Mikolas Read online

  Mikolas shook his head. “I don’t know. It could all be bullshit like I told Ondrej. The last attempt of a dying witch to save his own life.”

  “But it could be true, too. All the people in Hidden Mountain. The ghouls would decimate the Orlaith.”

  “Glorfindel could seal the mountain with gold, couldn’t he? They wouldn’t be able to get in.”

  “And none of the Orlaith could get out. It would be a tomb. A beautiful, golden tomb.” Voshkie knew exactly what she had to do. She had to go home. She had to fight. No matter what her body wanted. Her heart and her mind wanted to go home, wanted to protect those she loved.

  She never thought she’d think this about a dragon, but she wanted to save Ondrej. With Krysanthe like her sister, her best friend, her family—as her mate, Ondrej had become just as important to her.

  “We’ll get there, Voshkie. I promise. But for now, you need to sleep.”

  “I can’t sleep here. I can’t rest. I need to be there.”

  “And what if what you have is something more than the Mating Fever? What if you take it back to Hidden Mountain and infect everyone?”

  She hadn’t thought of that, but it wasn’t even a possibility. Was it? “I’m not sick. It was Mating Fever.”

  “What happens if it strikes you in the middle of battle? What happens if you’re out fighting ten ghouls and they tear you apart because you lose focus? You could barely stand on your own earlier.”

  He did have a point. “I know. But I won’t rest here, Mikolas. Please, take me home.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Ah, little nymph. Why did you have to ask?”

  She tried to hide the sharp twinge in her chest from his words. “I thought you’d be going anyway to help your brother.”

  “I’m going because I have to help you. I guess it’s a Mating Fever thing. Biological imperative to make sure you’re safe, as much as you hate it.”

  He didn’t know as much as he thought he did. It wasn’t a Mating Fever thing. It was an Alpha thing. He was starting to feel drawn to her the way he would any Alpha he’d bonded with. They had to put as much distance between them as possible.

  “I think it’d be best if I got my own bike. We don’t need the façade anymore.”

  “Why are you in such a hurry to get away from me?”

  “Because you could end me. You could end us both,” she blurted.

  “How would I do that? What is it about me that makes me the end of all things?” He sounded so defeated, and hurt.

  “It’s not the bad things.” She sighed.

  “I can keep your secrets, Voshkie.”

  “Okay.” She nodded slowly. “I’ll tell you. I’m putting my life in your hands.”

  “I haven’t failed you yet.”

  * * *

  Voshkie rolled over onto her stomach and showed him something she was sure he’d never seen before.

  He was silent for a long time.

  “Say something,” she said.

  “Is that what I think it is?” He leaned over her, the heat of his hand burning her scales as it hovered just above her skin.

  “Yes.”

  “Gods above. That’s why when Granger got up in your shit you said you were used to it. An Alpha female… you’re worth more than gold.”

  “And I don’t want to belong to anyone. Ever. I don’t want to have to fight just to keep breath in my body because I have something that others want.”

  “This is why you brought up the back in formation on the road, too. That’s an Alpha’s place. Ondrej’s place if he hadn’t been trying to shield Krysanthe.”

  She nodded slowly. A pack Alpha didn’t lean the front, they came up from behind like natural wolves. They made sure none of their charge lagged behind, the sickest and weakest among them were first and the rest of the pack protected them.

  “I understand.” He got off the bed and started getting dressed. “Can you shift?”

  “No.” She held up her hand. “And I don’t want to. That part of my life…” She took a deep breath. “I just can’t.”

  “I’d suggest we fly when it gets dark, but it’s better if we don’t touch. I’ll get you your own bike.” He shook his head. “I understand why you didn’t tell me. I do. But you shouldn’t have let me touch you, Voshkie. You’re a fucking Alpha. I can’t serve two masters and I have to choose my brother.”

  “You wouldn’t want to choose me anyway, Mik. I’m a mess.”

