Burn (Dragon Souls) (43 page)

Jakob’s slack expression hardened with purpose in an instant. His Queen was alive, and she needed him.

And she
was
Queen – by default alone.

Viktor was not the kind to tell a lie, and he was young enough that his training had not instilled the value of indifference when dealing with other Dragon Lords.

Jakob read the youngling’s sincerity like a book.

“Where?” he demanded.

“I found her in a lava flow up in the mountains. I was upset. I ran from my guard and ended up close to the quest trail.” He bit his lip when his lisp and stutter got worse, as he was rushing to get it all out. He breathed. He consciously made the effort to slow his speech. “I did not do much. It was the wild dragoness Marina saved during her first quest that led me to her. I found her there trying to get up.” His hands flapped in worried flurries. “She was covered in crusted magma.”

“Chosen with the ability to withstand submersion in lava is tremendously rare.”

As rare as those who could survive being frozen then thawed.

Jakob struggled not to get too excited. If there were ever a Chosen to be so blessed it would be Marina. How she must be suffering. He wondered at the hideousness if her burns. Her skin must have melted and reformed into something truly grotesque.

But she was alive!

How long will she be with us
?

Did it matter? She may not have much time left, but for his King to have the chance to say goodbye to his Treasure....

“You are certain?” Jakob demanded harshly.

The boy nodded, frantic. “She spoke to me.”

“We must be quick. She will not survive long with such extensive burns. Where on the mountain did you say? How long since you found her?”

“I found her after the eruption. So–”

“
What
? That was hours ago. What the hells have you been doing all this time? She must be in agonizing pain.
Dying
. What in the name of the Goddess are you playing at
?”

Viktor’s mouth opened then closed. He blinked in shock then looked utterly wretched. “I am not explaining w-well. She s-survived the lava. S-S-she-e i-i-iis...” His lashes fluttered as his tongue twisted and tied itself into knots. “I-It is-s...” His chest jerked as he tried to control his panic. Stopping, he breathed deeply, closing his eyes. When they opened, he was more focused and his voice was calmer. “It is not that simple. Y-You will think it unbelievable and me m-mad.” Anxious, he waved Jakob closer. “She is one of u-
us
.”

Brow furrowing, Jakob studied the youngling. He was flushed and glassy eyed. The last day and night had been horrific. Perhaps he cracked under the pressure and was no longer sound of mind.

Jakob’s heart sank.

Perhaps the youngling only thought he found the Princess.

“I do not understand.”

“Marina is a Dragon,” Viktor blurted, crystal clear, not a lisp or stutter in sight.

Jakob’s mind blanked. He sucked in a breath and gripped the hilt of his
katana
. The breath released in a hiss. “A Dragon
Lady
?” He scowled, his grip on his weapon tightening. “Youngling, this is no time for sick jokes. Men are grieving. If the King were to overhear you–”

“I hid her in the mountain pass.” Worried the male would turn and leave Viktor grabbed his sleeve. “A cave. I took her to a cave, and used my fangs to chew off the scoria. She needs help.
Now.
She will
fade
, Jakob. I think this was her first time shifting. I remember my first. I was completely drained and disorientated. Father had to force me to change back into human before I forgot how.” Slashes of hot colour flared across his cheeks and temples. He was completely mortified to be confessing he possessed greater weakness than his speech problems. “I could not shift with ease from one form to another for many years. I think she has forgotten her human self. Maybe she does not how to change back. She has had no guide.” He shrugged helplessly. “Either way, she needs help.”

Jakob saw the youngling believed what he said.

He sighed gustily. “Are you sure you have not stumbled across some wild dragon female?”

Viktor looked frustrated. “It is
Marina
.” His stressed face tuned redder as his emotions bubbled and boiled over. “She spoke to my mind. Look into her eyes and you will know it too.”

“Maybe you imagined–”

“No! She spoke. I know it is her.
I know
.”

Jakob opened his mouth and then a memory struck him.

The scale.

He remembered the intense look in Marina’s eye when she handed him the black dragon scale after her second quest. He recalled the blush that rose to her cheeks when he told her it was beautiful.

