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Chapter 22
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2023-09-15 02:20:03Related chapters
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 23
“Choose air,” she told him with as much determination as possible.“If any of this is true and I can only have one, then it should be fire.”“Air,” she repeated.Her pulse weakened. She could feel herself barely holding on. But she needed to tell him the last part. She needed to tell him about the knife.“Princeling…”He rolled his eyes. “You should rest. Something more irritating than normal has happened to your head.” He rose to his feet. “I have a tournament to get to, and if I’m late, I won’t be able to compete.”“Wait,” she whispered. Then slightly louder. “Fordham, please.”He stopped for a brief second at the sound of his full name. But then he strode out of the room.Gods, no. She needed to…She knew what she needed, but the exhaustion and magic depravation took her first. And the darkness claimed her.Maya awoke in the dark on a hard pallet. She cracked open her eyes and looked around the room in confusion. She blinked to adjust to the dim light coming in from the cracked doo
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With a wistful sigh, Amaya strode up to the attendant beside the master of ceremonies. The attendant nodded gratefully and handed the slip of paper to his master.Maya backed out of the room as the master of ceremonies wove an elaborate speech about where the teams and contestants had finished on the first day of the tournament. She wanted to escape before the crowds. But just as she exited the cool beauty of the top box, another person darted out of it.“Maya!”She turned back and found Amber waiting there on the top step. “Amber, what are you doing?”But her eyes were wide with concern. “I couldn’t find you after you left to speak with Helly. I didn’t know what had happened to you.”“I’m fine, Amber,” she said as her friend flung herself into her arms. “I’m right here. I’m working with the tournament.”Amber pulled back and swallowed. “Good. I’m glad you’re safe. Have you seen Marc? Was he with you?”“Amber? No, why would he be? Wasn’t he packing to go with Kenris?”“That’s what I t
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Fordham’s eyes shuttered at that. Everything in him went very, very still. “What friend?”“Why would you care?”“Is he about this tall?” Fordham asked, gesturing to a height slightly shorter than his. “Brown hair, tan skin, a little annoying, pompous, self-righteous.”“You’re one to talk, you know,” she chided.“Is it him? The one who follows you?”Maya stopped her jest at those words“Yes… that’s Marc. But… how do you know?”“Because he followed you out of the party last night.”“What?” she gasped.Her heart beat furiously. She hadn’t even seen him. Normally, she noticed him tracking her. But she hadn’t even felt him. Had she been that far into her own head, or had he gotten lost?For the first time, she wondered if perhaps something had happened to Lyam rather than he was just missing.For a moment, Marc was disoriented as she burst into her rooms. Everything in her life had looked almost exactly the same since she arrived in the House of Dragons. Two twin beds with a chest of drawe
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Someone had arranged him with his arms wrapped over his chest. His eyes closed, his face serene, his body limp and ready to return to the earth. It didn’t even look like Marc.Though maybe a touch more than when she had snuck into the depths of the mountain to where they kept him in a cold place to prevent rot. The very thought shuddered through her as her teeth chattered, the deeper she crept. She was glad that she hadn’t asked Amber or Aurora to come with her. They’d never have made it this far. She hoped to find a clue, to find anything to tell her why this had happened.But when she got there, she looked down at the body—his skin waxy, his lips blue, the puncture wound deep—and she realized her folly. There was nothing here. Nothing but a wave of grief. She’d fallen to the floor and cried for hours. Marc was gone. He was really gone.Amber squeezed her hand, bringing her back to reality. Maya blinked back the weight of that grief. She had heard nothing that the man said, who was t
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Fordham’s eyebrows rose. “That fact was not circulated.”“That’s because no one believes me.”“And you have proof?”She sighed and shook her head. “No, but… my gut tells me that there is nothing simple about what happened to him. He was following me out of that party, just like he’d done a dozen times before. He wasn’t stupid enough to be caught and robbed like that.”Fordham was silent for a moment before saying, “All right.”“You don’t believe me either.”“On the contrary,” he said, closing his notebook, “I’m prone to believe that there is something larger happening here.”“You are?”He leveled her with a look. “You informed me of what was going to happen in the tournament and then passed out in my bedroom.”“Right,” she said softly. “About that.”He waved it away. “My gut is also typically right. And it tells me that what you said about Marc is likely true.”Maya didn’t know why she was confiding in this broody princeling. But he was here and she found herself attracted to him and
Last Updated : 2023-09-17The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 28
You’re late,” the man said.Isa plopped down onto one of the couches. She poured herself a glass of amber liquid out of a crystal decanter and then propped her feet up. “I’m not a dog. I don’t come when I’m called.”“You are in my employ.”“And I did what you’d told me. So, where’s my money?” She took a sip of the bourbon and sighed. At least he’d forked out for the good stuff.The man never turned to face her, but she could feel his anger emanating off him. “You killed the wrong person and made the mistake of leaving the body for the Guard to locate. You failed miserably. You will get nothing.”Isa dropped her feet onto the intricately woven rug. She sure hoped that she’d crushed dirt into the delicate fabric. “No one is going to have any idea that I killed him. I am talented at my profession. They will think that it was an accident. I made it look like a robbery.”“But you didn’t get the girl!” he cried, finally whirling around to face her.“One thing at a time, boss,” she crooned.
