The Uncrowned King

Derek was gone. Vanished.

As if he never was.

Kora stared at the table where he had lain seconds before, screaming her name. Emotion swelled in her chest, pressing against it before rising to her throat, where it lodged awkwardly. The rest of her body was numb. Painfully so. She stepped forward, her hand reaching for him as if he were still there. As if she would be able to touch him.

Her knees buckled. Strong arms grabbed her before she hit the ground and propped her against the wall for support. Dimly, the sound of bickering voices reached her, but she was lost in thoughts of Derek. The alarming wounds on his chest, his fear for her in his pale olive eyes that soon turned to horror for himself.

Unbidden, Miena’s voice broke into Kora’s mind.

“Does she know, Derek?” Miena asked.

Kora found her gaze locked on him. A secret hung there, waiting to be revealed. Did she want to know? Whatever it was, it would only hurt her.

“Does Kora know you love her?” Miena asked, a smug smile curving her lips.

Kora looked from Miena to Derek. She saw the truth in his eyes. She was right. It was meant to hurt.

He loved her. And now, he was gone. Miena had taken him. She would wipe Derek’s memory of Kora and everything else. For all Kora knew, Derek might have already forgotten her.

She swallowed in an attempt to wet her dry mouth. Sweat dripped from her brow near her temple. She wiped it away with her shoulder and caught sight of the black marks on the wall caused by dragon fire. It had been a blaze meant to kill her. If Merrill hadn’t grabbed her when he did, she would be dead.

The haze of dismay began to clear. The voices she had ignored sharpened. And the stench of evil permeated the area, reminding her why she came to Stonemore. She turned to find Merrill and Villette quarreling. Villette had been Kora’s intended target, the one responsible for the unyielding fist of evil that controlled Stonemore and the surrounding areas. The Star Person who traveled the universe, meddling and corrupting as she went.

The one only hellhounds could kill.

Flames erupted over Kora with a thought. They covered her body and flickered at the ends of her hair while consuming her clothes. She stalked forward, her gaze locked on the right side of Villette’s face and neck, scarred from a previous encounter—likely with a hellhound. Miena might have gotten away, but Kora could still end Villette once and for all.

Villette’s blue eyes grew round with fear at the sight of Kora. She raised a hand. “Let’s talk about this,” she begged frantically.

“I’m done talking.” Kora had released Miena. She had believed Miena when she said she would kill Villette. How could Kora have been so naïve? So trusting?

She knew what Miena was.

Villette backed up quickly, her long, blond hair whipping about as she glanced behind her. “You need me!”

Merrill stepped between them, his tall form blocking her. Dark blue eyes met Kora’s. A lock of dirty blond hair fell across his forehead. He was the reason she was alive. Did dragon fire hurt dragons? She didn’t see any marks on him. Maybe he healed quickly.

“I’d like nothing better than to see the end of Villette.” The Dragon King sighed, his lips twisting ruefully. “But she’s right. We need her.”

“Nay.” Kora had known when she came to Stonemore that she would have to face the powerful Villette on her own. Her family had been killed before they could slay the Star Person, and then Kora had run in an attempt to forget all she had lost. And in that time, thousands of innocents had died. No more. “She dies today.”

Merrill didn’t stop her when she started to walk around him. Instead, he said, “If you want Derek back, we need her alive.”

Villette stood stiffly, her gaze moving from Merrill to Kora, injuries from a recent encounter with others still healing, her flesh pink and raised. “I know Miena better than anyone. I can find her,” Villette pleaded.

“You had your chance to attack when she stood here with us and did nothing,” Kora stated. The flames around her leaped higher with her anger, eager to devour the evil.

Villette’s blue eyes narrowed. “My sister is more powerful than me. You have no idea what it took to capture her the first time.”

“Exactly. You’re useless.”

Merrill turned and focused on Villette as he crossed his arms over his muscular chest, but his words were directed at Kora. “Perhaps she is when it comes to battle. But she has other uses.”

“I don’t like your tone,” Villette replied acerbically.

Merrill ignored her and turned his head to Kora. “Trust me.”

