Page 55 of The Sacrifice

I touch his chest. That first touch between us back in the tower. A single curve of my fingers over his heart. A flicker dances between my fingers.

“More than my Queen, Quintessa. The fire of my heart. And its beat. You are my lust and love. They called you gray and cold and numb, little better than the dead. But to me, you burn bright enough to make all the stars of the heavens envious. You are the monstress in my blood...always.”

A whimper catches in my throat. A sob follows it. Before I know it, Drago captures my mouth, opening my lips, so he may taste me, as if he’s tasting one last time. But I refuse to believe that. Even with the bone dragons approaching, stalking closer at the whim of the Hag, it’s impossible for me to imagine Drago dying.

The moment I arch to receive him more is when Drago escapes my mouth. And shoves me toward Qora. A vast distance already stretches between us. Guilt slashes at my stomach lining, but it’s quickly replaced with awe from Drago’s body shuddering and ripping faster than ever into his full dragon form, into Thayne. Nostrils flaring with smoke and embers and eyes blazing an inferno against mine, Thayne curls his upper lip to expose the sharpened blades of his teeth and utters a soft, low growl in a warning. “Thiago.”

A single word. A name. My blood runs cold from the knowledge of his true name. Not just Thayne or Drago. Something inside me dies when I register its meaning: supplanter. He’s substituting himself for me. Taking my place. He’s sacrificing himself...for me.

Emotions clog my throat as Thiago claws at the ground and shifts his eyes to the encroaching assailants. My lungs freeze up. Qora ghosts in and out of me, launching urging chills into me until I finally turn and bolt. The Hag stands at the edge of the tree line, content to watch the approaching battle. Uninterested in me and Qora. As soon as we make it to the withered trees, bodies crash behind me like claps of thunder. Growls and roars bleed my ears while soil, thorns, and roses whirl a storm to shower upon our heads. With every step we take into the woods and every roar of pain behind me from Thiago’s defense, I grow numb and number...

...Until I can’t feel anything anymore.

40

It's my time to sacrifice.

DRAGO

I’d cut off my fucking balls if it meant I could be inside her one last time, feel her heat. Kissing her will have to be enough. It must be. When this is over, if I’m still alive, I’ll be little better than a limping lizard. My blood should boil from the absence of my brothers. They’ve always stood by my side. But all that washes over me is a dark and sacred serenity as Thayne and I merge into our most united form—something so monstrous and dangerous, it jeopardizes my heart with its power. Something we never could have accomplished without her.

Tessie stares back, frozen by a cold horror.

With our very veins howling flames and the firestorm screaming in our belly, we give her our name. Thiago. That serenity lingers beneath the adrenaline and flaming storm I unleash upon the princes because she is disappearing into the trees with her pet and Shadow. Nothing else matters. My brothers will find her and protect her.

It’s my time to sacrifice.

For a moment, I consider spreading my wings and lifting into the air. Despite their wing bones, the princes lack the membrane and muscles to follow me into the air. But I growl. Should’ve known the Hag would have other plans. Once Tessie plunges into the woods, the first thing the Hag does is set her power into a shield over the field. That force hums and electrifies my scales from here. Impenetrable. Undefeatable.

The first bone prince charges for me. Rage spikes through me. I unleash a furious roar, harden all my muscles, and crash against him. Our bodies thunder together. I growl and snap my jaws, catching the prince by the bones of his throat just as the other two close in, aiming for my belly. I break the bones at its throat, smash them to pieces, and swing my body at the last second to sink my teeth around the second’s femur bone. Rip it the hell off! Bone dust shoots into my mouth, and I huff, tempted to use my fire on the third. But I preserve my strength, anticipating this will be a long battle. Dawn rises now, slaughtering the horizon. But before the day is out, blood will stain every rose, and scales will litter these fields.

Even if I live through this, the Hag will take me, torture me as much as she desires, then rip out my heart and feast upon it to consume my power. Centuries of evading that fucking sorceress, of living in utter limbo. Now, after a few days with Tessie, and the castle is in ruins, the dragon princes have awoken, and my brothers have abandoned me.

And I’d fucking do it all over again.

