Ninety-Five Dianna

Below us were scorched plains and the remnants of buildings crumbling in pieces, destroyed by creatures who had been far larger and far too powerful. Kaden had once told me of creatures far older than us that could block out the sun. The old days had been brutal.

I whipped and dove away from Kaden’s snapping jaws and Isaiah’s razor-sharp claws. Blood leaked from my side, one eye half shut, but I refused to surrender or stop fighting. I wanted blood for what Kaden had done, and I planned to take it. My wing hurt from where I hadn’t been quick enough, and Isaiah’s claw had ripped at the membrane. I saw the outline of his tail as he moved between clouds of smoke and ash. I drew in another thunderous breath and unleashed a tunnel of flame. Isaiah’s screech was music to my ears.

Thunder roared behind me, the sound of Kaden’s wings. In all of our thousand years, I had never seen his true form. He’d never shown me, just like he’d never shared anything with me. The girl in the desert would have cowered at the sight of this massive beast. The jet black and crimson scales flowed like ink over his heavy, muscled body, and he wore the array of spikes that jutted from his head like a crown. But me? This Dianna? The girl who fought and bled and carved her way to some semblance of peace saw it and saw fucking red.

Kaden followed me across the sooty, crimson sky. A raw screech emitted from my throat as I tossed flame at his chasing form. I had hurt Isaiah, and I had already learned in this fight that Isaiah was one of Kaden’s weaknesses. He loved his brother, and I would do everything in my power to maim him.

I swooped to the right and down just as he lunged forward. My smaller, sleeker form was faster than his heavy, massive one, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t agile and skilled. I heard him spin above me to follow. I coasted before banking left, my wings widespread. Another half-turn, and I tipped my head to the side, using my good eye to watch the sky for the Ig’Morruthen, who was just as wounded as me. I didn’t need to see through the smoke to smell the blood.

My nostrils flared, and I slammed my wings against the air, charging through the clouds, prepared to rip and claw. My body jerked sideways. Two against one was an unfair fight, and I was paying for it.

Fuck.

My side screamed and bled where Kaden’s jaws clamped around me. I angled my neck, reaching for him, jaws snapping and peeling scales from his skin. He roared but gripped me tighter. His teeth sank deeper into my body, and I felt his fangs scrape against bone. I whipped my tail, slamming it against him, desperate to get him to let me go. He dove, the ground coming into focus just before he tossed me toward the crumbling buildings. Wood split as I tumbled through two or more houses. My body came to a stop, my form shaking as I returned to myself. I pushed up on shaky arms, spitting blood as I cupped my side. My hand came away covered in blood.

“Fuck.”

It wasn’t deep enough to kill, but it would definitely slow me down. My heart hammered in my chest, and with every rapid beat, more of my blood poured out of me. Every single part of me ached, and my lungs hurt with each gasped breath, but I would not surrender to him, to them, to any fucking one. I’d drag them to Iassulyn with me.

My head whipped up when I heard a loud thud that caused the ground to shake. It was quickly followed by another. They were on the ground. I had a split second to wonder what I was going to do before the side of the house was ripped away.

“I forgot how good you tasted,” Kaden said as he walked in. He swiped my blood from his chin and licked his fingers clean.

I grimaced in revulsion as I held my side, scooting back on the broken floor. “I hate you.”

Kaden’s smile only widened. “That was smart, Dianna. Hurt us in our true forms, and you’d be able to kill us. Who told you that? I didn’t. Was it your dead boyfriend?”

Isaiah snapped his fanged teeth as they returned to normal. The spikes over his head disappeared as he reclaimed his mortal form.

“Actually,” I spat blood to the floor, “it was Tobias before I cut him in half. Wanna join him so you can take him to task for sharing secrets? Come here.”

Isaiah whistled, clearly amused. I watched their shadows throw disjointed shapes on the walls as they stepped inside the ruined building. “So she did kill a King of Yejedin?”

