A dragon shifter novel Chapter 89

When The Other Shoe Drops.

Allison

Okay, so, yeah, they’re demons. But now that they’re standing and not storming through the door like a ten–man stampede, they’re… not as terrifying as 1 thought. Big, sure. Tall, broad, every one of them looks like they were sculpted out of obsidian and bad decisions, but compared to him? Compared to the

hulking wall of midnight–blue muscle beside me? No. No or is as big as Rhaziel.

They shift uneasily under my stare, waiting for something, probably for que to command fire or banish them or whatever demon Queens are supposed to do.

Instead, I clear my throat and take a hesitant step forward. “Uh, hi,”

Ten heads twitch up…well down in perfect unison to me. Gods, even that’s a little intimidating. But I force a smile anyway and hold out my hand to the first

one. “I’m Allison. You are?”

There’s a low rumble behind me. A sound like thunder trapped in a chest. Rhaziel has moved closer, I can feel the heat of him at my back, the faint vibration of that growl echoing through my spine. The demon in front of me with broad shoulders, sharp horns, but kind eyes, lifts his hand carefully, like he’s approaching a bomb about to go off. His clawed fingers are inches from mine when the sound behind me deepens into a snarl. The poor guy freezes, eyes wide, and then swiftly drops his hand, bows his head and takes a respectful step back.

“Hello, my Queen,” he says quickly, voice polite and trembling all at once. “It is a pleasure to meet you finally. My name is Torvak, and I am here to serve

you.”

My mouth twitches. “Oh. Uh, thank you, Torvak.” I try not to wince at the growl still vibrating from behind me.

I move to the next one, tall, sleek, with silver horns that twist backward like antlers, I offer my hand again, determined. “And you are?”

He glances at me, then at Rhaziel. His throat bobs and slowly, so slowly, he inclines his head instead. “Marek, my Queen. An honour.”

The air feels thicker as the shadows pulse around us. I swear I can feel the heat of Rhaziel’s glare behind me.

I move to the third soldier, stubbornness winning over self–preservation. “Okay, your turn-

Before I can finish, a large, clawed hand catches mine mid–air. The world narrows to that single point of contact. Rhaziel’s fingers thread through mine possessively, his grip firm but careful. His thumb presses into the back of my hand as his eyes lock on our joined fingers like they’re the most sacred, ding in existence. The markings along his forearm light up in molten blue, travelling up to his chest. He’s frowning…no, pouting, like a predator who’s just had his favourite meal threatened. His voice is rough, more growl than words, when it finally slips out. “Mine.”

It’s not loud. It’s not even entirely directed at anyone. It’s just a sound of certainty that shakes something deep inside me. Every demon in the room boxes their head again. And me? I just stare at our hands, pulse hammering, and mutter under my breath, “Well, that’s not going to make introductions are

easier,”

The corners of his mouth twitch, almost 4 smile. Almost.

For a moment, no one muves. The air feels thick enough to swim in The soldiers look like they’d rather vanish into the floor and I’m pretty so my in ter shades of red, ariel doesn’t even seem inware of the audience, though, he’s completely, unapologetically focused on to the lufta aur jied baby slowly, vently, until the back of my hand rests against his bare chest. His skin is hot, warmer than bitmail. Uke the face of a on wiped as silk, and lith it. I can fest the heavy, steady thod of his heartbeat. It’s impossibly slow and strong, like the eth itself is keeping time like him. The taking the lace across his toro pulse it, glowing brighter where our skin etsi can feel the ham of his magis, thesmesing though his vol crewling up my arm in waves of heat. My breath catches, and then he ports. Actually pre–rec delicate will, anything raty Truman, tra tren Jove viitation that illi though his chest and straight into me, tiling my bars and sitting a Chmasinil my but through bely, tocino kind

of sound that could probally king if he wanted is to it should regrify the hit il’down‘, Intel I fough will, kunde, wit

1/3

12:51 pm Pppp.

When The Other Shoe Drops.

6:40

sound just slips out of me. Rhaziel’s head snaps up at once, eyes locking on mine. His expression softens instantly, with a proud, dangerous smile curving his Tips. It’s… boyish, almost. Out of place on a face like his, but so endearing I forget to breathe for a second. He looks so ridiculously pleased with himself, like making the laugh is the greatest victory of his life. His tail even gives a small, delighted flick behind him, betraying his composure completely before it wraps around my legs and draws me closer to his side. The purring grows louder then, richer, vibrating through our joined hands. He presses my palm a little firmer against his chest, oves his heart, and murmurs, “You see? It recognises you.”

I blink up at him. “It?”

