Chapter Forty-Four

The number of sirens flooding our kingdom felt like a death sentence.

Their quickness and ability to blindside you with an unexpected power made it impossible to win.

Seeing the pain and hurt on Amara's face had my dragon on edge.

He was ready to burn down the entire kingdom to avenge her.

He'd seen Evian holding her in his grasp and tossing her around.

It'd sparked a deep seed of hatred in his stomach. I'd never felt him so angry in my life.

Evian's humorless chuckle lured me from Amara's pretty gaze. He slid his palm back over his head to push his fallen hair from his face.

Evian tilted his head and clasped his hands in front of him. "I'm growing tired of this dance. You can prolong this as long as you like but I'm not leaving until Amara is dead. Look at everything she can do. She's an abomination. A mutt. Do you want her in this kingdom? What if you piss her off? She could easily kill any of you."

Toby laughed. It seemed almost hysterical at that point. Maybe he'd also had enough. "I'm tired of this too. Just leave before we burn up more of your siren clan."

We'd burned as many as possible, but there were so many. Many of them were still battling behind us. The truth of it was that we wouldn't have done this well without my father's army or the wolves.

It'd been sheer luck that Gideon agreed to go against my father, which would be up for discussion once this was all over with.

The residents of our kingdom would ask questions that I hoped gave them the answers they needed. My father was spineless. A selfish coward. He couldn't attempt to protect his son's mate.

Evian sighed. "You're all delusional if you think I'm afraid of any of you. We have the right to kill her. It was against our kingdom's order—,"

I shoved between Chandler and Toby. "Amara isn't yours. She's mine. Mates triumph over any little claim you think you have over something that happened almost thirty years ago. I'd rather die than let you put your hands on her again."

"Well, Dragon Prince, that can be arranged. Amara should have been raised in our kingdom so we could monitor her. She's a mutt. A half-bred, and she's dangerous."

I looked down at Amara standing behind me. Her shoulders were high, and her chin higher.

"She has all these men in some trance," Evian glanced around. "That's the only reason they're fighting with you. You think you can trust a woman that can manipulate you so easily?"

"I take it you can't do that?" Toby asked with a laugh. "Are your feelings hurt?"

Evian craned his neck to the left, pressed his fingertips against his temple, and motioned for the sirens to move with the flick of his wrist. They swarmed us: some straight on, and others from above.

Toby sprayed fire into the air, knocking several to the ground, while my gaze zeroed in on Evian. His stare slithered down my spine. Amara touched my forearm and gave me a look that I could only take as a plea to end him.

She shot into the sky and disappeared into darkness.

The noise around me turned to silence, and the night sky grew brighter, showing me more of him than ever. The scar I'd left on his face. The way he wasn't as confident as he was before.

"You look scared," I said, stepping closer to him.

He scoffed. "I'm not scared of you."

He was scared of her.

My dragon was full of pride. He loved that his mate was strong. Capable. Amara would only grow stronger, and it scared him.

I knew shifting into my dragon and burning him wouldn't work. He'd disappear. I had to fight him in my shifter form and pray for the best.

Evian braced himself and disappeared.

The wind jerked around me and a swift kick hit my back. I twirled around, attempting to catch his foot but he disappeared. Irritation drummed through me. My dragon tried to shift, but I pushed him back.

A loud wolf howled in the distance. It pierced my heart with grief. People were dying. Listening to the wind around me, I felt a nudge to my left. I swung wildly, coming in contact with Evian's face as he appeared at my side with a small knife.

He grunted and flew backward against the ground, causing his knife to disappear into the grass. Evian's eyes turned a deep red, his teeth sharpened into knife-life points, and he jumped to his feet.

Gone was the elegant man he'd been seconds before.

Now he resembled a beast.

He launched at me, snapped at my neck, and broke the skin, but I used my feet to kick him away. The pressure knocked the breath from his lungs. A war cry broke throughout the field, and madness ensued.

Evian didn't blink. He stood to his feet and disappeared again. This time I flew upward, knowing I had an advantage in the air. Unable to stop myself, I gazed around the field for Amara. I briefly caught sight of her blonde hair as she easily tossed two sirens off a wolf in the field.