A week ago, Kora would’ve laughed at the very thought of putting her faith in a dragon. They were responsible for annihilating the hellhounds on Zora. Granted, it had been done on orders from Villette, but that didn’t make the loss of Kora’s family and friends any easier. And being the last of her kind had been unbearable.

Dragons were the enemy.

At least, they used to be.

When Kora met Derek, she’d had no idea what he was. It had never dawned on her that dragons could change forms to look human. If she had known, she never would’ve shared her body or her deepest confidences with him. She certainly wouldn’t have fallen for him. But by the time she learned the secrets he so closely guarded, her heart had belonged to him.

Her throat constricted, and a deep, bottomless ache began in the center of her chest. She felt hollow, empty. Barren. As if a part of her had been stolen before she even knew it was there. The agony and excruciating anguish robbed her of breath. How would she go on? She couldn’t stop thinking about Derek.

He could’ve taken her life the moment he discovered she was a hellhound. He could have informed Villette. But he had done neither. Instead, he had saved her from another dragon—and nearly got himself killed because of it.

Kora had barely accepted what Derek was when she learned that Merrill was also a dragon. Her world had spun out of control, and all she’d been able to do was try to stay upright and put one foot in front of the other. Suddenly, the lines dividing her from her enemies weren’t as clear as they once were.
Merrill had asked for trust. She couldn’t rely on her judgment since she had gotten it so wrong with Miena, but Derek had earned her trust time and again. And he believed Merrill. Which meant she should, as well.

“All right,” she murmured to Merrill.

Villette snorted. “Do you honestly think any of your friends will come after you’ve ignored their calls for so long?”

Merrill slowly swiveled his head to Villette and gave her a hate-filled glare.

She threw up her hands. “Just wanted to put that out there.”

The moment Villette turned as if to walk away, Kora threw out her hands. Balls of fire shot from them and landed on the floor, encircling Villette.

The Star Person drew up short, her head whipping around to pin Kora with a dark look.

“What is this for?”

Kora shrugged. “Insurance.”

“I want to stop my sister,” Villette said. “I could’ve left already, and you couldn’t have done anything about it.”

Merrill dropped his arms to his sides. “Perhaps. But you willna be going anywhere now.”

“If we’re going to work together, we need to trust each other,” Villette argued.

Kora rolled her eyes. She had been betrayed by a Star Person for the last time. Villette couldn’t do or say anything that would make her trust her. Ever.
She extinguished the flames on her body but then remembered her clothes were gone. She had gotten used to Derek using his magic to clothe her after she called her fire. Until she found new attire, she’d be walking around naked. Which meant she needed to find some immediately.

“I can give you clothes,” Villette said. “With a wave of my hand. But you must lower the flames.”

Merrill made a sound in the back of his throat. In the next instant, clothing covered Kora once more. “So can I,” Merrill stated.

Kora had expected Villette to be able to wield such power, but Merrill? She’d assumed Derek’s magic came from the cuff Villette had given him. Had she been wrong? She knew next to nothing about dragons, other than that they’d killed her people. Maybe it was time she found out more.

If they were to be…friends.

Before she could come up with a question, Merrill said, “Rhi.”

Kora frowned and looked from him to Villette. Neither gave anything away. “What is Rhi?”

“No’ what. Who,” Merrill replied. “She’s a Fae.”

“What’s a Fae?”

Villette laughed and looked down at her nails.

“We’re fucking magnificent,” said a female voice behind Kora.

She turned at the odd accent to find a woman of incredible beauty sitting on the table, one long leg crossed over the other. Midnight locks fell past the newcomer’s shoulders in soft waves. She wore all black from head to toe, and it didn’t appear as if anyone would be able to stand on the high, slender heels of her boots. Silver eyes studied Kora before her gaze slid to Merrill.

“About bloody time,” she said before flashing a bright smile.

If Kora had thought the woman was beautiful before, the smile lit up her face, transforming her into something ethereal. She couldn’t stop staring.

“It’s good to see you, Rhi,” Merrill said, his lips softening.

