Page 79 of Bite Me

First, he had to find his way back to her. That meant finding Azynsa. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure who her mate was. But he would keep that to himself until it mattered.

Azynsa smelled like the sea and old paperback books. Strange, but she was half human, so maybe she spent her time on land in a library.

He followed his nose through the winding tunnels, catching whiffs of other scents he was familiar with. Jakob, Ciara, the black rogue dragon, Portia…and Jada.

Fuck, what was she doing down here?

What were any of them doing here?

He didn’t want to think that Jada was working with Kur-Jara. Had she somehow used her allure to lure them to their dooms? She had already betrayed them all, things may have escalated when the dragons figured that out.

She’d gone back to her coven. He knew she was closest with Portia, and her father, Leon was a powerful old incubus. This would mean war between demons and dragons.

It hurt down to his soul to think that his mate could have been working against them all this time.

Ky needed someone to blame besides Jada, or himself.

The black rogue dragon. He must've brought them here. A little bit friend, mostly foe.

All of the scents intermingled at a junction of three tunnels. One was freshly hewn, and Ky recognize the work of the Green Dragon element of earth. They had dug their own tunnel down. Smart.

Had Jakob or Steele been coerced by the succubae’s allure, or did they think they were here on a rescue mission of their own? It must be the latter, because Jada hadn’t been able to make any of the mated couples do her bidding.

Now he had an escape route. If Jada were really down here, screw the rest of them, he was getting her out of here. He would take her away where she couldn’t hurt anyone else.

The group wasn’t in the tunnel behind him, so he took the other one into the dark heat of the caldera as fast as he could. Their scents grew stronger, so he knew he was on the right path.

What would he find when he finally caught up to them? Would Jada pretend to be happy to see him? He understood what her allure was made of now, he could avoid it.

There were several smaller offshoots to this particular tunnel and it appeared this was where the Black Dragon’s army of demon dragons lived. Smelled like it too.

None of them were here. The supply of the little beasts seemed unending, but they had all battled and fought a great number recently. Maybe they had finally dwindled it down.

Ky investigated several smaller rooms where their scents were the strongest but didn't find any evidence of them until he heard a woman scream.

Jada.

Ky burst into the final room and found his band of not so merry men and women surrounded by an onslaught of demon dragons. Jakob was holding his own against them, supported by Ciara's use of the elements. She was throwing fireballs like a champ.

A black dragon stood in battle beside them. He wasn't as big as Kur-Jara in dragon form, but he was just as black. There was no mistaking: this was the rogue, the one the First Dragon had warned him about.

The three had formed a triangle with Azynsa, Portia, and Jada in the middle. Azynsa had her fists raised like a prizefighter, but Portia cowered. She was the one who screamed. She did it again as a demon dragon tried to leap over the warriors to get to the gooey center.

Through all the chaos, Ky's eyes went directly to Jada. She looked up and met his gaze, grabbing the bone carving at her throat.

Ky was sure he saw relief on her face. There was no deception there, no lies wafting from her. He wanted to believe that.

Then she smiled at him and the earth moved. Not literally, but in his heart. She was his mate. Always would be. Through good times and in bad.

He’d wait on those good times to come.

Time could have stood still for the two of them, but it wasn't that kind. Instead the world accelerated. Jada raised what looked like a tiny pink handgun over her head and shot at the nearest demon dragon. It fell and disintegrated.

That was no lady's Beretta. It was a goddamn squirt gun filled with blessed rhubarb filling.

Badass.

The demon dragons had their backs to Ky, solely focused on the warriors in front of them. Big mistake. Huge.

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