“My heart,” he says, the words so honest and unguarded that something warm blooms in my chest. The room has gone silent again, but it’s not awkward this time. It’s something else, something reverent. Every demon in the hall has lowered their eyes again, and I stand there, staring up at the terrifying, beautiful King of nightmares who purrs for me and holds my hand against his heart like it’s sacred.

“My King…” one of the demons said, voice wavering. His dark tail flicked nervously behind him. “Forgive the interruption, but a Marrowling has surfaced near the eastern quarter. It’s feeding on dream–shadows. Three guards have already gone missing

A sound rolled out of Rhaziel’s chest deep enough to make the walls tremble..The soldier visibly flinched and bowed even lower.

Rhaziel sighed, his massive shoulders rising and falling as if holding back a storm. Then those glowing eyes found mine. “This must be dealt with immediately,” he said, calmly. “The Marrowling should not have been able to cross this far into the capital. Something is disturbing the balance again.”

“Oh, I said weakly. “Yeah. Sure. Okay.” I nodded like I totally understood what a Marrowling was, even though I absolutely didn’t. “Um… should you mayhe

I don’t know, take me back to school first?”

His head tilted slightly, those curved black horns gleaming in the firelight. Then, slowly, terrifyingly slowly, he smiled.

“Back to school,” he echoed, like he was testing the phrase for the first time. “You stand in a kingdom built from nightmares and stars, and you wish to go

back to your school?”

I blinked at him. “Well, yeah. I mean…I have classes. People will notice if I just… vanish.”

He chuckled low, “You will remain here, where it is safe, Hummingbird.”

Ah…Shit.

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R Charmaine Tacy

500000,

cool

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, if she feeds off him and has too much… Will she shift into something demon??? ohhhhh that would be

7 days ago

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12:51 pm Pppp.

Thornhill Academy

Mine, Apparently.

Allison

I watch, utterly bewildered, as Rhaziel turns to one of the soldiers and orders him to take me up to “our room.” Then, as if he hadn’t just dropped a massive

relationship declaration in front of ten demons and my very confused. face, he commands the others to follow him and disappears into a wall of shadow fost

like that. Gone.

I blink at the spot where he was standing. “Does he not realise that leaving a girl alone in a shadowy, nightmare realm without so much as a ride home is

just… rude?” I mutter under my breath.

“My Queen,” a voice says quietly, drawing my attention.

The demon in front of me has his head bowed, tail flicking anxiously behind him. His horns are short, curved, and his skin is a deep grey–blue that glows faintly under the torchlight. He looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.

1 sigh. “Cut the Queeny bullshit and look up at me, please.”

He hesitates, like that might actually be punishable by death, but then slowly lifts his head. His eyes are pale lilac, wide and terrified, like he’s the one who’s been kidnapped by a giant demon king.

“What’s your name?” I ask, crossing my arms.

“T–Tully,” he stammers, voice soft but sincere. Clearly trying very hard not to bow again or tack a ‘my queen‘ onto the end.

“Alright, Tully,” I say, nodding once. “Can you take me back to school?”

He freezes. I swear I can almost see the mental images flashing through his mind–none of them pleasant. “Uh… I… I could, yes, but…” He glances toward the door Rhaziel vanished through, visibly paling. “I fear the King would… kill me for that.”

Another long, deep sigh escapes me. “Well, we wouldn’t want you losing your head, now would we?”

He blinks. “No… my… no.”

Right. So. Plan B. 1 gesture vaguely to the towering, obsidian castle around us. “Show me to the nearest bed so I can lie down and see if I can wake up

from this dream”

Tully’s expression is a mix of confusion, horror, and please don’t make me responsible–for–this. His tail flicks again, quick and nervous, before he gestures up a sweeping staircase carved from black marble.

“This way, my uh–Miss, he says finally, tripping over my name like it’s forbidden.

“Good save I mutter, following him up the stairs, my boots echoing through the empty, candlelit corridor

A wir walk, 1 glance back once at the shadows lingering where Rhaciel disappeared. They seem alive. Watching, Wating

rub my Arma, rying to shake the chill exeping into my akin, “I swear,” I mumble to myself, ” this is all some weind love ihyan, a heids to stop reading rumans wervell beface hed

Tully loads me through a ser

12:51 pm P PPP.

Mine, Apparently.

open, I’m–hit with a wave of warmth and shadow scented air that smells faintly like smoke, steel, and something darkly sweet like burnt sugar.

“This is the King’s chamber. Tully says hesitantly, gesturing inside, “And, ah, yours as well, of course.”

“Right,” I mutter, stepping past him. Hipe. Sure.”

