I would never admit it under the most dire torture, but I had finally found peace with losing control of my beast.

I coasted in slow, silent circles around the perimeter of our nest, watching for any sign of invasion. Though how she thought I could blast millions of ants without harming the trees, I wasn’t sure. Hopefully I didn’t turn them into a bunch of glowing torches accidentally. Though I would continue to bitch about losing the ability to shift whenever I wanted, it was actually quite freeing. I didn’t have to worry about who I’d slaughter now. My queen would use me to slaughter her enemies as she saw fit, and she’d make sure she leashed me before I could harm those she didn’t want roasted or torn apart.

Simple.

She pointed. I would blast with fire and rend limb from limb. Perhaps she’d send me after Skye directly now that Xin felt like he couldn’t assassinate her. The thought made smoke puff out of my nose. A giant dragon flying over the sprawling hub of New York City. It could totally happen.

Nevarre made a gods-awful screech and dived toward the ground, hopping around like flames scorched his tail feathers. Bullseye.

I focused on that spot. :Got it.:

He hopped up into a nearby tree, its limbs heavy with all kinds of birds. More crows, a dozen owls, several hawks and a million or so little ones. I had no idea what kind they were. As long as they were hungry and fast, I didn’t give a fuck what they were.

I couldn’t see much. Even in broad daylight, my vision wasn’t as sharp as the crow’s would be. I hunted by my nose. But what the fuck did fucking ants smell like? Dirt? Fucking bugs.

Through our queen’s bond, Nevarre shared a sort of underground map with me. The new trees above ground that Shara had grown with her blood were already impressive, but the underground network of roots was astounding. A sensitive lacy web of roots covered the entire nest now and reached at least thirty or forty feet deep. I felt the horde coming up out of the ground like an oil geyser. In fact, they smelled like some kind of chemical that reminded me of raw petroleum.

That, I could definitely track if they tried to change course at the last moment once they realized we were ready for them.

:Are they commanded directly by Skye?: I asked Nevarre. :Can she change the plan when she sees us ready and waiting?:

:Unknown.:

I drew great gusts of air into my lungs, powering up my internal bellows. I wanted liquid fire, hot molten rock level heat. Crispy critters. No chance for escape.

The smell intensified. The birds all leaned closer to the ground, focused intently, ready to feast. I waited until the stench of petroleum was strong in my nostrils and the ground started to move. Then I let my hottest fire blast, lighting up the ground like an inferno with controlled, long, blasts. I wouldn’t singe the trees my queen had suffered so much to grow. My fire trickled to smoke and I shot back up into the sky, hauling in air for another strike. The birds descended immediately, swooping in to pick at the crispy ants and the live ones still kicking.

Goddess. The ground was crawling with them. Bugs. Wings. It was definitely the stuff of nightmares. The burned ants smelled more like roasted popcorn now.

I sensed movement several feet off to the side. Nevarre’s underground map flared in my head, showing the dark mass trying to slide through roots to a new safer exit point. Heavy-duty snappers were trying to cut through roots, but it was taking time, and the roots were doing a damned fine job of lassoing ants and crushing them. Fuck. Never in a million years would I have imagined going to battle with fucking trees and random birds. I blasted the ground again, making it steam and smoke, hopefully killing them before they could even emerge, or at worst, keep them down with the vicious roots.

In our bond, Shara felt stronger, a flood of fresh energy surging through us all. Holy fuck, a new Blood. :Find their queen.:

The trees responded so loudly in her head that we all felt it.

Queen. Here. Danger.

One tiny ant among the horde. The trees marked her, though she looked no different as far as I could tell. She was still below ground and pushing hard toward Shara, well-insulated and surrounded by her soldiers. While the birds were busy feasting on the ants escaping to the surface, Nevarre tracked the queen ant, scratching at the ground, digging with his beak, trying to find a way down to her.

I circled back around and checked the main group of ants. The ground still teemed with bugs and birds, but the birds had them well in hand, cawing and tweeting at each other in a bedlam of excitement. They’d probably never eaten so many bugs at once.

Nevarre felt me sweeping back toward the queen’s group and flew up out of the way, making room so I could blast the ground again. I got the top layer of her soldiers. But not the queen. Some of the group swept closer to a tree, sensing that I wouldn’t burn it. The oak had a split in its side, an ancient rotted hole that had probably made a great squirrel or raccoon nest. The ants swarmed up into that crevice, shielded from fire. Old and dry and rotted, the tree looked like a big pile of kindling. Of all the other trees in the grove, it didn’t stir as the ants crossed its roots.

I thought it was dead, and so did the ants. Until the crevice snapped shut like a giant mouth, trapping thousands of ants in the hollowed center.

