Page 64 of Trial of the Cursed Egg

“Besides the one thing she’s searching for, you cannot let her under any circumstances dominate you.” His voice is a low growl, a warning. “Once a dragoness loses respect for her mate, the next cycle will be worse.”

I nod, though he can’t see it, trying to absorb everything. “Mina isn’t like other females,” I say, my gaze shifting to Callan, who looks like he’s just been told the world is ending. “She was born and bred to be a weapon.”

“I’m no match for her dragon,” Callan whispers, the blood draining from his face as he stares back at me, wide-eyed.

Dad’s silence stretches before he speaks, the weight of his words chilling. “Then it may be safer for you to sit this one out. If she senses weakness, she’ll dominate and breed with you until you can’t stand.”

The thought sends a shiver through me, but I know he’s right. Mina’s dragoness—powerful, relentless—won’t yield until her needs are met. Her will alone ignited the two most dangerous cursed egg’s attention. My eyes flick to the map spread out before me, showing her father’s lands. Jagged mountains, the same ones she’s seen in her visions, rise high above her mother’s nesting valley.

“What do you suggest, Father?” I murmur, my focus sharpening as I trace the peaks Mina foresaw for her nest. It’s a battle plan, a terrain I need to master, but I know that dealing with Mina will require more than just strategy—it’ll demand strength I’m not sure I have.

“You have two choices. Set her to task digging her own nest or sedate her for the three days.” My father’s voice hums in my ear, punctuated by a light tapping on his desk, followed by the clatter of something metallic. “Given her size, I suggest she sleep through it. At least until she’s ready to have an egg of her own.” He lets out a cold, mirthless laugh. “Abaddon crafted a war-machine, but little does he know, she’ll one day be the end of him.”

A grin edges onto my face. “If that cursed egg hatches, he might even deliver her father’s head as a mating gift,” I muse aloud. Across from me, Callan goes pale, but he doesn’t protest. Just then, Vaughn strides into my office, his eyes sharp as they land on me.

“There are only two weeks left of classes. I’ll call Lysander to have Mina test out this week. Take her to her mother’s nest, make it herown. I’ll bring the tonic to set her up in the egg chamber to sleep through it.” My father ends the call without waiting for a reply.

“What did I miss?” Vaughn’s voice is calm as he settles on the arm of the couch.

“Mina’s yearly is coming. For a dragoness, it’s the time when they’re most dangerous, driven by the urge to breed.” I stretch, cracking my knuckles as the thought sinks in. “No offense, but Callan’s soft-skinned, and even with his shift’s durability, he’s too small compared to Mina’s.” Vaughn just nods, folding his thick arms over his chest. He’s focused on what Mina will need, not on what she might try to do to us. It’s one of the reasons I trust him with her, why I even brought him into our circle in the first place.

“I’m pulling both of you from school early,” I continue, my fingers flying over the keyboard as I draft an email to Lysander. “We’ll head to what was her mother’s nest and get her set up there.” Mina’s grades are strong enough; she doesn’t need finals to pass, and the academy doesn’t exactly want to argue with a dragon’s need to … nest.

Vaughn’s voice breaks my focus. “Some female named Arista invited me to her nest.” His words are casual, but something cold coils in my chest. My scales prickle along the back of my neck.

“She’s been after our mate since day one,” I growl, hitting send with a little more force than necessary. “Unfortunately, her father’s connections keep her safe from a torching.” I inhale, calming the fire simmering in my core. “We’ll handle her when we’re back next semester.”

We divided the nest up as close to even as possible. Mina has Callan. Vaughn and the egg in her dragon’s hand. I have my best friends, Ziggy, Leander, and Balor, on my back. Mina leads us back toward her father’s territory, her fury simmering like coals under her scales. The rage in her chest is palpable, sparking like embers in a fire pit, and I feel it like my own. I’ve already sworn to burn every single dress in that cursed closet she despises, and tonight, she’s planning a bonfire in the courtyard to purge all traces of her father’s things. Her vengeance is a storm, wild and unrestrained, and I’ll stand with her through every flame and shadow.

