In tactics typical of the Brightstar army, the battle finished as swiftly as it began. Between one engagement and the next, the blue soldier numbers diminished until there was no one but rear-guard stragglers to fight. Dev was about to start his post-battle assessment of flight strengths, positions and injuries when Denaleth and her rider flew up beside him.
“I’m relieving you,” Shay said.
Dev’s first thought was that Jax wanted him. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Ask him.” Shay nodded to Fellescend.
Dev fought a surge of annoyance. He had better things to do than pander to his dragon’s unpredictable sensibilities. Fellescend?
The flights can manage without us now. We need to get back home.
Fellescend rolled up and over before heading back to the den, but the maneuver had nothing to do with the fear that unfurled inside Dev. What’s happening in our den?
Nothing now.
Dev could hear the evasion in his dragon’s voice and it set his teeth on edge. Full disclosure, right now, or I swear I will pluck every scale from your conniving body.
You’ll only get angry if I tell you now. It’s much better if we wait until I’m back in the lair.
Better for the black, no doubt. I’m not fucking around, Fellescend. Out with it.
Dev was treated to a long-suffering dragon sigh. My pet is safe now. Zenbaylan is taking care of her.
Dev’s body sizzled with a mix of fear, dread and anxiety. Give me the fast version, from the beginning.
Willersby Lockmehdyhn and four guards came to the lair and tried to steal our pet. Zenbaylan flew to her aid and now they are waiting for us to come home.
Rage surged through Dev, so hot and dark that his vision actually blacked out. My mate was in danger and you and Zenbaylan didn’t see fit to tell me?
The flights required your presence during the battle, and Zenbaylan didn’t need our help.
The fury built, turned red, and Dev slammed his gauntleted fists into Fellescend’s impervious scales. It doesn’t matter if they needed our help or not. Another blow, even harder. Not the fucking point.
Fellescend’s shock was bright and clear in the link. You struck me.
A situation that had never occurred in the entire time they’d been together. If Dev hadn’t been so angry, he would have been shocked too. You deserved it. And if you ever do anything like this to me again, if you ever keep anything about Tansy’s welfare from me, I’ll gut you while you sleep.
You are my rider, you would never injure me.
Why not? You hurt me.
There was a long pause, and when Fellescend finally spoke his voice was quiet. I don’t understand.
The black was genuinely confused, and the link between them was too old and complex for Dev to hold his rage. This was his opportunity to teach Fellescend something, to show him how the dynamics in their new relationships were going to work.
Dev took a deep breath, did his best to settle his temper, and tried to explain his feelings in dragon terms. I belong to you, right?
Of course.
And if I was under threat or someone was trying to hurt me, wouldn’t you want to know?
There was a slight, thoughtful hesitation. Yes.
In the same way it’s your duty to protect me, it’s my duty to protect Tansy. When I mated with her, I gave my word to defend her and keep her safe. It is my honor, my duty and my privilege to care for her. Your decision today denied me those rights.
Ah. I would not like it if you were hurt and others deliberately kept that information from me.
Then you understand why I’m so angry.
Yes, I understand.
Dev went for the kill while Fellescend was feeling empathetic—or as empathetic as a dragon was capable of being. I want your word right now that you will never keep information from me when it comes to the safety and welfare of Tansy or Rye.
The pause was longer this time, and Dev though Fellescend was going to balk, but eventually a wary acceptance came through the link. Very well, you have my word.
Thank you. Dev spotted the den, far into the distance. Get me home, Fellescend, as fast as you can.
As soon as he’d stripped off his armor, Dev stalked through the den looking for his mates. He found them in the bathroom and his heart squeezed tight as he hurried across the tiled expanse, halting a bare arm’s-length away. Tansy was sitting on the counter, naked and freshly bathed. Her light-brown eyes brimmed with unshed tears and Dev knew that if even one of those tears fell she would rip him open.
He scanned her long, lithe body. She was covered in an array of scrapes, cuts and bruises so prevalent there was hardly a hand-span of unmarred skin. Sitting quietly, she allowed a tightly subdued Rye to dab antiseptic ointment on every wound as he methodically made his way down her torso.
Tansy held out a hand to Dev, palm up, and he moved forward to cradle her hand in his, her delicate bones light and fragile. Her nails were split and torn, her skin shredded, and as he lowered his lips to her palm, his kiss was more breath than touch. Needing to feel her under his hand, he moved closer, cupping the back of her head and resting his fingers on the warm skin at her nape.
