The ballroom of the dragon emperor’s palace glittered with light and silk, but Princess Lauraai couldn’t stop thinking about how many of the people around her might not be people at all. That was the problem with dragons. You couldn’t tell by looking. For most of her life, she hadn’t known dragons could take human form.
As far as the human kingdoms were concerned, dragons were monsters, winged beasts that took sacrifices and burned villages. Then the dragon emperor had offered peace, and her father had accepted before she could refuse. A marriage contract. Her hand drifted to the sapphire necklace at her throat, the one containing enough dragon poison to kill the most powerful being alive.
“Until six months ago, we were at war,” Lauraai muttered to her brother Caspian. “More like we trembled and sacrificed our daughters,” Caspian said. “So really, not much has changed. You’re about to be sacrificed.
Though the emperor plans to marry you, not eat you alive. ”
“Same difference. ”
She’d thought about Elvina, her maid, barely sixteen when her name was drawn. Lauraai had tried to save her with nothing but a sword and desperate courage.
It hadn’t been enough. The dragon that struck her down had left her barren, had left her brief marriage ended in annulment. She’d come here to kill the emperor, and now she was walking into his palace as his bride-to-be, armed with a secret plan to stop him once and for all. Except Lauraai wasn’t the only princess there.
Nine women had been summoned to the dragon capital for the emperor’s favor. The music stopped. The emperor entered, and Lauraai’s heart nearly stopped with it. She’d prepared herself for something terrible.
She hadn’t prepared herself for the beautiful man in the doorway, for his sharp cheekbones, for his full lower lip curved with just enough cruelty to make her stomach drop. He was tall, easily a head taller than any man in the room, with shoulders broad enough that her first thought was what it would feel like to be held against that chest. Her hand flew to the necklace. This attraction had to be magic.
Dragons could do that, couldn’t they? Cipher moved through the crowd, greeting people with polite nods. His expression remained distant, bored, until his eyes found hers across the ballroom. The noise faded.
There was only him and those burning eyes locked onto hers. Her knees nearly buckled. He paused, his eyes widening, his body rigid like he’d just been struck. Then his mouth curved into a smile, and he turned away.
An attendant appeared at her elbow. “Princess, if you would come with me, please. ”
She was led to the eastern wall, where other women were gathering. Beautiful women in elaborate gowns, all looking confused.
Princess Annabella of Ambrose. Lady Selena of Cre. Were these all human princesses? Ten of them stood in a line now, all beautiful, all noble.
Lauraai’s stomach dropped. “Nervous? ” Annabella asked. “You should be.
”
Cipher stopped in front of them. “Welcome, princesses of the human kingdoms. You were all invited here under the premise of a political alliance, which is why I must be honest about the true nature of this gathering. I require a mate, for only a true mate bond can produce an heir.
For decades, I have searched amongst other dragons, but recently, a dragon king found his mate with a human woman. I will not be choosing a bride tonight. I will take willing volunteers as mistresses, I will court each of you in turn, and should any of you form the mate bond with me and prove capable of bearing my heir, she will become my empress. ”
Lauraai gaped.
She’d come here thinking she was the emperor’s chosen bride, but she was just one option among many. The humiliation burned, and worse, the memory of how she’d stared when he entered, how her body had responded. Before she could think better of it, the words spilled out. “Is this how dragons shop for mares?
What’s next? Will you be assessing our teeth, too? ”
The ballroom went dead silent. Cipher’s eyebrows rose.
“You object to the process, princess? ”
“I was told this was a betrothal, a political alliance, not a competition for your bed. ”
Cipher’s smile turned predatory. Then he addressed the ballroom.
“I’ve made my decision for this evening. I will meet with one of you tonight privately, should her royal highness be willing, of course. ”
All the women went rigid. Cipher’s gaze locked with Lauraai’s, intense, focused.
Her breath caught as he took a step forward. Just one, but deliberate. Then he turned away. “Princess Annabella of Ambrose.
”
Lauraai’s mind blanked. He didn’t look at her at all. Just walked past her like she was invisible. To humiliate her, to punish her for speaking up.
