Page 89 of Prince of Storms
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said.
Rica hissed angrily. “You will give the throne to me. I will finally sit on the throne, mine by right as the eldest!”
“No.” I matched her fury with my own. “That’s not how it works. The heir is the firstbornson.”
Rica waved her hand dismissively. “An archaic law.”
“I agree,” I said, drawing a shocked look from Rica, and surprised mutters from others behind me. “And I intend to change that law if the God-King will allow it. However,Iwas the one appointed as heir to the Storm Throne. Not you. Besides, Rica, you can’t sit on the throne.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Mostly because you’re a psycho bitch,” I said with false humor. “You’ve killed so many of the clan already. If you’re made Storm Princess, you’d probably kill everyone else, too. I can’t let you wipe out our clan.”
“We shall see about that,” Rica said, chuckling nastily. “You killed one of my pets, but what will you do against four, Torrent? Not even you can stand against themandme. Nobody here will stop me. They’ll kill all of you. There are none strong enough to resist.”
“Maybe they will kill me,” I admitted, causing a squeak of worry from Mia. “But you’re wrong that nobody will stop you. And that there are none strong enough to resist you.”
Rica frowned. “What are you talking about?”
The dragons around me shuffled, parting in three places as a trio of dragon shifters stepped to the fore.
“We’re at a ball, Rica,” I said. “What soon-to-be clan prince would be rude enough to exclude others? This is Ember, the Prince of Fire, Rip, heir to the Tides, and, of course, Vil, heir apparent of the Iron Clan.”
The shock on Rica’s face as the other three nobles showed themselves would forever be etched into my memory.
As was the shriek of fury that followed, sending the Vorgans lunging at us.
Chapter Forty-One
Tor
“Get back!” I barked at Mia, energy blazing from my fists to intercept the nearest Vorgan.
However, I needn’t have said anything since my mate was already backpedaling away. I neatly blocked a snapping shadow-head, but before I could rise, its partner darted in and raked a claw across my chest, spinning me around and across the parquet dance floor of the ballroom.
“Keep her safe,” I snarled as Ty and Surge appeared at Mia’s side. “No matter what, she lives!”
They nodded, taking Mia by the shoulders and disappearing into the mass of dragon shifters, many of whom had summoned their powers. Flames and steel mixed with lightning and miniature tornadoes of raging water, their currents barely restrained.
None attacked. They only formed a defensive line behind the other three princes and me. The Vorgans would mow through them if they attacked. The dragons would probably emerge victorious due to sheer numbers, but too many would die. It was up to those of us with the noblest of blood to stop the enemies.
A Vorgan shrieked nearby as I got to my feet, and Vil advanced. His skin had become pure silver while he clutched a sword in both hands, the steel of its blade matching that of his skin. He made no sound as he fought back his opponent, his blade more than a match for its striking paws.
Ember, meanwhile, stood opposite another Vorgan, beckoning it on. Fire lined his hands and bare forearms, but as the shadow beast came at him, he snarled a challenge, fire bursting forth from his very core, turning him into a living torch.
Of Rip, I saw nothing.
A Vorgan shrieked a challenge at me as I reentered the fight, closely watching while circling its master. Rica, meanwhile, was grinning maniacally as her pets attacked my fellow nobles.
“Enough of this,” I barked at her. “End it now, Rica. Before you’re hurt.”
“It’s not me that you should fear being hurt, little brother!” she shouted.
Lightning surged down her arms and out both palms as she flung them up. I braced myself for the impact, but the twin bolts flashed past me. I didn’t dare take my eyes off her, but a shriek of pain behind me made it clear she’d targeted one of the other dragons, wounding them.
“That was a bad choice, sister,” I growled, stepping toward her.
The Vorgan moved like the wind, interposing itself between us. It shrieked a challenge at me, its shadow-teeth biting at empty air, a promise of what it intended to do to me when it got me.