The day before her third quest she had refused training.

Instead, she descended into the bowels of the Citadel to visit the archives, much his confusion, only re-emerging to scamper off to AshMount muttering about visiting Council Mon Leonid, an ancient Dragon, the last Phoenix to have produced offspring with his Treasure.

And he had held a female dragon scale.

Surely it cannot be.

“Why come to me?” Jakob asked in as neutral a voice as possible. His mind raced as it pieced together other strange things he had noticed about the High Princess but dismissed. “Why did you not seek out the King?” Then he remembered the youngling had come to the throne room kicking up a fuss and had been escorted away. His heart kicked painfully as he realized no one had listened. “You-”

“
Yes, I tried
.” Viktor balled his hands into fists, angry at his original failure to get his cousin help. “I could not get near the King, or Council Mon Zar. Lord Kol listened, as I am from a House in the Wyvrae Court, and Marina named us kin.” Pride infused his voice as he spoke, and his back straightened. The bluster left him with his next words. He slouched, his face forlorn. “He threw me to the guards when I told him. My Sire did not even believe me. He was drunk! I was thrown back into my House apartments and left to await Captain Vadik.” His eyes were sad. “They believed I mocked her death.”

“A healer.” Jakob dragged a hand through his silver mane, his mind racing. “The Mage, Khan, would never follow me to such a place with such a tale, and I know nothing of how to tend a Dragon female. I do not know her people well enough for them to trust me either. They accepted my presence because she forced them. They couldn’t wait to get rid of me after she was pronounced lost.” He lowered his voice. “I am here to spy for the King, but he does not truly believe what I learn will be of worth. I am likely to get the same reaction as you if I tell them this story, if not worse.”

“She appointed you her Second. She trusted you.” Viktor met the other male’s gaze squarely. “Each second I waste is a moment she comes closer to fading. I thought you would know what to do. Please. You do not even have to truly believe, just help me.” His eyes watered. “Please. I cannot fail her.”

Jakob’s mind was cast back to the throne room.

The Dragon King had looked about him and asked how they could have failed her.

Incredulous, Jakob scrubbed a hand over his face.

Am I a fool?

He could not brush the youngling aside. If there was a chance Marina was alive, he wanted to help. Viktor had not lied when he said she – for some reason – trusted him, and anointed him the position of her advisor so he could be to her what Lord Kol was to the Dragon King.

Here I stand wavering when she may need me. If there is the slightest of chances that she is alive....

Gaze sharpening, he scanned the derelict locale for onlookers.

Jakob drew the angst-ridden youngling deeper into the shadow of the decrepit hostelry. “Take me to her.”

J
akob was a strong male. He’d been through hell, and kept a piece of it for his own. He dealt with life’s challenges as they came, and never truly expected things to turn out right.

As he stared at the horned Dragoness reclining on a bed of dry leaves, his world began anew.

He believed.

“Marina?”

The Dragoness blinked, her dark, crystalline orbs glimmering with intelligence. She tossed her head, and her slender maw cracked in what Jakob swore was a grin.

Barking a laugh, he slapped a hand to his forehead and paced.

Spun to her and ordered, “Shift back.”

She yawned, flashing ivory fangs and then lowered her snout onto her foreclaws. She looked at him haughtily, as if to say, ‘Already tried that. Dumbass.’

A hacking cough wracked her frame. Her whole hide seemed to shudder and convulse.

She turned her head to lethargically spew a puddle of brimstone onto the cool ground. When it was done, she grumbled, and rolled onto her side, leathery wings slapping at her underbelly as if it ached.

Jakob noticed the savaged remains of some jungle creature – blood, bones, spittle, and fur.

Maybe she had heartburn?

“She keeps doing that,” Viktor said, wringing his hands. “I think it is because she was submerged in the magma for so long. He paused thoughtfully. “She looks much better than before. Her breathing is better, she ate the meat I hunted, and she is moving about.”

“That can only be a good thing.” Jakob was relieved. He had no idea how to safely fetch a healer, so if she mended on her own, it meant there was a good chance he could keep this situation contained, giving him time to reason out what steps to take next.

