Page 27 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“That’s Nazeing.”
I wasn’t half as shocked as some of my brothers and their mates, who had either gone through the doorway before us or rushed into the Great Hall when they sensed something was wrong. I wasn’t even surprised. Mostly I was furious with myself and momentarily crippled by shame. I’d known something wasn’t right with Nikkos, but with everything else going on, I’d been all too willing to dismiss my suspicions.
“That’sNazeing?” Diamant asked as our group rushedto form a circle around Nikkos—or rather, Nazeing—stopping him from going anywhere. Not that he looked like he had any intention of fleeing after being discovered.
“Impossible,” Gildur said. “I know this omega, although I don’t remember how or from where.” He narrowed his eyes as he studied Nazeing, looking so much like Selle for a moment that under other circumstances, I would have laughed.
“Yes, they know me,” Nazeing said, facing Emmerich with a sly grin. “And would you care to remind them how they know me, love?”
All eyes snapped to Emmerich for an explanation. I wanted to know, too. Then again, between what I’d wondered about earlier and the emotions of embarrassment and dread coming through the bond, I had more of less figured it out.
Emmerich cleared his throat and glanced at his brothers. “Nazeing and I were together once, a very long time ago.”
His last words were spoken directly to Nazeing in a tone that made it clear Emmerich didn’t have the slightest interest in the omega now. More than that, I sensed deep wariness that bordered on hatred for Nazeing.
“How?” Gildur asked on, even more baffled than before. “Yes, all of us have lived long enough to have had lovers in the past, and forgive me for being callous, but even in the magical world, omegas who are not bonded to a dragon live out an ordinary lifespan. I remember you with this distasteful omega hundreds of years ago.”
I sucked in a breath and glanced at my mate with wide eyes. The dread I felt was partially through him, but it also came from the unsettling idea that my dragon had been, or perhaps still was, bonded with another omega.
“We were never bonded,” Emmerich said flatly, squeezing my hand, which he still held, but staring straight at Nazeing. “He asked, but I refused. I’d already begun having my doubts that he was not my fated mate at that point. Frankly, his behavior back then had already helped me decide to end things.”
“My behavior?” Nazeing asked, clearly offended. “Mybehavior? All I ever did was adore you. I worshiped the ground you walked on. I did things, depraved things, that I never would have dreamed of doing with anyone else.”
Emmerich’s face went pink with embarrassment. I had the feeling that Nazeing was exaggerating whatever the two of them had done in the past, likely as some sort of an attack on me. I wasn’t about to fall for it or step back from the alpha I loved and knew I was destined for just because he’d had a dalliance hundreds of years before I was born.
“You had already begun to dabble in dark magic,” Emmerich said, still not taking his eyes from Nazeing’s. “It’s what you used to give yourself such a long life.”
“Anti-aging spells are child’s play,” Nazeing said with a shrug of one shoulder, looking at his nails. “I am functionally immortal at this point.”
“You knew it was wrong,” Emmerich said, raising his voice. I warned you against it, but you didn’t listen to me.”
“And why would I listen to you when the nonsense you spouted was only driving us apart?” Nazeing said, stepping closer to Emmerich and lowering his voice to a seductive purr, as if I wasn’t even there. “We were perfect together. You were and still are the most powerful dragon in the magical world. I was and still am the cleverest omega that ever walked the face of any world. We are perfect together. We could rule over everything.”
“Is that why you’re here?” Selle said from the other sideof Nazeing. “Are you helping our father simply so you can take over this world and then take over the magical world?”
“Do villains not have original ideas anymore?” Tovey asked, rolling his eyes. “Saoirse tried the same thing.”
“Lady Saoirse is a weakling and a fool,” Nazeing snapped, yanking his attention away from Emmerich and glaring at my brother. “Her goals were base and simple. I want much more than temporal rule.” He snapped back to gaze adoringly and possessively at Emmerich again. “Yes, I will confess that ruling worlds has a certain appeal to it. Who wouldn’t want to sit on high in power, bending people to their will? But my true prize is something far greater and more valuable.”
“I don’t want you, Nazeing,” Emmerich said, shaking his head. “If you’ve gone to all this effort to win me back, you’ve failed. I’ve found my fated mate, and as soon as Freslik is defeated, the two of us will return to the magical world and live out the rest of our lives, raising a family together in peace.”
I wasn’t certain what I expected from my dragon’s declaration, but it was not to have Nazeing laugh as if Emmerich had told a particularly ribald joke. “And you think that’s what’s going to happen here?” he asked, glancing around the Great Hall. His absurd smile turned into a sneer when his gaze fell on me. “You think you’re going to live happily ever after with this pathetic, mortal omega?”
“Rumi is my mate,” Emmerich said firmly.
“Iam your mate,” Nazeing said, his face twisting into a vicious snarl.
“You will never?—”
Before Emmerich could finish speaking, Nazeing raised his hand like he was throwing something at Emmerich.
A second later, my mate sucked in a breath and dropped my hand to clutch his over his heart.
At the same time, the bond between us disappeared.
“Emmerich!” I cried out in panic. The only thing worse than feeling my mate’s fear or pain was not feeling him at all. “What have you done to him?” I shouted as I lunged toward Emmerich, grasping his arm and clinging to him.
Nazeing’s only answer was a vicious laugh.