As we near, Mina circles the gauntlet her father once forced her to run — a gauntlet of grueling trials that haunts her still. Each pass, her frill flattens, then flexes, a fierce display of her resolve and her hate. She lands in a nearby field, releasing Callan and Vaughn, who waste no time running toward the tree line. They’re eager to be away from this place, to distance themselves from the memories it holds.

But Mina … Mina is not done.

She launches back into the air, and I can feel the surge of power ripple from her, charging the atmosphere. The sharp, electric smell of ozone thickens, lacing the air as she hovers above, her gaze fierce and unrelenting. She’s ready to burn it all down, and nothing in her father’s territory will be spared tonight.

Time slows as I hover, watching the lightning build and coil along her scales, crackling like an untamed storm barely contained. Mina rises, her wings slicing through the clouds, and the entire sky lights up with her ascent. Just as she dives towards the gauntlet below, her maw stretches wide, and the roar she unleashes reverberates through me, shaking the air and tearing through every fiber of my being. The crackling stream of lightning erupts from her maw, a pulsing, furious torrent that obliterates everything in its path.

I falter, wings trembling in mid-air as I witness the magnitude of her fury, a force so fierce it turns rock to molten magma and sand to shimmering glass. The gauntlet—once an imposing fortress—now lies in ruins, reduced to flaming rubble beneath her rage. She circles overhead, a dark angel of destruction, and one by one, she obliterates three more nearby structures, leaving them in smoldering heaps.

The pain, raw and seething through our bond, twists inside me, feeding my drake’s fury. The burning desire to join her in this fiery wrath courses through me, igniting a savage need to raze the world to ashes by her side.

I feel the cool, damp earth beneath my claws as I land in the field, my gaze fixed on Mina. She’s standing there, clutching her taloned hand to her dragon’s chest, watching the smoldering remains of the gauntlet. Balor, Ziggy, and Leander are cursing, voices tinged with shock and awe. This level of violence from Mina … part of me knows she needed this release. But the other part—well, it aches, wondering what buried memories or hidden scars could push her to this point.

I stay still, allowing my friends to slide off my back before I shift back to human form. Quietly, I make my way toward her, feeling the tension coil between us. The others emerge from the tree line, drawn like moths to the fiery aftermath. Twenty minutes pass, the air thick with smoke and silence, before Mina finally shifts back, cradling the cursed egg to her chest with such tenderness it tugs at something deep inside me.

Balor is the first to approach, breaking the tension with his steady presence. Mina forces a smile, a spark of her usual mischief flickering through. “We need marshmallows,” she says, her voice lighter, but her eyes still shadowed.

Balor chuckles, shaking his head. “Yeah, we do. Marshmallows make everything better.” His laugh is genuine, a little warmth in the cold aftermath.

I step closer, catching her gaze, searching for a glimpse of the pain she’s hiding. I don’t need marshmallows; I need to know what haunts her enough to summon such fire.

“Mina?” My voice is soft, coaxing her attention back to me. She turns slowly, eyes still narrowed into those familiar dragonic slits, the glow of her inner fire barely contained. I can see she’s teetering on the edge of control, and I need to bring her back before she loses herself to it.

“Let’s get you back to your mother’s home,” I say carefully, knowing what the suggestion will stir in her. As expected, her lip curls back, and a low rumble escapes her, her hand stroking over the egg carrier protectively.

“I hate that place,” she growls, the sound vibrating in her chest.

“It’s only temporary,” I remind her, stepping forward with caution. “You’ve seen yourself building your nest over the next three years.” Slowly, I extend my hand, not daring to rush her. She hesitates, a brief flicker of defiance in her gaze, but then she takes the step herself, pressing her nose against my jaw, a rare gesture of submission from her.

---