Page 161 of Gemini Kings
Angsty and on edge, we circle in the clouds. My dragon body chuffs out an aggressive rumble that makes thunder grumble and lightning flicker in the storm clouds that swirl around the jagged peak of Mt. Apollo. That’s the highest point on Icarus Island, barely accessible to the earthbound by a rickety cable car and an even more rickety (and terrifying) ski lift.
But right there on the summit’s where we’re staging my succession announcement on live TV.
You know, for dramatic effect.
Tonight I’m sharing the airspace above Icarus Island with no fewer than circling three helicopters from the Witching News Network. Plus a literal swarm of WNN news drones.
I’m, uh, not used to this (to put it mildly).
I’m still learning to master the finer points of flight, despite those stolen hours sandwiched between our studies that my snake and my dragon and I have spent playing up here the past few days (when we haven’t been taking our midterms, which I’ve miraculously managed to pass). Those flight drills in the clouds usually end with the three of us—and lately the four of us, since Ronin’s figured out how horny the whole experience makes us—off fucking somewhere in a sweaty, cum-sticky pile.
Let’s just say I’ve been getting plenty of dick (and definitely not complaining about it) while Max and the Goblin King figure out how to take all that sexual tension between them to the next level.
Long story short? The two of themreallywant to fuck. But they both want to be on top.
I know, right? Alphas.
Me, I’m gonna be more than good with either option.
Right now, I’m up here all alone. Vasili and Maxim are gonna enter stage left after a bit. My snake’s still bipedal down there on the summit, hobnobbing with the news crew, choreographing the whole setup for tonight’s performance.
And Max has agreed (reluctantly) to an exclusive pre-performance interview with those pseudo-journalists from that scandal ragThe Witching Inquisitor.
My politically savvy Neo says we need to take control of the narrative, line up some positive press for once, and set the scene for the coming big reveal. Since Max is the Sagittarius prince and the last fully manifested male dragon (you know, that anyone knows about), it turns out Max is kinda, well, a celebrity. He’s like the witching world equivalent of Prince Albert of Monaco—only a lot younger, a lot less stodgy, and a whole lot sexier.
Anyway, that’s why I’m up here alone.
Just circling in the clouds, waiting to make my TV debut, and fighting a sudden attack of last-minute jitters. My six-chambered dragon heart is pumping adrenaline-laced ichor (that’s dragon blood, and it’s green) through my scaly body, the tail end of my mating heat’s still burning like a low-grade fever between my legs, and the sweep of my wings through the moisture-laden clouds sparks flickers of lightning that dance along my scales.
I’m so amped up tonight I could power this whole island with my lightning.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
You good up there, love?Ronin’s telepathic touch slides along my senses in a welcome caress.
We’ve been experimenting, him and me, and he can link up with me as long as I stay over the island—and thus inside the wards—and don’t rise too high above the clouds.
Little lonely up here without you and the other guys,I tell him.You all ready for me yet?
While I wait for the all-clear, I fold my wings and spin in a tight spiral that lets me see overhead—orwouldlet me, if the cloud cover tonight wasn’t so freaking thick. My mating flight showed me just how vulnerable I am to attacks from behind and above, so I’m clearing my six pretty regular these days.
Not that it does me any good tonight. Yeah, these clouds are helping me hide from the news cams till we’re ready for prime time. But, given this same heavy cloud curtain, anything else could be hiding up here with me.
Dragon me gives a whickering snort of alarm.
Steady, showgirl,I think.We’re still behind the wards. Dean opened the door to let the news crew in, then closed everything right back up again.
This is absolutely not the time to get paranoid.
Right, then. We’re all ready for you.Ronin sounds cool and combat-ready, but his contained excitement crackles through our bond.Max just wrapped up his interview and leaned pretty hard on the looming extinction of the dragon shifters, just like we planned. The news cams are rolling. Vasili says it’s time for your grand entrance.
Finally, the charged stillness of the heist settles over me. Once I’m in action, my nerves always evaporate with apoof!
I rumble out an eager puff into the damp air and angle my wings down.
I emerge from the clouds in a lazy spiral, mentally mapping a course to carry me safely through the circling choppers for maximum visual impact. That drone swarm better watch their mechanical asses, because one sweep of my wings can knock like six of them out of the sky.
In a wide slow sweep, I glide toward the circling aircraft. I find I’m resenting the noisy chatter of their blades after the clouds’ bespelled silence. Lights flash and pop across the mountain’s summit. Those are the still cams grabbing some shots, to supplement their film footage, of me in Lady Mothra mode as dragon me makes my TV debut.
