Page 63 of Forgotten Queen

Our eyes met. I hoped mine showed just how serious I was.

“Am I to be your queen?”

“You’re to be whatever you want, Avery.” His knuckles grazed my cheek, his other arm wrapped around my lower back. “You owe these people—and me—nothing. You have already given more than enough.”

But that wasn’t me,I wanted to argue.Or was it?I had no memory of a past life in this realm, but sometimes things would hit me—a bit of swordplay, the steps in the dance, and I knew it wasn’t simply luck that let me navigate the streets of the city with unusual ease.

But my counterargument was cut short. Hecate slipped through the crowd. She looked divine, as always. Her dress was a simple cut, a single, long-flowing piece of navy linen that was clasped at the shoulders and cinched at the hips before falling to the floor.

A trickle of alarm went down my spine because Hecate looked panicked.

Hecateneverlooked panicked.

“We have a problem.”

Chapter XXXI

Hecatewhiskedusoutof the ballroom. No one dared interrupt us.

“What is it?” Cole’s voice was a sharp order.

Hecate spun back to us.

“It’s awake.”

Cole…

Coleflinched.

Cole, King of Hell and the most powerful male I’d ever met, actually flinched.

“What is?” I asked.

“The dragon,” Hecate said quickly. “It’s a sign. Something triggered it.”

A sinking feeling solidified in my stomach.

“Where?” Cole asked.

“Not far. Maybe ten minutes from the city.”

It would reach the unprotected villagers even sooner.

“I have to go.” He turned to me. “Stay with Hecate.”

“I should go with you,” Hecate protested.

Cole shook his head. “I need Avery to be protected.”

That wasn’t going to happen. “No.”

Both looked at me as if suddenly realizing I was there. “I’ll go with you. Hecate can help, and I can too.”

Cole looked ready to argue. He didn’t like being contradicted on the best of days, but I wasn’t backing down from this. After a tense second, he nodded. “Very well. We need to go now. There’s no time to waste. Which direction?” He snapped up two swords from nearby guards. He tossed one scabbard in my direction and fixed the other against his waist.

“Northwest.”

Cole teleported the three of us without hesitation.

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