Remy escorted Margery down the stairs of the jet and onto the tarmac, where an honor guard of dragons in human form and soldiers from the Order of the Dragon Slayers lined up to greet them.

“Tell me again why a Queen has aligned herself with an ancient order that kills her species?” Margery angled her face to get the most of the sun.

Remy resisted the urge to stroke her cheek. He was afraid the other studs would view it as a weakness. “From what I understand, they treat Mei Hua better than the dragon studs did. She was one of the rare Queens who shifted even under the Cult of Humanity’s curse. That’s her.” Remy gestured with his chin to a slim Chinese woman who stood slightly behind a brawny human man carrying a trident and yards of chain around his body.

Remy clamped down the urge to kill him. Joachim was the head of the Order and had killed more dragons than most studs. But they weren’t here to avenge old scores. “Where’s Bella?”

“She’s not here.” Margery frowned. “You don’t think this is a trap, do you?”

“A little late for that now, don’t you think?”

Joachim stepped forward and bowed. “Queen Margery, welcome to Rome. I am Joachim, protector of Queen Mei Hua and director of the Order of Dragon Slayers. Please have your protector remain in human form. Queen Mei Hua detests studs in their dragon form.”

“Come walk with me, sister,” Mei Hua said, shifting into a Chinese dragon.

Remy took a deep breath, wondering how they were going to tell her that Margery couldn’t shift without appearing weak. But before he could speak, Margery’s form shifted and grew with a sparkle that hurt his eyes yet warmed his heart. A familiar sky dragon appeared next to him. Of course, she looked a lot healthier than she had when he’d first laid eyes on her.

Queen Margery, indeed.

“Surprise.” Margery inclined her head to him. “Do I still look like a plucked chicken?” she asked, shaking out strong wings. Her scales were sky blue, but they had a sheen of white and gold through them. The only thing remaining of his voluptuous redhead was her pretty green eyes.

“You are exquisite,” he said, breathless at the sight of her.

To his surprise, instead of taking to the skies, Mei Hua waited for Margery to come up alongside her, and together they walked the streets of Rome. The Order had done a good job of clearing the roads of cars and street traffic, but humans lined the streets waving banners with Mei Hua’s likeness on it. The makeshift parade was festive; Mei Hua was apparently beloved by the people of Rome.

Looking more closely at her, he noticed her wings were twisted and hung limply down her back. He turned to ask Joachim about it, but the man had disappeared. Remy glanced around nervously, but there were enough Order soldiers and dragon studs to put down any type of violence.

Mei Hua’s compound was headquartered in Vatican City along with the Order. Walking over the Ponte Sant’Angelo bridge was like returning to a simpler time, when dragons ruled and the most modern convenience was the wheel. That wasn’t to say technology was absent. There was a cell tower, snipers on some rooftops, and the Order’s building had antiaircraft guns mounted in strategic areas. It made him feel less like a sitting duck walking out in the open like this.

When they arrived in the courtyard, both Queens shifted back into human form before entering the building.

“Bella is excited to see you again,” Mei Hua said. “You grace us with your presence.” She slipped her feet into delicate, jeweled slippers and gestured for Margery to do the same with a similar pair. Remy picked up her shoes that she had cast off and stuffed them in the laptop bag. Part of being the consort and protector—you were also butler and servant. He stuffed down the slight resentment. No one was forcing him into this; he’d volunteered. Still, the court life of Queens had never appealed to him. His mother’s court was informal to the point that her protectors were borderline insubordinate. But Nessie preferred that to the ass kissers.

“Do you know her consort, Lane, very well?” Margery asked.

Mei Hua made a face. “I tolerate him.”

Remy trailed behind the Queens as they strolled through Mei Hua’s palace. Margery had magicked her clothes into formal attire. She looked like a sexy lawyer in a tight black skirt and low heels. Remy had to force his eyes away from her fantastic ass so he could scan the room for threats.

“You know he gave her a drug to get her pregnant,” Margery said.

Mei Hua nodded. “She was a willing participant. She loves him.” Another sneer and a toss of her Queenly head.

“But does he love her?”