She’d come here to kill the dragon emperor, but she wouldn’t be able to do that if she couldn’t seduce him first. Later that night, Lauraai paced her chambers like a caged animal. “He looked right at me, smiled, and then walked away with Annabella. ”
“Does it matter who he chose?
” Caspian asked. “Of course it matters. How am I supposed to trap him if he’s bedding some other woman? ”
A sharp knock made them both freeze.
A servant entered, bowing deeply. “Princess Lauraai, his imperial majesty requests your presence. Immediately. ”
Lauraai’s heart jumped.
She followed the servant through endless corridors, past dragon motifs carved into walls and woven into tapestries. They climbed stairs higher and higher, the corridors narrowing into private quarters. They were going to his chambers. Her stomach flipped.
This was what she needed. Privacy, a chance to get close. That meant being alone with him, with those eyes and that body that made her forget why she was there. The servant stopped at massive carved doors and retreated.
Lauraai touched the necklace one last time and pushed the doors open. She saw a massive fireplace, an enormous bed, and then movement by the windows. Cipher stood with his back to her, silhouetted against starlight. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
He turned slowly, and Lauraai’s brain short-circuited. His chest was defined in a way that suggested he didn’t just command armies; he trained with them. Firelight played across bare skin, across muscle that shifted with each breath. She jerked her eyes back up to his face, burning.
“Princess Lauraai,” he said, amused. “I’m glad you could join me. ” He took a step toward her, stopping just out of reach. “Tell me.
Am I making you nervous? ”
Lauraai realized with a clarity that cut through the fog of desire that she was in deep trouble. “Where’s the other princess? ” she heard herself ask.
“Annabella, the one you chose? ”
“Jealous, princess? ”
“Worried, actually. For all I know, you’ve eaten her.
”
Cipher looked genuinely offended. “I wouldn’t eat a human. My body is a temple. ”
He began moving toward her slowly, deliberately, until he was right there, towering over her.
“So,” he asked, his gaze intensified. “Are you willing, princess? ”
Her mind raced even as her body screamed its answer. She had the poison.
This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. Her mouth opened, but the words wouldn’t come. Cipher sighed. His hand came up slowly, and one finger traced her cheek with devastating gentleness.
“Perhaps not then,” he murmured, and turned away. “Wait,” Lauraai protested, breathless. “Traditionally, we humans have drinks first. Get to know each other.
”
Cipher finally looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “Do you? ”
“Well, I’m sorry,” she snapped, “but you can’t expect me to just—” she gestured helplessly. “Your highness, if you’re uneasy, you may leave.
Nothing is keeping you here. ”
Lauraai’s pride flared. “I’m not uneasy. I am in fact very easy.
”
Cipher snorted with laughter, the sound rich and warm. “That’s not what I meant,” Lauraai said, realizing. “All right,” he beckoned her with one finger. “Come here.
”
She found it infuriating. The arrogance, the presumption. Then again, this was why she was here, to get close enough to poison him. Cipher waited.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Seduce me. Show me why I shouldn’t call one of the other disposable human princesses and keep you instead. ”
Lauraai’s hand moved before her brain could catch up.
Crack. Her palm connected with his cheek, the sound echoing through the chamber. Silence. Then Cipher laughed, turning back to face her with eyes bright with genuine delight.
“How dare you speak to me like I’m some common—” Lauraai began. Cipher stood abruptly, suddenly in her space, towering over her. “I told you that you could leave. You chose to stay.
” He leaned closer. “Presumably because you long to be my mistress, or perhaps even my wife. For why else would you be here? ”
Before she could speak, he bent, his lips brushing her ear.
“Unless, of course, you’re here for a different reason. To kill me, perhaps? ”
Lauraai’s breath caught. “You really think I wouldn’t find out?
” Cipher asked, his voice soft, almost gentle, which somehow made it more terrifying. His hand found her lower back, pulling her forward against him, his bare chest against her body. She could feel everything, every beat of his heart, the iron-hard length of his arousal pressing against her belly. He wanted her.
The knowledge shot through her like lightning. “I have powers beyond your imagination, princess,” his lips moved against her neck, “and an entire army of informants at my disposal. Not all of them dragons. Some you probably thought were your friends.
