Page 97 of Marked Dragon

“Don’t forget,love.” Drake tilted his head as he released his hold on Tyson. The unconscious man dropped to the ground. “You’re the one who hunted me down in the bar that night. Youaskedme to choose you. Don’t make this into something it isn’t.”

I flinched. Ihatedthat he had me there. “You were planning to take my little sister, who’d just turnedeighteen.”

“None of this matters.” Vlad lifted his chin. “Like Thorn said, you won’t be taking Everly or hurting my son. Give Tyson back, and we’ll leave. No one needs to get injured.”

Jessie snorted. Her black helmet had pushed her bleach-blonde bangs into her cinnamon eyes. “There are forty of us to your seven. You’re in human form with no weapons. Do you really think that’s how this is going down?” She aimed her rifle at Vlad.

Sol, Theron, and Wyvern weren’t here. I wondered briefly why they hadn’t shifted into dragon form.

“What would King Arman say about this?” Errol hung his head. “Your father is a good man. He didn’t raise you to threaten your people and kill your brother.”

The sound of more people approaching made me freeze. Theron had said there were forty warriors. Who were these newcomers? Maybe it was Theron’s thunder, but that wouldn’t make things better. They would follow their prince to protect their thunder from harm.

“My father isweak,” Drake snarled and bared his teeth. He spun around to the warriors. “Surround them and take them back to the thunder.”

“Wait.” Uther frowned. “We aren’t going to kill Thorn here?”

“No,” Drake’s snarled, “We need to get it on video so all dragons can see. After what he did at my wedding, they need to know I won’t tolerate actions like that.”

We can’t go with them,Thorn connected.We need to grab Tyson and get the hell out of here. Everly, if the warriors detain us, our chances of escaping will be low. I won’t lose you. I’ll make them all pay for the hell they’ve caused.

My vision blurred as the warriors closest to us removed handcuffs from their belts. The dark shiny metal was distinctive—Wolfram Dwinn. If they put those on us, we wouldn’t be able to shift back into dragons, and Thorn wouldn’t be able to access his magic.

“Jessie,” Cassidy said in a broken voice. “We were friends. You don’t have to do this.”

I started. As a former royal nanny, Cassidy would know many of the warriors.

“Wewerefriends, but when you took off with the prince and protected him, everything changed.” Jessie kept her gun trained on Thorn. “You won’t get any help or sympathy from me.”

That was the thing. Drake owned his warriors.Even the ones who don’t agree with him, like Uther, will follow because he’s threatened their families.

Thorn hissed, his pupils slitting.That’s exactly what my grandfather did when he was king.

More warriors raced out of the trees and surrounded us. Thirty of them kept their guns trained on us, while ten moved closer, ready to handcuff us.

I spun and pressed my back to Thorn’s.

When I tell you to run, go,Thorn’s voice popped into my head.As soon as the warriors with the handcuffs get close enough, I’ll steal their dragons.

That would cause chaos, if only for a moment.

I tried to breathe slowly, needing a clear head. If shit hit the fan—er…the flames hit the scales—I didn’t want to be caught with my pants down, like Falkor. Granted, I was already buck naked. But still.

The ten guards split up. Four headed toward Thorn. Their hands shook as they got closer, as if they knew he planned on using his magic.

A woman warrior was in front, her jaw trembling harder with each step. “Now, don’t do anything stupid. There are thirty guards with weapons aimed at all of you.” Her voice quivered.

“If you’re going to handcuff me, just do it,” Saphira gritted out, her irises glowing as her dragon showed through. “Don’t be timid…unless the only warriors Drake could get on his side were those too weak to go against him.”

“Get themnow,” Drake bellowed. “And knock them out, if that’s the only way to get them to stop talking.”

I couldn’t see him, but I pictured him stomping like a toddler.

Uther appeared in front of me, his face twisted with regret. He opened the handcuffs and lifted both hands so I could see what he was holding. His gaze remained on my face and didn’t travel down my naked body.

Drake had forced him into this.

When the woman reached Thorn, a white light glowed around them, brighter than the midday sun.

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