(Orna)Tymeria walked the entire length of the dungeon, her nostrils flaring in irritation. Her cheeks were flushed as she kept mumbling under her breath. I felt a tickle of amusement as I pushed the woman inside the last cell and locked the door. There were annoying sounds of sobbing, which irritated me to no end. I wanted nothing more than to silence them, but for now, I needed them. I had to keep them safe here. "Fucking Claudine," she hissed, before she whirled around and looked at me her eyes narrowed in agitation. I could see her rage, but I didn't care about Claudine. Everyone was a means to an end. I knew she wouldn't babble, and that was enough for now."It isn't really her fault, Tymeria. Like I said, my niece is smarter. She has always been." I felt a flicker of pride. It was fun playing against someone who was as smart as me. If she had been someone like me, if she had acquired the genes of Estrild's daughter, we could have destroyed Draconia together, and built somethin

(Vera)"If she was dead..." Blaine took a deep breath, his hands quivering. He stood up, and the book fell to the ground. "It would be my fault. I didn't even try to find out the truth. I refused to talk with her when she came to talk about-""You were just seventeen.""I was almost eighteen, there were just three months for my eighteenth birthday, a day I would find my mate, finally, and my dragon felt besotted with her, too and he felt this pull towards her, and I had been holding on to the hope that she was mine. My mate. The other part of my soul. I wanted it with everything in me. I wanted her with everything," he whispered as his face morphed into one of grief and pain. It hurt me to see him like that. We had always joked around, and this was the most we had ever talked with each other. Now that he was sharing all of this with me, I felt like he had accepted me as his sister as well. I squeezed his palm in mine. He had a grateful look in his eyes as he stared back. "That was wh

(Izza)I heard voices. There were so many voices these days. I didn't know who they were. They hissed and shouted and whispered, and I had a feeling they were not too pleased with whatever they were doing. "Claudine is dead. Did you kill her?" I knew this voice. Tymeria Blackstone. This other woman growled. "I didn't kill her. I don't know who killed her." I didn't remember her voice. I looked around my room and sighed."Orna. You should leave." Tymeria said. "And you, too." "But mom..." "Kill the hybrid and leave," the other woman said and my body jerked back in fear and pain. But then again, I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. Stripped of magic and dragon, I couldn't do anything to fight back. "Why? We can easily use that memory spell...""Memory spell doesn't always last. We can't gamble on this. She might get her memory back in ten days or ten years or never. KILL HER." Tymeria said, her voice cold and aloof. "As long as we have Vera to destroy the crown, we

(Vera) “The place will explode in a few minutes,” Owen said as he looked at me with desperation in his eyes. He wanted to protect me, but he knew there was no way in hell I would leave, and hence the desperation. “You should go. You don’t have time to get me out of these shackles. She is planning something, Vera.” “I don’t care. I am not going anywhere without you,” I whispered as I caressed his cheeks and wiped his tears. “You know, it is you and me, kid, since that day.” “I love you, Vera.” “I love you. So where are the others? The cells look empty,” I said as I quickly scanned the room. “They are shackled to the ceilings inside the cell, and they might be unconscious,” he said as he flinched back and I wanted to hug him and tell him how everything was going to be alright, but even I didn’t know that yet.We had planned for things that might go wrong. We assumed everything was going to be wrong when we came here. But there were things we didn’t have time to fully plan.I just h

(Vera) A scream left my lips as I looked at Ezra. His eyes were wide open, but he was dead. My heart thundered as I turned around to see one of the guards pressing his gun against Mateo's back. Jace was aiming his gun at the other guard. "What the fuck are you-" I growled out. I wanted to kill him right now. I was this close to finding out where Lili was and this bastard was the reason Ezra was now dead. I stared at the blood pooled around him and wince. No matter what, he was my friend, and now he was dead. I wanted to rip this man's hands off for killing Ezra and now pointing the same gun at my mate. The guard shook his head, looking angry and anxious, too. My stomach twitched nervously. "Let her go, or I will shoot the Prince. Once she is safely away from this place, the Prince will be safe too." I growled in anger as I whirled around to stare at him. "What did she pay you? We can pay you double that. You don't have to die for these women." "I don't want to die for them. No on