”
“I’m not trying to kill you,” Lauraai whispered. Cipher’s eyebrow arched. “No. ”
“No,” Lauraai shook her head.
The lie hung between them. They both knew it was a lie. Then Lauraai pressed her lips to his. Lightning and fire, every nerve ending lighting up at once.
Cipher responded immediately, his hand fisting in her hair, angling her head exactly how he wanted it. The kiss deepened, neither of them gentle. His tongue slid against hers, and the sensation made her knees buckle. His hands tightened on her, and suddenly they were moving, walking her backward until her back hit the wall.
His body pinned her there, and his mouth was still on hers. Then Cipher stepped back, leaving her gasping and disoriented. “Good night, princess,” he said, chest heaving. “You may return to your chambers.
”
He turned away like nothing had happened. Like that world-ending kiss meant nothing at all. Three days passed, and Lauraai hadn’t seen him since. Every night she woke from dreams she couldn’t quite remember, his hands on her skin, his mouth trailing fire down her throat.
It was humiliating, and it was all his fault. It had to be some kind of enchantment. Evening found her on her balcony, watching dragons wheel through the air against the dying light. One dragon in particular caught her attention, larger than the others, with black scales that gleamed and lightning crackling across its wings.
She knew with bone-deep certainty that it was him. Heat flooded through her. He wasn’t going to choose her. She knew that now.
If she wanted any opportunity to complete her mission, she’d have to create it herself. She’d have to seduce him. Lauraai poured more wine. The world had soft edges now.
She made her way through the palace corridors, the walls seeming to wave slightly. Her guards materialized behind her. “Your Highness, perhaps you should return to your chambers. It’s quite late.
”
“No, now,” Lauraai said, and started walking. Somehow her feet knew the way. There was a warmth in her chest, a pull, like a thread connecting her ribs to something distant. She knocked on the massive carved doors, hard, then harder.
The door swung open, and there he was, candlelight painting shadows across his bare chest, his hair slightly damp. “Fancy meeting you here,” Lauraai greeted, trying to step inside with devastating grace. Her foot caught on the threshold, and she pitched forward with a small yelp. Cipher’s hands shot out, catching her by the waist.
“Lauraai,” he warned as her hands started moving, exploring up over his shoulders, down over his chest, his abs hard as stone. Lower. His hand caught her wrist. “I can’t help it,” she informed him.
“It is your fault for enchanting me. ”
Cipher stared at her for a long moment. “You’ve been drinking, haven’t you, Lauraai? ”
“Not at all,” she replied firmly.
Then, “well, maybe a little. But it doesn’t matter because I have something important to tell you. I resent you. I resent that I can’t stop thinking about you.
Every night I dream about you, about that kiss, about your hands on me. What did you do to me? ”
Cipher’s hands tightened on her waist almost painfully. “You’re drunk.
You should go. ”
“Don’t want to,” Lauraai pressed closer until she could feel the heat of him seeping through her gown. Cipher muttered something that sounded like “this is a terrible idea,” but he hadn’t let go of her. His head dipped, his mouth coming inches from hers.
She could feel his breath ghosting across her lips. Then he stopped. “You need water,” he said, stepping away. “And something for the hangover you’re going to have.
” He returned with a glass of something that shimmered faintly. “Drink this. It’s a hangover cure. ”
She took the glass, sniffed it suspiciously.
“If you poison me, I’ll be very annoyed,” she declared, making him smile. The exhaustion hit her all at once. Her legs went weak, and Cipher caught her before she could fall, lifting her easily. Lauraai’s head fell against his shoulder.
She felt him press his face into her hair for just a moment. “You’re going to be the death of me, princess,” he murmured. Lauraai smiled, eyes already closed. When she woke, she was in her own bed, tucked carefully under the covers.
The memory crashed back. Wine. So much wine. Deciding to seduce him.
Lauraai covered her face with her hands and groaned. He’d carried her back all the way through the palace without waking her. A knock at the door made her heart jump. Cipher stepped through, closed the door, and leaned against it, arms crossed, that insufferable smile playing at his lips.
“What are you doing here? ” she asked. “Good morning to you, too, princess. I came to make sure you’d sobered up.
