Page 19 of Dragons' Mate
A union between a fae and a mortal, especially one bound for the Equinox Trials, would be anything but long.
“Interesting choice,” Geoffrey drawls. “Were all the sheep taken?”
A few choking laughs turn into all out roars of laughter until the whole ballroom is so full of catcalls that the priests have to sound the gongs just to get the ceremony back on track. Devastation fills me like thick molasses as I see the humiliation now etching Ettienne’s features and Quinton’s hard resolve as he steps in front of me, shielding me from the crowd.
What in stars’ name did you two do?Tavias’s voice whispers in my mind and, for the first time, I hear genuine fear in it. If just a show of concern was too great a weakness to let be known, how much more dangerous was a public mating bond?
CHAPTER9
Cyril
Cyril’s mind was a storms’ blasted mess. Pacing the length of the small preparation chamber to which they’d been escorted to at the end of the pledge ceremony, Cyril felt like his skin was too tight around him. The sensation that he was looking too long, too wrong, toosomethingat Kit—at Quinton’s mate—was burning him inside. Had been ever since the mated pair had walked into the pledge ball and turned everything on its head.
Cyril had been struggling to breathe since Kitterny left. Now that she was back though, breathing was harder still—if for an utterly different reason. All it took was for Kit to move an eyebrow, or make one of those little hand motions to shift a strand of hair or pull up the ripped gown she was still clutching closed, and Cyril was ready to throw her atop the nearest table and feast on her right then and there.
At which point, Cyril's scent on her would be enough to drive Quinton to murder—if Kitterny didn’t beat him to it and jab a dagger into Cyril’s eye. The fury rolling off her now was certainly a match to Tavias’s usual temper.
"Where is Quinton?" Kit demanded for the second time. She glared around, as if to reassure herself that her mate wasn’t hiding in the attached bathing chamber or under the food-laden table the servants had prepared for them as a sendoff feast. Zeroing in on Cyril, she braced her fists against her hips. “Why did Ettienne hold Quinton back?”
Cyril stiffened, not sure what to say. Ettienne held Quinton back to punish him. Publicly most likely. He could do little else given the public humiliation for the way the mating bond was revealed. The deception of Kit’s return was at least a private matter, but the way the news of the bond had come out? No king could let it slide. And Ettienne was in a precarious position as it was with Salazar nipping on his heels.
At least Ettienne thought that punishing Quinton alone would suffice. Dragons healed faster than humans, and if he’d gone after Kit as well… Cyril didn’t want to think of what would have happened then.
"Quinton will be back." Tavias fired back at her. Now that they were in private, Tavias was all but punching the walls, the lightning playing along his scales sending off sparks.
“What isn’t—”
"We are all needed for the trials, so he has to be, doesn’t he?” Tavias growled, cutting off Kit's protest. Shoving the table out of his way, he stalked toward her. “Meanwhile, how about you explain why you two decided to wage a campaign on sanity behind our backs?”
Hauck caught the table’s edge, steadying it before it tipped over.
Kit, meanwhile, turned to face Tavias. The deliberate slowness of her motions set off alarm bells in Cyril's head. The timid slave girl who they’d once hoarded from a human estate had been long gone, but this version of Kitterny, the one willing to go toe to toe with the fiercest of dragons, used to be harder to bring out. Now though, she shone in all her glory and Cyril could not be more proud. Even if he knew that nothing about the next few moments would be pleasant.
Hauck was already surreptitiously putting himself in front of the table, lest things came to blows and they lost the food they’d be wise to take with them. It was never a good sign whenHauckwas the one keeping things from getting worse.
"It's good to see you again too, Tavias,” Kit told the heir apparent to the Massa’eve throne. Her voice sliced like a knife through the room. With her dress torn, the tattoo of dragon’s wings made it a force of will to look anywhere but her bared skin. Cyril pressed his hand against the wall to fight the urge to trace his fingers along those lines of ink, to come close and drink in Kit’s scent. He had no notion how Tavias could withstand it either, but the pack leader seemed to be holding on to his fury for dear life. Kit’s chin rose. “How have you been?”
“How have I been? That’s what you have to say for yourself after watching two humans die just during the ceremony?” Of the thirty four packs that started the night, they were down to thirty two—Bianca having taken down one woman, and Orion's mark killing another. “What in blight’s hell are you doing back here?”
“You are the one who hoarded me,” Kit snapped right back at him. “Or have you forgotten that part?”
Tavias’s scales rose like hackles. “I hadn’t realized I was hoarding a fool!”
"We made a deal.” Kit bared her teeth, no longer bothering to keep hold of her dress. It slid down just enough to leave her neck and shoulders bare, which was nearly enough to make Cyril dizzy. His cock gave a pulsating squeeze that made him see stars from the pressure. “I pledged to help win the Equinox Trials, and so here I am. I apologize if you liked your other human better."
Stars, is that what she thought? That the packwantedFionna?
"We didn't like Fionna better,” said Cyril, though staying out of the fray would have been the wiser path. Still, if they were going to fight, Cyril at least wanted the facts known. “We liked the fact of you staying alive more.”
A strange look brushed over Kit’s face, but disappeared too quickly for Cyril to read. She twisted toward him, the full power of her fury now directed into his chest.
Tavias let out a long breath.
“What about what I like, Cyril?” Kit demanded.
“So far as I was aware, you also liked you being alive,” Cyril said. “Has that changed?”
Ignoring that, Kit stepped toward Cyril and jabbed her finger into his chest. “Did you or did you not tell me that most fae here would enslave the human realm if given the chance?”
