“Come.” The master turned and strode back toward the horses.
It was the first time he’d given me an actual command all day.
I nearly fell over myself to do as he said. “Yes, sir. Right at your— Somewhat behind your heels, sir. Should I call you sire now? I’m not sure where we stand with the whole don’t antagonize the demons with your title situation. I mean, you’ve killed most of the ones in the castle, so it hardly matters what they think…”
“Hannon, Finley’s brother,” he said after mounting, as though he hadn’t heard a word I’d spoken.
“Yes…sire?”
But I didn’t get an answer. He kept riding until we reached the stables at the castle, then put out his hand for the stable boy to bring his stallion. The boy scurried away to do just that.
“He is taller than his father, isn’t he?”
I blinked a few times, thinking, then shook my head. “I don’t think I ever saw them next to each other. He’s big, though. Tall, broad. He’s the biggest in their village, I think. And Finley was the tallest girl. I remember her saying that. She was tall for a guy in her village, even.”
He grunted as his stallion came. In a moment, he swung onto its back before guiding it around and looking down at me.
“I’ll need you shadowing me tonight,” he said, and I was pretty sure my balls shriveled up into my body. “Finley has been anxious for the last couple days. She hasn’t been punished for…whatever it is they punish her for. Right now, she is practically jumping out of her skin. I’ll need to be available to help her should she require assistance. You can watch for the demons’ creations while I’m…indisposed.”
“But…” He walked on, and I had to scramble onto Bella’s back and hurry her after him. “But sir, how can I keep up with a dragon?”
“You are a wolf, are you not? Don’t wolves always pride themselves on how quickly and quietly they can get through a wood?”
“But I can’t—” I gritted my teeth and internally swore. I could shift, apparently. Those village people had said so. And while generally that would’ve been an amazing thing, it wasn’t so great if it meant I’d been forced to spend even more time in the moody prince’s company.
“I can help you through the shift, if you’re rusty,” he said, suddenly chatty as shit. When it came to doling out terrible news, he was apparently full of things to say. “I can give you a boost of power to make sure the transition is easy.”
“What about Urien?” That was his trusty valet, a relic from a time when people did the job they were trained for, and did it well.
“He’s always on hand, but tonight…I want another set of eyes. You’re doing it for Finley, Hadriel. Something tells me that tonight…” His voice turned into a hard growl. “Whatever is happening tonight…she’ll need all the support she can get.”
ELEVEN
FINLEY
“This is not going to be any fun, Strange Lady,” Vemar called down, clutching the bars of his cell. “Just remember, we’re all going through it with you. The rest of us have been through this before, and we all survived.”
“If you get a chance to kill someone, go ahead and take it,” Tamara said, pacing back and forth in her cell.
“You do that, they’ll keep you in the cage,” said Lucille, a somewhat petite woman for a dragon. “Like all of us.”
“She’ll want to stay in the cage.” Micah rested his forearms on a crossbar and let his hands dangle outside of the bars as usual. “How many have you killed now?”
“Nineteen.” Lucille grinned, showing the gap in her top row of teeth. Apparently she’d gotten that when a guard kicked her in the mouth. “I keep trying to round up to twenty, but they’re onto me.”
“How about you, Micah?” someone down the row asked. “Care to impress the new girl?”
“Kill number isn’t as important as rank,” Micah replied.
“He’s killed every captain but one.” Tamara smirked at him across the way. “You just need that clean sweep, and then you’ll be bored.”
“They keep elevating new guards to captain.” Micah shrugged. “I have plenty to hunt.”
The sound of boots thunking on stone reverberated down the row of cells. It sounded like an army.
“Here we go,” Micah said in a low, calm voice. My small hairs stood on end from the level of menace dripping from each and every syllable. “Finley, we don’t go to as many parties as the wolves or faeries because we’re dangerous. We’re unpredictable. Killing guards on these nights won’t get you beaten like other times because they want to show us off. They’ll sacrifice guards to do it. But what it will do is make them wary to call you up again. That’s a good thing.”
“Consider it open season,” Tamara said with a small chuckle. “Kill at will.”
One by one, the dragons stepped away from the bars. Those I could see drifted to the center of their cells, hands at their sides. All gazes were directed toward the stairs, except for Micah’s. He looked my way and nodded once, giving me a wave of courage and confidence.
I glanced back at the corner where I’d stored the dried everlass leaves, staring longingly at the crowded ones. If only I could get those into the water source at this party, I could likely kill the whole lot of them. Then again, I hadn’t tried cold-seeping them to see if they would have the same potency. Not to mention I doubted the demons would let me near their water source…
I flexed and relaxed my hands as the stampede of boots got louder. I stepped into the center of my cell as well. Other than me, it was empty, as Jedrek hadn’t been brought down for a while. Black boots with a high shine appeared on the steps, Govam descending. Denski followed, and then came a line of hard-eyed demons with shackles in their hands and determination on their faces. These guards looked like they were ready for war.
“Why not the sex demons instead of the guards?” I asked the others. The thought had occurred to me a few times, but I’d always forgotten to ask.
“A bunch of lustful, grabby dragons aren’t any easier to move,” Tamara said, still staring in the direction of the stairs as the guards descended.
“I think it is actually something to do with their hierarchy,” Micah said in a low voice. “I’ve asked out of curiosity, but no one’s given me a direct answer. The sex demons are somewhat looked down upon, it seems.”
“I’m not complaining,” Vemar said.
The guards filed into the dungeon, three to five guards each congregating outside of the various cells.
“Looks like we have a lot of new faces,” Vemar called out. “Do we have a new captain leading a new team, perhaps?”
Govam didn’t spare Vemar a glance, nor did he walk as far as my cell. He stopped outside Micah’s cell and stared in for a moment, not speaking.
“I get this one, then?” A sallow-skinned demon with two large horns curling from his head stopped outside of my cell, looking in. He gave me a once-over, pausing for a long moment on my sword. When his eyes met mine again, there was something not quite right with the gleam in them. Something hostile and unbalanced. Heat sparkled there, too. Desire. “Just a pretty little girl dragon. What a nice treat for my first time in this position, hmm? Breaking me in easy…while I break you in hard.”