Page 16 of Court of Dragons and Twilight

“He made mistakes, but he’s been enchanted by Aphrodite’s magic!” Terrin roars at them both. I grab his arm. “He’s lost a lot, but he has a child and wife to go back to. Breaking the spell with Aphrodite’s death comes first and then?—”

“Then what?” Lysander challenges. “We need the dragons and riders to fucking stop the war, and waiting is fucking crazy.”

“Enough,” Grayson shouts, and we all turn to him in shock. “Lysander, Arden, you are asking him to kill his family. We don’t do that shit, and it’s wrong. I believe speaking to the tsar first is the best way to go and then see where we go from there. He will be punished for this attack if it’s what he chose without Aphrodite’s magic guiding him. I doubt it.” He looks at them. “We have all been under her magic, and it’s not easy to control. We give him a chance.”

“Everyone deserves a chance.” They look at me and I stare up at Terrin. “And as fucked up as it is, we try because it’s you. The only part Lysander is right about is the dragons and riders. We need them to know and see you are enough to make them turn their dragons around and leave this war.”

“And your sister?” Arden asks. “I don’t believe it is safe to let that dragon free.”

“She thinks you killed her brother for no reason, and she got her memories back sooner on her own,” Matron adds into ourtense conversation. “I chose to save her because, deep down, she has a good soul, and she could be a force of good in this world.”

“Perhaps when she learns the true reason, then she can be calmed?” Terrin asks me, and I nod. I don’t want to ever think of that day, and I still have nightmares of it. I think I always will do, but eventually his face will fade, and he will be nothing to anyone. I will make sure no one remembers him.

I lean up and cup his face. “No secrets. No more of this bullshit. We are one, and your battles are mine; your family is mine and mine is yours.”

He kisses my palm. “I made a mistake and I’m sorry.”

“I know.” I lean my head on his chest and breathe in his smoky scent. I wonder if he will ever not smell like dragon and fire, and I kind of hope not. It’s Terrin. He is my mate, and apparently one of my kings. The matron has disappeared when I look back, and I’m not surprised.

Arden walks over and opens the door, swinging it out. He winks at me. “Elle, looks like you have a particular taste—you know, in kings.”

I groan, walking past him, and he tickles me. I pout at him. “That’s really not funny.”

The others are laughing though, and I end up chuckling as Arden chases me down the corridor, the others close behind, only for us all to come to a sudden stop. At the top of the stairs is an earth guard with a dagger pressed through his chest and armour, holding a letter in place. The colour drains from my face, and Grayson walks over slowly, going to his knees. He closes the guard’s wide, dead eyes and whispers words in Latin to him before pulling the note off his chest as I kneel at his side. I rest my head on Grayson’s shoulder, quietly waiting for him if he needs anything from me, at his own pace. He is cold and shaking as he reads the note and tells us all what the pink, blood-stained letter says. “He was a childhood friend who I cared for,and he had two young children. His name was Paul. The note calls for me to come tomorrow at dawn, alone, to my court, from Aphrodite. First my sister, now him? I’m going to enjoy killing her.”

I look at the man and back to my mate, anger burning in my chest like a flame. “I’ll enjoy helping you. It’s nearly over for her, and she is going to regret every life she took in our world.”

CHAPTER 10

GRAYSON

Ithink about the beautiful mate I left in bed this morning, because saying goodbye to her isn’t ever happening again. I never want to say goodbye to her. How do you say goodbye to someone who completely and utterly owns every inch of your body? I step through the portal, straight back to my court, and the earth beneath my feet feels like home. The earthy smell of the air, the dirt under my boots, and the tall trees blocking out the sunlight from the rising sun over the tips of the mountains. Home is an odd feeling for me, it was a place I once hated, and then it was a place I loved when I grew older, when I learnt that the land didn’t hurt me and it was a good place. The earth is calm and peaceful—exactly what I have always needed to calm myself down when all I can see is darkness.

Aphrodite is waiting by a cavern entrance, not far from the mountain city my mate loved. The first time I fucked her was above that city, and maybe it’s a sign of good luck Aphrodite chose this place. No Emrys with her this time, to my disappointment. He is in there; I fucking know it, and I keep seeing my mate’s face every time she looks at Emrys. It is killing her that she can’t save him yet. It’s killing all of us, and thesefucking tests are the only way for us to figure out a way to fix this all.

The orange sunlight flickers into my eyes as I approach the intruder not only to my court but to this world. I can still taste death in the breeze, carried from the Air Court and the slaughter she led. The bitch still has my sister locked away. My innocent sister. Her eyes drift down me, and I want to throw up all over her tight red dress. “King Grayson. In my boredom, I looked at the royal paintings, and you are by far the most handsome earth king ever to reign.”

“I’ll send your congratulations on to my mate, who enjoys my face very much,” I coldly drawl. “Get on with it.”

Her eyes tighten in annoyance, and she brushes her long hair over her shoulder. “It begins for you here. I know you care about your people deeply, as deep as this earth goes in this region. This test is simple, easy even. Earth was always my favourite element. Go in and get ten people out alive.” The way she smiles tells me it’s not that simple.

“Just ten people?” I cautiously ask.

She swirls her hair around her middle finger. “Yes. They’re in this section of the city. It’s easy.”

I wish she would stop talking. “Fine.”

One step. I only take one step before her laugh makes me pause. “Well, I should say more, or it’s mean. I don’t like being mean to men who will be mine.” I’d rather cut my dick off. “See, you have to touch and hug the ten people, and if you let go of them before they’re outside the city, then they die.”

I don’t know what is worse. The idea of being anything to her or letting ten strangers near me. The thought of touching ten people sends a sickness rising up my throat and a cold shiver down my spine. It’s different with Elle and it’s different with the kings because they are family to me, but it took years for me to let them even pat my shoulder. Elle…she breezed into my lifeand made herself a rock, one I couldn’t live without touching. The fear faded with Elle. She made it that bit easier to get over the feeling that locks my body up and makes me weak. Aphrodite has been in my head, and she fucking knows this. She knows what happens to me, how a touch from a stranger can throw me back to the boy being hurt by his mother. I clamp my teeth down hard enough that I feel like my jaw’s going to snap in two. “Fine.”

She points at the opening. “Oh, and you don’t have long. I’ll give you an hour. I’m being generous after my win in the last test. We both know that you’ll maybe not win this, but if you do get to the end, I’ll reward you by not slaughtering the people you save.”

“Why?” I question.

She assumes I mean why is she being “generous.” I meant why is she a psychotic bitch. “Earth was always my favourite element. I had parents once. I wasn’t created out of nothing. They were called Druids, and they worshipped elements, which in turn gave them certain powers. They were connected to the earth around them. I grew up in a place like this, where everything the earth created was a blessing, except for their love. They loved each other deeply, viciously, and it tore them apart. I was caught in the crossfire of that. You know what having parents like that is like, don’t you?”

“Stay out of my head,” I growl, my dragon roaring in my mind to let him out and let everything burn. I’m tempted. “If your parents could see you now, would they be proud of you for destroying an element they loved? Taking a world that you’re trying to destroy? Aphrodite, goddess of love. Maybe love destroyed you after all. Maybe their love did, or maybe you were just born evil.”

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