Kaden’s brow flicked up. “She did,” he said, pride filling his voice. “But you weren’t trained in aerial fights, Dianna.”

They both stepped over broken wooden planks, pieces of cracked stone crunching beneath their boots. Half of Kaden’s face and his shoulder were covered in blood, and I saw the bite marks where my teeth had sunk deep into his armored chest. Isaiah grinned, following a few steps behind Kaden and nearly as battered.

Satisfaction filled me, and I forced myself to my feet. I may be in immense pain, but I’d given just as good as I’d got. My entire being was suffused with agony, but I wouldn’t show it. I’d never give him the satisfaction.

I flexed my hand, letting them see the wound along with the cuts on my head and arms. “I don’t know. I think I did pretty well.”

Isaiah’s grin widened, showing off his bloody teeth. “Not nearly.”

I grabbed my twisted, broken wrist and reset it. “Wipe the grin from your face. I’ve been fucked harder than you hit. You’ve done nothing.”

“She is a nasty little thing,” Isaiah said, glancing at Kaden. “Is that why you are in love with her?”

“That, among other reasons,” Kaden answered.

Isaiah smirked, and I watched as his crimson eyes went a shade darker. The blood on his arms and brow moved of its own accord, racing back to the cuts it had escaped from, sealing the skin. My stomach sank as Kaden’s wound healed as well.

He controlled the blood. Not only could he heal himself, but he could heal others.

I didn’t ask how because it didn’t matter. I now knew I wasn’t leaving here alive. They wouldn’t change forms again. I had already lost my edge. Arrogance would be my downfall.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Isaiah quipped, raising a brow in complete and utter confidence.

I lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. “I guess if you can’t heal on your own.”

I lunged for a piece of broken wood and hurled it at him. Kaden glanced at his brother, and I charged. Isaiah lifted his arm, and the wood broke when it hit the spikes on his thick dragonbane armor.

“That was stupid.” Isaiah laughed, shaking the splinters off.

“It’s called a distraction, you idiot,” I said. Pain shot through my knee when it connected with the armor over his midsection, but it was what I needed. Kaden was sloppy when it came to his brother, and he reached for me at the same time I lowered my head. The momentum of his missed grab spun him, exposing his back and the dagger. I twisted, and the wounds over my torso protested vehemently. Ignoring the pain, I grabbed the dagger, ripping it from its sheath. I darted back as Kaden whipped around. He blinked in surprise, watching as I spun the gleaming crystal blade on my palm.

“I don’t want to fight you, Dianna,” Kaden said, his tone careful.

“Too bad,” I sneered. “I do.”

My fist shot out. Kaden blocked one hit and then the next, but I didn’t stop. Every kick, twist, or punch he sidestepped or dodged, but he was still pushed back. Isaiah went to grab me, and I let him pull me close before rearing back and head-butting him in the face. He let go of me with a curse, his nose streaming blood. I spun and jumped, kicking him in the chest. The blow was hard enough to send him sailing across the room.

“You’re faster and deadlier. I love it,” Kaden said from behind me.

I flipped the dagger in my hand. “You shouldn’t.”

“It won’t work if she uses it on you, brother,” Isaiah snapped, pushing himself to his feet.

“I know that.” Kaden gritted his teeth, watching me carefully.

“Oh.” I smiled around the blood that filled my mouth and stained my lips. “Damn magic and their tricky rules. But don’t worry, I wasn’t going to use it. I am going to break it.”

Kaden yelled a denial and lunged toward me as I tossed the blade to the ground. I lifted my leg, ready to smash it under my boot, but suddenly, my body was no longer under my control. My leg stopped moving as if hundreds of hands stilled it. My body bent on its own accord, arms spread wide at my sides, back bending, and my gaze snapped forward.