”
Lauraai’s face flamed. “I’m perfectly sober, just like I was perfectly sober last night, too. ”
“Really? ” He picked up her teacup, brought it to his lips, and took a slow sip while maintaining eye contact.
“So you were sober when you stumbled into my chambers and ran your hands all over me? ”
“I was not stumbling. I was walking with purpose. ”
“With purpose,” he laughed, “into my arms.
You could barely stand. ”
“You’re the one who caught me. ”
“Then if you were sober, you meant everything you said. Everything you did.
” Trap. If she wasn’t drunk, she’d meant every confession. If she was drunk, she admitted weakness. “You’re infuriating.
Whatever I said, I didn’t mean any of it. ”
Cipher came closer. “None of it? Not the part about me enchanting you?
” Her breath caught. “Or how you can’t stop remembering our kiss? ”
“I was clearly under the influence of—” He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. “Of wine, obviously.
”
“Obviously. So you don’t find me attractive? ”
Lauraai lifted her chin. “Not at all.
You’re quite banal. ”
His hand came up, fingers trailing along her jaw. “That’s not what you said last night. ” He leaned in, bracing one hand on the table beside her, the other cupping her face.
“Your pupils are dilated. Your breathing is shallow. Your pulse is racing. ” He leaned closer.
“You amuse me, princess. More than anyone has in centuries. Which is why I planned to make you my mistress. If you’re willing.
” His eyes bored into hers, and she could see the hunger there. “Are you willing, Lauraai? ”
“I plan to make you my lover,” she said, her hand on his chest. Cipher went very still.
“Is that so? ”
Lauraai nodded. He studied her for a long moment. “Then good,” he said, his lips brushing her ear.
“Because you’ll never be able to bear me a child if you’re not willing. ” Guilt crashed through her. She couldn’t give him children, but that was what he wanted. She should tell him.
But his mouth was on her neck, hot kisses trailing down her throat. She’d tell him later. Cipher’s mouth claimed hers, and Lauraai forgot everything. The guilt, the mission, the poison necklace.
He lifted her without warning, setting her on the table, stepped between her knees, taking her mouth again. Then he was lowering her onto the bed, and they became one, and she shattered. Something impossibly strange washed over her. Satisfaction that felt masculine, pride, fierce arousal.
Suddenly, her own pleasure layered with sensations that felt like they were coming from him. It was as if she could feel the sheer depth of his desire for her, feel the sensations coursing through him, foreign and yet undeniable. Days blurred together. There was only him, them.
Every moment together ended the same way, tangled together, breathless, only to start all over again. They were insatiable. In the armory, the library, the gardens at midnight. She was addicted to his touch, to that strange connection humming between them constantly.
The poison necklace still sat in her drawer, untouched, waiting. Every night she told herself, “Tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow. ” But tomorrow became next week, and next week became next month.
That night, they were having dinner in his private dining room when Cipher stood abruptly, pulled her up, and kissed her hard. “I need you. Now. Can’t wait.
” He lifted her onto the table, plates scattering, wine spilling across white linen. “You drive me insane,” he muttered against her skin. “Can’t focus on anything except having you. ”
Much later, as they lay tangled together in his massive bed, Lauraai asked, “What is this?
This connection? How come I can feel everything you feel? ”
“The mating bond,” Cipher replied, stroking her hair. “It forms between true mates.
Dragons have one true mate. Our souls recognize each other. ” His expression grew serious, vulnerable. “I knew the moment I saw you at the ball, Lauraai.
That you were mine. ”
Her breath caught as she remembered that first look across the ballroom. “I thought it was a spell,” she admitted quietly. “So did I,” he laughed, pulling her closer.
“But it was just the bond, just fate telling me you’re mine. ” His expression brightened with hope. “And it means you can give me a child,” he said, his hand splaying possessively over her stomach. Lauraai went rigid, ice flooding her veins.
“A child,” she repeated. Cipher didn’t notice, too caught up in his own thoughts. “I need an heir for succession. The empire requires it, but it’s more than that.
” His voice went softer. “I’ve been alone for so long, Lauraai. A thousand years of duty, responsibility, isolation. ” Something washed over her through the connection.