The ground rumbled, drawing my attention back to the group of ants making a beeline toward our queen. Shifted into the rock troll, Rik pounded the ground with massive fists, shoving layers of dirt and rock tight, smashing ants by the hundreds.

Yet the queen marched on.

Dragons didn’t sweat, but I didn’t like how close this thing was getting to Shara. Rik didn’t either. He tore at the ground, heaving up giant pieces of sod and roots. Trying to expose the queen where either Nevarre or I could get to her.

:Blast this area again.: Rik ordered me. :Your fire won’t hurt me.:

I wasn’t so sure, but did as he told me, bathing the entire area with fire. Flames licked the ground and up his calves as he stomped and thumped the ground. Ants scrambled up his stony body, snapping uselessly at giant boulders. It looked like some kind of apocalyptic scene, with a giant monster slapping at his body and the ground, killing the ones fire didn’t consume.

“Where’s the queen?” Rik roared aloud. “Find her.”

The trees lost track of her. That told me she had to be above the surface. Sweeping low over the ground, I scanned the heaving carpet of ants. Many were smoking or damaged, legs twitching uselessly as Rik plowed through them. But no queen.

We were dangerously close to where Shara waited now. Too close for me to risk burning her or one of the guarding Blood.

I landed, joining Rik in smashing with my huge feet as many as I could.

With a low rumbling roar, a gigantic grizzly lumbered over and started scooping up pawfuls of ants and eating them. Xin’s wolf materialized and he hopped and smashed ants beneath his paws, making the bear sit up and twitch his ears a moment, before scooping up another pile of ants to munch. Daire joined him, but the disgusted twist of his warcat’s mouth proclaimed that ants were not to his personal taste.

Guillaume swung around to face the approaching threat, carefully so she didn’t slip, though she was stronger and steadier now. Head low, the hell horse scanned the ground.

“She’s not dead,” Shara warned. “I can feel her close.”

:There.: Nevarre cawed and dove straight down to the ground just feet away from our queen.

I couldn’t even see what the fuck he was after. Urgency hammered through our bond. Rik scrambled toward her, his fists slamming into the ground in rapid succession, but he was too far away. Smoke puffed with each breath I took, but I didn’t dare stream fire at her. She might be able to stand unharmed in my flame, but I wouldn’t know until it was too late.

The hell horse lifted one platter-sized hoof and slammed it down on the ground with a satisfying crunch. :Done.:

I landed, chuckling out puffs of smoke. We came to her, automatically forming an arc of protection before our queen, mounted on a hell horse, and surrounded by a dragon, rock troll, warcat, wolf, raven, and now, another fucking furball.

:That’s grizzly, lizard..: The new Blood snarled in our queen’s bond.

I rolled my slitted eyes and puffed smoke in his direction, making Daire cough and the bear sneeze. Guillaume made a wheezing whinny that startled us all, until I realized he was actually laughing.

Crouching, I snapped my jaws, my tail lashing the ground. I’d never eaten a grizzly before, let alone a hell horse, but I was pretty sure they’d both make a tasty snack. At least a hell of a lot tastier than those nasty ants.

Rik strode between us. He wrapped one rock-hard hand around my gullet, right below my bottom jaw, and squeezed, locking off my air. Fuck, when did he get so big? So strong? Even as a rock troll, he hadn’t been as big as Leviathan, but the dragon had serious doubts about escaping unscathed.

Which reminded me exactly how he’d pinned me last night. How hard he helped her fuck me. And yeah, my mood shifted mercurially fast to lust.

Shara slid down off Guillaume, holding onto his mane and leaning against him a moment to make sure she was steady. Daire pushed his head under her arm, and she leaned on him as she walked slowly toward us.

Toward Rik. Naturally. She always went to him first. I shouldn’t care. He was alpha. She ought to go to him first of all her Blood. But my tail snaked restlessly on the ground and I jerked my head up, trying to dislodge his grip. Impossible, really. Though I had to try.

She paused, leaning against my side. Concerned, I searched her bond. If she really was so weak that only walking a few paces exhausted her, she’d never be up for taking out another much-older queen. The kind of power she’d need to master Keisha Skye, let alone Marne Ceresa…

But her bond felt fine. Much better than before. Her skin was coated with dying, flaking blood, but the awful wound in her chest had finally healed.

She leaned. Against me. Leviathan. King of the depths.

For comfort. Safety. Affection.

All things I felt in her bond.

Mixed with a healthy dose of amusement, granted, but compassion and understanding as well.

Her alpha released my throat so I could return that affection.

I curled up around her and lay on the ground, using my tail to lift her up off the dead ant carcasses and shredded earth. Rumbling deep in his chest, Daire hopped up beside her. Uncaring that he lay on top of a mean, vicious, terrible dragon.

And somehow I was completely okay with that.