Page 31 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“Everything you are and everything you have you owe to me,” Nazeing said, his voice growing harsh as he crossed to where Freslik and Rottum stood with the exhausted soldiers behind them. “If not for my timely intervention, Osric would have defeated you weeks ago.”
“Ridiculous,” Freslik snorted, though he seemed drawn and anxious instead of confident. “You helped me to overcome the spell that wicked traitor of a so-called councilor had me under, I’ll give you that, but I have an army behind me. I would have been able to fight that upstart Osric off without you.”
Nazeing laughed as though Freslik were a child who had told a joke. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know,” Freslik said in a dark voice.
Nazeing shrugged the comment off, turning his back on the king so that he could grasp the front of my tunic and gaze adoringly up at me. “What do you say to me banishing that washed up old man over there so that you and I can rule this kingdom together?” he asked, passion in his voice.
“I beg your pardon?” Freslik snapped, furious. “Guards! Seize that filthy omega at once and throw him in the dungeon.”
A few of the soldiers swayed in their places for amoment, looking at one another as if trying to decide who should obey the questionable order first. That hesitation only lasted a split second before two of the soldiers stepped forward.
Nazeing didn’t even look at them. He merely raised a hand and the two men dropped to the floor, either stunned or dead.
“Mortals are such a bore,” he said, sliding his hands up my chest so he could clasp his hands behind my neck and lean into me. “If you’d like, we could do away with all of them once we rule this world.”
“Whatever you want, my love,” I said.
The words felt as if they came from someone else. But they were so easy to speak. It was easy to ignore everything else but Nazeing, to smile at him and to laugh along with him as he neutralized another half dozen soldiers who stepped forward on Freslik’s command. I just wanted to gaze at my omega forever.
“This is outrageous!” Freslik shouted. “I did not hire you as my advisor to be treated in such a manner. Somebody kill him!”
“Be quiet,” Nazeing said, glancing over his shoulder to Freslik then nodding at him.
Freslik’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“I think it’s time you took a nice, long nap,” Nazeing said.
Immediately, Freslik walked to one of the sofas at the side of the room, lay down, and closed his eyes. Rottum and the rest of the soldiers sat and then lay down where they were and fell asleep as well.
“So many interruptions,” Nazeing said, shaking his head as he returned his attention to me. “Interruptions bore me. You, on the other hand, do not.”
“No, my love,” I said with a sappy smile.
Inwardly, I heard a distant voice in my soul shouting, “No, no, no! This is wrong! Rumi!”
Rumi? The name felt vaguely familiar, vaguely important.
“Mmm, that’s more like it,” Nazeing said breathlessly between kisses. “If we keep this up, I will finally go into heat again for the first time in a hundred years and the two of us will mate and bond. I’ll have an egg and you at last. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” I repeated and pulled Nazeing close for a kiss.
It was what I wanted, but I had it. I already had everything I needed and more, but not here. Why was that voice screaming so loudly inside me, and who was Rumi?
Rumi
I wasmiserable without the bond connecting me to Emmerich. I missed him so deeply that I had to stop and lean against the castle walls a few times as my brothers and I followed the soldiers who had Osric. The feeling of being hollow and lost was so overpowering that I almost wept a few times, and I was not usually a weeper.
“Are you certain you can do this?” Leo asked, standing close behind me, one hand on my shoulder for support.
Strange as it was, my brothers’ support as we hurried on our mission meant everything to me. It kept me going and gave me strength. Real, tangible strength.
I straightened and looked back at my brothers.Everything was always better when the six of us were together. “I’m alright. I’ll be better once we rescue Osric and get our mates back.”
Leo nodded gravely. “Nazeing will pay for this,” he growled.
I sucked in a breath and nodded. Nazeing would pay. He would pay for deceiving us all into thinking he was a harmless ally. He would definitely pay for trying to break me and Emmerich apart. Nothing and no one would stand between me and my fated mate if I could help it.
