no coincidence they’d both disappeared with her a thousand years ago only to resurface again.
Speak of the devil, the she-dragon marched into the room like a queen, her royal blue cape billowing behind her. Though his eyesight wasn’t the best without his glasses, she was close enough that he could make out her features. She resembled Teju and his brothers mid-shift, with the face and body of a beautiful woman, but she was covered head to toe in shimmering black scales. She had leathery, bat-like wings, two horns sprouting from the top of her head, and a long, barbed tail.
He clung to the bars of his cell as she fell on top of a round bed in the center of the room that resembled a giant bird’s nest. “What have you done with my mate?”
She curled up on the bed like a feline, her wings wrapped around her body, the long tail twisting around her legs. “I’ve already told you. She’s in another cell with her brother.”
Gritting his teeth, he did his best not to swear at the creature. “Let me see her.”
Her laugh was sultry, and she smoothed a hand down her thigh. “You are my prisoner, Makarios Phoenixfire. You do not get to give orders.”
He repressed a roar. She was fucking with him, and it took all his willpower not to lose his temper. “For the last time, I am not Makarios.”
“So you keep saying.” She arched one long leg, giving him a not-so-subtle crotch shot. The bitch was truly demented if she thought she could turn him on.
His nostrils flared as he tried and failed to catch Serah’s scent. All he could smell was the dragon’s sulfuric breath and a rotten crotch that smelled like fish entrails. “Why can’t I smell her?”
“This is a large island.” Rolling her eyes, she yawned into her hand, looking bored. “Her cell is far from here.”
Teju didn’t know if he wanted to scream or cry. What if Serah was already dead? Teju didn’t think his heart could withstand the agony if she was gone from the world. “Please, I’m begging you.” He clutched the bars with white knuckles, his eyes misting with tears. “Let me see her.”
“Very well,” she said. “I’ll make you a deal. You help me, and I’ll help you.”
Teju didn’t like what he saw in her eyes, but he was desperate. Bile projected into his throat at the thought of having to sleep with her, for he feared that’s what she wanted. “What do you want?”
She pulled a familiar stick from her cape.
“My wand!” he gasped, holding out a hand though he knew she’d never let him have it.
She pulled out another wand, one that looked eerily familiar, like a the same wand with the catastrophic curse that he’d given to his father. Its smooth, cream-colored surface looked like it was made from porcelain. She gripped one in each hand. “Why does your wand look so different from mine?”
“Mine is a Pegasus Feather. Yours looks like a Goldenwand.”
She got up and strode over to him. “What’s the difference between them?”
“Yours is far more expensive,” he said, hoping she didn’t ask him more. She might hold the missing wand with the catastrophic curse that could end the world.
She edged closer to him, purring like a cat while rubbing against the bars beside him. “What else?”
He itched to snatch a wand from her. If he was fast enough, he could do it, but if he failed, he’d lose his chance at seeing Serah. “I have answered enough questions.” He looked away, knowing she wanted him to try to steal a wand. “Let me see my mate.”
“Your answers have only left me with more questions.” She banged the wands against the bars, making clanking sounds that reverberated through the cavern. “Why won’t my wand discharge magic?”
He squeezed his hands until nails broke skin. One lunge and his imprisonment would be over. No witch could match him if he held a wand. “Perhaps it is broken.”
“Believe me, it is not. An infantile griffin was able to create a huge blast.”
Dear Goddess, it was the wand with the catastrophic curse, and it was in the hands of a crazed witch! He turned to her, doing his best to control his breathing. “The blast that leveled this island?”
A wicked grin revealed sharp fangs. “Yes.”
She pressed his wand against the bars, an arm’s length away, tempting him with a malicious gleam in her eyes.
Releasing a steady breath, he looked into her eyes. She was torturing