Then I saw him.

He wasn't by me anymore.

He materialized behind Amara.

She turned in time for him to put the knife that was no longer on the ground in her stomach. My dragon roared and burst from me like a caged animal.

Fear and heartache wrecked me.

Toby caught sight of me struggling to gain control as I flew across the field. He followed my line of sight and beat me to Evian as he stabbed my mate in the stomach. Toby turned him around and head-butted him.

He toppled like a ragdoll, while my dragon landed, and looked down at the savage beast beneath him. Evian's deranged chuckle knocked my dragon in the stomach.

With one final glance, I let my dragon gain control, and he doused him in fire.

Seconds went by and he was nothing but ash on the ground.

The sirens in the field stopped.

The madness around us cleared.

But none of it mattered because my heart was breaking at the sight of Amara on the ground.

She was holding her stomach as blood seeped through her fingers. Toby grabbed the back of her neck and swallowed. "Boss, tell me what to do."

"Go get Zerk," I said calmly, my dragon taking the backseat so I could think.

Toby stood with tears in his eyes and shot into the air. I dropped to my knees, cradled her sweet face in my hands, and dragged her onto my lap.

"Little One," I whispered. "Hang on. Help is coming."

"He's dead," she whispered.

"He's dead," I agreed, stroking her mouth with the pad of my thumb. "He's never coming back."

She closed her eyes, and a single tear fell down her face.

Chandler raced over and dropped to his knees. I couldn't even be pissed that he was touching my mate, because my heart was hurting too badly. It felt like someone had plunged a knife into my spine and twisted it.

Amara reached up to touch my face with her fingers. "When I get better, I want to go somewhere, anywhere other than here."

"Anything you want."

I meant it. I would take her wherever she wanted to go.

The moments clicked, and I pressed my hand on her, trying to keep her bleeding to a minimum. Chandler gathered his wolves and told them to do a headcount. I couldn't listen any further.

I could only trace the shape of her tiny button nose and pretty mouth. Flashes of what I wanted to do to my father raced in my mind. If we'd been better prepared it may have been easier to take down the sirens.

A strong hand landed on my shoulder.

Toby angled his head behind me and looked at who I assumed was Zerk. Amara blinked slightly while fighting the urge to fall asleep.

"I have to move you, Little Mouse. Hang on tight for me."

Amara groaned as she lifted her arms around my neck.

Carefully, I picked her up, seeing the cuts and bruises on the rest of her body from the battle. I finally found the nerve to face Zerk who was judging the scene quietly.

"It's over?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, looking at the ashes left of Evian's body.

Zerk had a small bag slung over his shoulder. "We need to get her to the cabin. It'll be better to clean her up and get her rest. I'm sure your father will be looking for you soon."

"To Hell with my father."

Zerk pursed his lips and gestured for us to follow.

He jumped into the air and flew toward the cabin. Toby stopped me before I followed him. "I'll go to the castle and get an idea of what's going on there. Gideon is counting our warriors and searching for any injured. I'll try to stall your father if he decides to rain Hell on you right now."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry, Brother."

I bent my knees and launched into the air, causing her to groan in my arms. "It's okay. We'll be there soon."

Her body suddenly went limp in my arms.

The adrenaline from the fight had passed so the icy September air sliced at my skin. It felt like needles tearing tears from my eyes as we finally made it to the mountain.

He'd pushed all of the things off the kitchen table and stood beside it with his bag. "Put her here. I have to clean the wound."

I laid Amara down as gently as I could.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked.

"She should be fine. Are you going to be okay? I can feel your dragon searching for breath right now."

Bracing my palms against the table, I lowered my head and stared at the floor. "I'm fine. I'm relieved that he's dead, but I'm hurt that he hurt her."

Zerk patted my back. "She's going to be fine, but you're not going to want to see this."

"You're right," I said softly. "I don't."

I walked outside and took a deep breath into the night air. I waited patiently on the steps while resting my elbows against my knees.

It'd been years since my heart was so heavy.

Something wet fell down my cheek. A tear.

My dragon was crying.

Or maybe it was just me.