Page 46 of Heavy is the Crown
“I’ll ready the ceremony,” she says sweetly. He nods at her, snapping his fingers, and she vanishes again.
He returns his attention to me, moving his body into mine until he’s so close I can see the small bead of sweat at his temple. “While I don’t love what you’ve done with your hair, that can be fixed. After all, my wife needs to look good.” He reaches out and trails a hand over my face and down to my throat. I try to pull away, but his magic holds strong.
“You’re fucking insane,” I growl.
A sneer pulls at his mouth, and he brings his hand up to circle my throat tightly. “You are my property. Your father sold you to me, whore. I can do whatever the fuck I want to you.” He leans in closer, until his mouth is hovering just next to the shell of my ear. “And I will, Ava. I will fuck you and ruin you and use up all your magic.” He lets out a cruel laugh. “You should have seen the look on your father’s face when I slid the knife into him and told him just who I was. That The Order was mine, and he sold you to us. It couldn’t have worked out better, honestly.”
He squeezes hard, and my head swims, my breath coming in short bursts now. My magic pushes desperately to the surface, what’s left of the depleted well.I won’t die here. And I won’t be dragged back to Hell.But as my fingers tingle, a dark shape comes into view, and a smile spreads across my mouth as I take in who it is. “My mates will have something to say about that,” I cough out.
He turns as Shadow's dragon slams into the ground roughly a hundred yards from us, the cement under the dragon’s massive form cracking. His roar is deafening, causing rocks to tremble along the coastal highway. Molten lava drips from his mouth like burning saliva. I could cry from the relief I feel to see him, and it’s not just him—atop his massive back sit Ciaran and Astrea.
(“Land Of Darkness” – Rated R and CELO)
And from deep in the shadows, Drago steps out, his hands black with the veins of his power running up his forearms, a flash of skeleton wings behind him. His eyes are brilliant gold.
“You’re fucked,” I say in a strangled whisper despite his hand tightening around my throat.
Drago
Stepping from the darkness, I reign in all emotion, zeroing in on the offending hand around my mate’s throat. Shadow lets out another roar. His fury pulses down my end of the bond.
“Release her, demon,” Shadow’s dragon growls, lava spewing from his mouth as he does. The man doesn’t bother to look worried, and it’s a testament to what he’s seen over his life if Shadow doesn’t scare him. But he does take a second glance as Ciaran and Astrea drop off of my mate’s back.
“You can’t win this,” I yell. “You are outnumbered.”
A sly, evil grin spreads over his face as he takes in the two of them. Ciaran with his massive sword and golden magic, and Astrea with her black smoke and crackling lightning. “Oh, this is getting good.” He laughs. “Do you have any idea who he is?” He nods toward Ciaran.
I frown before I remind myself not to give an inch of information, but the man sees and grins widely. “This couldn’t have been planned better. Do you want to tell them or should I?Brother.”
The world freezes as I take in what he just said. Ciaran and Astrea, however, do not look shocked. If anything, Astrea looksbored, and Ciaran just glares at the man. “Half brother, Oisin,” he responds, “and we have nothing to tell them. I want you out of my city.”
Oisin sneers, “Your city? You came here to claim it for me!”
“And things change. This is our city now.Leave.”He throws magic into the last word, reaching out and pushing against a barrier that I didn’t notice Oisin had erected.
Shadow growls as he glances at our friends, moving away from the two of them closer to me. His eyes are wary on them as he moves, but they quickly shift back to Ava. I debate asking Ciaran what he is talking about, but my gut is telling me to get Ava first.
“Give us, Ava. We won’t ask again,” I growl out.
Oisin lets out a laugh, hugging Ava more tightly to him. “I would be worried about who you have as a friend there; if he is willing to betray me, what makes you think he won’t betray you?”
Astrea huffs out an annoyed groan and steps forward. “You currently have my friend, so either you give her back or I’ll fucking rip you to shreds, over and over, until I’m bored and then feed you to one of these dragons. I’m not fucking around with whatever this bullshit is that you’re trying to sow between us all.” She glances over at me. “We’ll explain everything after this.”
I’m not sure when it happened, but Astrea has begun to remind me of Kallen. Thinking back to my conversation with Ciaran, I wonder how much of that darkness has taken over her since we spoke. My dragon itches under my skin, furious at the situation playing out in front of us.
One thing at a time. We get Ava, then demand answers,I tell him.
Oisin grips Ava harder, evident by the wince on her face. Blood drips from a cut on her scalp, and bruises are already starting to form on her body.
Walking forward, I let my power unfold around me, the black veins twisting up my arms and around my hands. Shadow moves away from me, enough to shift back into his human form, then flanks me, his own hands wreathed in flame.
Oisin’s eyes narrow at Ciaran, as if the reality of the situation is finally settling in. “You've made a grave error in this, brother,” he spits. “Choosing them, over me! I should have killed you.”
Ciaran, for his part, looks disgusted with his half brother. “You willneverhave this city. You are weak and have no power of your own. Now, get the fuck out of my city,” he commands.
Oisin smiles wickedly before dropping Ava to the ground and throwing out a powerful wave of magic. I brace for impact, but Astrea’s magic meets it before it can touch us. The sound of the two colliding roars in my ears. She laughs as Oisin throws another arc of power at her. It slams into the shield again and again, unable to break it apart.
“Is that all you’ve got? This is fucking boring.”