  “Yeah, you fucking are. No one taught you how to be a good Alpha. You’ve been so busy hiding from it, you don’t understand the power or the responsibility you have.”

  “Responsibility?” She got out of the bed and stalked over to him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’ve done my fair share. I didn’t hesitate to put my life on the line for you or the Drago Knights when we were fighting the ghouls. So what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about letting me taste you. I’m talking about letting me begin to bond with you. As the Alpha, it was your job to protect those in your care. Now, I’m forsworn.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Whatever, Mikolas. I thought you were more than your dragon? Or are you just like the rest of them?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Godsdamn you for saying that. I have never treated you like anything less than an equal.”

  She flopped back on the bed. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m a dick.”

  He surprised her by laughing. “Yeah, kind of. Put some clothes on. Or the Fever is going to hit again and you know we won’t be able to deny it.”

  “It would figure the one male I wanted to accept me for what I really am…”

  “I accept you, Voshkie. I want you like I’ve wanted no other. But honor before gold. Loyalty before gold—”

  “—Brotherhood before gold,” she finished for him. “I understand.” He couldn’t serve two masters, or Alphas as the case happened to be.

  “I bet your dragon is beautiful.”

  “I don’t think I have one. I have the scales. The pheromones. But I’ve never heard another voice inside of my head.” She suddenly remembered those strange thoughts in her head earlier. The ones that said Mikolas was hers, that she should take him. Could that have been the dragon deep inside of her?

  “Maybe she’s never spoken to you because you didn’t want her.”

  “I still don’t.” She grabbed her clothes, as if covering her body would cover the other parts of her Voshkie didn’t want him to see.

  “You can’t go through the world hating part of yourself. That’s no way to live.”

  She knew he was right, but she’d never thought of it as hating herself. “We’ve all got our own demons.”

  “It seems pretty cut and dry. You’re part dragon. You hate dragons.” He shrugged.

  She didn’t have anything to say to that. “We should get on the road before the Fever hits again.”

  “Voshkie, what are you going to do if we’re under attack by ghouls and the Fever hits?”

  “That would be stupid of it, wouldn’t it? That would go against every survival instinct I have.”

  “Or it would intensify it, biological imperative to choose a mate to protect you.”

  “I don’t need saving. I’m not the princess, I’m the dragon.” Saying it out loud made it more real somehow and it tasted sour on her tongue.

  “You may be the dragon, but you still need saving. Not because you’re helpless, you’re not. But we all need saving sometimes.”

  “Even you?”

  “Even me.” He nodded.

  “It doesn’t seem like it. You’re so strong. So confident. I’ve never seen that in a beta before. You have all the characteristics of an Alpha, but you beta to make the pack stronger. To make your brother stronger.”

  “That’s what a beta does. Being beta doesn’t mean being weak.”

  “I think I’m just now learning that.”

  Oh, she was screwed. So screwed. Voshkie couldn’t help but imag
ine how strong she’d be with a mate like Mikolas at her side. He’d never battle her for dominance, he’d never try to crush the Alpha spirit out of her—he’d build her up, protect her, and he’d be able to accept the same from her.

  He was everything she’d dreamed of, everything she was afraid to want.

  But she couldn’t have him.

  If she wasn’t an Alpha, she’d already be his mate. She felt that knowledge in her bones with a surety that resonated on a cellular level.

  She couldn’t think about this now. She had to think about Krysanthe and Aranka. Hidden Mountain, her home that could be under attack even now.

  “Mikolas, help me. Please, just help me get home. I won’t ask you for anything else.”

  He closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Of course I’ll help you.” He sighed. “And you don’t have to ask. Your body will and mine will respond. We’re already too far down the path to turn back.”

  “I’ve spent so long fighting it, but I don’t think that’s the way anymore. So maybe, when this is over, I can learn to be more than my dragon, too.”

  “You already are. You need to let yourself be the dragon for once.”

