Read Burn (Dragon Souls) for Free Online

silent laughter, Daniil shook his head.
    Pasha was on hand with a damp cloth.
    Marina wiped her hands with vigour then tossed it at Nikolai’s face, wrapping it around his head with a wet splat.
    He dragged it off pouting.
    The guard outside the chamber hailed a newcomer.
    After a moment’s contemplation Marina brightened. Her eyes fixed on the growing shadow cast over the entrance screen. She made a neck slicing motion. “Avoid talk of me being in danger please.”
    Mikhail snorted. His tail flicked disapprovingly. ‘ Overprotective .’
    “Motherly,” Pasha murmured in rare contrariness.
    Koen thought her warm and soft tone pleasant. It was the way things should be with females concerning younglings. He decided Mikhail mirrored his thoughts, as the male did not protest the small defiance.
    “He tried to slit his own throat when I was poisoned. I have nightmares about it.” Marina’s look warned them all. “No one says anything.”
    The bell chimed and the screen slid back.
    Boy hastily stepped into the room. He headed straight for Marina. He didn’t touch her but hovered close, gaze flashing over her injuries. At the end of his inspection he seemed satisfied she’d been cared for.
    As he’d studied her, Marina had made her own inspection. She brought her fingers to touch his swelling eye.
    He shied away.
    Clasping his pointed chin, not yet shadowed with the whiskers of a grown man, she tugged him down to get a better look. “What happened?”
    “A fight of honour.” His young face was gravely serious. Boy was nearly as grim as Koen. “Scum from House Vor claimed you cheated.”
    Mikhail snapped his jaws. ‘ Hypocritical bastards .’
    Boy nodded sombrely.
    Marina tapped his cheek to reclaim his attention. “So you started a fight?”
    He hesitated, pondering the consequences of telling the truth.
    Koen rubbed a velvety skein of Marina’s hair. He inhaled its coconut scent. Distracted though he appeared, he was keenly attuned to the exchange. “Do not lie to your mother.”
    “Yes,” Boy replied fatalistically. “He shoved me but I struck first.”
    Marina released him to brush a lock of hair from his forehead. Boy flinched. She ignored the twitch and stroked his head. “This challenger from House Vor looks worse than you? You won?”
    Wary, he nodded.
    Her predatory smile had Koen’s Dragon purring.
    “Good,” she said bluntly.
    He smiled into her hair.
    Mikhail boomed laughter while Daniil and Nikolai quietly snickered. Piqued, Pasha cleared her throat nosily.
    “What?” Marina demanded. “Everybody keeps telling me it is survival of the fittest. This lordling needed to be made an example of.”
    Disappointed, Pasha’s face drooped. “Violence begets violence.”
    “I hear you. What have we done to these people to deserve their scorn? Why does my family have to suffer and defend me from who should be my people?” She received no answer. “How long must I continue to turn the other cheek? When will it end, Pasha? So I refused to be scared off. Instead of accepting I’m here to stay these cowards have become more desperate. They act as if I’m trying to steal their worldly goods. All I want is to mate Koen, dissolve the slave trade, and redistribute a portion of their wealth to the poor.” She looked at them beseechingly in turn. “Am I that bad?”
    “I believe the problem is they see the plan too clearly,” Daniil muttered.
    “What happens when someone I love turns up dead? Look at what happened to Tatiana.” Her face drew into a fierce scowl at the thought of Boy being made to suffer because of her aspirations. “These people have to be taught there are consequences – painful, distressing, end of your entire male family line consequences for messing with my family. I want each noble to understand touching a hair upon anyone from Houses Zar, Raad or Kol in anything but an honourable challenge will result in getting their spine ripped out their ass.”
    The silence was