Last Updated : 2023-09-17The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 29
He narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to find deception in it but finally nodded. “I could use sustenance.”“Princeling, this isn’t sustenance. This is living.”Fordham grumbled something under his breath, but he followed her through the winding city streets until they came upon the Square. It was more or less the center of Kinkadia. A giant stone-paved square with shops boarding three sides and the ruins of a once-grand church taking up most of the center. Her heart clenched at the sight.“What happened here?” Fordham asked. His gaze raked over the falling stones and burned-out roof.“Something tragic,” she said softly.“I didn’t think the Fae had a religion other than the Society.”“Most don’t,” she agreed, turning them away from the church that still made her feel sick to her stomach. “This was a human church for the Laments.”Fordham eyes widened slightly. “Humans built that? Without magic?”She nodded. She’d always thought the twenty-story building with its sweeping spires an
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Fordham lashed out with a rope of flame this time, a tendril of red that slashed around the girl’s leg and dragged her back to the ground. Beneath the mask, her eyes widened in alarm and a flash of pain. But she didn’t even cry out. As if fire was no match for her. She easily maneuvered away, and as soon as she was free, she wrenched open the balcony doors and slipped outside.Fordham flung himself after her. But in the span of a few heartbeats, the girl had already scaled the far wall and disappeared out the back.He came back inside, cursing vividly. “Who the hell was that?”“Marc’s killer,” Maya croaked as she tried to get to herThen, the memory of all her pain came crashing back down around her and she fell back in a heap on the floor once more.“Gods, you’re injured,” he said, crouching before her.“She stabbed me… in the shoulder,” Maya said, pulling back her cloak to reveal the wound beyond.Fordham inspected it, thoroughly and efficiently with little compassion. She winced th
Last Updated : 2023-09-18
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Regain your place?” she asked in confusion. “Is this about your curse?”“No,” he said forlornly. “I’m not who you think I am, Maya”“You’re exactly who I think you are, Ford. I’ve spent the last month with you. I know precisely who you are.”“About what? You cannot lie with actions.” She forced him to look at her. “I know who you are.”“I was exiled,” Fordham bit out. “That’s why I came to get a dragon and join the Society. I’m no longer welcome in the House of Shadows, and I should never have brought you into this with me.”Exiled. Gods!“Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, the hurt seeping into her voice despite everything.His face went dark. “Why should I have told you?”She took a step back at the viciousness in his voice. “Ford…”“It was a mistake to invite you to join the House of Shadows, and if you come home with me… I can’t guarantee your safety.”“Guarantee my safety? Since when have you ever been able to do that?” she snapped back. “I’m the one who has been running st
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 64
Corinna put her hand on her shoulder. “Bravo.”Fordham stepped up to her side and then Aurora, surprisingly followed by Roake and Noda. They might have argued against her in the cave, but they were one now. She could feel Tieran’s presence heavy behind her. And she no longer felt alone.“We still need to convene a council meeting to discuss this,” Lorian grumbled.“I believe we have a majority present,” Helly said with a coy smile.“That is not decorum.”“Neither are the circumstances,” Bastian said, striding to Helly’s side. “I call for a vote on the matter of Maya’s entrance into the Society.”“All in favor?” Helly said.Maya’s heart caught in her throat as she counted the hands raised in the air. Half. It was at least half. She kept counting—nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Oh gods! Almost everyone.“Those opposed?” Helly called out.Lorian shot his hand up, and four others slowly raised their hands as well. Maya memorized their faces. The council members—Masters Roldan and Dowde and Mis
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 63
A council meeting will be held to decide that,” Lorian said. “She doesn’t qualify. She has no tribe, and we have never had a half-Fae.”“You never had a human before either, and you let two compete last time,” Aurora shot back.“And look at how that turned out,” Lorian snapped.“Just because there are a few loud bigots doesn’t mean that we should go backward! We must stay the course or else people will think that all they have to do is cause enough fuss and we’ll take away other people’s rights. That is not the Kinkadia that I know and love. And I won’t stand by and let you use your prejudiceMaya wanted to duck out of sight. She’d never had someone like Aurora , who was so full of privilege, so very Bryonican royalty, stand up for her… to completely defend her. She barely even knew her.Lorian opened his mouth to object again, but Aurora barreled forward.“And on the second account, my mother and I have agreed to select Maya into Bryonica under the House of Drame.”Maya’s stomach flo
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 62
