After Hadyn’s brutal death, his intent had been to leave that time period and country far behind… but in Max’s darkest hour, she’d found him. There for a little while, he’d mistakenly thought that she’d been divinely sent to comfort his pain…
He couldn’t have been more wrong. Seraphina had never been anything but his own personal hell.
“You could have sent one of your sisters,” he spat that hated word out, “after me.”
“I did. You covered your trail admirably. No one was ever able to find any trace of you.”
It was just as well. As pissed as he’d been back then, he’d have most likely slaughtered them before they could speak. Only time and distance – and absolute shock – had allowed him to spare them on their arrival here tonight.
She swallowed hard before she spoke again. “You would be proud of your children, Maxis. They are an honor to us both.”
Those words were a dagger through his heart. “Their names?”
“Hadyn and Edena.”
He repeated the names silently in his head and let the warmth of fatherly love spread over him as he tried to imagine what they would look like. Be like.
If they would hate him as much as he hated his own father. But in Max’s defense, his absence had been lack of knowledge. Not the hatred and disgust for his young that his father had borne for him.
“Named for your mother?” he whispered.
She nodded. “And Hadyn in honor of your brother who died the day before we met.”
He couldn’t believe she’d remembered his brother’s name. He’d only mentioned Hadyn to her once, in an hour of extreme weakness on the first anniversary of Hadyn’s death. Never before and never since.
“Where are they now?”
“Nala has them in hiding. She’s in league with a demon who has demanded the Dragonbane be delivered to him. If I fail to bring you to them, they’ll kill the children.”
Max cursed under his breath. The only reason Nala knew of his dragonbane mark that betrayed his wretched heritage and curse was from the night Sera had handed him over to her queen for public discipline and ridicule.
He involuntarily flinched as he remembered the bitter details of something he did his best to never think about. “Why didn’t you tell her who I was when she was here?”
“I didn’t realize it was you until after she was gone. Not that it matters. I still wouldn’t have turned you over to her. Not after last time.”
Yeah, right. Her loyalty to those bitches was absolute. A lesson learned the hardest way imaginable. “Forgive me if I find that difficult to believe.”
At least she had the decency to look away. “You were warned, repeatedly, what would happen if you didn’t stop rebelling against our laws. I begged you to bow down to them.”
“I am drakomai!” he snarled. “Born in the sacred hallow of gods, and nursed on the breastmilk of demons! I’m not a dog to be leashed and taught to heel. Not even for a queen.”
“No, that you most certainly aren’t.” She walked into his arms and he felt his resolve weaken.
Worse? His self-preservation crashed even faster.
Damn it.
Standing up on her tiptoes, she pressed her breasts against his chest and sank her graceful hand in his hair. Those long, finely shaped nails scraped against his skin, making him even harder and more desperate for the last thing he could do with her.
He wanted to curse her and pull back, but she had him captured in her siren’s lure.
And he was helpless in her arms. He’d always been helpless before her wiles.
“I never wanted you hurt, Maxis. If I could take back my actions, I would have gone with you when you asked me to leave my tribe. And you’re right. I should have fought for you. You would have fought for me.”
Yes, he would have. With every ounce of lifeblood he possessed.
If only she’d been so loyal to him.
Even now, he struggled not to touch her. To remain perfectly still and wrapped in the hatred he needed to feel in order to protect himself from allowing her to hurt him any worse. She hadn’t just carved out his heart, she’d hand-fed it to him. “I would have died for you.”
A sad frown lined her brow as she brushed her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. It raised chills all along his body and fired every hormone he possessed. “I miss your braids and feathers. You look so foreign with this short hair and odd clothing. But no less fierce or handsome.”
He missed the days when he’d foolishly thought they could have a future together. When he’d stupidly believed that she loved him and was as committed to their mated-union as he was. “Tell me of this demon who holds my dragonets. Why is it after me?”
“Because you are drakomai, they believe you’re guarding some object the demon needs for vengeance against a Daimon named Stryker. The demon stole something called the Smaragdine Tablet and —”
“You mean the Emerald Tablet?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It is green. Is that important?”
Was it important? He couldn’t believe she’d asked that.
He gave her a droll stare. “Since it contains the words to undo the creation of the world… Little bit.”