Tears welled in her eyes, and her lower lip trembled. “I have to go back. I have to. If I don’t go back, he’ll think I did what he asked and left him. He’ll think I’m moving on. I can’t let him think that.”
“How will he know you’ve even escaped?” Lucille asked.
“Our bond. He knows. He seems to have gotten very good at reading my emotional cues and knowing how to help. He’ll know I’m out, and he’ll think I’ve found a new home. I…” A tear tracked down Finley’s cheek. “I can’t do that to him. I can’t.”
Tamara stepped closer to Finley and laid a hand on her arm. “I’ve known the prince most of my life. He’s not easy to bring to heel or break down. He’s held up this long, and he’ll hold up for a while longer. Let’s secure the help these shifters and faeries are willing to give, and then we’ll go in as we should—on fire.”
“We’ll drop everyone off at the docks in the Flamma Kingdom so they can go their separate ways,” Micah said. “We’ll gather reinforcements at the dragon villages, and then meet again at the port city. I told you I’d secure you a dragon army if you got me off that island, and I intend to. Give me that chance. Let’s make this count.”
Finley sagged against the side of the boat, another tear falling down her cheek. “In my heart of hearts, I figured it would come to this. I’m not dense. It’s just…”
“You’re in love with a really lucky motherfucker.” Vemar spread his hands. “And you’re horny. We get it, Strange Lady. Anyone who orgasms while they are being tortured and masturbates in a dungeon has it bad. But unless you have help, you ain’t never gonna ride that cock again, you know? Do it for the cock.”
“Wow. That just got super dirty,” I said. “I’m impressed.”
“I learned from the best.” He winked at me, and I felt a little flutter. The guy was as hot as he was batshit crazy. Thank the goddess and her secrets he was not into men, or I might make a terrible mistake.
Wait. He wasn’t into men, was he?
Finley threw up her hands, then turned for the stairs and the scant rooms belowdecks.
“I’ll go with her,” Hannon murmured, and followed.
Tamara wandered closer, watching them go. A little too close, actually. Why the fuck—
I jerked away when she suddenly leaned in toward me.
“Goodness, Hadriel, a little jumpy, huh?” she said, grinning.
“What do you want?”
“To pitch you overboard, but because you helped us out in a major way, I won’t. Isn’t that nice of me?”
“There is nothing nice about you.”
“I love you too.” She laughed. “Anyway.” She pointed at Hannon’s retreating backside. “What’s his deal? He’s gorgeous. I’m not usually into redheads, but…”
“He’s too green for you, that’s his deal. He hasn’t had demon sex conditioning. You’d probably stick a finger in his butt, and he’d hit the ceiling.”
She clucked her tongue. “I’m so excited to spend more time with you.” She made a fast motion with her hand, and, annoyingly, I flinched again. She grinned mischievously as my stomach swam from all the movement and standing and leaning. No way was I going to throw up in front of her. I’d made fun of Lucille earlier for doing it on the deck, and now look—fucking karma.
Thankfully, Tamara’s expression turned solemn. “Seriously, though, how’s the prince? How was he when you left?”
I nearly threw up but held it down. “Not good. He’s hanging on by a thread. He needs her back. She made him…as even-tempered as he can possibly be. She restored his past self to him. The good parts. You should see her with plants. I think she’s better with them than the queen. I really do. She cured the demon sickness.”
Tamara leaned away with a skeptical expression. “What’s this now? We aren’t the only kingdom that’s been cursed with that sickness. A couple of other dragons came in with it. I don’t remember where they were from, but it wasn’t Wyvern or Flamma. They died…pretty hardcore. The guards and officers both said there was no cure.”
Pride welled up from my fucking toes. Along with my stomach.
When I was done throwing up, I turned back around.
“She figured it out. I’m telling you, she’s amazing. Well, she’s had to be, right? Or else she was destined to see the rest of her family suffer and die. She lost her mother and…grammy or something to it. Sometimes I stop listening out of drunkenness. Anyway, she’s great. You’ll see.”
“Is that why he gave her the sword?”
“I don’t honestly know. Neither does she. She was in peril, so he promised to get her some weapons—he was giving her space at the time—and he put the sword in a sack in the woods. He was showing her how much she meant to him, and she didn’t even realize it.”
Tamara shook her head. “I don’t know whether to be pissed or swoon.”
“I fucking swooned, and don’t you dare talk me out of it.”
“Goodness…” Tamara turned her lips downward. “You sure have a prickly side when it comes to them.”
“Yes, I do. Thank you for noticing. They are going to be crowned king and queen when this bullshit is all over, and they better be good at their fucking jobs. Real good at their fucking jobs. And they better need a mediocre butler because I’m starting to like this gig. Mostly. Kinda.”
“You talk nonsense half of the time.”
“Only because of your nonsense personality.”
She laughed and turned to look out at the sea. “I’m scared to go home. I’m scared of what I’ll find.”
“Expect the worst. Then sit on that for a moment, imagine something worse than that, and expect that. Then have a nightmare about it, really just wallow in that nightmare, and expect that as your new reality. Welcome to a nightmare—cheers!”
I put up my hand, thought about a drink, and threw up mostly nothing over the side of the boat.
“And she’s common.” Tamara sounded distant; she was probably thinking about it through the lens of her past position. She’d been the captain of the queen’s guard, a very noble role. Once she got to know Finley better, she’d see her worthiness. I had no doubt about that.
“Poor as fuck. From the worst—or poorest, I should say—village. She has nothing but her talent. And her dragon.”
“If she’s a dragon.”
“Oh, she’s a fucking dragon. She’ll be a helluva fucking dragon, too. You should hear her and the master rage-fuck. Now that is a terrifying situation. Only dragons do that, you know. Normal shifters do not—”
I felt her hand on my shoulder and flinched again, before pulling away. You could never be too careful with a dragon from the court.
“They rage-fuck?” she asked softly.
I squinted at her shocked face. “I can’t tell if that turns you on or…”
“He has—or had—an extreme temper.”
“Oh, you’re shocked. Yeah, I know about his temper. I actually panic-sharted a couple months ago, right after she left, when he snapped and yelled at me. It turned her on, though.”