Isaiah glared at me, his eyes a dark, eerie red that seemed to swirl. My blood felt as if it were hooked to tiny strings, and Isaiah was the puppeteer. Kaden raced forward and grabbed the dagger. My leg snapped down, and my knees hit the ground. Every cell and molecule screamed as if being torn in two as I fought. My arms were yanked to my sides, the muscles obeying only Isaiah.

Isaiah stood beside Kaden, broken glass and wood crunching beneath his armored boots. I tried to jerk my arms, move and fight, but I was immobile as they stood over me.

I grimaced, holding back every scream I so desperately wanted to make. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

“Not so much,” Kaden demanded.

Isaiah’s eyes flicked toward him, and the pressure eased a fraction. The pain in my head lessened, and it was no longer a struggle to breathe. I growled low in my throat. “Is this your guys’ thing? Tying someone down to beat them. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern.”

Kaden knelt before me. I wanted to back away, but my body would not let me.

“I didn’t want to fight, not really.” He reached out, brushing the blood-soaked hair from my face, and despite my inability to control my body, it shuddered at his touch. “I want you to come back in one piece. I always did.”

“Pretty sure I remember your Irvikuva ripped me to pieces to bring me back to you.”

“They can be a tad rough, especially given how hard you fight, talons and all, but those you didn’t kill died when they returned to me. I never wanted you dead, no matter what you think. I wanted you with me forever.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but that was never going to happen, and I’m not going anywhere with you now. I’d rather die.” I tried and failed to bite the hand so damn close to me.

He smiled at my attempt and held up the dagger. The hilt glowed with magic, the blade itself taunting me.

Kaden spun the blade by the hilt. “You know, your father helped me sculpt it, although he had no choice in the matter. I needed a loophole. After all she made me take from you, I knew you’d hate me.”

I was silent, my heart pounding painfully.

Isaiah patted his brother’s shoulder. “Kaden was always smarter than me. He was always ten steps ahead of me. Even Mera knows that. One little stick of that dagger, and when you wake up, all your feelings and love for Samkiel will be gone. Replaced and given to my brother.”

Heat flashed beneath my skin, the Ig’Morruthen thrashing and fighting to come to the surface. The need to protect her mate was nearly overwhelming.

“No.”

Kaden nodded. “I have never stopped loving you, Dianna. I just need to get rid of all that anger. You will be mine again, and this time for eternity.”

Terror gripped me at what they planned to do.

“No. I’d rather die than have you ever touch me again.”

“I’d never let you die, Dianna, and I promise to keep you safe.”

The muscles in my arms, my legs, and my whole body ached as I tried to regain control. Sweat broke out on my brow. I wouldn’t let him take me.

Kaden raised his hand, the blade carving a path to my heart, threatening to rip out the love I harbored there. He was threatening to take from me the one person who defied nature itself to help me, love me, protect me. Something snapped in me. Fire raged in my blood, and for a moment, I felt it in my eyes. A scalding hot fire flowed from my heart and, with each beat, reached more of my body. A flicker of bright orange flame danced across my hands, and the man from my dreams, the one who sat atop his throne made of bone, stood. His orange eyes glowed brighter, and a wide smile revealed his sharp white teeth.

“Finally.”His voice scraped over my brain like molten steel.

My arms jolted forward, my hands clasping Kaden’s wrist. Isaiah reeled back a step, his mouth dropping open as I broke his hold on me. The whites of Kaden’s eyes shone as I easily held the blade inches from me. A trail of flame flared along my fingers, and Kaden hissed as if it even burned him.

“Never.” It was my voice, but deeper, raw, and pissed.

Isaiah covered Kaden’s hands. I tried to stand, but only my upper body seemed to be free. It would be enough. They grunted, pushing to drive the dagger into me.

I held on, using everything I had left. The flames on my hands rose and then sputtered. I gritted my teeth, sweat running down my face, stinging the myriad of cuts. The fire flared, hot and intense, but then fell, smoke curling around my knuckles. A wave of nausea slid over me so quickly that I almost doubled over.

The blade moved an inch closer.