“When I was born deformed, she tried to kill me.”
Brogan moved to hold Blaise. “You’re not deformed!” Her low tone was punctuated by Falcyn’s shout of the same words.
“And I killed her for her actions against you,” Xyn said. “Everything you were told, Blaise, was a lie concocted by Morgen to hurt you. You were still wet from cracking open your egg when I took you to Emrys to raise. The only truth you knew was that your father was the leader of the mandrakes.”
He’d just assumed it was the mandrake before Maddor, because only a tiny handful of fey knew Maddor was the first of their breed.
Another lie Morgen had kept so that no one would know she was related to their race.
Maddor growled at Xyn. “You should have told me about him!”
“I was planning to once I knew he was safe, but Morgen caught wind of my intentions and trapped me here before I had the chance.”
With a fierce roar, Maddor started for Xyn, only to be stopped by some unseen force.
“You can’t harm her,” Brogan reminded him. “I haven’t given you her name.”
“I hate all of you!” he roared.
Falcyn flinched as Medea moved to stand next to him so that she could offer him comfort. But the guilt he felt over his son didn’t last long. It gave way to a profound fury while he raked his gaze over Maddor’s former dragon body and then his new one as the Black Crom. “How dare you! Feel free to hate me all you want. I deserve it. Blaise, however, has never done anything to deserve your animosity for him. He’s your son. One you’ve treated like hell and mocked over the centuries for no reason whatsoever. You owe him an apology.”
Maddor scoffed at Falcyn. “You’re daring to lecture me on parenthood? Seriously?”
“Yeah, and I’ll bust your ass, boy! Don’t ever think I can’t take you in a fight. I promise you, I’ve eaten much tougher hides than yours and used their scales for shoes. If you want to act like a child, then I’ll treat you like one.”
The real Crom made a noise deep inside the dragon’s body.
Falcyn turned toward him at the sound, curious as to what was causing it. “What’s going on, Brogan? He about to spew?”
She shook her head. “It’s the strife between the two of you. It feeds him. Makes him—”
The Crom broke free and stood up.
“Stronger,” she finished with a squeak.
Blaise took her hand and pulled her behind him. “What’s he doing now?”
“Not sure.” Falcyn put his hand out to stop Medea from engaging the beast as she moved in for an attack.
Because the Crom wasn’t the only dragon rising.
All of them were, and he wasn’t sure what that signified. But with their luck, it wasn’t a good thing.
“Maddor?” Falcyn glanced to his son. “You want to return to your real body?”
His whip sizzled as he turned a slow circle to survey the number of original dragons who were now a little more than just plain pissed off. And since they had no other target, they were circling the only enemy they found in the room.
Them.
The whole group. And that included their mandrake leader that they couldn’t identify as a dragon since he was in the Crom’s body and had no head.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Falcyn couldn’t blame him there. Judging by the mood of the newly animated dragons, anything not one of their scaly clan was about to get eaten.
Summoning his powers, Falcyn felt his hands heating up as he began the process of reversing what he’d done to change out Maddor’s soul.
Lombrey rose up in an effort to block the dragons, but they passed right through his noncorporeal form.
Urian rolled his eyes. “Good to be a shadow, huh? Makes me wish I was one.” He drew a sword and prepared to attack.
And just as Falcyn began the incantation, a bright light flashed near them. It was intense and searing. So much so that it temporarily blinded him.
Until his sight cleared enough to see the last creature he’d have ever expected to appear in their midst.
Simi Parthenopaeus.
Dressed in a short purple skirt, black-and-red-striped leggings, and a matching corset, she was the Dark-Hunter Acheron’s … something. No one was quite sure what, and Acheron was never big on giving details, on Simi or anything else.
She drew up short as she surveyed everyone around her. Her red horns sprouted on top of her head as a tail came out from underneath her short skirt. A set of leathery bat wings sprang out, letting him know the Charonte Goth demon was ready to battle. Otherwise, her wings would have been of soft black and red feathers.
Urian’s eyes widened. “Simi? What are you doing here?”
“Akri done told the Simi that you’d be acting all weird and funky lately, and that the Simi should be keeping her eyeball on you, Akri-Uri. So … your heart rate picked up during my commercial break. Since I knew you wouldn’t be with no heifer cow-like redheaded goddess creature doing things that make the Simi go blind, I thought you be troubled. So then I thought, Simi, you best be checking on that old ex-Daimon to make sure he okay and not about to get et by something not friendly.”
She scowled as she put her finger to her cheek to consider her words. “No, that be wrong. Be in trouble.” She grinned widely, flashing her fangs. “You in trouble, Akri-Uri? Can the Simi eat your troubles? ’Cause I don’t think these dragonlies be on the Simi no-eat list. Pretty sure Akri won’t mind if the Simi eats them up.” She bit her lip with a childish enthusiasm that almost made Falcyn smile. Especially as she reached into her coffin backpack and pulled out a bib and a bottle of barbecue sauce to prepare for her meal.
The moment she did, the dragons actually stood down. Some even gulped audibly.
And that made Maddor nervous as hell. “What’s going on?”
Xyn laughed. “No one is dumb enough to tangle with a hungry Charonte. Don’t you know?”
Simi gasped. “Say it no so! The Simi so-o-o-o-o hungry! It been a whole twenty minutes since the Simi ets her last diamond.…” She pouted as she turned around, looking for a meal.
As she stepped forward, the dragons stepped back.
“Yeah!” Urian blustered at them. “That’s right! I’ve got a Charonte here and I’m not afraid to unleash her. Hah!”
A dragon sneezed beside him, blowing out fire that came a little too close to Urian.
Urian dashed to Simi’s side, putting her between them. “Are you fireproof, Sim?”
“Bomb proof, too.” She belched and shot out a stream of fire that caused several dragons to scramble for cover. “See!”
“Ah, you bunch of hatchlings.” With his hands on his hips, Falcyn finished putting Maddor back into his body.
The moment the Crom was himself again, he picked up his whip and went straight to Brogan.
They all tensed in expectation of what he intended to do with her, especially Blaise.
Brogan held her hand up to let them know that it was all right. After a few seconds, she nodded. “Peace to you, Crom.”
With a curt jerk of his coat, he flashed himself onto the back of his horse and vanished.