The room looks like it was ripped straight out of some goshic fantasy painting–vaulted ceilings dripping with silver chains that hold lanterns filled with

blue flame, tall black windows veined with silver, heavy curtains spilling to the floor like spilled ink. The bed is ridiculously massive. Its sheets are a deep

wine–red, threaded with black embroidery that swirls into patterns I don’t even recognise. I don’t care. I don’t care about the fancy furniture, or the silken

rugs, or the literal throne that sits in front of a fireplace the size of a mini car. I make a straight path for the bed, kick off my shoes mid–step, and flop

down face–first, arms spread wide.

It’s… soft. Too soft. Like sleeping on a cloud that smells faintly of lightning and sin.

“Do you need anything… Miss?” Tully’s voice comes from somewhere behind me, awkward and nervous, like he’s scared that if he breathes wrong, I’ll

explode or something.

I wave a lazy hand in the direction of his voice, my face still buried in the bedspread. “Nope. Just fine and dandy here, Tully. Thanks.”

There’s a pause, and then the quiet click of the door shutting behind him.

Alone.

Finally, blessedly, alone.

Well. Alone in a different realm, sure, but still.

I roll over onto my back, staring up at the carved ceiling where faint constellations shimmer between the shadows. My brain, the absolute traitor that it is, starts sorting through the disaster of a night I’ve just had.

Okay. Step one: Tessa and Rynor are fated. That’s sweet. Good for her. I’m happy for her. Really. Totally.

Step two: Me. Five. Five fated mates.

I press the heels of my hands to my eyes and groan. I had my suspicions about Kael, his temper of late, the cryptic argument with Evander and the pull I felt when he looked at me. And I already knew about Evander. That bond was obvious. But Professor Hill? Professor fucking Hill? My moogh, atries and professional as fuck teacher? And then there’s the Demon King–Mr. “Hello, my Queen“, he said, all horns and shadows and ridiculous jawlines And last bus definitely least, the almighty ass–hat himself: Cage.

I throw an arm dramatically over my face. Of all the people in this forsaken, fate cursed world, why him? The man would sooner push me off another cliff than hold my hand. Or, you know, say a nice word without it sounding like an insult. I groan again, louder this time, kicking my feet against the indicolony

soft sheets

“Fates, if this is your idea of a joke,” I mutter, “it’s not funny.”

The biling ‘l nav Figures

how the universe decided to him an entire diui sut s

Five thates–fise, I mom, some people go their whole lives never finding one, and was a buy–sme get for fres dual. What as I supposed to do with that. Lue them up ke Tu? Create a chalité eau a band na ime face and grow again, and then Kael, saybe though he’s still avoiding me like I in indiantes Cassia is a pi makes this butive situation iftugal. Cage bases, Fat bitrix the fast any day of the way. And there is anal dipments Ass

Wilking

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12:51 pm pppp

Mine, Apparently

talking fover dream with horns, claws, and eyes that could probably convince angels to sin. And yet when he looks at me, I don’t feel afraid. Not exactly. It’s something else. Something that burns low in my chest and whispers that he’s mine that all of them are. I exhale sharply, turning onto my side.

“Get it together, Allison,” I whisper the empty room. “You’re not some fairytale heroine. You’re a siphon with impulse issues and now five soulmates.

Fantastic,”

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Amanda

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okay i just started reading this book few days ago !!! so i love with it !!! it’s so well written ! and the characters!! ugh the characters

7 days ago

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12:51 pm PPPP

Thornhill Academy

Shadow–Napped

Rhaziel

The scent of smoke and fear still clung faintly to me from the battlefield, an echo of the nightmare creature I’d just sent back into the void. The thing had been all teeth and shadow, but it hadn’t stood a chance against me: Not tonight. Not when my every thought, my every heartbeat, was anchored to the girl I’d brought home. My Queen. As soon as the last of the creature’s shrieks faded, I turned back toward my kingdom, my shadows carrying me through the folds of the veil. Excitement, yes, actual excitement, throbbed through my veins, bubbling beneath my skin in a way I couldn’t remember feeling before. I

wanted to see her. I wanted to make sure she was safe. I wanted…to see her smile again. When the gates of my keep came into view. Tully was there,

standing stiffly by the entrance like a man caught doing something wrong. I frowned.

“I thought I asked you to guard her,” I said, voice low but sharp. “Where is she?”

Tully bowed so quickly his horns nearly scraped the floor. “I–I believe the new Queen needed some time to rest, my King.”

Rest. For a moment, I blinked at him, confused. Then the thought struck me like dawn through a window, of course. She had come from the mortal realm The night there had been long, the emotions high. My little hummingbird would be tired.

“Yes,” I murmured. “She needs rest.”