  “How?”

  “Only you can know that.” He grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him.

  She went into his arms easily because that was the place she wanted to be. The strong, steady beat of his heart reassured her like nothing else ever could. In his embrace, she felt strong, powerful, and safe. It was a strange dichotomy to feel like the princess and the dragon. Voshkie had never wanted or needed either of those sensations, but now that she had them, she didn’t want to let them go.

  “What are we going to do, Mik?”

  “We’ll fly back to Hidden Mountain tonight. We’ll just have to take the chance that the contact won’t spike the Fever. I’m holding you now and I’ve never felt less like fucking.”

  She laughed. “Way to make a girl feel sexy.”

  He brushed the top of her head with a casual kiss. “You know you’re hot. You don’t need validation from me.”

  No, she didn’t. But she liked it all the same.

  “Gold nymphs are vain, what can I say?”

  “As are dragons.”

  She looked up at him with a smirk and pushed her fingers through his hair. “Who’s a pretty dragon?”

  “Oh, fuck you.” His words held no bite because he laughed.

  “Come on, who’s a handsome boy?” she teased.

  “Who’s a pretty princess waiting to be eaten by a dragon?” His eyes flashed like St. Elmo’s Fire and suddenly he was all predator.

  Voshkie knew she should say no, but she didn’t want to. She loved how she felt like prey, because deep down, she knew she was in no danger. She wanted him to hunt her, chase her, and she wanted to be caught.

  “Eaten by a dragon? Oh my!” She drew her fingers to her throat as if she were aghast. Then she grinned slyly. “That’s not what happened last time. It was all human tongue.”

  He arched a dark brow. “Don’t taunt the beast, or he’ll take you up on your offer.”

  “I dare him to.”

  This wasn’t her speaking, but yet it was. It came from somewhere deep within her, some part of herself she’d never known. Was this her dragon?

  She was still in control. It didn’t feel like the Mating Fever. It wasn’t a sickness, it was simple lust. No crazed biological imperative. No force she couldn’t control.

  Voshkie found herself crashing into the wall and claws tearing off her leathers. It made her wetter, hotter. Wings sprouted from his back as he used his dragon’s strength to hold her higher and more easily than any human male ever could.

  The sight of them entranced her. Part of her declared they were dragon, and therefore to be feared. But they weren’t just dragon, they were Mikolas.

  And they were beautiful.

  Colors played across his wings making them look almost like carnival glass from the bottle green to the iridescent purples and oranges.

  “You’re stunning,” she whispered, reaching down his back to touch them.

  Voshkie hadn’t really been able to see them that night when they’d took to the skies to flee the ghoul horde. The majesty of him…

  He hauled her up higher so that her legs were propped on his shoulders and his hands cupped the globes of her ass.

  Then his tongue, holy shit, his tongue.

  The texture was different. It was like coarse velvet and the pressure of it against her clit make her weak.

  She was grateful he held her up—that in itself was hot. Voshkie was no waif-like creature. Her body was sculpted for war, she trained hard for her muscles—she was solid, tall and strong.

  Yet, he held her like this so easily.

  She ran her fingers down his flexed biceps, his shoulders, and down to the root of his wings.

  He shuddered when she stroked him there. “Careful, nymph. I like that too much. I might drop you.”

  She knew that he wouldn’t.

  “Whatever, dragon. You don’t have time to chat, you’re devouring the damsel.” Voshkie pushed her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer.

  That devilish tongue was at work between her thighs again and this time, she didn’t fight the ecstasy he offered.

  Chapter 4

  The mate of his dreams was an Alpha.

  His brother was possibly infected with ghoul blood.

  They’d lost two brothers and a third was missing.

  And the Orlaith stronghold they’d just entered could possibly be their tomb.

  Yet, it wasn’t all bad. He still had the taste of her on his lips and they were together. He had to tell Ondrej what had happened between them, but now wasn’t the right time. Not with him fighting this sickness.

