I ignored Tamara, Jade, and Lucille’s smirks at my predicament with my formidable mate-parent and her sidekick.
“Nyfain and Micah will direct you on where to blow fire when the wolves are on the ship. We don’t want to be overzealous and trap our people in the flames. They’ll clear a section, and then you will burn the hell out of that section. Those who brought the wolves in will take them back out again. Remember your harnesses. Do not burn them. Wolves can swim better than dragons, apparently, but the water is cold, and they will have a long wait before the ship can pick them up. Look after them so that they can look after you, got it?”
The group erupted in excited barks of “yes, highness,” or “yes, queen” as I felt a presence drawing close behind me. Lucille’s grin widened and Jade bit her lip.
“The demons have wronged us,” I went on, feeling the pulse of adrenaline running through the bond. Nyfain was gearing up, probably delivering a speech to the second ship. “They’ve imprisoned us, tortured us, subjected us to unspeakable horrors, killed our families, and hurt our loved ones. It ends now! We will end it. We will fight back! We will not allow them to do this anymore!”
Roars and cheers went up. Fists rose into the sky.
“Wait for my signal and then rise,” I told them. “Take to the sky and follow me into battle. I will take you as far as I can and then cut away—king’s orders.”
I gritted my teeth, because when had I let Nyfain keep me out of a battle before? I wanted to tell these people why I was listening to him and leaving them to go without me. But I didn’t want to admit conclusively that I’d hit the euphoria stage without having told Nyfain first. The daddy deserved to know.
Holy fuck.
I tried to calm my suddenly rampaging heart and the gush of joy that ran through me.
Then I couldn’t help myself.
“But I will only sit out as long as you are all safe. So make sure you take them down so that I don’t have to save your asses and get in trouble with the king. If I get in trouble, I will absolutely blame it all on you fuckers!”
Laughter rose, and then I turned and walked toward the front of the ship, feeling Nyfain’s adrenaline and power pulsing now. Feeling the call of battle.
Fuck, I wanted to join in. I wanted to go with them. Not just to the edge of battle, but right into the heart of it. That was always where I found myself. I didn’t want this time to be any different.
“Finley.” Arleth jogged up from behind me in a slip, having clearly jogged down the other side and swung around the stern to find me. “Finley!”
“Yes, Arleth.” I didn’t slow. Nor had I meant for my reception to be so frosty.
“How long have you been in euphoria?” She kept pace a little behind me, as was proper for someone walking with the queen. She did everything properly outside of private quarters.
“Nearly a week, I think,” I told her, pausing by a wolf who was picking at a harness. “Do you need help?” I asked him.
He looked up with a frown. His eyes widened and he offered a bow.
“I’m fine, your highness. It’s just that…” He looked down.
I bent to show him how he should wear it in wolf form. They’d been altered before the trip to better accommodate our ground troops.
“Thank you, your highness.” He smiled at me.
“Be safe out there, okay?” I touched his arm. “Wouldn’t want to lose you.”
He bowed again. “Yes, highness. I won’t let you down.”
“I didn’t know what the feeling was,” I told Arleth as I continued on, picking up where we’d left off. “I didn’t know what it meant. There’s been so much going on that I wasn’t counting the weeks or realizing that…”
“You’re late,” she surmised.
“I think so. I’m pretty sure.”
“You’re probably about a week late. That’s why you have the euphoria.” I could hear the excitement in her voice. “You didn’t tell Nyfain you had it?”
“No. I mean, I mentioned that the sensations felt really amazing, and it was getting more and more intense, and—”
“No need to elaborate,” she replied.
“Like I said, I didn’t know it meant something. I just thought that’s what happened toward the end.”
“Well…it is.”
“Oh goddess, someone pinch me,” Hadriel said. “I didn’t realize I’d get this excited. Leala, aren’t you excited? I told you. I told you all that fucking would definitely lead to a little dragon. Didn’t I tell you? There is no way two people could fuck that much without it leading to—”
“Hadriel,” Arleth barked.
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am,” he muttered. “Question, though: baby dragons aren’t as scary as their parents, right? It takes a while before the crazy sets in?”