1 made my way up the spiral staircase, my steps light, almost a skip, though gods forbid anyone saw their king skipping. But anticipation pushed at my ribs, urging me faster. The heavy doors to our chamber creaked open with a soft moan of hinges, and there she was. Curled up in the middle of the bed. My bed. The sight undid me completely. Allison was so small, so fragile, her dark hair spilling across my pillows like a streak of midnight ink. My blankets swallowed! her whole, the deep crimson of the fabric making her skin glow like moonlight. Her chest rose and fell in a rhythm that sounded far too beautiful for my cursed heart to handle. I stood there for a long moment, my throat tight, my claws flexing uselessly at my sides. No one had ever lain in that bed before. No one had ever been allowed so close. And now she was here, Mine. My Queen. My little hummingbird. I stepped closer quietly and lowered myself onto the edge of the mattress. The bed dipped under my weight, but she only sighed softly, nestling deeper into the sheets as though welcoming me. I fruze, afraid to breathe too loudly, fearful that if I did, she might disappear. Then, unable to stop myself, I reached out. One clawed hand, so large compared to her delicate face, moved a strand of hair from her eyes. The tips of my claws didn’t even graze her skin, but still, she exhaled, and her warm breath brushed across my wrist. A shiver raced through me, down my spine, curling in the tip of my tail. I let out a breath that might have been a growl, might have been a purt, it

might have been both.

She shifted slightly, her lips parting in her sleep, and for the briefest heartbeat, I wondered what they might taste like. What it would feel like to press my mouth to hers, to feel that warmth, that mortal softness, against me, But no. Not like this. Not while she slept. She deserved a choice. She deserved to wat me, not simply be bound to me. So I lay there instead, on my side, my tail curling protectively around the curve of her legs. I rested my head on ang dem

and watched her breathe..

“Would you want me to kiss you, little one?” I whispered, my voice barely a rumble in the quiet. “Would you even let me

She sighed softly, almost as if in response, and then her eyes opened; my heart melted even further.

“You’re back. She said, voice rough from sleep

“I bere, hummingbird,” I said, my tall just as excited as I am, curled tighter around her legs

She blinked once, rubbed her eyes and sat up

Then the frowned. “Yine folk me here.

Oh. On by mouth. For

my

up well me? 1 sai up beside her and vested for her handa bu she withdrew hips, and I think anythin sure, that happened before:

12:52 pm P PPP

Shadow–Napped

Hummingbird? I start, but she cuts me off.

6440

“Don’t you, hummingbird me, Mr! You can’t kidnap a random girl, whisk her off to another place, and just drop her there. Dont you know any manners?”

Her scolding hit harder than any blade I’d ever taken to the chest. I blinked at her, wide eyed and confeed, her words tumbling over themselves so last that all I could think was–she’s angry. At me. My little hummingbird, with her sleep–tousled hair and her fire, wat angry.

“1-“My voice came out more like a growl than speech. I cleared my throat, trying again. “J did not kidnap you.”

She crossed her arms, glaring at me from beneath that wild halo of hair, and the sheets slipped a little lower on her chest. My thoughts derailed instantly.

The gods themselves could have smote me down, and I still would’ve been caught staring,

Her eyes narrowed. “You did, though. One second I’m at the festival, and the next I’m in this hell with you!”

“It’s not hell,” I said automatically, tail flicking like an anxious dog. “It’s the Shadow Realm. My realm. Our realm.”

She blinked at the correction, startled, then sighed like she was trying very hard not to smile. “You can’t just… shadow–nap people, Rhaziel.”

“Shadow…nap?” I tilted my head, utterly lost but fascinated by the way her mouth curved around the word. “I only wished to keep you safe. You are my

mate. My Queen.”

She groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “You can’t keep saying that like it excuses things!”

Her frustration should have made me defensive–it made every creature in my kingdom cower when I used this tone. But instead, I found myself desperate to soothe her. My shoulders slumped, tail curling faintly inward.

“I am sorry,” I said, quietly, earnestly. “The nightmare beast needed slaying. I did not wish to leave you unguarded. I thought-”

“You thought you’d just lock me up in your kingdom until you could come back and play with me?” she interrupted, exasperated.

“…Yes?” I offered hesitantly.

She laughed then, a short, incredulous sound that melted straight through me. She’s laughing, I thought, utterly undone.

“I will learn,” I promised, my claws curling carefully as I reached toward her again. “I will learn what you like, what you dislike, and what mannes are required. I will never shadow nap you again.”

Her gaze softened, though her mouth still twisted with stubbornness. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yes” I murmured, leaning just a little closer.

The rumbling part from deep within my chest serted to soothe her. That much I was already learning as she reached for my hand

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