Rhi lifted a slim shoulder. “It’s always good to be seen.” She looked at Villette before focusing on Kora. “Want to introduce me?”

“Rhi, this is Kora. Kora, Rhi.” Merrill then motioned behind him with his thumb. “That’s Villette.”

The air crackled with tension as Rhi pushed off the table with her hands and landed nimbly on the impossibly high heels. Her gaze never left Villette. “And the fire?”

“That’s all Kora. She’s a hellhound,” Merrill explained.

One of Rhi’s brows rose as she looked at Kora with a grin. “Impressive.”

“It seems hellhounds can kill Star People,” Merrill added.

Rhi folded her arms across her chest as she and Villette stared at each other. “Then why is this one alive?”

“It’s why I called for you.”

There was an undercurrent of anger and resentment in the room that Kora didn’t understand. She felt as if she were on the outside looking in, and it was an uncomfortable position to be in. However, she found it peculiar that Villette had decided to refrain from speaking. There was definitely something between them.

“Someone needs to get to Earth immediately and warn everyone at Dreagan that an attack is coming from another King. Tell them no’ to kill him. Just incapacitate him,” Merrill explained.

“Attack?” Rhi asked.

“Rhi,” Merrill urged.

She was there one moment, and the next, she wasn’t.

Kora stared at the empty space. With nothing but silence, Kora’s thoughts returned to Derek. She hoped he wasn’t in pain. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying not to think about what Miena might be doing to him. When Kora opened her eyes again, Rhi was there.

The Fae turned her back to Villette and let her unease show. She walked closer to Kora and motioned Merrill over. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Done. Now it’s time to tell me what’s going on.”

Merrill exchanged a look with Kora. “A lot.”

“Then you’d better start talking.”

Kora glanced at the table, remembering how Derek had stared at her, his gaze pleading. “Derek is a dragon. They made him. And took him.”

Silence met her statement. Rhi blew out a breath. “Shite.” She briefly pressed her lips together. “We need to get to the others.”

“We can no’ leave Villette unattended,” Merrill said. “She’s our link to Miena.”

Rhi shot him a flat look. “She’s not coming with us. And you can’t really think she’ll help.”

“We need her to find Derek.”

Kora wished Merrill was wrong, but she knew he wasn’t. “As much as it pains me to say it, we need her.”

“All right,” Rhi said. “Who’s Miena?”

Merrill’s lips twisted. “Villette’s sister.”

“I was afraid you were going to say something like that,” Rhi muttered.

Kora longed for water to coat her throat and wet her mouth. “You two go. I’ll watch Villette.”

Merrill shook his head. “There are parts of the story only you can tell. And the others need to hear it.”

“Others?” she asked, though she was afraid she already knew what he’d meant.

“Dragon Kings.”

It was one thing to accept that not all dragons were evil, but to cross the border to their land and be surrounded by them? Kora wasn’t sure she could do it. But then she thought about Derek and all he had done for her. She wanted him back. She wanted to rewind time and leave Miena locked away. She wanted to be in his arms once more.

She couldn’t go into this fight alone. She needed Merrill and the dragons. She even needed Villette. Derek had risked his life for her. She owed him the same.
“I’ll return after I take you two,” Rhi said. “And I’ll be sure to veil myself so no one can see me. If she tries anything, I’ll stop her.”

Kora shook her head, confused. “What is veiling yourself?”

“Veiling means that I’m invisible to others,” Rhi explained. “I was veiled before I showed myself to you. It is something the Fae can do. Fae are magic, like you and the dragons. And we have some added benefits, like being able to teleport. If someone says my name, calling for me as Merrill did, I know where they are.”

“Derek can teleport, but he uses a cuff.”

“Ah. I see. It is rare to have such a piece. Let me take you to my mate, Con.”

“So, he is real?” Kora wondered how different things would be now if Derek had gone to see Con.

Rhi nodded. “Aye, he is. And if any dragon is in trouble, nothing will stop him—or any of the Kings—from finding them.”

“She’s right. We willna,” Merrill confirmed.

Rhi held out her hand. “Come. I’ll take you both to Con.”