Marina’s heart raced as she pressed her body against the closed door, glad to have a huge slab of ornate, heavy metal between her and the gigantic, desperate men that had been chasing her.

She was used to being pursued, both by humans in her time and in the modern world, but never like this, by dragon men with so much hunger in their eyes it took her breath away.

And not in a good way.

She exhaled, focusing in on the room in front of her. Metal walls all around her glittered with ornate decoration. Metal tiles in a sand-blasted, matte finish stretched out in front of her.

And there were people all around the periphery of the room, watching her.

At the front of the room was a raised area where a few steps led up to a landing with two ornate thrones, where a man and a woman were sitting, watching the scene intently. A thin man wearing green robes stood by the thrones, glaring at her with glittering eyes.

She jerked her gaze to the center of the room and was startled to see a man there, chained and kneeling. His muscular body was turned away from her, but when he glanced at her over his shoulder, her heart leapt instantly in recognition.

Silver-gray hair, piercing eyes, a sharp, aristocratic face. And then a hoarse laugh as he shook his head, as if he found the whole situation hilarious.

Mercury.

She wanted to slump in relief, but given that he was chained in the middle of the floor and Lead was in front of him, holding up a mean-looking, thin blade while everyone else in the room watched, there wasn’t time.

“Mercury!” Marina said, running forward to get to him as soon as possible.

“Stop her! Don’t let her near the prisoner!” the thin man at the front of the room yelled.

At the command, she saw a handful of men step up beside Lead, making an intimidating semicircle. When she’d met them before, they’d been relaxed, amused even, but right now they looked like hardened warriors who meant business.

They each drew swords and held them at their sides, waiting for their next command.

The room was totally silent, except for Mercury’s laughter, which had a harsh, bitter tone to it.

“Shut up,” Lead snapped, his sword lowering slightly as he awaited his next command.

Marina looked to the man and woman who stood at the front of the room, dressed in beautiful robes, who appeared to be royals of some kind. They were looking at her with curiosity, but no enmity, and she guessed they were her best bet for help.

“Please free this man immediately,” she said, looking directly at them.

The thin man next to the king scowled, folding his arms. “Why should we?”

But the king, a regal, tall man with white hair and a long beard and a warrior’s presence, stood, putting a hand to his aide. “Silence, Nilo. I wish to hear this.” His keen, whitish-silver eyes pinned on Marina. “Why?”

“Because his life belongs to me. He’s my responsibility, and I’ve come to bring him home.”

The king waved his hand once more, and the guards in a line in front of the steps stood down as he got up from the throne and began walking down the steps, approaching her.

“You’ve come a long way, haven’t you, Earth dragon?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. “I made a promise.”

Mercury looked over his shoulder at that, and his eyes flickered slightly, his expression surprised.

Laughter and now surprise from Mercury. So many new things today.

The king paced around her in a slow circle, and she felt as if the air were practically buzzing with anticipation. His robes shimmered with an array of various unknown metals all finely woven together.

His eyes were piercing, in sockets deeply lined by responsibility and time. “A promise. And what are you willing to do for the sake of your promise?”

The thin man in green, Nilo, spoke up. “My liege, you can’t possibly be thinking…”

The king simply cut him a glare that resulted in instant silence. He turned back to Marina. “So you’ll do anything for this criminal?”

“Yes, I’d give my life for him,” Marina said.

“Such honor,” the king said, stepping back with folded arms, making his metallic robes shimmer. “I hadn’t thought Earth dragons possessed it.” He seemed pleased. “Very well. If you agree to offer yourself for a right of union challenge, then Mercury may go.”

Marina stared at him. At first, her heart had calmed slightly at the words “Mercury may go.” But what was a right of union challenge?

The king’s eyebrow raised. “Lead, you seem to know this Earth dragon. Explain.”

“There would be a tournament in your honor,” Lead said dully, stepping forward. His eyes seemed to almost be warning her off. “Six of the strongest dragons from the most honorable of houses will fight for your hand, exhibiting their strength and fortitude. On the third day, you will select your final two. After they fight, you make your decision and pick the winner. The dragon you choose will become your… mate is how it would be referred to on Earth.”

“It is the highest of honors to be challenged for,” the king explained. “Once you accept your union, you will be given wealth, status, anything you could imagine to make your way in our society. But your decision would be final.”

She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked over to see Mercury glaring at her steadily. He gave a small shake of his head, and his eyes seemed to scream, I’m not worth it.

She swallowed, ready to accept the offer. She didn’t care about wealth or status. The true treasures in life were the people she loved, and Mercury, despite all his difficult personality quirks, had become one of them.

She was ready to keep her promise, and she knew fate would take care of the rest.

“I accept,” she said.

“Very well,” the king said, smiling and returning to the queen, who was still waiting on her throne, watching calmly. He sat next to her and gestured something to Lead.

“Release the prisoner,” Lead commanded, and some guards stepped forward.

“What will happen to him now?” Marina asked quickly, suddenly realizing she’d saved his life, but not been promised anything beyond that. Would she even get to say good-bye to him?

“He has been pardoned. My men will return him to Earth,” the king said. “He’s survived this long, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Marina bit her lower lip, realizing for the first time the situation she was in. She was on a new planet, and she’d just given up her life and freedom to save a prisoner who probably deserved what he was getting.

And now he was going free back to Earth. Maybe he would at least act worthy of the gift she’d given him. Maybe try to turn over a new leaf and not go trying to wreak havoc on the Earth dragons.

She had to hope.

She heard the clanking of chains as Mercury was released, but couldn’t see him because of guards all around him.

