Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
The other two dragons sought their own shrubbery, he and she landed behind a line of conical arborvitae.
He shook off his creature.
She let out a cute sneeze and I stood naked with Aleksei in the garden.
He had blood around his mouth and down his chest.
Along with murder in his eyes.
But two could be pissed right the heck off.
“You need to stop divebombing!” I shouted.
“She streams?” he asked with clearly barely controlled calm.
Some dragons had fire, some did not. It wasn’t about gender or class, it was about genetics.
Until that night, mine did not.
I shrugged. “She hasn’t before. It’s new.”
I tensed when he suddenly whirled, and Aleece rounded the shrubbery with her arms full of clothes.
Gaze averted, she handed him what looked like a sweater and jeans, then she came to me, her eyes avoiding mine, but she was smiling, so I didn’t think she was protecting my nudity, but instead, hiding her insane amusement (what was amusing, I ask you!), and she gave me the same.
“I’ll just…” She hooked a thumb to the shrubbery and skedaddled.
“Never again.” Aleksei’s voice was vibrating with fury as he spoke and yanked up his jeans.
“Honey.”
“Never do that again!” he thundered.
Okay.
I was learning he had to shout it out, so did I, and then we could carry on like adults.
But now, he had to pull it together.
I was also dressing as I said with as much calm as I could muster in the face of his pulsating wrath, and frankly, all I’d just seen and done, “We’ll battle it out, but we can’t right now. We need to see if our loved ones are okay and find out what the farg is going on.”
My mate agreed with me, I knew, because he yanked down his sweater, snatched up my hand, and dragged me through the courtyard to the Palace.
Once inside, there was still pandemonium. I could see the green and orange flashes of constabulary craft outside the opened front doors, defense bots standing at attention just inside, ambu-lift medics were hard at work, beings were milling about in shocked stupors, and some had fainted and were on the floor. To my despair, the latter were intermingled with those who were battered and bloodied. And worse, some who were obviously dead.
I saw Dr. Fearsome, Rya not too far from him (they were guests), both of them administering to some wounded.
And then I lost sight of them when Aleksei pushed me into Timothee’s arms and ordered, “Take her to the king’s study, and I swear to fuck, Tim, she steps one foot out of it, I’ll hold you responsible.”
Timothee nodded, but he also looked like he was fighting a smile, when, again, I had no idea what could possibly be funny, and he started pulling me to the stairs.
I didn’t want to go. I was no medic, but I could wield a Medi-Aid, for goodness’ sake.
But my mate was in a state, so I said not a word and accompanied Timothee to the king’s study.
The first to join us were Monique and Mrs. Truelock.
Right.
Two down.
Good.
Seven to go.
“The others?” I asked after I rushed to them to give them hugs.
“In the crush to get back to the Palace, I lost track of Gayle and Cat,” Monique told me apprehensively. “I…I don’t know about Mr. and Mrs. Vinestrong. But Mr. Truelock was talking to a constable when we were located and escorted up here.”
Right, three down, six to go.
“The queen?” Mrs. Truelock asked, glancing at Timothee.
“I don’t know. I believe she went inside at the beginning of the attack. But Aleksei, Aleece, and the king are okay,” I said.
“We saw Aleksei, Aleece and Fillion,” Mrs. Truelock said. “But we haven’t seen Calisa,” she finished as the door opened.
“I’m here. I’m fine,” the queen announced.
I hurried to her and threw my arms around her.
She gave me a brief squeeze, pulled away but kept hold of one arm, patted my cheek with the other hand, her eyes moving over my face, a strange light in them.
And she murmured, “My little Iphelia.”
Whoa.
“I should have read it,” she said mysteriously, just as the door opened again.
Cat and Gayle came in.
I hastened to them too.
After we embraced, I looked to Gayle. “Your mom?”
“She refused to come up. Somehow, she got her hands on a couple Medi-Aids and she’s slapping those babies on anyone who has the faintest bruise.”
Gods, I adored Mrs. Vinestrong.
“Did either of you see Sirk?” I asked.
Cat nodded. “I saw him. He was helping to load wounded onto ambu-lifts.”
Okay.
All nine were good.
I could relax, at least a little.
“Now that we’re all together, can someone tell me I had a drug slipped into my drink and I’m hallucinating the fact that there are a slew of dead trolls with blast holes strewn all over the west garden of the Celestial Palace?” Cat drawled.
“I wish I could,” I told her.