Page 50 of Bound to the Orc King

“So maybe the Moon Goddess really did bring all of you here to protect you,” Naomi says. “She took a lot of the orcs from Avalon before the Dark God got to them and did the same with the dragons from Dularia. Maybe she thought the unicorns, cu sith, and cat sith were also in danger.”

“So Alarria’s some kind of Noah’s Ark?” May asks. “Hide a sample of all the different Wild Fae someplace safe?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the sluagh?” I ask. “Ogres and kelpies are Wild Fae, but the soul stealers certainly aren’t.”

“I believe the Dark God sent them,” Sheevora says. “They’ve hinted as much.”

“Even if she tried to save all of you, that still doesn’t make the goddess a good guy,” May says. When everyone turns to stare at her, my little queen doesn’t back down. Pride fills me as she lifts her chin. “Or not all good. She tricked me into thinking she was my dead mother to get me to come to Alarria, and that’s seriously messed up.”

“Why would she go to such lengths to get you here?” Rune asks. The wolves are some of the most dedicated to the Moon Goddess, their famous loyalty coming into play.

“My witch power is telepathy,” May says. “I can talk to the goddess.”

“You canwhat?” Sheevora bellows, leaping into the air and shifting into her dragon form, so large she blots out the sun, throwing the clearing into an early twilight.

Pandemonium breaks out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

May

It’s like standing in the middle of an eclipse, the full light of day gone dark and gray.

But nope.

My head tips backward. It’s not the moon blocking the sun. It’s a dragon!

Fuck me sideways.

She’smassive.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my cousins dared me to go with him to where an airport runway ended only a few feet away from the edge of a park. I guess he thought the “soft American” would never do something so dangerous. Ha! Just shows how little he knows me. I went along, and we lay on a tarp in the cool night air, the top of our heads brushing against the chain link fence. Finally, a 747 came in for a landing, looking like it was going to set down right on top of us. The noise, the wind, the feeling ofseveral tons of metal moving over me only a few feet away—it was scary and thrilling and one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever seen.

This is more so. Because the dragon doesn’t whoosh away, gone in a matter of seconds, like the airplane did. She hangs directly overhead, green wings as big as sails slapping wind over us with each downbeat.

Her arms end in clawed hands as big as me, her mouth full of foot-long fangs. A tendril of smoke rises from her mouth, and I know without being told that this dragon can breathe fire. Yeah, she sure as shit isn’t one of the calm water dragons from my father’s stories.

“You can speak to the goddess?” Sheevora’s voice booms across the glen, rattling my bones like thunder given form. “No one can speak to the goddess!”

“No one until me,” I yell up at her.

“Impossible.”The word flashes through my mind, but the feeling that comes with it isn’t disdain—it’s wonder and awe, the thrill of discovery.

“Do not doubt my bride.” Aldronn bristles beside me, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword.

“It’s okay.” I lay my hand over his and give a little squeeze. “She’s not mad. She’s excited.”

“Indeed I am,” the dragon says. “The mystery of the Moon Goddess has plagued all of dragonkind for centuries.”

“Dragons are the scholars and historians of Faerie,” Aldronn murmurs to me. “They pride themselves on knowing everything.”

Sheevora shifts again, flying above us in her smaller, more humanoid form, which is now completely nude, her clothing shredded by her first shift.

“How come she gets to be naked?” Shadow asks.

“Calm down, cat.” Sheevora lands on the ground and reaches into the air in front of her stomach. Her hand freakingdisappearsfor a second, then reappears holding more of the unbleached linen. “It won’t be for long.”

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