Page 27 of Trial By Fire

I notice the smell in the room has become stronger. I take another deep breath, and my Dragon purrs inside of me. I try to shake my head to clear it. Even the guards smell good next to me, and it takes every inch of willpower I have not to lean into the nice one on the right. The guards close in around as men begin to press forward to get a better look at me. Suddenly, I’m inundated with too many masculine scents at once. My knees go weak, and I almost fall, but the guard on my left grabs my arm to steady me. I moan.What the fuck is happening?I don’t even thank him as I snatch my arm away. I lock my arms by my sides and walk forward until we reach the platform. Right at the base of the steps stands Maurelle in all her golden glory.

“Here she is. Our guest of honor.” Maurelle stands before me with her arms stretched high in a gold floor-length body-hugging gown, looking like an Oscar.

A wave of need washes over me, and I sway on my feet. I shake my head again. Something is wrong. The crowd claps for me as Tova and Elvlyn take the place of the guards, and each one grabs one of my arms. I clench my teeth, refusing to make a sound as they usher me up the steps. The crowd begins to cheer and clap excitedly with each step I take. I guess she’s going to kill me after all. I look around and the crowd starts to close in on the platform. The only thing keeping them from getting to me are the guards who walked me in and a few other guards spaced around for good measure.

As we make it to the top, I can see the entire room. I take another deep breath even though I didn’t intend to, becoming hyperaware of every male in the room. Fae, Mages, Druids, and the black robes of...Dragons. My thoughts clear as I fix my eyes on each and every one of them. Especially the one standing at the base of the steps right in front of me. Dressed in an immaculate black tuxedo, his blond hair and green eyes makes my blood boil, and rage crawls up my throat, threatening to spill out of me. I growl at the sight of him. My Dragon wants his blood. I push down the scent of lust and arousal in the air and focus on why I am here.Mates. Arcadia. Escape.The three words become a chant in my head as Tova and Elvlyn walk me a few paces backwards, and we come to a stop.

“My sincere apologies, Cordelia,” Tova says to me as she slaps a metal cuff to my wrist. I look down and then back at her, she doesn’t look at me as she backs away. Elvlyn does the same, and I look at her, eyebrows raised in question. She takes one look at Maurelle, who is walking over, and she rushes away from me. I yank against the chains. The men around me are cheering, whispering to each other, and their eyes roam over my body. I’ve been put on display. I feel nausea more than that I feel rage. I know Tova and Elvlyn felt they had no choice, but I’m feeling slightly betrayed.

“Don’t you like your party?” I yank on the chains. I hate this bitch. My Dragon pushes forward, and Maurelle’s eyes widen. “Now, Cordelia, there’s no need for you to shift on us. You need to lock her down,” Maurelle’s coercion floods my consciousness, but I was ready for her, and I burn it away with my magic. I silently thank my father for his lessons, or I would be absolutely defenseless.

“I did a thing,” Maurelle says shyly, her eyes full of glee. She is beaming from head to toe. She just can’t wait to tell me the bad news I am sure she’s about to deliver. I guess this is where the villain fills me in on her evil plan.

“So, one of my faithful Mages synthesized your pheromones from the blood we took from you when you first arrived.” She jumps up and down on the balls of her feet, her tits barely contained within her tight gown. She tilts her head, observing me. I sway on my feet again. I shake my head to clear it. She smiles, taking pleasure from my misery. I just want out of this room. I can’t think. All I want to do is rub myself over every man in this room, and that thought alone makes me sick to my stomach. I yank on the chains again, more to steady myself than to break free as Maurelle continues. “I’ve been told you have at least three more days of your heat cycle left. So, I am going to auction you off to the highest bidder. They can do whatever they want with you, besides kill you, of course. I have to keep my new pet alive,” she croons.

“I’m going to fucking kill you. No one is going to touch me,” my voice is low and menacing. It drips with venom and hatred. She just moved Thaddeus down from number one on my kill list. She is my new number one.

“Oh, Cordelia, by the time I am done with you, you will be begging me for death. Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy it. We’ve been pumping out your scent to everyone in the room.” My eyes go wide with shock. That’s what I smelled when I first walked in the room. I’m high on my own scent, and so is every man around me.

I try not to panic. But this is all kinds of fucked up.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

DRAVYN

Ican feel her panic. She’s chained to the platform like a sacrificial lamb. They stare at her with hungry eyes, and they’re practically salivating from the scent of her arousal. Lust is so thick in the air you can taste it. I am beside myself. I want to carve out the eyes of every man in this room who set their eyes on her. Especially my father.