Foremost, he needed to get the Dragon King back on this mountain. Telling the male the truth would result in getting his head ripped off. The best and quickest way to lure him in was with a lie.
Easy enough
, he thought optimistically. He would tell Koen Raad he uncovered intelligence of Ja refugees hiding in the very cave his Treasure hid in.

The hard part would be convincing him the mute dragoness was his supposedly dead mate.

Surely, the male would know? Wouldn’t he sense his beloved stood before him, even if she had done the impossible and shifted into
dragonskin
?

“Jakob?” Calling out, a white-haired Dragon Lord with an enormously handsome face hovered at the cave threshold.

He peered in, but went no further. He knew better than to enter. Wild ones did not tolerate their lairs being invaded. He looked around in confusion. He was not sure where he was, or what was up here in the wilderness that would have drawn his kin’s interest.

“What are you doing up here, Jak?”

“Maksim?” Jakob rushed out of the cave. He stared at his brother in shock. “What the hells are you...?” His face blanked, blackened with resentment. Nostrils flaring, his fists clenched. “You followed me.”

“Well, yes. You acted strangely. First, you say you are sick of being a criminal then leave to go live in the Citadel as that runty Chosen’s lap dog. Days later you return and say you are no longer welcome by her people and want in on my plans.” The man sounded put out, but not truly irate or suspicious. “Then you disappear again when things start to get good. What are you...?”

He trailed off when Viktor ran out to see what was going on. He jerked to a stop and looked between them anxiously.

“Go back inside,” Jakob ordered without turning.

Viktor looked nervously over his shoulder. “Um....”

Maksim grabbed Jakob’s arm. “Stop fooling around with younglings.” He slid his brother a queer look that said, ‘
Whatever does it for you. Who am I to judge?’
“Come with me. There is not much time. I have a plan that will fix our problems for life.”

Shaking himself loose, Jakob took in his elder sibling’s edgy, excited posture. “What are you talking about?”

Smirking nastily, Maksim waggled his eyebrows. “I grabbed us a once-in-a-dynasty opportunity, little brother.”

“I am not interested–”

“An assassination attempt on a royal,” Maksim continued quickly. “Not just any royal.
The
royal.”

It took a moment, but when he reasoned out what the words alluded to Jakob blanched. “Koen Raad,” he whispered. “You speak of killing the Dragon King.”

“It is perfect,” Maksim bragged. “The King is mad with grief, and he suspects nothing.” He rubbed his hands together. “So much coin, Jak. I have never seen the like. Sure, it is for the Ja bitch, but I could not turn her down when she slammed four chests of gold on the table, and announced the successful assassin may take what he wished. I decided we have an advantage because of your recent post.”

Feet fused to the ground, overt horror tore through Jakob as his brother gushed the insidious plan.

“The contract has been picked up by two others,” explained Maksim, blithe. “Most balked when they learned the target was the King, but
we
have an in. The Citadel Guard trusts you? You can still get into the upper levels of the fortress as the High Princess’ Second, can you not?”

A cavernous roar cracked the air in two and shook the cave so hard the rock walls fractured, raining shingle and dust upon them.

Staggered by what he heard, Viktor’s eyes opened wide at the sound.

He stuttered, “Uh oh.”

It descended as a haze of red smoke. Bloody mist. Rage blanketed Marina until she felt the tenuous control she held whilst in
dragonskin
burst. The chains of reason fell from her as if snapping twine.

The roar formed at the pit of her soul, oozed into her stomach, rumbled through her body then exploded from her snout with such force pebbles on the ground shook.

She felt her prey’s fear.

Smelt his stink pollute the very air she breathed.

Heard his heart still then surge in a rapid tempo she planned to make his screams match.

The Dragoness was all emotion, black rage, and white-hot aggression. She wanted to burn something, anything, to the ground. Flesh needed to be shredded from bone by her claws, and oh, she hoped he ran. The chase called to her. A seductive crooning that both teased and soothed.

As she prowled from the darkness, Maksim tripped backwards, dragging a fast talking Jakob with him.