Page 74 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

Dante shakes himself free, wipes off my venom, and…tastes it. He makes a sour face.

“Your mate, as long as she was with him, will be unaffected. The sector is his, after all.”

The growl I release makes me feel a whole lot more like myself. The last lock detaches and the airlock hisses with ancient wind, making a plume of white as it swings open.

“You first,” I snarl at Dante.

He strolls inside with the air of a warrior going to the dining hall. But then Dante doesn’t have a mate to find, nor does he have any concept of danger.

I follow, my shift threatening but kept at bay. I have a creeping feeling Dante’s choice of narcotic patch might have something to do with it. I make a mental note to find out who is supplying him and get it stopped.

The nevver is feral enough without artificial help.

The tunnel into the sector is dark. Ahead of me, I can make out Dante’s form. He keeps a flame dancing in front of him as we make our way down and down until finally we reach the lake.

It’s the one thing I remember from before. From the time when Deus held his sanity. Without thinking, I dive straight in, the water cooler than an aquium but as silky smooth on my scales as it always was.

Dante is alongside me, his tail and wings flicking him as easily through as mine are. We both know what we’ll find on the other side.

I burst out, heaving myself into the air, liquid sluicing from me as I exit through the cave and into the heat and humidity of the forbidden sector.

The sector none of us know exactly what it contains, and given Deus stumbled out all those nova-years ago, pulsar in hand attempting to kill as many warriors as he could before he was subdued and placed in my custody, one we’ve never discovered anything else about.

It was sealed off, only Dante having access, granted to him as one of Deus’s final sane orders.

I land on a rocky outcrop, lift my head, and do my best to pull Kerra’s scent from the air.

Dante thumps beside me. His brows are drawn low.

“What is it?”

“They’re here.”

“Kerra…and Deus?”

“I don’t know.” Dante scents the air. “All I can smell are Veseli.”

KERRA

“She’s coming round.” A familiar voice thumps into my head as I open my eyes.

My vision clears, and I see Rosalie, Scarlett, and Maggie staring down at me.

“What the fuck happened?” I sit up. The planet spins wildly and I lie down again.

“Give it a few minutes,” Maggie says. “We were all knocked sick by that stuff for a while too.”

I grip at Rosalie’s arm. “I’m so pleased I found you.”

“This is starting to become a habit,” she says with a smile which is slightly forced. “I feed you once and you follow me home.”

I chuckle, but it turns into a rasping cough which shakes my body for too long a time. When I’m done, I can hardly breathe.

“That didn’t happen to us,” Lydia says, looking down on me with concern.

“I’ll be fine.” I roll onto my side. “I was coming to find you anyway, so the Veseli saved me a job.”

Rosalie helps me sit up.

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