“He does now.” Mei Hua’s voice contained barely hidden scorn.

Remy hid a snort. Ain’t that the truth.

Lane, whoever the heck he was, had hit the jackpot. Not only getting a Queen for himself, but also eggs. Remy had never thought much about being a father, but he supposed he should start getting used to it. His mother would be thrilled—if she was still alive.

“Humans can’t survive the pregnancy, though. If she hadn’t shifted, she would have been killed,” Margery said.

They continued down a long hallway filled with gilt-painted stones and marble statues of dragons. Remy was jaded against the casual display of wealth, but Margery’s eyes grew wide as she tried not to gape at some of the artifacts.

“She felt it was worth the risk.”

“Worth dying for?” Margery asked as they reached two large and ornate double doors. Joachim opened them from the other side. How had he gotten ahead of them?

“Some people are willing to die to get their heart’s desire,” Mei Hua said with a casual shrug.

“And some are willing to kill for it, too.”

Mei Hua inclined her head, and they walked into a sumptuous receiving room.

“Margery.” A visibly pregnant woman rose and sauntered over from the chaise lounge she had been reclining on. This must be Bella. Utterly sexual in a slutty, streetwise way, she would have caught anyone’s attention as she crossed the room—even if she hadn’t had three naked and very well-endowed men trailing behind her by collars and leashes. One was a blond. The others were a brunet and a redhead.

One of each.

“Not on your life,” Remy muttered under his breath.

Mei Hua shot him a cool look.

Margery hugged Bella and whispered in her ear. “Are you okay? We can get you out of here.”

Bella threw back her head and laughed. “Why the hell would I leave here? To go back on the streets, hustling backseat blow jobs and giving freebies to the cops so they look the other way? No way. I’m never working that hard again. Right, boys?”

“Yes, my Queen,” they said in unison.

“O-okay,” Margery drawled out.

Remy didn’t recognize the three studs, but they should have a little more self-esteem than to run around bare assed. Although if the Queen commanded it, it wasn’t like they had a choice. Still, they looked content to be at her back. Maybe it was just some bondage thing that he was too uptight to understand.

Mei Hua had walked away and joined Joachim, who was letting three baby dragons no bigger than tomcats crawl all over him. Remy blinked. He couldn’t be seeing what he thought he was seeing.

“Nidhogg,” Remy gasped, his jaw open. “Hatchlings.”

“Mine’s next,” Bella said, rubbing her belly.

Remy clutched Margery’s hand. “I haven’t seen babies in a thousand years.” He had to blink back tears and force his voice to be steady. Babies. His race wasn’t going to die out. Remy understood the naked studs a little better—it was a small price to pay for sons...or daughters. Daughters. Baby Queens. One of those hatchlings was a little girl dragon. Remy needed a drink, or at least a place to sit down while his knees wobbled.

“You see,” Bella said. “It’s not a bad pill.”

Margery’s head snapped back to her friend. “Is one of you Lane?” she asked the naked menagerie.

The three naked men looked down at their feet. “No, my Queen,” they intoned as one.

Yeah, like that wasn’t getting a little creepy.

“I want to talk to Lane,” Margery said.

“If you don’t mind,” Remy tacked on the last bit for tact purposes—not that a Queen needed to be tactful, but three against one was pretty shitty odds if Bella ordered her naked stooges to attack.

Bella shrugged. “He’ll be at dinner tonight.”

A guard approached them. “Queen Mei Hua would like me to show you to your rooms.”

He was another dragon slayer. While Remy had a vague idea of the martial arts training the Order subjected their recruits to, he couldn’t help but wonder what they thought about having to wait hand and foot on a Queen’s whim.

Remy eyed the servant with distrust, but the man met his gaze and waited patiently for Margery to acknowledge his statement.

“Would you like to borrow a couple of studs?” Bella asked as they turned to follow the servant. “As long as they don’t shift, they’re allowed in the palace.”

Remy looked down at his feet so she wouldn’t see his glare. He should get in the habit of that before another Queen whacked him for his insolence. He hated court politics.

“Uh, no, thanks,” Margery said. “I’ve got one.”

Some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. That was good. Real good.