Pure rage pumps through my veins. Goring my teeth into the third prince, I crush its ribcage and tear out its spine. Too long to destroy it. My flesh howls from the pain of the other two ravaging my belly. Enough force to throw me to the ground. The earth fractures from my weight. Whirlwinds of rose petals and dust surge into the air. Out of the corner of my eye, the Hag grins, those damned tentacles curling eagerly in the air.

Before the princes can sink their teeth into my softer underbelly, I snap and swing my powerful head, thrashing at their skulls, knocking them loose. But in the time it takes for me to defend myself, the first prince sinks his teeth onto my throat. An instinctive burst of fire rears from my belly and surges straight for the attacking bone dragon. Hot enough to char the bones and reduce them to fucking ash. All I managed was the radius and carpus bones of its wing. Not enough to destroy the dragon, only enough to slow him down. Pain lashes at my throat. A fleeting penetration, I snarl and consider it pure luck that he didn’t fracture any bones. Blood trickles from where the teeth gored into me, and I’ve lost a few scales.

For hours, the battle storms on. Every time I trade a blow, crush bones to dust, it does nothing! Those bones rearrange themselves and piece together until they are one again. My hot blood fumes the whole time. Blood pools down my scales from several wounds, clotting the air with its bitter scent.

I harden my jaw, flare my nostrils, and raze the ground with the claws of one mighty paw. All three face me now, hollow socket gazes prowling—resolved to attack me at the same time. Eyes preying on them, I crouch. Snort a taunt of their inferiority, reminding them how I conquered them once, devoured their hearts and thus, their fire.

“I’ll grind all your bones to dust this time,” I vow to them, hurling embers from my nostrils. They paw at the ground, and I grin, showcasing my lethal teeth. Wrath may sharpen my senses because I bear its definition. The rage keeps me alive. But if I disturb their balance, even for a moment, I’ll have the advantage. I’ll use any to target their skulls. “I’ll grind them for my flour, bake the biggest fucking dragon cake, and celebrate over your demise!”

As predicted, they all charge at once. Uniting deeper with Thayne, we close our eyes and wait until we feel the inertia of their bodies an inch from our form. And then, we act. We beat our wings and launch into the air. All three crash against one another, skulls dizzy from the blow. Bones rattle. Save for my fire, my wings are my greatest advantage. I descend upon them, claws and teeth primed.

I get my jaws around one skull, break teeth while I fracture it. The other two act, rearing up and snapping at my wings. Pain ricochets into my being, but I don’t stop. Bite through the fucking agony splintering through me. I smash the damn skull, wrecking it until it crumbles to the ground. The prince drops with it, all its bones shattering with it. But it’s too late for my wings. Multiple bones crack from the two dragons’ jaws while their claws slash at my scales.

My chest throbs from the wounds. Convulsions attack my body. Roaring, I unleash the inferno in my belly. No time to hold back. I aim for the skulls. As if aware of the destruction to come, the princes pull out all the stops, careless of any risk to themselves, only concerned with the damage they may deal to me. Jaws grip my throat and chest with abandon. Teeth spear deep to pierce muscle. And drag, cleaving skin and sinew, veins, and tendons. Blood showers the air and rains down my ruined scales. Hardly a trace of emerald or black anymore.

My fire melts one skull. I get my jaws around the final one and push past the pain blurring my vision and prompting Thayne to retreat into my mind. My blood turns to fucking ice. Regardless of how many teeth I’ll lose, I plunge them all into the skull, shake the head violently until it snaps loose. With what little fire remains within me, I set my flames upon it, burn it to cinders.

And I fall. My dragon form crashes to the ground in nothing but a bloody, fleshy fucking pulp. My breath thins, and my chest heaves, heart straining to pump blood. The pain is raw, excruciating. Strong enough to blind and deafen me to all other senses. It takes nothing beyond a few seconds for Thayne to return to the sanctum of my mind and leave me in the state of a man to preserve our energy. Pulse thundering, lungs burning, I groan, imagining there’s not one bone in my body left unfractured.

Surrounded by bones and lying in a pool of my own blood, my body longs to shake my mind loose, untether myself from the affliction, the devastation twisting my insides.

Fuck, Dragomir, come to me! Thayne commands, urging me to fade. But I refuse, double over onto my side, and retch the contents of my stomach onto the ground. Damn your pride, Drago!

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