Page 52 of The Fury Queen's Harem

“My hideous beasts? Are you blind?”

“We all smelled the dragon in you—and that’s enough for us. Your three Furies don’t turn us off. I’ve spent only a short time with you, but I already know that you have a fierce and tender heart, and a dragon treasures that quality more than anything. And just so you know, when I was in my dragon form, I looked like a terrifying monster to other species. And we three brothers are the largest dragons, except for our father, in the Oslan Dominion.”

I pulled my lips to smile at him. I knew it didn’t have the effect I wanted since it was basically a monster’s grin, but Blaze only gazed back at me with tenderness and adoration.

All the dragon princes had seen me beneath my skin.

“And you said you weren’t good at words?” I asked in a teasing tone, yet it still sounded harsh in my ear. I wished to the stars that I could have a few minutes now in my Fae form, so he would hold my hands and kiss me tenderly and passionately.

“I know it’s hard for you,” he said. “I can’t even image how hard it’s been for you, having been shipped away from home, from your own kind, and suffered for centuries. You won’t be alone again. We’ve come. We’re here for you.”

I opened my mouth, about to say, “Thank you,” but my gratitude went beyond that.

I perched on the cushion, and Blaze came to sit beside me, a gentle hand stroking my neck. I swallowed a purr, afraid my un-feminine sound would put him off.

My other two Furies flapped their wings and surged toward the skylight. They’d fly above the jungle to keep watching. They knew how to stay unseen and merge into the canopy. If there was anything, they would warn us.

As I slipped my mind into Henry’s and Sybil’s, I knew that my monsters were patrolling the jungle vigilantly.

Blaze’s expression became distant, and I realized that he was mind-talking with his warriors to get updates.

I liked his thoughtful look since most of the time I saw was his fierce and playful ones.

Blaze turned to me, showing me an apologetic smile, for not paying me full attention. The dragon warriors weren’t brutes like the folklore said. They were mostly respectful and overprotective, especially when it came to a lady, though there were many nasty, out of control ones as well, just like in any species.

I believed that Blaze and his brothers were dragon knights, and that was one of the reasons that they couldn’t slaughter each other to become the crown prince, no matter how much pressure they’d been under from the realm, their peers, and their supporters.

Blaze pressed his forehead against my scaled face, careful not to let his mask scratch me, before he asked, “I saw hundreds of abandoned junk spaceships in the arena. What happened?”

“Akem, the entity that enslaved me, made the ships fall,” I said. “He has the power of Time Vortex. He ate all ships’ powers. In his reign, no one could leave Pandemonium and we were all trapped in the past, until the Wickedest Witch took Akem out and used him to power up her mate’s space shuttle, so they could leave through the portal she created.”

Blaze blinked. “That’s why no one could find you.”

“If you had come earlier, you’d have been trapped here with the rest of the nine clans, fighting for the limited food sources. This whole planet is swarming with all sorts of monsters and criminals from all over the galaxies. The witch’s coven and the wolf clan escaped this place a few months ago, leaving behind vampires, cannibal Kruids, and a band of militias. They haven’t attacked your ships, since you have advanced weapons, but they’ve been lurking in the shadows for an opening. They’ll wait for the newcomers to kill one another before taking down the weakened victors. They’ll shed anyone’s blood to show that the City of Nine is theirs.”

Sybil had been watching them all. The band of the militants had snatched a few straying hunters and took their high-beam weapons. The vampires lurking in the shades also picked some new soldiers to feed upon. The cannibal Kruids, who were big, clumsy, and cursed with bad luck, didn’t get any snacks.

The demons suffered the least loss, since they had rigid discipline, or maybe Elvey’s magic shielded them. I dragged my thoughts away from Elvey.

Blaze nodded, leaning against me. Even my Fury form liked his body heat, and I purred pleasantly.

“I can see that,” he said. “When I saw the urban wasteland under the desolate sky before we landed, I thought we might have come to the wrong place. As for food resources, we have plenty on the ship. Don’t you worry, honeybee. I’ll take care of you. Once we settle the fight with the demons, we’ll get you out of here.”

He forgot that I couldn’t leave while the curse attached to me. And I hadn’t told the princes that my monster subjects would go wherever I go. I doubted they’d be happy with the most dangerous monsters tagging along.

“Ash and fire in the city doesn’t bother me,” I said. “I’m a dragon, after all. We create fire and ash.”

He laughed. “We dragons love fire and ash. But we’ve also learned not to repeat our past mistakes and destroy our land. We’re a more civilized dragon society now.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said. I wanted to know more about his realm. I liked hearing him talk about himself and his brothers. I’d ask him about my old home—the Danaenyth dynasty.

“Have you tried to figure out who cursed you?” he asked.

“Every day. I won’t be merciful when I find my foe.”

“I’ll be less merciful when we find your foes and ours.” He paused to snarl before his voice softened toward me. “How and what happened, Daisy?”

“I’d wanted to see the Forbidden Forest since I was a child,” I said.

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