Loneliness so deep and aching she nearly cried. “I want a family. I want to watch a child grow, teach them, protect them. I want that with you.
”
Lauraai felt like she was drowning. She couldn’t give him that. Couldn’t give him children because she was broken. And he had no idea.
Cipher shifted, propping himself on one elbow. “Marry me. Be my empress. My wife.
”
She stared at him speechless. Something warm flooded through her awareness. His certainty, his contentment, his assumption that she’d say yes. But her silence stretched too long.
His smile faltered. “Lauraai. Do you not want to? ”
The vulnerability in those words destroyed her.
She could feel him through the bond, the fear, the hope, the desperate need for her to say yes. And underneath it all, love. He loved her. Then a thought struck her, cold and sharp.
It doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill him before he finds out. So she kissed him instead, desperately trying to convey everything she couldn’t say. He responded immediately, relief flooding through the connection, taking her kiss as acceptance.
She let him believe it. After Cipher fell asleep, his head on her shoulder, arm draped across her waist, Lauraai looked down at him. “I love him,” she realized. “I’m in love with him.
” He wanted to marry her, wanted to build a family with her. And not only could she not give him children, but she had come here to kill him. She slid out of bed and returned to her own rooms. When she closed the door, a familiar voice came from the shadows.
“Lauraai. ”
Caspian. Her brother stepped into the moonlight, looking tired, angry, desperate. “I’m here to remind you what we set out to do.
Why we came here, what you promised. It’s time, Lauraai. Time we kill the dragon emperor once and for all. ”
“He doesn’t have an enchantment on me,” she explained.
“That’s not what this is. ”
“You’ve barely left his bedroom for the past two months, sister. ”
Two months. Lauraai tried to count backward.
Time had blurred into a haze of tangled sheets and stolen kisses. “It’s not magic. It’s the mating bond, Caspian. It’s real.
”
“Do you hear what you’re saying? You sound possessed, Lauraai. Do you remember why we came here? What the dragons did to us?
To Elvina? ”
Guilt crashed over her in waves. When was the last time she’d even thought about Elvina? “I remember,” Lauraai whispered, but the words felt hollow.
“He’s at the center of it all. Every dragon answers to him. Every sacrifice, every life destroyed, he commanded it. If we kill him, we weaken them.
”
“As his empress, I could do more. I could make sure the peace lasts. Obtain everything we want without war,” Lauraai protested. “His empress?
He wants you to be his empress now, does he? ”
“He does. He asked me to marry him. He loves me.
”
“I don’t doubt that. ” Pity flickered across Caspian’s face. “And how will he feel when he realizes you’re infertile, sister? How will he feel when he realizes that you can’t give him the thing he longs for most in this world?
You really think he’ll make you his empress then? ”
She opened her mouth, closed it. No words would come. “At best, you’ll be his mistress,” Caspian continued.
“His plaything, and playthings don’t end wars. He’s emperor before he’s anything else, including yours. We must end this, sister. ” He held out the necklace.
“He won’t see it coming. A few drops while he sleeps will suffice. ”
Lauraai stared at the poison, and her mind flooded with images. Cipher asleep in her bed, the way he always reached for her in his sleep, pulling her close.
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t, brother. I love him. ”
For a long moment, Caspian just stared at her.
He sighed long and heavy. “My sister, I didn’t want to have to do this. Break your heart. Humiliate you.
”
“What are you talking about? ”
“The emperor has been manipulating you, Lauraai. He offered marriage to several other princesses. Annabella.
Celeste. He told all of them he wanted them to bear his heir, that they’d be his empress. ”
The denial came automatically. “He wouldn’t do that.
”
“Ask Annabella. Ask Celeste. That first night at the ball, he chose Annabella. Took her to his chambers.
Do you know what he did after he dismissed her and sent for you? He went to Celeste, then to Matilda. He’s playing all of you, sister. Keeping his options open in case one doesn’t work out.
”
“We have a bond. I feel it. I feel him. ”
“That may be so.
But what he wants most in the world is an heir. You’ve felt it yourself, haven’t you? His loneliness, his longing for a family, for a child. He’ll stop at nothing to get it.
