Feel the Burn (Dragon Kin #8)(99)

But when he turned around . . .

“Where is she?” Gaius bellowed at the Dwarf King.

Blood covered half the king’s head, face, and shoulder. He pointed with his sword toward the entrance they’d come through. That was also when he realized that Kachka was gone. He knew she was trying to get the eyes away from Vateria, and Vateria had gone after her.

“Marina! Zoya! With me!” he yelled, shifting to human and sprinting after his bitch cousin.

Kachka ran until she reached what she knew every dwarf city had access to . . . a mine.

There were signs that gave directions to each of the mines—gold, steel, iron, silver—but they were written in dwarvish and she had no idea how to read that.

So Kachka headed for the first functioning mine she saw. But someone grabbed her arm and pulled her toward a separate set of stairs.

“Gold is your friend, luv,” the woman said, pushing Kachka up the stairs. As Kachka ran, she glanced back at the woman. She wasn’t one of the dwarves. She was tall, lean, and brown-skinned. Like Izzy or her mother Talaith. She was also dressed as a warrior or soldier of fortune. She was even more out of place in the dwarf mines than . . . well, than Kachka was.

But without any other options, she had to take her chances this woman wasn’t trying to destroy her.

So she took the steps three at a time until she reached the top.

Kachka pulled the leather bag out of the top of her boot where she’d stashed it for her mad dash to the mines and pulled her arm back to toss it into the molten gold. That’s when she heard, “Down!”

She did as ordered, dropping down to the ground, and the dragon who had been about to grab her, sailed right over her. The dragon turned in midair, wings out, claws reaching for her.

Two arrows slammed into the dragon’s face and neck. A short spear hit it right in the chest, through the heart, killing it as its body fell from sight.

Hands grabbed Kachka again, only this time it was her comrades Zoya and Marina hauling her to her feet.

“Kachka—” Marina began, but then the dragon was back. It hadn’t been killed. Nor did its wings seem to work, hanging limply from its back, so that it floated to the ledge instead of flying.

The three of them scrambled back, watching the dragon carefully land. It pulled the arrows from its face and the spear from its chest and that’s when Kachka knew it was Vateria.

“Those of us,” Vateria said, “who have been truly blessed by our god, need more than these weak weapons to kill us.” She held out her claw. “Give it to me, barbarian, before I stomp you into the ground like the worthless trash you are.”

Kachka began to tell her to f*ck off, but she and her comrades were forced farther back when there was suddenly a large dragon ass landing right in front of them.

Gaius snarled. “Get away from them, cunt.”

“Cousin. You should have let my father finish the job,” the bitch teased. “My god would like you better with both eyes missing.”

“You expect me to believe you worship anyone but yourself?”

“Chramnesind understands me as no one else ever has. Accepts me just as I am. The others give up so much . . . and yet I give up nothing but receive so many rewards. He loves me the way my father always did. Unconditionally.”

“Gods, you really haven’t changed.”

“Why should I? I’m so perfect.”

“You have tentacles.”

“And I love them. Just look what they can do.”

With that, Vateria sent Gaius, Marina, and Zoya flying, leaving Kachka alone.

“Now . . . give it to me, human.”

“I am Daughter of Steppe, She-dragon. I will not yield. To you or anyone.”

Vateria smiled. “I’ve heard of you, actually. My god told me about you. What was that nickname again? Oh, yes. The Scourge of the Gods.” She laughed. “What idiot gave you that?”

The brown-skinned warrior suddenly appeared again, leaning from behind the She-dragon. “This idiot,” she said, before she grabbed Vateria’s dragon form and tossed her into the molten gold beneath.

“And,” she went on, “if I do say so myself, it’s a brilliant name for you to have, Kachka Shestakova. One you’ve rightfully earned.”

“Who—?”

“Kachka!”

Marina leaned over the other side of the stairs. She was on her belly, slowly slipping toward the abyss.

“I can’t hold her!”

Kachka scrambled to her comrade’s side, reaching down to grab Zoya Kolesova’s other arm. Together, they hauled the Mountain Mover up. It took all their strength. She was very heavy.

They pulled until they had all of her on the stairs, letting out a breath and collapsing on top of her once they were done.

Beneath them, Zoya snorted. “I knew you heartless bitches loved me. All heartless bitches love Zoya!”

Gaius heard laughter and woke up. He was on the ground by the furnaces where all the different metals for the dwarves’ weapons and jewelry were melted in giant crucibles. Yet the laughter wasn’t Vateria’s so he knew Kachka and her comrades were safe.

Relieved, he sat up, bending and stretching his neck, which now hurt from the impact of the fall.

He had his head down, eye closed, when he heard . . . something.

Gaius lifted his head and saw gold-covered talons easing out of the crucible.