Meanwhile, guards were moving toward her, gently guiding her toward the front of the room where the king was sitting.

“I challenge!”

She heard a slight scuffle and then saw Mercury shove free of the guards, his chains falling to the ground in a loud cacophony of sound.

He was standing taller than she’d ever seen him, shirtless and pale, chest heaving, expression seething.

“As the house of Mercury, I challenge for right of union,” he said darkly.

The room went completely silent, and Marina looked over at Lead, whose expression of jaw-dropping shock mirrored the riotous feelings in her heart.

He had confused her many times, but never as much as right now.

* * *

What was going on? What had he just said?

Had he gone truly insane?

Mercury looked at the shocked faces of the people around him. Lead’s jaw looked as though it would have dropped to the floor if it were possible. The others watched him with a wide array of disturbed, confused, angry, and indifferent looks.

Marina’s eyes had widened slightly, her lips parted as if to say something, but nothing came out.

Mercury would have laughed again if not for the fact that he was the clown this time.

Marina had just offered him freedom, sacrificed herself for his well-being under the auspices of keeping some unnecessary promise she’d made for his sake. He was off, scot-free.

And yet here he was, invoking the name of the dead family he never knew so he could fight other dragons for her.

Marina’s mouth closed, her stunned silence saying more than a thousand words as she took a single step forward. The air was thick with tension so heavy it made the execution a moment ago feel like a party in comparison.

But as much as it felt like the old Mercury would have left without even a second thought, just taken his freedom and ran, he somehow couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Marina here alone on this planet. Not with all these honor-bound weirdos hovering around her like vultures.

No, he’d win this damn challenge, take Marina back to her home where he was sure her sobbing brothers and friends would receive her with open arms, and then find himself some abandoned corner of Earth far away from anyone he could harm. Far from Marina’s blue eyes, deeper than the sea. Far from her flaxen hair the color of spun gold, far from her smile that felt sharper than the silver dragon’s blade had been in his chest.

Maybe the weather on Mount Everest was good at this time of year.

“Is my hearing wrong? You can’t possibly be saying what I think you’re saying,” Lead sputtered, breaking the silence, but not the awkwardness as he stepped forward.

Mercury couldn’t hold back a slight grin, seeing the huge brute stumbling over his words.

“You have no house. No lineage. No knowledge of your history. This is unacceptable,” Lead sputtered.

“My liege, I agree. This is untenable,” Nilo, the king’s stooge, said.

Mercury looked up at the throne, wishing his stare could send actual daggers at the imbecile for butting in.

The king remained silent, his fingers tented in front of him as he took several prolonged seconds to consider his response.

“So you would challenge for this woman’s hand?” the king finally spoke.

“Yes,” Mercury responded.

“Even though you’ve wronged her kin, been an enemy to her people?”

“She’s important to me. More than anyone,” Mercury said. There was no point trying to bullshit his way out of this situation.

He couldn’t help noticing Marina’s eyes dart away, the slightest blush on her cheeks, as he said it. It made something inside him flutter, something warm.

He hated it.

“And will you allow it, Earth dragon?” the king asked, addressing Marina.

“Marina,” she said.

Then she nodded, and Mercury’s heart skipped a beat.

Meanwhile, his brain wanted to jump ship to escape all this lunacy.

“If she allows it, then we must at least consider it,” the king decreed.

“But… but…” The king’s counselor tried to butt in.

“So long as the house of Mercury still stands, he is eligible to be acknowledged as a valid and capable suitor for this union challenge.”

“Capable?” Cadmium, the blond guy who was one of the men who kidnapped him, scoffed. “If that’s what she wants, she doesn’t need him. We can show her just how ‘capable’ a dragon guard of Drakkaris can be.” He glanced over at Marina with a smirk, clearly looking for a reaction from her and nobody else.

Something snapped inside of Mercury, and he flew at the guy’s face, summoning his ancestral blade instantly and shoving it against Cadmium’s throat, a hair’s distance from exsanguinating the bastard.

To his surprise, Cadmium didn’t back down. He seemed completely unbothered by the sword at his neck and stepped forward, using one hand to grab Mercury’s neck. The other dropped to the hilt of his sword, as if he were daring Mercury to go further.

Mercury dared all right. If Cadmium so much as breathed in Marina’s direction right now, he’d gut him like a fish.

“But I must warn you, Mercury, that you stand on the very thinnest of ground.” The king’s words rang out into the great hall. Both his and Cadmium’s attention were instantly drawn up to the throne, where the king remained seated. “If you step out of line again, you will receive your previously sentenced punishment, regardless of any promise between you and Marina.”

Like circling tigers, Mercury and Cadmium released each other, and with a flash, his blade was gone.

But the burning desire to kill certainly wasn’t.

“I’ll vouch for him, sire.”

Mercury turned to the sound and saw the man from last night, Zinc, stepping forward.

“He may look like a criminal, but I knew him personally when we were young.” He continued. “He deserves this chance.”

There was a kind of genuine sincerity in Zinc’s voice that Mercury couldn’t even pretend to emulate. Yet there was something off about him at the same time, something he was hiding.

Mercury liked that, though.

Of all of the dragons here, Mercury wanted to kill him the least.

“Very well, it is settled,” the king said. “Mercury will take part in the challenge. Lead, you and your men will take them to their separate quarters. Tonight there will be a feast in Marina’s honor,” the king announced with finality.

And as Lead motioned for Marina to follow him, Mercury felt a strange longing as he got one more good look at the woman that had bothered to travel across space to save his sorry ass.

She should have just stayed home. But he could just tell her that in person.

He’d see her soon enough.