Gaius had heard about Annwyl the Bloody. Hel , everyone had heard about her. She was the half-dead queen who f**ked dragons and somehow managed to have offspring with them. Something that, as far as anyone knew, had never been possible between dragons and humans before.

There were those who said that on top of being crazy, Annwyl the Bloody was cruel, violent, cold, murderous, nasty, whorish, and a host of other things that made her one of the most reprehensible beings on the planet.

And yet she’d come here herself, risking an unbelievable amount of danger to reach him. She could have sent a messenger, or one of her soldiers. Al of whom Gaius would have sent back to her in pieces. Instead she’d come with three dragons and a girl, al of them sneaking through the tunnels under the mountains. Tunnels that most Sovereigns and Irons would never attempt to travel through, which was why Gaius and his troops used them.

“What are you thinking, old friend?”

Varro Marius Parthenius was the son of Laudaricus Parthenius, Thracius’s human leader-representative. Although father and son had never gotten along, Varro had given up much to fight by Gaius’s side. They weren’t merely friends or comrades in arms. They were brothers, species differences be damned.

“I’m thinking the Southlander is right. About Agrippina.”

“She’s insane, Gaius. How can you believe anything that woman says?”

“Because Aggie’s my sister. We came from the same egg. And every day I feel her dying. Bit by bit. Inside. So that even if she walks out of our uncle’s dungeon one day, she’l just be a walking corpse. She won’t be my Aggie.”

“Then we attack. Now. Tonight.”

“And we never get past the front gates and Vateria wil crucify Aggie in front of us. The gods know Vateria’s been waiting to. But she also knows keeping Aggie alive is the only reason I haven’t made a move while Thracius has been gone for five years.” Gaius shifted to human and, after pul ing on leggings and boots, sat down beside his friend.

“There is another option,” Varro said, his voice nearly a whisper from the shame of the words he was forcing himself to speak. “We now have something Vateria wants. Needs, even.”

Gaius shook his head. “I’m a bastard, Varro. But I’m not that big a bastard.”

“Yes, but—”

“To turn Annwyl over to Vateria wil be giving that snake exactly what she wants. I can’t do that. I won’t.”

“Not even for Aggie?”

“I’m doing it for Aggie. There are some things she simply won’t forgive me for. Giving Vateria anything is definitely one of them.”

“Then what do we do, old friend? The mad queen is not leaving.”

The pair stared at each other. Then they leaned far over so they could see past the cave wal and into the cavern in which the queen and her guards were waiting. They watched the royal as she sat quietly, staring off at nothing in particular. Around her, her guards chatted, looked worried, concerned, anxious. But the queen didn’t seem to have any of those emotions. She just sat there.

Then, al of a sudden, she slowly turned just her head and looked at Gaius and Varro. Al Gaius could see were vibrant green eyes scowling at him from behind a stringy mass of light brown hair. The friends immediately sat back.

“She’s what we’ve always heard, Gaius,” Varro warned. “She’s crazed.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

“She’s coming in here.”

And she did, forcing her way past Gaius’s guards and into his private chamber. “Wel ?” she demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

“Wel what?”

“It’s a simple enough deal, Rebel King. I get your sister.... You help me stop Thracius. What are you not grasping? Gods, are you slow? No one warned me that you were slow.”

Gaius gripped the sword lying next to him, but Varro caught his hand and held it.

The queen looked at their joined hands, then them. “You two together then?”

“Together? What?”

She focused on Varro. “Can’t you talk to your mate? Get him to see reason?”

Gaius snatched his hand back and jumped to his feet. “Out!” he roared.

Annwyl pursed her lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Gaius—”

Ignoring the warning in Varro’s voice, Gaius stalked up to the queen. “Get out. Now.” She stared up at him, then asked, “How did you lose that eye?” Startled by the question and then by Annwyl reaching up to lift his eye patch, Gaius slapped her hands away. So she slapped him back. They were slapping and kicking and shoving each other until Varro got between them.

“Stop it! Both of you!”

Fed up, Gaius headed toward the exit, pushing past his own troops and the queen’s guard. Behind him Annwyl fol owed.

“I’m not leaving!” she yel ed at his back. “I’m staying right here until I get what I want!”

“Then I guess you’re going to die here, female. Because you’l get nothing from me!”

“You handled that wel ,” Izzy muttered, and Annwyl turned on her, pointing her finger in her face.

“Don’t start with me, little girl.”

“Not starting. Simply making an observation, my liege.”

“Just like your mum with that tone.”

“So what are we going to do now?” Rhona asked, proving she was the sanest of the group in Vigholf’s estimation.