Page 68 of Queen Takes Triune
“There’s another dragon in this world who’s caused our queen some trouble. See if your beast can figure out where he is.”
The knight had a point. Once upon a time, there’d been thousands of dragons, both wild and Aima shifters. That might sound like a lot, but dragons had always been in the minority as far as shifters went. Only phoenixes, gryphons, and sphinxes were rarer.
Dragons had always been able to sense once another. It made it easier to avoid territory disputes and preserve our kind as long as possible. Millenia later, I’d thought it likely I was the only dragon left in the world. However, the bastard king was still out there somewhere.
He, too, had hurt my queen. Granted, not as badly as the Dauphine, but he’d still shaken her confidence and drained her power.
“My queen?” I paused, waiting a moment for her to turn to me. “I have an idea that requires my dragon.”
“Of course, go. I’ll call you if I need you.”
I loved that she didn’t question me. She didn’t doubt me. She wasn’t suspicious that I’d try to escape or betray her in any way.
“Take Vivian with you,” Rik ordered. “Always stay in pairs in case we come under attack again.”
Thank goddess he didn’t send the bear or the knight with me. I didn’t know much about the fiery phoenix yet, but she didn’t seem to be the kind who’d bitch and moan like Ezra.
She stepped in front of our queen and bowed low, arms crossed over her chest. She wore two short swords crossed on her back, both within easy reach. “My queen.”
As she straightened, Shara reached out and seized her thick braid. Her hair seemed alive with fire, crackling with color and energy even in a tight coil. Shara tugged her close and kissed her. “Don’t be afraid to singe his hide if he’s too hard to handle.”
Straightening, Vivian shot me a confident look that made me grin. A very toothy smile of a hungry dragon. “He won’t be too hard to handle.”
I headed outside, not waiting to see if she followed. As soon as we were far enough away from the house that my wings wouldn’t accidentally take off the roof, I stripped off the sweatpants I’d just pulled on and stuffed them up in the lower branches of the gnarled oak.
Without saying a word, Vivian propped her swords against the tree’s trunk and tugged her tank top over her head.
At the very same moment, Gwen’s group stepped out of the heart tree a couple of hundred yards away. She held Kevin’s hand in her right, and her alpha’s in her left, bringing them through the portal by our queen’s blood that hummed inside her.
Before they could see me, I shifted to Leviathan. I was too close to Vivian, so I almost knocked her down.
“Watch it, fuckface,” she retorted, shoving my tail away.
:Hurry up and fucking shift.:
“Why?”
:She doesn’t like other queens to see us naked.:
Vivian snorted as she worked skin-tight leather pants down her legs. She had long fucking legs. It took forever.
Gwen and the other men came closer. Fucking moron. I lifted a wing to cover Vivian’s pertinent parts.
“Welcome to House Isador.” Teeth gritted, Vivian tried to push my wing out of her face. “Our queen’s waiting for you.”
Watching our strange tug-of-war, Gwen’s lips quirked. “Thank you.”
“That’s a nice wing you’ve got there,” Lancelot drawled.
Kevin just stared at us with wide-eyed awe. Surely he’d seen plenty of Blood shifted before—but maybe not a dragon.
“My wings are made of sunfire, thank you very much,” Vivian snarled.
I could feel the rising heat of her phoenix, but the obstinate woman was determined to prove that she could handle me. Even if I was only trying to help her avoid angering our queen.
Two could play this game, and I was centuries older than her. I dropped my wing, letting her have the victory.
But before she could celebrate, I sat on her.