Bella’s face wrinkled in confusion. “Why settle for one when you can have them all?”

“I don’t know,” Margery said in a placating tone. “I’ll think about it.”

You better not.

“Can I talk to you in private for a moment?” Margery asked.

Bella shrugged. “Sure. Stay,” she told the naked studs behind her.

“As my Queen commands,” they intoned as one.

Nidhogg save him. Remy fought not to roll his eyes.

“Do you mind?” Margery asked him with a gentle hand on his chest. To anyone else, it looked like she was stopping him from following. But he could see the question and the apology in her eyes.

He gave her a curt nod. He didn’t have to like being ordered to heel like a dog, but at least she asked nicely. When he scanned the room for threats and didn’t see any, he stayed back with Bella’s studs while the Queens walked over to a chocolate fountain to talk.

“What the serious fuck is wrong with you three?” he asked in a lowered voice.

“It’s a better gig than Cassandra’s court,” the blond said, his eyes lowered.

“Bella only wants to be pampered, and she doesn’t beat us. It’s not a bad deal,” the brunet added.

“Still...” Remy grimaced. “You’re on leashes.”

“Don’t you get it, dumb ass?” the redheaded one said. “We have sex with a Queen all fucking day. Our eggs will be next after that jackass Lane’s are hatched.”

He had a point.

“You were in Cassandra’s court?” Remy asked. “What happened after she was murdered?”

“Pandemonium.” Blondie glanced at Mei Hua out of the corner of his eye. “That one reminds me of her. She hates studs. I think the Order has her here to keep her in check.”

“She wants to make a human her consort and protector,” Brunet said.

“What?” Remy couldn’t help but stare at Mei Hua in shock. Luckily, she was too engrossed playing with her hatchlings to notice.

“To be fair”—Red shrugged—“Joachim is a dragon slayer, so it’s not like he couldn’t protect her.”

“That’s all we need.” Blond clenched his fists. “Humans taking the new Queens from us.”

“He can have that one. Bitch is crazy,” Brunet said.

Remy looked at the Order’s servant still waiting to escort Margery to her room. He held himself aloof, as if he wasn’t listening to every damn word they were saying. Maybe the Order had something about training everyone as a warrior or spy.

“Our Queen loves us, though. If we continue to please her, she’ll name us protectors,” Brunet said.

“Bare assed?” Remy couldn’t help himself.

Brunet rolled his eyes. “We’ll be replaced with another set of studs when she grows tired of us. Then we’ll be promoted to her protectors.”

Remy had his doubts that it worked that way. He was all for seniority benefits, but studs usually didn’t have a long lifespan once they went in service to a Queen. “How the hell did you wind up here?”

“The Order wanted to ask us for more information on Cassandra, and Queen Bella took a liking to us,” Blondie said.

“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Red added.

“Quiet,” Brunet interrupted. “They’re coming back.”

Remy wasn’t sure why they had to be quiet. They hadn’t been ordered to be silent. Well, he hadn’t, at least. Better safe than sorry.

“You’re going to like this life,” Bella said with a reassuring pat on Margery’s arm as they approached. “You can do anything you want now and no one can stop you. And if anyone tries, you can order them killed. That’s the first thing I did when I got my studs.”

Remy tensed, wondering if the Order’s goon was going to attack. But he didn’t even react.

“What?” Margery gasped.

“You remember my pimp, Eddie?”

“Unfortunately.” Margery shuddered.

Bella drew a line across her throat with her finger and made a screeching sound. “My stepfather was next. Followed by my uncles.” She blinked up at her. “You should think about it.”

“I will,” Margery said, and for the first time Remy was overwhelmed at the power she held.

“I bet there are enforcers who would line up to help you.”

He had to put a stop to this. “Should we be talking about murdering humans in the Order of the Dragon Slayers’ headquarters?” Remy asked.

“Oh”—Bella waved her hand—“the killings were sanctioned. The Dragon Slayers even offered to do it.”

“They offered to kill humans?”

Bella’s face wiped of emotion. “No, they offered to put down rabid beasts.”

Margery nodded, and in the uncomfortable silence the guard said, “This way to your room.”