Page 80 of The Fury Queen's Harem

“We got that part,” Rai said. “But—”

“Oh, you’re worried why the masks haven’t come off your pretty faces,” Elvey said with a satisfied smile, his bright blue eyes dashing from one masked prince to the other. “Even though you are able to shift, your curse is only half-lifted. It’s something to ponder on, isn’t it?”

“We’re not worried about that,” Iokul said coolly. “We’ll work on being worthy of our mate. Until then—” He paused, his icy gaze on Elvey. “Why did you aid us?”

“That’s a very good question,” Elvey said. “But I never had the intention of helping you. Daisy, on the other hand, needed a gentle nudge to be free from her Fury forms.”

I narrowed my eyes.Gentle nudge?

“And she knows that I have my own selfish reason for that.” He turned to me, his face serious and mournful. “This is only the beginning of a perilous path, Daisy Danaenyth. If I can spare you, I do not wish you to walk through it. It’ll be a very long time until you see light ahead again if you leave this planet. You’ll meet evil in all veils, and I’m certain you’ll choose to battle them all. You were born a protector of your mates, your people, and your realm.”

“Can you be more specific?” I asked, “Instead of giving me the doom and gloom?”

The dragon princes glared at him, but he ignored them and focused only on me.

“I won’t say more, as I don’t want it to come true,” he said, shaking his head. “I want you to enjoy as many bright days as you can. But when the days come, when darkness finds you, and when I become your enemy not by my will, you’ll need to end me. Do not hesitate when I’m no longer useful.”

From Sybil’s spying, I’d learned that both he and the demon captain were bonded to their queen by blood. They were her slaves and weapons.

“I won’t hurt you, Elvey,” I said. “No matter what.”

He smiled, a little bright and a little sad. The smile tugged my heart. An old doubt haunted my mind. My curse had fallen off, though it hadn’t lifted right away, because it mattered that my heart had to catch up with the truth that all the dragon princes were indeed my true loves.

I had kissed all of them. I loved all three my true loves. But why was I still so hung up on Elvey?

What was he to me?

“Of course, you don’t want to harm me, but it won’t be your choice in the end,” he said, his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he tried to be as careless as possible. “One last thing. I won’t escort you home on this journey, but you’ll never be alone with your brave dragon knights by your side.” He gave me another lethal smile. “Princess Danaenyth, the ship is now yours to command.”

Then Elvey vanished in a mist of light.

An empty ache throbbed and expanded in my chest, until my dragon mates pulled me into their solid, warm arms.

CHAPTER 21

The crew was in position. The course was set, andMistresswas ready to take off. There was nothing to worry about for the moment.

All four of us—Rai, Blaze, Iokul, and I—settled down in the captain cabin.

Blaze glanced at the vast bed and grinned at me.

“It can fit us all,” he said, his golden eyes lighting with delight and lust.

Iokul gazed at me with heat, and my pulse raced at the prospect of what my dragon princes would do to me.

Rai chuckled and winked at me wickedly. “We’ll do all sorts of things, but you’ll like it.”

Ever since we’d all shifted, we were more connected, and we could sense each other’s need and emotions if we didn’t intentionally put on a mental shield.

Rai scooped me into his arms, my hands pressing against his muscled broad chest. His heartbeat pounded against my palms, in sync with my mine.

I gazed into his gorgeous sapphire eyes and lost myself in them, as he carried me toward the bed.

Not missing a beat, Iokul strolled along beside Rai, his hand anchoring at the base of my skull, and planted a hot kiss on my lips. Pleasure tingled on my skin, and I parted my lips and met his silver eyes, silently pleading for more.

Iokul smiled in satisfaction. I believed that he hadn’t realized when his icy demeanor had melted along the way. But his ice had burned as hot as fire for me, and it was still burning.

Blaze walked along to my right. He caressed my cheek with his knuckles before placing a hand on Rai’s arm. And I wanted more of the fire dragon’s touch as well.

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