His lone eye searched around the chamber, finally locking on the barbarians.
Brigida lifted her staff and slammed it to the ground once, the sound echoing for miles, the floor shuddering beneath. It was enough to get the Iron’s attention.
“Outside,” Brigida ordered. “There’s a whole herd of—”
The Iron turned, unleashed his wings, and, in seconds, was gone.
Silence followed the Iron’s exit until the Kolesova woman suddenly asked, “Herd of what . . . exactly? For we are hungry too.”
Chapter Five
Gaius decimated most of the herd of elk and devoured them in less time than he was comfortable with. But his need could not be contained.
Even though he’d been fed by his captors, it had been as if the food did not nourish him in any way. So he’d starved while eating. A nightmare if there ever was one.
That torc had not been designed merely to keep a dragon captive in his human form. It had been designed to torture. But why? He was clearly worth more alive than dead. It wasn’t arrogance that brought him to that belief either. It was politics.
And yet the longer they’d taken to travel to wherever his captives had been leading him, the more he’d known he was moments from dying. He was sure of it.
Gaius realized he must have finally sated his hunger if he was sitting around, analyzing his current situation. He could only manage that when he was fed and happy or paranoid and desperate.
Now that he could think clearly again, he finally did what he’d been unable to do since this had all started.
Gaius called out to his sister.
A long, painful moment of silence greeted him and then . . . nothing but yelling.
He winced as his sister called him every derogatory name she could think of—and there were many; she had a mouth just like their plebian mother—while at the same time sobbing with relief.
Gaius let her vent as long as she needed. It was the least he could do. And the gods knew, he wouldn’t have been much better if the tables had been turned. As it was, he knew what it was like to live for too long without his twin. But he honestly wasn’t sure which was worse—not knowing what happened to his twin or knowing all too well.
Vateria, cunt of the ages, had made sure he’d received detailed reports of what his sister had endured at their cousin’s claws. She’d always been that perverse. That cruel. And between Vateria’s reports and his own imagination, Gaius had soon grown as cruel as she, his anger leading the way.
When Queen Annwyl had finally tracked him down, he’d been one step away from being no better than his Uncle Thracius. In fact, to this day, he had no idea what had held him back from slaying the human female outright. He’d hated Annwyl on sight, so it should have been easy. But something had stayed his claw. Something had kept him from killing her and her small party of dragons and one human girl.
Whatever the reason, the universe would never know how grateful he truly was for that decision. Because it was Annwyl and her party who had eventually managed to rescue his sister. Killing Thracius and destroying his army had just been a bonus gift.
When Gaius had returned to his cave, he’d found his sister there. Alive and well and waiting for him. In front of their troops, their greeting to each other had been sweet but aloof. They were still royals after all, rebels or not.
But, once they were alone, Gaius had held his sister while she’d sobbed against his chest. Her sobs had been filled with pain and rage and relief that it was all over.
They hadn’t discussed it again after that, but they didn’t have to. Just like now. Aggie didn’t need to tell Gaius how worried she’d been about him. He could just feel it. In his bones.
You’re safe now, though? she finally asked, slowly getting hold of herself.
I am.
Good. Then I’ll touch base with you later.
All right. I’ll be here.
You better. Or I swear to all the gods . . .
She didn’t need to finish that threat. And it was a threat.
The communication between them abruptly ended and Gaius took in a deep breath. One that he would let out slowly. A technique he’d learned to control his weaker elements. But before he could do anything, an arrow shot past him and lodged into the neck of a bear that had been gnawing on the bones Gaius had littered over the ground during his feasting.
The bear gave a strangled roar before falling flat on its back. A few seconds later, Kachka Shestakova walked past Gaius to retrieve her prize.
“Excellent shooting,” he noted, very glad to be distracted from his sister’s pain and fear.
“I do not allow for any other kind.”