  “Do you know if Aranka and Imre made it, yet?” she asked as they descended to the tunnels.

  “Ondrej told Imre to stay away. It’s not safe for either of them here. If things go poorly…” He let the outcome they both feared go unspoken.

  She nodded. “Good. If anyone could actually keep Aranka away, I’m betting it’s Imre.” Voshkie paused. “It’s this way to the pools.”

  Fear coiled in a tight spring. He tried to steel himself for whatever awaited him.

  “The gold and the amulet will help him. Your brother will beat this. Krysanthe won’t let it be any other way,” she reassured him.

  The veins of gold in the wall called out to him, pulled at his insides, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted now. Not even by gold.

  They emerged into a series of chambers that had been cut from the mountain and the veins of gold here were more like rivers.

  Yes, exactly like rivers—he was momentarily transfixed by the stream of glittery fire that rushed past them deeper into the mountain.

  “We follow the stream, Mik. Your brother is that way.”

  His dragon wanted to dive into that flowing stream, to submerge himself if the gold and feel it rippling over his scales. He wanted to drink it down, he wanted Voshkie naked and wanting in that golden brook.

  But his brother took priority for both the man and his dragon.

  Finally, they came to a chamber that was more gold than rock, and in the center the stream emptied into a bath of what seemed like molten gold.

  Krysanthe sat, half in the pool and half out, with Ondrej’s head in her lap as she sponged his forehead and spoke quietly to him.

  Ondrej reached out to him and Mik didn’t hesitate to dip down into the pool, clasping his brother’s hand.

  “Is he infected?” The veins in his neck and face stood out, like they’d been pumped too full of something black and rotten.

  “I think so, but it’s not progressing like we’d seen before.” Krysanthe shook her head, seeming to be at a loss. “The Aurelieus Amulet seems to be helping, as does the gold bath.”

  Mikolas experienced a strangle tingling. It was as if he’d become a conduit for the power of the gold. He f
elt his life-force leave his body, felt his brother absorbing his strength. Yet, it was as if as soon as it was taken from him, the pool re-energized him.

  “I’m so glad you’re here, Mik. He’s breathing better already.”

  Voshkie’s strong, scarred hand slipped into his and it was like being hooked up to a battery. The current they generated together ripped through him and caused Ondrej to spasm—his emerald dragon eyes turning black as onyx.

  Ondrej’s hand tightened around his and his claws dug into Mik’s palm, but he didn’t try to get away. His brother seemed to need more of whatever it was they were giving him.

  Until wings burst from his back—and they were not his wings.

  They were brown like a bat’s, wet and covered in mucus—they were thin, almost too thin to keep a dragon in the air. It was like what his wings would like after he’d been dead a century.

  He broke the contact and Ondrej spasmed, sinking back down into the healing gold.

  “What the hell just happened?” Krysanthe asked.

  “It felt like scratching everything that itches under my skin,” Ondrej muttered.

  He was infected.

  Ondrej was going to die.

  Mikolas would be faced with watching his brother become something unnatural and evil, or putting him down.

  He didn’t think he could live with that.

  Mik couldn’t be the Alpha of a decimated pack. He couldn’t take his brother’s place.

  Or maybe he could.

  He looked at Voshkie. She’d given him the burst of power. What if she could be the conduit between them? What if she could push the infection from Ondrej to him?

  Would she be willing to?

  The wings were obliterated and seemed to dissolve in the gold.

  “What’s happening?” Krysanthe demanded.

  “I’m not sure,” Mik said. “But I have an idea.”

  “Why is his infection like this? Why did it take days to cultivate when in others it was immediate? What does anyone have to gain by infecting him?”

  “Azazel infected Dezo, or maybe they’re both working for someone else. Another player in the game. With Dezo out, they’d need another dragon, and why not an Alpha?” Mik asked.