“Are you sure they can’t see us up here?” Tina asked in a whisper, peeking over the edge as Killian and Flynn wrestled on the mat. Anthony leaned against the wall, arms crossed as he watched the match, studying the competition.
Zane nodded. “Not even Anthony can smell us up here. Why? Don’t want them to know you’re spying?”
“It feels a little intrusive,” she admitted.
“We can leave.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” she added with a grin.
Zane chuckled. The more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. She was enchanting and fun, full of fire and courage. He didn’t want her to take him up on his offer to help her escape. Not now, not ever.
Though they were only just getting to know each other, he wanted her even if his odds of winning were slim at best. Though he had figured he had the advantage in the beginning, her beauty and ferocity had softened even the most stubborn prince. Now that she was getting along with them all, she would be more likely to choose Flynn and live with those who could answer her questions. If not Flynn, she would pick Anthony because they seemed to have a history. Anthony’s intense protectiveness over her suggested there was more between them than met the eye.
On the mat below, Killian flipped Flynn onto his back with a mighty thud. The demigod prince groaned but took Killian’s hand when the eagle shifter offered to help him up.
Flynn rubbed his neck. “Anthony, you get up here. I’m done getting my ass kicked.”
“Nope.”
“You’re no fun at all,” Killian said.
Anthony shrugged. “Being dull is fine with me.”
From her place beside Zane, Tina chuckled softly. Zane nudged her. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“I take it Anthony isn’t like this around you?”
She grinned but didn’t say anything more.
Though Zane would have loved some information on the elusive wolf shifter, he had to admire Tina’s loyalty. At least she could keep a secret.
Flynn gestured to the door. “Well, go make yourself useful, then, and find Draven.”
Killian snorted. “Make sure you check the temple priestess’s bedrooms first. He might have gotten an early start on his nightly conquests.”
Tina’s shoulder’s drooped, and she backed away from the viewport. “Maybe we should call it a day.”
Zane leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. “Tina, Draven isn’t sleeping with your priestesses. He’s in the library reading tantric books.”
Tina laughed, the worry dissolving from her face. “Really?”
“Really.”
She rubbed her neck. “Thanks for telling me that.”
Zane nodded. He should have smeared his competition for a better shot in the race, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie. Not to Tina, anyway.
30
Tina
On her second day off in the first week of her competition, Tina strolled down the path that cut through the lake in front of her temple. She patted her skirts, hand catching on the dagger hidden in the folds of her dresses, which she had made a habit of wearing all the time more to appease Draven than out of fear or concern. The path she walked led to the road, but she wouldn’t leave. She paused halfway down, staring at the rippling water, lost in thought.
Thus far, there didn’t seem to be a clear winner in the contest for her heart. There were pros and cons to each of the dashing princes vying for her hand, which only made everything more difficult. Besides, it wasn’t like picking from a pros and cons list was a very sexy way to choose a husband. Talk about a story to not share with the in-laws.
A surge of desire swirled through her, and she wondered if she should go pay Zane or Draven another visit. Or better yet, Anthony. With his powerful frame and protective nature, Tina wanted nothing more than to explore his body. She couldn’t resist chuckling at the horny little goddess that had taken residence within her, but she loved Damara. She and her goddess complemented each other. Tina wanted power and safety. Damara wanted sensation and pleasure. It was a dance, a give-and-take, and Tina had never felt this alive.
A flash of movement in her periphery caught her attention, and she turned to find Anthony running toward her. As their eyes met, his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, but he reached a hand for her. “Tina, we have to go inside,” he said, voice tense with concern.
“What’s wrong, Anthony?” She jogged toward him, her skirts swishing along the stone pathway. “Did something—”
Overhead, something roared. It was a sickening screech, the sort that turned Tina’s stomach over with dread and fear.
“What the …?” She scanned the sky, pressing her body against Anthony as he held her close. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and ran for the temple door, and she did her best to keep up.
A shadow passed overhead, the massive silhouette blocking the sun. A sharp whistle filled the air, and as Tina looked up, she saw a massive rock plummeting towards them from above.
“Tina!” Anthony pulled her close and spun her, his hands never leaving her waist, and he yanked her out of the boulder’s way seconds before it flattened them both, blocking their way to the temple.
Breathing heavily, Tina leaned into him, terrified and simultaneously pissed. Someone had just tried to kill her and Anthony, and she would rip them a new one. No one messed with her temple or her men.
She glared into the sky. Seven gray dragons circled her beautiful temple. From the gardens behind the building, a familiar red dragon soared toward them, his massive red body dwarfing his attackers.
Breathless, Tina could only stare as the chaos unfolded in the sky.
With black smoke billowing from his mouth, Draven sunk his teeth into the closest gray dragon. It coiled and sprang, flailing as they circled each other in the air. Draven adjusted his bite, this time digging into his enemy’s neck. It clawed at Draven’s face, scooping bloody gouges out of his face. Draven didn’t budge. He snarled and shook his head to deepen his hold. The enemy dragon’s wings beat frantically at the air as it gasped for breath.
With the first dragon still in his mouth, Draven dug the spikes on his tail into the soft underbelly of a second attacker. Cutting open the creature’s skin with a single slash, Draven roared in victory as a waterfall of blood fell from the other dragon’s body. It screamed, the sound shooting ice through Tina’s veins.
The dragon’s wings slowed, as though it couldn’t muster the strength to fly anymore. With nothing keeping it in the air, the creature plummeted to the earth, crashing into her roof and crushing it in an instant.
“Stay behind me!” Anthony told her, pinning her between his body and the boulder.
“Someone’s attacking my home, Anthony!” she shouted, pushing against his shoulder. “I’ll help. I’m not some damsel who needs saving, damn it!” Though Anthony’s back blocked most of her view, Tina focused her attention on one of the dragons, intent on not letting her princes have all the fun.
As Flynn had taught her, she dove into the magic deep within her core, accessing it even faster than before. In mere seconds, the powerful sensations of her surroundings hit her. The smell of Anthony’s cologne, the overbearing roar of the dragons above her, the sweet aroma of the fresh water in the lake at her feet. As it always had, the heartbeats began to thunder in her ear, this time dozens of them. She could feel every priest and priestess huddling in fear inside her temple, all of her princes, and even the dragons circling her home.
With all her might, she reached for the nearest unfamiliar heartbeat in the sky. “Come on,” she muttered to herself, pressing on the accelerator, eager to take him down. His pulse quickened, and she grinned with pride. No one messed with her home, not even a bunch of dragons.
His pulse raced like a wild drumbeat, erratic and out of control as she pushed it to its maximum. She peeked through her closed eyes and, above her, a dragon faltered. His wings no longer beat in tandem, and he occasionally lost dozens of feet in altitude as he began to drop. He roared, struggling to stay in the air, and she forced his heart to beat faster.