Eighteen
Ass Meet Ground
Saber needed a moment to calm himself before he went after her. Whoever the witch was, the female sent him into a tailspin, and she was the enemy. An enemy he’d sworn to kill.
He caught up to her in no time, and using a cloak of invisibility to disguise himself, studied the sorceress from his dreams. She had grown her hair out, and now it reached midway down her back. He smiled at her curves and licked his lips, then frowned. Anger rose at the realization of how thin she’d grown over the last ten years. Though why he cared, he had no idea.
Saber stalked her, reveling in her honeysuckle sweetness. Then he caught a whiff of anxiety, along with a touch of excitement as she grew aware of being tailed. Could she be wanting this fight as well? She had to be tired of running. Perhaps she was eager to rejoin her family of murderers?
Though the idea of his prey rejoining her vile Ilyium family filled Saber with rage. Yet, it wasn’t enough to squelch the thrill of the hunt. Her fear only excited him more. Even his dragon was like an eager puppy, practically salivating over her inevitable capture.
As she started to run, Saber picked up his pace. She was the enemy. The one who sent his brother to the underworld. Right on her heels, he inhaled her scent, drawing it deep into his lungs, and his blood felt like it was suddenly on fire.
With the worst timing ever, his mind fractured.
Enraptured by the fiery strands of burnished copper hair flowing behind her like a living flame, Saber didn’t notice when his invisibility dropped away. Like a magical web, it enticed him, and drew him in. Then without conscious thought, Saber reached out. The ache to feel its softness overcame all reasoning, and he was a single thought, emotion, need. He had to touch. To feel.
Then she slowed, and a roar screamed in Saber’s head as a few strands slipped smoothly, like sizzling silk, between his fingers. She stopped.
Saber slammed on the brakes, but between his dragon and his heart thundering in his chest, he heard nothing else. It was like he was locked in a dream he couldn’t break away from. His prey whipped around and her eyes … her eyes, a bright amber full of rage, locked on him. Saber opened his mouth but nothing came out.
He froze, unable to move as she raised her fist and punched hit him in the face.
Everything spun and the breath whooshed out of him.
His ass met the ground, and one part of his splintered mind noted the setting suns, while the other gaped at the sorceress from his dreams. She was … her.
Saber blinked, and shook his head. She mesmerized him, took his breath, and left him stunned senseless. Then he realized his constant suffering was gone. He wanted to laugh. No one had bested him in years. Not since he and his siblings would play fight.
His prey opened her mouth, then closed it … and took off again. Saber watched her for a moment, then lay back. Once again the torment closed in, and he had to fight the cobwebs of his mind. Still shocked, but happily so, he touched his jaw where she’d decked him. An unexpected chuckle erupted. Damn. She was good. Who would have thought she’d pack such a punch?
He stared up at the sky. Everything appeared brighter than it had in a very long time. The power of dragonkind swirled through him, and his arousal pressed against his pants. A pressure began to build in his chest and suddenly his dragon roared with a need so fierce, it almost took his breath away.
Saber decided he’d given her enough of a head start and climbed to his feet. Adrenaline pumped through him with excitement. This was going to be fun. Fun? He couldn’t remember when he last had fun. Maybe when he’d been young?
Then his thoughts took a more intense turn. With her curves, he could almost imagine what she’d feel like underneath him, all pliable and willing. She might be a little thinner, though still robust enough to make him eager with anticipation. He wanted to touch, kiss, and taste every succulent inch of her.
As Saber’s burning desire to make the female his registered, he drew to a stop as if ice water had been thrown on him. What the hell? He shook his head and groaned, trying to calm his racing emotions. Why the fuck am I so bloody attracted to her? She’s the enemy.
She could have been the spawn of Satan, and he’d still want her.
Saber drew on the memories, reminding him of why he was hunting her. Revenge, and to find out how to undo the spell that held Adarias locked in Hades. Feeling torn in two, Saber’s mind fought him. Bolts of lightning pierced his skull, one after another.
He let out a furious roar. Angry at himself, Saber shifted into his dragon and took to the sky. Yet as he closed in on her once again, he hesitated. For some inexplicable reason, he seemed to go a little nuts whenever he got near her. He needed to wait a bit longer, clear his mind …
Yet his mind didn’t want to be cleared. Saber made sure not to fly too far away and relived the surprise—and anger—in her eyes when she’d seen him. Right before she put him on his ass. The urge to laugh consumed him, until a scream far below snapped him back to reality.
