Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“I left an entire keep of guards, advisors, soldiers, and more to maintain order, and somehow my mate and my nephew have managed to undermine it all in a matter of hours?”
“I did mention the likelihood of such an event,” Arkos reminds me. “She has fate wrapped around her, a particular and peculiar power that I do not pretend to understand. You have not chosen an ordinary human female. It is possible she had some of the blood in her already, or that she is otherwise tainted, the product of another adjacent realm. Or, perhaps, she may simply be so rebellious and chaotic that magic itself twists and bends to her will in ways it will not for others.”
I do not have time to listen to theories. I need to go and get my mate. Now.
“Where is she?”
“Ripping the dungeon apart.”
Of course she is.
I go down to the dungeon, where I find my mate standing in the midst of the remnants of Equinox’s cell. There are bits of ceramic all over the floor, which is rather wet. I suspect the water pitcher spell has been deployed here many times over, in addition to the incredible numbers of bread, which are still in evidence.
Equinox is still in the cell, which is something. As is Melissa. But they are not alone. They are enjoying the company of a very large hole in the wall that is threatening to undermine the foundations of the Golden Keep.
“Maybe we can put it back together?” Melissa is saying hopefully.
“You want to rebuild a wall when you’ve atomized half the stones? What are we rebuilding it with?” Equinox is sarcastic when he is stressed.
“Is there a conjure stone spell? Or a ‘make it look like there’s stones here’ spell?”
“There’s a kiss both of your asses goodbye spell,” I growl.
They see me and swing around like a pair of naughty whelps.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Melissa gasps.
“Really? Because it looks like you came down here and asked my nephew to teach you enough low-level magic to allow you to create an unstable portal to the human world that just flooded a hillside with magic dragon bread.”
“Oh,” she says. “Well, in that case, it’s exactly what it looks like.”
“Come out of there. Now.”
“I can’t. I’m locked in.”
“I know you walked between the bars. Walk through them again.”
She swallows deeply and looks at me with wide, frightened eyes. “I don’t want to,” she says, speaking in very nearly a whisper.
“Melissa. Now.”
She whimpers and obeys me, snugging out between the bars. The moment she is outside, I grip her by the back of her robe, turn her around, and spank her ass. Hard.
“Ow!” Her wail is just the beginning of the well-deserved cries I will hear this evening. “I did what you told me to do, why would you do that?”
“I did not tell you to sneak down to the dungeons and learn to perform magic that not only undermines my orders, but once again causes a serious problem with porous events in the human realm.”
“It’s not completely her fault. She came looking for me because they didn’t feed her.”
“Excuse me?”
Melissa whimpers in agreement. “I woke up and nobody would even talk to me. There was nothing to eat. So I came down here, and Equinox shared his breakfast with me and taught me how to make bread and water. The rest of the dragons in this pile of rocks wouldn’t care if I lived or died.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I asked someone about where the kitchen was and they wouldn’t even answer me. So I came down here. And then…”
“And then naturally you ended up exploding the castle wall.”
“That was an accident!” she says, her tone very much indicating she was as surprised as anyone. “All I did was swear. It wasn’t even a spell. I don’t know how that happened.”
I sigh, and cancel the ward on the cell door, opening it. “You may as well come out,” I tell Equinox. “You do as much damage in confinement as you do outside it. Besides, I believe I will need your help. I was not able to find the seal.”
“I won’t be able to find it either.”
“Why not?” My voice is clipped as I try to maintain patience in the face of extreme provocation.
“Because it attuned to your mate. It will only speak to her.”
“That makes… that’s impossible. It’s the wild seal. It belonged to the Bear. And you are telling me that my human mate, who has not only grown wings in the human world, is also attuned to the wild seal?”
“I suppose, yes. It is a little overpowered a build, but she has no control over any of it, so it’s not really all that useful,” Equinox says. “I’m not sure how any of this is happening.”
I am not sure how any of this is happening, but I do realize now that my advisor was right. Melissa truly cannot be trusted out of my sight. She invites chaos wherever she goes.