Page 27 of The Fury Queen's Harem

His men administered the serum into my two other Furies, and the effect was immediate. In the next few seconds, I already felt my wounds closing and my wing knitting back together.

“The serum also worked on the beasts!”Chirondeclared in gleeful surprise.

A comprehension dawned on me. The serum was meant to help a dragon heal, since I was also a dragon of natural quick-healing ability, and with the boost of the serum, strength returned to me like waves.

Rai smiled. “Of course. I told you she’s a dragon.” He peeked into my eyes to search my deepest secret. “I heard of a legend that’s more like a myth. If you’re who I think you are—” He paused, his knuckles continuing to caress my face, and pleasure washed over me, suppressing the remnant of the pain.

With that and the return of the strength, I flapped my wings and surged up into the sky before anyone could react.

My two alter egos lifted into the air right after me with shrieks of freedom.

“Rai!” I cried his name, soaring into the distant sky.

A glimmer of lightning flashed right below my belly.

CHAPTER 10

I lay on my cushion in my chamber, my chin on my claws. My other Furies dozed near me. My monsters guarded us outside, growling intermittently. They all knew I was hurt, yet none of them took advantage of my vulnerability to attack me.

Once I was their queen, they showed me their loyalty, and that would be rewarded one day.

I was mostly recovered, but I was in low spirits after the blows and disappointments I had suffered since the arrival of the ships that were supposed to be my hope but turned out to be the death of me. Today, I didn’t intend to change to Fae or even take a bath. I decided to stay in my Fury forms the whole day.

A chime rang in my head.

Magic!I could smell it in the air.

Someone was approaching, and he was alone.

I immediately summoned my other Furies, and they merged with me instantly. I stumbled before the impact faded. I rushed to snag a long shirt on the bench, shrugged it on, and inserted my feet into a pair of hunting boots that concealed a blade.

The shirt’s length came down above my knees as I straightened. It wasn’t the best outfit, but it was convenient.

Just as I wondered why my vigilant Henry and Sybil hadn’t flashed pictures in my head and informed me of a visitor or an invader, the air whipped with power. My monsters couldn’t fight or catch magic.

I clenched my fists, pondering if it was wise for me to change to Fae, when a man appeared in a flash of light. He alighted a few yards in front of me with a lopsided, charming smile.

Lord Elvey, the immortal warlock.

He wasn’t exactly what I had expected or remembered. When I’d spied on him, he’d seemed grim and older. This time, he looked to be only a few years my senior, but I knew he was of infinite age. I hadn’t gotten other details right about him either when I’d checked him out from the sky.

He was tall and broad shouldered. He had muscles, but not that of a warrior. He was way more graceful. He wasn’t clad in a cloak—a sorcerer’s conventional outfit. He didn’t put on armor either, which showed his cocky confidence in coming here. Well, if he could pop out of thin air, he could take the same exit in a blink.

His half-length, lavender hair curled in a tousled fashion, as if the wind got into it and made a nest. Which only made him harmlessly cute. His eyes, the color of the blue star with transparent fire in them, sparkled with a teasing laughter.

My shoulders relaxed.

Wait.I stiffened them again. Had he bewitched me to make me put down my guard? Had he put on glamour? But I hadn’t sensed more magic except when he’d made his entry. Or was his magic so subtle and sublime it skipped my Fae nose?

Even cursed, I still had some magic up my sleeves—I could sense magic, I could see through glamour, and I could slip in the minds of those who were bonded to me. I ran faster than anything in my Fae form, and I spit black fire as Furies.

Elvey focused on me, as if I were the only thing mattered in the universe, as if he’d been looking for me for a long time and finally found me in this corner of the universe. And he seemed to want me to register the significance of the moment as he let the silence stretch between us. My heart fluttered as if it had wings, except I didn’t get the truth of his purposeful, intense gaze.

“What?” I asked, my voice hoarse from lack of speech. I’d only started speaking before the Archangel and his witch finally found the portal to leave Pandemonium.

Something I couldn’t make out flashed by his eyes—sympathy, anger, hope, delight and more. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought he knew who I really was.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, my pose defensive.

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