“Have the physicians had time to see her yet?” he asked, speaking to the back of Rye’s bent head.
“No. They’re still knee-deep in wounded.”
Dev wasn’t surprised. The battle had been brutal, and both sides had suffered deaths and injuries. He took a breath and hoped he could hold it together as he asked his next question. “What do I need to know?” About Tansy. About what that bastard had done to her this time.
“The inside of her mouth is cut, probably from a slap.” Rye’s voice was quiet, almost conversational, but Dev could see the deadly intention in every line of his denmate’s body. “She has a boot-print on her chest and bruises on her ribs and back, most likely from being kicked. As best I can tell, all the other cuts and scrapes are a result of her being thrown down the cliff.”
The room tilted and Dev had to put his spare hand on Rye’s bent back to steady himself. “He threw her off the landing?”
“Yep.”
Spots wavered in Dev’s vision and he floated on a wave of calm, inevitable vengeance. Willersby Lockmehdyhn was going to suffer long and hard before he took his last breath, it was really just a matter of how and when. Dev stroked Tansy’s hair, his eyes scanning her body over and over as Rye cared for her injuries. Then he came to a decision.
“I’ve changed my mind, Rye. I don’t think you and I should kill Willersby fucking Lockmehdyhn.”
Rye rolled his head to the side. “Oh?”
Dev looked him in the eye. “I think we should ask Fellescend and Zenbaylan to do the honors.”
A grim smile lifted the corners of Rye’s mouth. “Perhaps, if we ask really nicely, they’ll play with him first.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
The blacks were born to fight. They were ferocious and insanely territorial. Dev had no doubt they would break Willersby long before they killed him, and that thought filled him with deep satisfaction. Raping Tansy was enough to have earned the councilor a death sentence, but he’d come after her in the den. He’d tried to hurt her when she was legally and morally under Dev and Rye’s protection, and that meant he’d relinquished any right to mercy. Fellescend and Zenbaylan would rip Willersby to shreds, rend his limbs from his body and then, if he was very lucky, they would kill him.
Dev wished he could be there to see it.
The fantasy of what he’d like to do to Willersby Lockmehdyhn was brought to a halt when Rye wrapped Tansy in a blanket and lifted her off the bench. Dev knew her injuries would heal on their own, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her suffering any discomfort after what she’d endured.
Fellescend, can we bring Tansy to you?
Of course. Zenbaylan and I will take care of her.
Thank you.
Dev kept one hand on Rye’s shoulder, connecting the three of them as they traversed the den and made their way to the lair. As they stepped onto the soft expanse of sand the dragons used as their bed, Fellescend lowered himself to his elbows so Rye could lay Tansy in his scaly arms.
Stepping forward, Dev stroked her hair from her face. “Just relax, honey. Let Fellescend and Zenbaylan heal you while you sleep.”
Skin is better, Fellescend said, referring to the fact that Tansy was still tightly wrapped in her blanket.
Dev wasn’t sure if his mate was ready to strip naked and go skin to scale, but he knew if he didn’t broach the subject Fellescend would.
Sifting his fingers through her hair, Dev leaned down so he could see her eyes. “Fellescend can heal you better and faster if you’re skin to skin. Is it okay if we lose the blanket?”
She blinked a couple of times, but there was no doubt his Tansy was still in there.
“Will you and Rye stay with me? It won’t feel so weird if the three of us are naked together.” She offered him a small smile and that slight tilt of her lips eased the hard knot that had been burning inside him.
Rye gave a tired chuckle and started stripping. “You only have to ask, honey. Dev and I are always looking for an excuse to get naked with you.”
Wasn’t that the truth? Rye looked freshly washed, but Dev still had the dirt and sweat of battle clinging to him. “Just give me enough time for a quick rinse, and then I’ll be back.”
In record time, Dev was clean, naked and cradled in Fellescend’s arms with Tansy tucked safe and tight between him and Dev. Both dragons snuggled tight and pulled their dark gray wings across to form a canopy over their family. Cocooned in a warm, aromatic, living bed that rose and fell with every dragon breath, Dev finally relaxed. Despite the trauma and upheaval of the day, he eased into a deep and restful sleep.