Chapter Five

Callum

W e approached the palace from the west with speed, dropping in pairs toward the roof where yet more guards waited to usher the women below.

Each of us carried two women ensconced in our curled claws. They were still mostly asleep, the magic of the barrier around the Dragon Isles having put them under. That wouldn’t last for much longer, however, and they needed to be safely on the ground by the time they did.

Guards closed on me as I dropped toward the flat stone roof. My wings spread wide, the reddish-orange membranes catching the sun's rising rays as it appeared from the east. Slowing my pace, I swept across the landing area, and then, with one last powerful beat of my wings, I dropped lightly onto my rear legs, sinking back onto them as I lowered my front paws. As a guard reached each paw, I slowly uncurled my long claws, careful not to let the women get scraped as they slid easily into the waiting arms of the guards.

With my cargo deposited, I shifted into my human form and cleared the area so the others could land.

“Hey!” I shouted, storming across the pad as one of the guards was less than careful with his charge, her heels banging off the ground before he hauled her up and let the passed-out woman’s head fall backward, her black hair blowing free in the breeze. “Clean it up.”

“They’re only humans,” the guard growled angrily as he turned.

I stifled a further outburst as I saw who it was.

Dyson’s cheeks dimpled as he smiled in acknowledgment. “Good morning, Callum.”

“These are property of the sovereign,” I said coldly, ignoring his greeting. “If you damage them, she will be very, very angry with you. Now, clean this up. Have her head rest against you so she doesn’t suffer any injuries. Knowing you, you’ll smash her head open on a doorway.”

Dyson’s eyes darkened at the insult and reminder of just who would be mad if he screwed up. I met his gaze and didn’t let it go. Perhaps it was too much, but I didn’t care. Not with Dyson.

There was no logical reason for me to hate him. But I did. He’d been first on the scene, the one who’d discovered Noa’s cold body that fateful morning, and a part of me simply could not accept that there was nothing Dyson could have done. He should have saved her.

I should have saved her.

Dyson adjusted his grip, all the while not breaking eye contact. “Better?”

“It’s the best I can expect from you,” I replied, not bothering to look down.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Callum. Life was so much better without you around the palace. For all of us.” Dyson gave me one last sneer, and then he was gone, heading below with the others.

I let him go.

There was a commotion across the roof over one of the women. I paid it no mind as the dragons there quickly sorted it out, switching off who was carrying the straw blonde.

With the last of my charges taken below, I breathed a slow sigh of relief. I’d done it. The mission was over, and I could—

“Callum.”

I stiffened. “My sovereign,” I said, saluting formally as I met the cold green eyes of the Leader of All Dragonkind. “The mission has been accomplished.”

She looked me up and down. “You seem stressed.”

“Simply an issue with a guard who lacked proper decorum in treating our guests,” I said. “It has been resolved. Though I look forward to returning to work so I can ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

As part of the contingent of guards sent to fight, I hadn’t been at my post in several months, and I missed it.

Her mouth twitched at the corners. “I’m sure you do, though I’m not sure you will return to active duty immediately.”

“Why not?” I asked, shocked.

“You’ll be busy,” she said. “With your mate.”

My blood ran cold, then hot, then cold again. “Explain yourself.”

It wasn’t how one talked to the sovereign, but given she’d just threatened me with death, as far as I could tell, I wasn’t overly caring. The sovereign knew full well the story of Noa’s death and my continued living and how it made me feel. I hated her for bringing it up.

“Not Noa,” the woman said, several strands of her platinum hair swaying out of place as she shook her head. “That is in your past, Callum. I am referring to your future. You will go down there and select one of the humans.”

“I will not,” I said immediately.

The sovereign didn’t grow angry at my denial. If anything, she expected it. “I heard about what happened to you. How you froze on the battlefield.”

I looked away. “It was nothing. Surprise, little more.”

“And yet that surprise was enough for you to get driven back until the others arrived.”

“Surprise can do that,” I said.

“Tell me what happened.” The sovereign’s voice was strong, full of command, pulling my head back around to face her. “The truth.”

“The truth is I got distracted by movement in the helicopter, which gave them the opportunity to hit me with some of those anti-tank rounds. The ones that leave a bruise under the scales. It hurt, but they obviously can’t penetrate. I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,” the sovereign said. “You made eye contact. With a woman. I can feel it about you.”

“What are you, some sort of witch?” I accused.

The sovereign just stared back without answering.

“She’s down there, you know.”

I frowned. “Who is?”

“The pilot.”

My head whipped around to the stairs.

“That’s what I thought. Go, Callum. Take her. This is your future.”

I shook my head stiffly. “I had a mate. She died .”

“And now, you will find a new one.”

“A new one?” I sputtered, shocked. “No. I won’t betray Noa’s memory like that.”

“You aren’t betraying anything, Callum. She is dead. It’s time to move on.”

“Go to hell.”

It was crossing a line, and I knew it. Jade fire flickered in the depths of her normally calm gaze.

“Do it,” I whispered. “Kill me. Please. Then I’ll be reunited with her, at least. Everything will be set right, and people can stop hating me for surviving her death.”

The sovereign stared back.

“Come on,” I urged, tilting my head to the side slightly, baring it to her.

The flames faded from her eyes, and the sovereign was back in control. “You are still here for a purpose, Callum. That purpose is down below. The helicopter pilot who awaits you.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off with a single raised finger.

“Deny me whatever you wish. But you can’t deny it to yourself. You know something more happened that day. It’s up to you to see it through.”

Then she was gone, heading down the stairs. I watched her leave, glaring daggers into her back the entire way.

How dare she order me to betray Noa like that! Not only did she want me to take another mate, as if I even could, but a human ? It would be the ultimate dishonor to a wonderful woman.

I rubbed my sternum, feeling the dragon scale adhered to my flesh beneath my shirt as I asked wordlessly for guidance. For a sign of what I should do. Anything.

In the back of my mind, my dragon stirred. I looked at the sky, assuming it wished to fly, and started to call it forth. We could fly up into the upper reaches of the mountain and spend the day in solitude. I waited for it to come charging forth.

But the beast’s attention wasn’t on the sky. It was down below.

Where the human woman waited for us.