Even if it means courting nine human women at once. ”
“He said he loved me,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m sure he does love you, in his way. As much as a dragon can love anything.
But love doesn’t change his priorities, sister. Dragons have trouble sustaining a pregnancy. Their numbers are declining because they can barely reproduce. Why do you think Cipher suddenly extended an olive branch to a species he’s spent centuries ignoring?
Because no dragon has managed to give him a child. But recently, one dragon king found a human mate who bore him an heir. Cipher has been obsessed with testing the theory. Don’t you see?
This is what this has all been about. Finding a human who can give him what dragons can’t. ”
The pieces clicked together with horrible clarity. The timing of Cipher’s peace offer, the way he’d gathered princesses from across the human kingdoms.
“Because the chances are so low, he’s going to try with all nine of you. Whoever can give him a child gets the crown. The rest—” Caspian shook his head. “If you die trying to bear him an heir, he’ll find others to replace you.
You don’t matter to him, Lauraai. Not the way you think you do. ”
Tears burned hot tracks down Lauraai’s cheeks. She wanted to deny it, but everything he was saying made such horrible, perfect sense.
She’d seen Cipher with the other women, had felt through the bond how desperately he wanted a child. And she couldn’t give him one. “They’re cold-blooded ancient creatures, desperate to reproduce and strengthen their numbers. And Cipher is their emperor.
His first duty is to his people. Of course, that would be his priority over the love of a human who won’t live even a fraction of his life. ”
Lauraai crumbled. She’d felt the weight of the empire pressing down on Cipher constantly.
How could one human woman, even his mate, compete with that? “Even so,” she whispered, “he swore he would bring peace between our peoples. ”
“To make human women willing to bear the risk. Has he told you?
Has he told any of you about the real dangers you’re facing? If you became pregnant, Lauraai, do you know what the chances are that you’d survive carrying a dragon child to term? Close to none. And he hasn’t warned you.
Hasn’t given you a real choice. Because to him, you’re just a human. A means to an end. ”
“Enough,” she screamed.
“Enough, please. ” Her legs gave out. Lauraai sank to the floor, her hands pressed over her face as sobs racked her body. She loved him.
Gods. She loved him so much it felt like her heart was being ripped out. But how could she trust that love when everything Caspian said made such perfect, horrible sense? Her brother knelt beside her and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m sorry. It’s not fair. But we have to protect our own. It’s our duty to our people.
To the girls like Elvina who can’t protect themselves. ”
Elvina. Elvina who had screamed for help, who Lauraai had failed to save. If Cipher was thinking of his people first, then she had to do the same, even if it destroyed her.
“I’ll do my duty,” she heard herself say. The words came from far away, hollow, empty, like something inside her had died already. The guards outside Cipher’s chambers didn’t even blink when she approached. They opened the doors with small bows.
The room was dark except for moonlight streaming through the tall windows. Cipher lay sprawled across black silk sheets, one arm flung across the space where she’d been sleeping. He was on his stomach, face turned toward her pillow, seeking her out even in sleep. Lauraai stood frozen in the doorway, the poison necklace burning cold against her palm.
She loved him so much it felt like her chest was splitting open. And he’d betrayed her. She was disposable, one candidate among many. Lauraai forced herself to move.
She reached the bed, her hand shaking as she pulled the stopper from the poison vial. She leaned over him. She thought of Elvina screaming as the dragon took her. It’s your duty.
But when she looked at his face, all she could think was that she wanted to kiss him instead. She reached out with her free hand and touched his lips. “I love you,” she thought desperately. “I’m sorry.
” The vial touched his lips. Then his eyes opened for a heartbeat. Everything stopped. Then he smiled.
That devastating smile that had undone her from the very beginning. “Can’t sleep? ” he murmured, voice rough with sleep. Then he saw the vial.
His smile died. “Lauraai? ” he asked, confused. His eyes sharpened.
“What is this? ” She tried to pull away, but his hand shot out, catching her wrist. “Were you trying to poison me? ”
She met his eyes.
Through the bond, devastation crashed over her. His hurt, his shock, his absolute incomprehension. “Why? ” he whispered.
