. We will meet with you after the naming ceremony.” He pauses and his eyes meet mine. “And my trial.”

Shit, they’re really putting him on trial? I’m not sure what the consequences typically are for fooling around with someone before they’re twenty-three, but the whole thing still feels ridiculous.

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