Footsteps sounded behind her, and she didn’t have to turn her head to know that Fordham had followed her into the mayhem, as he had been doing for weeks. She didn’t slow. He would catch up to her. She kept moving forward, glad for those hours and hours of running so that by the time she reached the first line of Red Masks, she wasn’t winded.Maya used her wind magic to bowl through the first group, and they hastily fled. But she could see the leader up ahead. Their leader was holding up a large, swirling gray orb, much like the amber one Basem had used against her.This was her chance to get revenge for what those people had done to her. This was her chance to end it. No longer would Red Masks walk her streets. No longer would they terrorize humans and half-Fae. No longer would they try to take away their rights. It could end right here, right now.The crowd had cleared enough for Maya to slow as she approached the leader of the Red Masks. He turned to face her. He was a large man. Th
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 61
One of the goblets was offered to Maya. “Drink from this. You will pass into the spiritual realm, where you and Tieran will meet. When the binding is complete, you will be dragon and rider.” Tara touched Maya’s hand with a wide, genuine smile. “I’m so happy for you. Good luck.”“Thank you,” Maya whispered, staring down into the goblet. It just looked like water, as it did in the pool, but she knew it was part of the spell. She looked to Tieran. “Ready?”As I’ll ever be.Maya frowned and then downed the drink at the same time Tieran lapped from the pool. For the second time today, her vision went fuzzy, and then she blackedFor the last five years, Maya had thought constantly about what it would be like to go through the dragon-binding ceremony. Having witnessed it firsthand, she had seen each of the competitors drink from the goblet and then enter a state of sleep, coming to with excitement as the bond set in. She’d imagined every scenario for how the binding was actually accomplished
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 60
Maya came to, gasping for breath. She put her hands on her knees and tried to suck in enough life to leave that horrible nightmare behind. She knew that it was the faerie illusion that she had walked into. That it was designed to warp reality and pull out her deepest, darkest fear. She had just lived it—marrying Ashby March and living a life where no one ever saw her for who she truly was. She had come out on the other side of it, had risen above the adversity, but it had felt so very real.Her body trembled with exhaustion from the illusion, but she was no longer helpless. Her magic flared bright and bursting within her, and all of her injuries had been healed. She straightened to her full height and found herself before a gaping audience. The cave was large enough to hold the five dragons—Avirix, Netta, Tieran, Luxor, and Evien—as well as their five Dragon Blessed handlers. Standing before them were the four competitors who had made it this far. Aurora stood with wide eyes, farther
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 59
You got tested?” he asked in exasperation. “Why does that not even surprise me?”“It wasn’t purposeful. I wanted to know what testing was, but when I stepped inside, Gelryn said he’d been waiting for me.”“Ominous,” Fordham muttered.She laughed. “A little bit. But it ended up being fine. He actually left and went to the Holy Mountain to try to find information on my visions.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he’ll find anything, but he seemed confident.”“That’s good at least. You need to get those under control.”“Hey, they’ve helped you!”“They have,” he admitted. “I just don’t want them to control you.”She nodded and fell silent. They did control her, and if she didn’t find a way to stop them, then they always would. It was why she’d gone to Gelryn in the first place.They continued trudging through the plane and watched as they crossed over the South River without ever getting wet. Then, the landscape turned rocky, and suddenly, they were in the mountains. The sun was low on the h
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 58
He came to his feet. “Well, that’s lucky.”She swallowed back the lump in her throat. Marc here to save us after all.”“We should probably set out at dawn,” Fordham said. “Together, we can get out of here.”“All right, princeling,” she said with a half-smile. “But first, we’re going to need some pinecones.”Fordham didn’t ask, just helped her cover a few pinecones in sap, and then she cracked the two biggest sticks she’d found on a sharp piece of rock, placing the sap-covered pinecones inside and dipping them in the flames.He looked at her, impressed. “Torches. How did you know how to do that?”“House of Dragons teaches us more than just etiquette,” she said with a grin. She brushed mud off his brow and laughed. “You look ridiculous.”“I ate poisonous berries,” he reminded her.And then they both laughed.The weight and fear of the night before had dissipated at dawn. They had gotten through a lot together this last month. This was one more adventure.Together, they tracked through t
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 57
With a determination set into her very marrow, Maya left for the portal room. It was not a long walk, and within minutes, she was at the end of the hallway. She waited patiently for the two guards standing in front of the room to turn and walk the other way. She didn’t know what kind of gods’ luck this was, but as soon as their backs were turned, she hustled down the hallway. With her heart in her throat, she turned the doorknob and entered the room, carefully closing the door behind her.The room itself was enormous. Big enough for multiple dragons to comfortably stand in. This was only the Fae entrance. There was a separate tunnel that the dragons could enter through that disappeared deep into the mountain. And standing as large as a house was a giant stone archway, magnificently carved and ornately built. The center of the archway shone a brilliant iridescent. Just as in her vision, there stood a goblet on a table next to the archway.Maya warily approached it. She looked into the