Rage rose to fill the cracks. She jerked her wrist free and stood. “You dare ask me that? You dare ask when you’ve been courting all the other human princesses?
When you asked them to be your empress, too, to bear your child? ”
“No,” Cipher protested, his face going pale. Through the bond, she felt his guilt, sharp and undeniable. So it was true.
“No,” he said again. “That was before. Before I realized you were my mate, the other half of my soul. Before I knew what we could be.
”
“Before that, you had no qualms putting our lives on the line, having us risk death trying to bear you a child. Tell me, were you ever going to warn me that pregnancy would likely kill me? ”
“It wouldn’t,” he said. “You’re my mate.
Our bond will sustain you, keep you safe. I would never. ”
“And what about the other princesses? How will they be sustained?
Or do you have a bond with all of us? ”
“Of course not. I’ve never slept with them. Never even.
I merely discussed the possibility of marriage. Courted them in case the bond didn’t form. ”
“I don’t believe you,” she cried out. Through the bond, she felt his shock, his pain.
“Caspian told me. That you slept with them, that you promised them all the same things you promised me. ”
“He’s lying. Lauraai, please.
You’re my only lover. I swear it on my life, on my throne, on everything I am. ”
“And why should I believe you when you’ve cared so little about human lives that you’ve been requiring sacrifices for decades? ”
“I never required those sacrifices!
It was you humans who decided, out of fear, that you needed to appease us. We didn’t correct the misunderstanding because if you could be so paranoid, so ready to believe the worst of us without evidence, then why would we trust you not to turn against us? We never harmed them. They live among us now, safe.
I can take you to them if you’d like, let you see for yourself. ”
“And when I saw with my own eyes you courting all those others,” she added, swallowing painfully, “it could have been any of them, and it would have made no difference to you. ”
Cipher recoiled. “How can you say that?
After everything we’ve shared? ”
“Because it’s true. Me or them, it doesn’t matter as long as a bond forms, does it? Would you have even chosen me without one?
You didn’t choose me that first night. ” Her voice broke. “How do I know this bond isn’t some kind of spell? ”
“You really think I’d lie to you about loving you?
”
Lauraai hesitated. She could feel him through the connection. His pain so profound it made her knees weak. It all felt real.
But Caspian’s words echoed in her mind. His people were dying, and he needed to save them. “Yes,” she whispered. “I think you would, because you’re the emperor, and this is your duty, just like killing you is mine.
”
Cipher went utterly still. Something shuddered behind his eyes. “Fine,” he whispered. He extended his hand, palm up.
“Fine. Give it to me. ”
“Give you what? ”
“You know what.
” He meant the poison. She handed him the vial with trembling fingers, waiting for him to call the guards. But he didn’t. Instead, he looked at the vial for a long moment, then at her.
Slowly, he lifted it toward his mouth, his eyes never leaving hers. “What are you doing? ” Lauraai asked, panic spiking through her. “Stop.
It’s poison, you idiot. It’ll kill you. ”
Cipher met her gaze. “It won’t kill me,” he said softly.
“Because you’re going to save me. ”
“What are you talking about? I can’t save you. There’s no antidote.
”
“Don’t need one. ” And then, before she could stop him, he brought the vial to his lips and drank. For one crystalline moment, nothing happened. Then his breath hitched.
His hand flew to his chest, fingers splaying wide over his heart, his eyes widening. His skin was already changing, going clammy and cold. “Cipher, what did you do? ” Lauraai cried out, grabbing his face between her hands.
He was breathing too fast now, short, shallow pants. “I thought you wanted me to,” he slurred. “No! Guards!
” Lauraai screamed. The massive doors burst open, four guards pouring in with weapons drawn. “Get healers! The emperor has been poisoned!
”
The guards froze. “Poisoned by what? ”
“The healers are coming,” Lauraai begged, cradling him as his knees buckled and he fell. “Just stay with me.
”
His eyes were unfocused, his voice dreamy. “I’ll stay with you always. You’re mine. I waited centuries for you.
So glad I found you. ”
The healers burst through, three of them moving with practiced urgency. “What happened? ”
“He was poisoned,” Lauraai said.