Mine. She is my mate. I pace within the shadows as Maurelle whips the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd closes in, fighting with the guards, they’re circling her like vultures. I am trying to follow the plan, but Cordelia is incoherent. Her pupils are dilated, her eyes wander aimlessly, and she is swaying on her feet. I can feel her trying to fight it through our bond. Her fight is sluggish at best. Her body is betraying her with every breath she takes.

“Our first winner of the night is the Lord of Arcadia himself. Thaddeus, come join us on the platform.” Maurelle’s voice breaks through my thoughts as she beckons my father forward. The crowd groans in disappointment. My father walks up the platform, and Cordelia visibly recoils away from him, but she has nowhere to go. I search frantically for Cordelia’s father amongst the crowd whilst trying to keep my eyes on my father as well. He approaches Cordelia. The vultures stop their whispering and get louder with every second. If it wasn’t so loud, I’m sure everyone could hear my growls bounce off the walls. My heart is pounding in my chest, a veil of rage falls over my eyes, and I pull out my knife. Cordelia is struggling, her face has a horrified expression as he whispers words I can’t hear into her ears. Her wrists strain against the chains, and I watch in slow motion as his hand reaches up and he strokes her breast through her dress.

“Fuck this!” I shout. I go to move and halt when someone grabs my arms.

“Wait.” Cordelia’s father steps up next to me from within the shadows. No wonder I couldn’t find him in the crowd.

“He doesn’t get to touch her!” I shout, pissed off that he stopped me. Watching the woman I love being groped by my father is something I should never see. “I know we had a plan, but that plan lays dead in the water. She’s basically drugged. She would have freed herself by now.” Dain has my arm in a vicelike grip, yet I try to shrug him off.

“Do you think I want to see my daughter like this? If those men break through those guards, they will violate her in a worse way. I will not witness my daughter’s rape. I stopped you because I am going to cause a distraction, and no matter what happens—your duty is to make sure you get her out of here.” I nod.

“Dravyn, get her to the waterfalls. Cordelia knows this, but she will need direction. That is where the portal is hidden. I will catch up if I can.” He takes a quick glance at the platform, and his lips pull back in a sneer as he watches my father drop to his knees in front of her.

“Go!” he yells over the noise. He doesn’t have to tell me twice because I am already gone.

“I wonder what this pretty pussy of yours will taste like,” I hear my father say as I suddenly appear behind Cordelia. I grab her around the waist and pull her away from him, my knife pointed at his throat as his eyes go wide in shocked surprise. It would be so easy for me to slit his throat. I would only need to—

“Maurelle! Enough!” Dain’s voice reverberates around the room as he takes to the air lightning quick as he bears down on his sister. Fireballs strike the platform and causes everyone in the room to become confused and shout out in alarm. My father rolls away from my knife and manages to duck away from the fireballs that are so hot they instantly incinerate anything it touches. Fae, Mages, Druids, and Dragons rush toward the exit. Screams arise all around us as they trample each other. Some attempt to fight back using their own magic to battle Dain. They don’t stand a chance as ash takes the place of where their bodies were as they fail miserably to stop him. Maurelle screams at her guards, not noticing that I am with Cordelia, and I would like to keep it that way. Even the guards are too distracted by everything going on around us. It is now or never.

“Cordelia, baby, I need you to focus. I need you to call forth your fire.” Her head finds my shoulder, and tears swim in her eyes. My heartbreaks for her, but now is not the time for consolation. “Baby, you need to melt these chains,” I plead with her. She just smiles up at me.

“Dravyn,” she barely whispers my name. “I can’t focus. I’m trying. It’s too much. Too many...” She moans as I pull her tighter to me. A loud boom sounds near the platform, and my father barely avoids an explosive fireball.

“This isn’t over, boy! You and that bitch will pay!” My father bites out as he scrambles down the stairs. His council members form a circle around him as they run out of the room. Dain locks eyes with me, his large bat like wings spread wide as he flies over us.

“Shield your eyes!” he yells. Two bright white fireballs hit the chains where they connect with the platform, and he breaks them. Cordelia’s arms spring free with long chains dangling from her wrists as I back her away from an advancing Maurelle. Dain flies down and blocks us from her view. The weak and feeble man from before is gone. Dain drips with power, this is his court, his domain.

“Go!” he tells me while he dares his sister to approach by motioning with one hand in a regal come forward motion.

“Oh, Dravyn, you are such a disappointment, pet. You belong to me. Not her!” she yells the last part but doesn’t move an inch. Her body begins to pulse, light breaking through as cracks form along her arms. “There is nowhere you can go that I can’t find you. You won’t make it out of Incantatia.” Her anger causes more light to spill from her body.

---