His dragon roared as a burning rage unfurled inside him. Something had scared his prey. Saber spun in a circle and went into a dive, only to witness his longtime friend snatch his female, then shoot into the sky with her.
Wait! His female? What the fuck? The thought, along with the storm in his mind, momentarily distracted him. Then she screamed again, and Saber shot toward the other dragon.
“Cass, what are you doing?” he asked, trying to sound calmer than he felt as he caught up to Maya’s mate.
“I’ve got her,” Cass replied.
Saber felt his fury rise. “She is mine. I’ve been hunting her all these years,” he growled, and then his mind splintered even more at this unexpected act.
Cass didn’t even slow. “We want the same thing.”
“No, I—" Saber paused, suddenly unsure. While he’d lived for his revenge, subconsciously, he and his dragon had always wanted more. “You need to stop and give her back to me.” He sounded as if he were a Young wanting a toy that one of his siblings had taken from him.
Cass didn’t answer or slow down. Instead, he flew even faster.
“Where are you taking her?” Every bone in Saber’s body screamed to attack the other dragon, yet Cass was his friend. Besides, the female wouldn’t survive if he and Cass fought in the air.
“Cass?” A shiver of trepidation slithered through Saber for some inexplicable reason. He flew close, ready to put his power to the test and force an answer from his friend, when he realized it no longer mattered. Below him, Foil Forest sparkled in the early evening light, telling Saber exactly where they were headed.
Within minutes, Cass landed on the outskirts of his village and shifted back into his human-form. Saber tried to control his anger and waited a moment before lowering himself from the sky. Still, he couldn’t help the growl when he saw Cass binding the hands of his prey. The female yanked herself from Cass’s grip, tripped, and fell back onto the ground.
Saber roared, and sent a funnel of fire near the pair, making them both pause and look up. Saber drew in his wings and with rage pumping through his veins, landed with a heavy crash that made the ground tremble. Eyes blazing and mind splintering again, he prepared to end the life of anyone who got between him and the female. No. Cass is one of our only friends. The sane part of him reminded the not so stable part.
Saber shifted into his human-form. “Cass, I’m warning you. She is mine.”
“I don’t belong to you or anyone. I’m not chattel to own,” the female snapped bravely, though fear flashed in her eyes. They both ignored her.
“Vengeance doesn’t belong solely to you,” Cass said to Saber, eyes hard as he glared at the female cowering on the ground. “This is her, correct?”
Saber ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes. “Yes, but how did you—” Then it dawned on him. “Have you been following me?”
“Zales asked me to keep an eye on you.” Cass gave an ironic laugh, and Saber understood why.
“Fuck me.” He breathed, pissed that he hadn’t been aware. “He shouldn’t have done that,” Saber snarled. Cass was too close to losing his own humanity, he shouldn’t be worrying about watching over anyone else.
Cass shrugged. “Watching your dumb ass do stupid shit was a welcome distraction. Plus, I knew you were hunting the last of Maya’s murderers, so two birds, one stone.”
Saber advanced on his friend and shoved him back. “Well, you are done babysitting my dumb ass. I don’t need anyone keeping an eye on me.”
Cass shoved him back. Saber went to punch him when he spotted the female trying to inch away. His hand dropped and he unclenched his fist as bright-amber eyes that had haunted him for so long, stared back at him. Then he noticed the rope chafing her wrists. “You wasted no time securing her.”
“Yes, well, you were a little busy checking out the ground back there.” Sarcasm dripped from Cass’s voice.
“You saw that?” Saber asked, mostly to buy time as he tried to figure out what to do about the female. He knew Cass wasn’t going to give her up easily. Not even to him, and Saber didn’t intend to either. Still, he didn’t want to beat up his only friend.
“She got you good. How’d that ground feel anyway? Like a new experience?” Cass asked, teasing him, though his eyes were cold and devoid of any expression as he watched Saber.
“Ha-ha. Fuck you.” Saber snapped. He reached down and drew the female to her feet. She tried to pull away, but Saber hung on as he spoke to Cass. “Thanks for getting her for me, I’ll take it from here.”
Cass narrowed his eyes. “You aren’t taking her anywhere, it’s my mate she helped murder. I plan on getting my bit of revenge.”
Pain—jagged shards of white-hot blades struck, piercing Saber’s skull as if ready to split wide open. Then his dragon roared inside of him. His eyes began to glow with fury. And yet, what was he here for, if not revenge and information? His mind drifted and didn’t catch what Cass said.
What was I doing?