“I gave it to him. ”
Silence crashed through the room. “Arrest her,” a guard said. “She just confessed to assassinating the emperor.
”
“No! ” Cipher’s voice cut through the chaos, weak but commanding. His hand shot out, grabbing Lauraai’s wrist. “Back away, all of you.
You’re speaking of your future empress. Be more respectful. ”
“But our majesty, she poisoned you. ”
“She did not.
I poisoned myself. ”
Lauraai started crying in earnest, great shaking sobs. Cipher’s hand found her face. “You’re my mate.
You can heal me. ”
“I’m not a healer. ”
“You don’t need to be. Only you can save me,” Cipher whispered.
Then his hand fell from her face, and his body went completely limp. The head healer stared at Cipher with an expression caught between horror and fascination. “Through mate bonds, you can share life force. It’s a power unique to true dragon mates, a way for bonded pairs to sustain each other when one is dying.
”
“But I’m not a dragon. ”
“You don’t have to be. One of the dragon kings took a human mate. Last year, there was an assassination attempt on his life.
Poison arrows. He should have died within hours. His mate healed him. ” The healer leaned forward, eyes urgent.
“You’re the emperor’s mate. If anyone can save him, it’s you. ”
Lauraai looked down at Cipher, pale as death, lips going blue. She pressed her hands to his chest and tried.
Closed her eyes and reached for that connection between them. Nothing. “What about one of the other princesses? Maybe if one of them tried.
”
The healer shook her head firmly. “His majesty doesn’t share a bond with anyone else. True mates are rare. Once in a lifetime.
You are his. There is no one else. ”
The words hit her like lightning. And Cipher had drunk actual poison, was killing himself right now, just to prove that to her.
He’d done it all on purpose to make her see. Rage flooded through her, hot and fierce. It burned away the fear, the panic, leaving only fury. How dare he make her watch him die just to prove a point.
She was going to save him, and then she was going to kill him. “You don’t get to do this,” Lauraai growled. Her hands pressed harder against his chest. “You don’t get to prove your love by dying, you absolute idiot.
”
Something shifted. A warmth bloomed under her palms, faint at first, then growing stronger. She poured everything she had into it. Her anger, her determination, her absolute refusal to let him go.
“You’re mine, and I’m not done with you yet. Come back to me. That’s an order, you bastard. ”
Cipher gasped.
His eyes flew open, glowing so bright they were almost white. The cold and pain receding, warmth flooding back into him. “You idiot,” Lauraai screamed. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
“You absolute fool. You could have died. ” Then she kissed him, pressed her mouth to his with all the fear and relief and overwhelming love crashing through her. When they finally broke apart, he was still smiling.
“I love you,” he murmured, soft and drowsy, but utterly certain. Lauraai laughed through her tears. Three months later, Lauraai lay tangled in silk sheets with her husband, her mate. Cipher’s arm was wrapped possessively around her waist, his other hand lazily stroking through her hair.
He pressed kisses to her temple, her cheek, her lips, like he couldn’t get enough even after everything they’d just done. But there was something she needed to tell him. Her smile faltered, her hand pressing against his chest. “Cipher,” she started, then hesitated.
“Remember how I told you I was infertile? ”
His expression changed immediately, went soft and pained. He cupped her face with devastating gentleness. “My love, I told you, you are my mate, and nothing will change that.
I have you. I’m not alone anymore. That’s all I need. That’s everything.
”
Lauraai kissed him to stop the words, to stop him from trying to convince her he didn’t care about the one thing she knew he wanted most. When she pulled back, she was smiling. “I know. Turns out I’m pregnant.
”
Cipher froze. “What? ”
“I couldn’t believe it either. But the healers confirmed it this morning.
Three times, actually, because I kept making them check again. You’re going to be a father. ”
For a moment, Cipher just stared at her. Then he laughed.
Pure joy, bright and unrestrained, seeped through their bond. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deep. “A child,” he whispered against her lips between kisses. “Our child.
”
And as Cipher held her close, his hand protective over the new life growing inside her, Lauraai sent a silent thanks to whatever fate had brought them together. She’d come here to kill him. Instead, she’d found everything she’d never known she needed.
