Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Tell us your dragon name. She did not wish for him to die as the chemist.
Atropos.
Keres and Slate moved in front of Rimi, forcing her back. She stayed focused on the dragon whose human side had tortured and abused him. She didn’t want him to die without knowing someone recognized his innocence in all the wickedness and malevolence of the chemist.
The black light in the dragon’s eyes blinked out. The chemist faced them, once again in control of the beast. This is not how my story ends. I am the creature destined to end all dragons.
Atropos, Rimi whispered and repeated the dragon’s name over and over. Voices joined her. The other mates also chanted his name, paying homage to what the noble creature had once been.
Keres opened his mouth to blast flames at the chemist. Drake followed, and the others joined in one by one. The evil figure in the center made one last attempt to ward off his fate, ripping open his chest to pull out a bloody bag of powder. Before he could use it, Slate set it ablaze with a narrow blast of fire. The colored smoke rose with the heated air from the combustion up into the sky where the pelting rain doused the chemicals.
When only ash remained of the threatening figure, Rimi fell silent, with the others following her lead. One by one the dragons pulled back their fiery breath in the reverse order they’d joined the execution—Slate first with Keres extinguishing his flame last.
The rain continued to fall, washing all traces of the creature and the evil substance into the earth. The horde stood there, quietly mourning the suffering of Atropos. When the sound of the raindrops increased in Rimi’s mind to a tormenting level, she shifted back to human form and threw her arms around Keres and Slate.
“It’s over?” she asked through her tears.
Yes, Snowflake. Let’s go home.
She nodded and lifted her face to allow the rain to wash away her sorrow. “Please.”
Chapter 17
Keres rubbed the pink bottom stretched over his lap. “Are you ready for the last ten, Snowflake?” He reminded himself to maintain his stern expression despite her adorableness. He definitely couldn’t condone her leading the other mates on a dangerous rescue mission.
“I said I was sorry. I couldn’t just run away,” she reminded him, looking back at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You put yourself and the others at risk, Mate.”
“I’d do it again,” she told him defiantly.
“I know. That’s why you have ten more swats.”
“That’s not fair. I couldn’t keep them from coming. They would have walked there to help their dragons,” Rimi protested.
“Do you want to make it twenty?”
She stared at him hard for a few seconds before slumping back over his legs with a disgruntled, “no!” Keres quickly delivered the last smacks and lifted her to sit on his lap. He controlled his smile at her hiss of discomfort. Rimi could toughen her hide by thickening the skin over her vulnerable cheeks, but she didn’t make the mistake of adding extra naughtiness on top of the daring rescue that had earned her a spanking in the first place.
“No more risking your life, Rimi.”
“I think you knocked off all my scales, Daddy.”
He kissed the top of her head and hugged her close before wiping the tear tracks off her cheeks. He didn’t think it was possible to love anyone as much as he loved his dragon mate. The next eons would not be enough time for them to spend together. “Your scales are fine, Snowflake. Your butt will sparkle just as beautifully as the rest of your dragon.”
She relaxed against his chest. Keres loved holding Rimi and knew after her years of hiding alone, she craved his touch. He rocked her slightly to comfort her. After a few long moments, she leaned back to meet his gaze with a sad expression.
“I can’t believe Slate is gone,” she whispered.
“Dragons don’t stay with their parents long, Mate. He’s off to find a horde. I bet he’ll contact you from time to time.”
She nodded, sniffing loudly before asking, “Do you think Evan will cause any more problems?”
“I doubt it. Even if he had some of the powder left, he can’t make more. It will disintegrate with time.”
“How did the chemist get so many to work for him to attack us?”
“Some people need a cause to give their lives purpose. Those who view others with envy crave having someone to blame all their problems on. Dragons make a big target.”
“That makes sense. It’s so stupid though. Your horde has protected Wyvern for centuries and asked so little from the citizens,” Rimi said.
“Our horde, Snowflake.”
“I don’t know how you’ve had multiple mates and survived. I dreamed the other dragons’ mates grew old and passed last night. I’m still sad thinking about it and everyone is young now.”