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  "We appreciate the warning." Titus reached out his hand and shook Loki's firmly.

  Loki nodded to them both and then left.

  "Do you think he is wrong?" Ava asked quietly.

  "No," Titus said shortly. "I am also uncertain how much we can trust Freya. Something about this whole situation doesn't sit right. How could they both live within the bounds of this realm and not know the other was there. A part of me wonders if Cane has any idea how much he has taken on by mating a demi-god."

  "You don't think they were working together, do you?" Ava was aghast.

  Titus shrugged. "Only time will tell. We will gather the troops, and you will ride with me. It is better that we know the truth."

  Once Titus had transformed and Ava had strapped herself in, they took to the skies, following the same route they had before. The winged chariots carried the warriors behind them as Titus sailed toward Valhalla.

  However, they didn't get far before they were met with the Valkyrie army. An entire fleet of women warriors met them with swords raised.

  "You will tell us where they have taken her, or you will all die, here and now."

  Titus reared back, a mighty flame erupting from his throat.

  The Valkyrie raised their shields and deflected the fire.

  "Wait!" Ava screamed. "Wait! Who is it that you are looking for?"

  "Our sister, Gemma, is missing. Odin's daughter pretended to be her friend. We know that she was taken as hostage."

  Ava shook her head. "No! Wait! Zoe escaped with Loki before the explosion!"

  The woman at the helm laughed. "As if the flame from the eternal fire would harm a god! That is laughable! You have one more chance to tell us where she is."

  "We do not wish to fight you," Ava cried out. "Zoe sent us back here to look for Gemma. She thought the fire would kill her. What do we know about the eternal flame? Please, let's work together and find your sister."

  "And why should we believe you?"

  A great winged beast rose from behind the troops.

  "Because they are telling the truth," Loki called out.

  The general sighed and lowered her sword.

  "Where is Odin?" Loki asked as he charged forward, stopping by Ava and Titus.

  The general shook her head. "The only god still in Valhalla is Thor."

  Loki winced. "I suppose he can't be bothered to move? Nevermind, I know the answer to that. This great black dragon is Titus, the Dragon God of the North, and on his back rides his mate, the Fae Princess, Ava. This is Frigg; she is the leader of the Valkyrie."

  Frigg nodded to both of them. "Follow us back to Valhalla; we promise you safe passage in exchange for your word that you do not have our sister."

  Ava raised a hand to her heart. "Swear on my life, we are not harboring Gemma. We came here to rescue her."

  Frigg gave a final nod and turned to her troops. In a matter of minutes, they were sailing for Valhalla's front gates.

  Chapter 30

  The Valkyrie troops numbered in the thousands. But what was really strange was the silence as they entered Valhalla. The warriors lined the entrance for nearly a mile, and no one said a word or, for that matter, even moved out of position.

  Titus flew behind Frigg, following her lead, but the other warriors opted to wait at the entrance and not enter Valhalla again. Loki, Ava, and Titus flew into the nest of the enemy, hoping that the promises made would be kept.

  Thor greeted them at the palace steps. His round belly barely fit inside of the stained shirt, and his hair was greasy and ill-kept.

  "Enough with the disguise, brother," Loki said without preamble.

  And before Ava's eyes, Thor turned from the scary used car salesman into a great warrior, much more like the way Hollywood had portrayed him.

  Titus took that moment to transform into his human state, the only difference was that Thor was dressed and Titus was not, nor did he really care one way or the other.

  Ava moved to the pack and dug out his clothing.

  Titus grabbed the leather breeches but didn't move to put them on.

  "Why the disguise?" Titus demanded.

  Thor smiled, his white teeth glinting in the sunlight. "Lost a bet with my blood brother here and had to take the form of his choosing."

  Loki smirked, "Slowed down your game a bit, did it not?"

  Thor shrugged. "You never said that every aspect of my form had to be disgustingly fat."

  Ava gasped and Titus frowned. "Why are the two of you even here?"

  Thor replied, "Why not? This is our home as much as it is Odin's. He feels the most responsible for the dead, but in truth, this entire realm encompasses Asgard."

  Ava blew out a frustrated breath that caught Titus' attention. "What is it?"

  "I just can't help but think there is more that they know and are not telling us."

  Thor raised a brow. "What do you want to know, sweetheart?"

  Titus took a menacing step forward.

  "Whoa! Watch that tallywacker, why don't you? Gods, man, cover it up or something!"

  "You will address my mate as Ava," Titus growled.

  "Ava," Thor said, nodding and raising his hands.

  "What aren't you telling us?" Ava asked again.

  "There is a great deal that I know and you might not. How should I possibly know what you would like me to share?"

  Titus growled again, but Ava put a hand on his arm.

  "Where is Odin?" Ava asked directly.

  Thor beamed at her. "Excellent, sweet… er, Ava, I can honestly say that I do not know where Odin is."

  Ava huffed a little.

  "But I do have a hunch," Thor continued.

  "What is it?" Titus demanded.

  "How many realms are there that you are aware of?"

  Ava scoffed, "There are infinite realms in the grand scheme of things."

  Thor nodded. "Indeed, but I do not think Odin would travel there. No, what are the main realms?"

  "Earth, Pavo, Fae, Asgard, and the Shadow Lands. But the Fae realm hasn't been inhabited for generations."

  "That, my dear, is where you are wrong," Loki said kindly. "The Fae realm is very much alive, but it is not where it once was."

  Titus fumed, smoke coming out of his nose.

  "What do you mean?" Ava said shakily, "I have lived alone on Earth for hundreds of years. I am the last of my kind."

  "The fae are very much alive," Thor said loftily, regardless of whether or not he hurt her.

  "Are you saying that Odin sought refuge with the fae?" Titus asked angrily.

  Thor answered, "It is my guess that he took the servant, Gemma, and went somewhere he thought you would never find him. However, I have no reason not to tell you. And I certainly don't owe Odin anything."

  Ava felt weak and leaned into Titus.

  Frigg moved forward. "We will travel with you to get our sister back."

  But Titus shook his head."No, we will not be going. I will send one of my brothers in my stead. If what you say is true, the fae have turned their back on my mate. We will not enter their lands."

  Ava started to cry, and Titus scooped her up into his arms.

  "We don't have time to wait for your brother," Frigg said angrily. "We must move now!"

  "We will accompany you to Earth, and I will have my brother, Quin, meet us there."

  "You will need caution if you are traveling to Earth. There is a group of wolves led by my son that have vowed to kill all other supernatural creatures."

  "Fenrir?" Thor smiled. "Always did think that boy was too big for his britches."

  Loki ignored Thor. "We need to stay here and keep the peace; we can't leave this realm without supervision. I must implore that you do not take this lightly. Fenrir has little humanity left. If given his way, he would slay all the humans as well as fae and dragon alike."

  "Why is he so angry?" Ava asked through tears.

  Loki shook his head. "His mother was a giantess, and I am afraid that he is a god of war and destruc
tion. He grew too large for his bonds, and during Ragnarok, he ate Odin. As you know, gods never do stay dead for very long. But they can be banished. Fenrir was confined to the Earth realm. I don't know the particulars of it, but I know it involved the fae and the dragons. So he hates them with a passion. If Odin were to have gone to Earth to slip into the realm of the fae, it would be taking a great risk. Fenrir doesn't have a bone of remorse or tenderness in him."

  Frigg scoffed, "I do not care about an overgrown wolf!"

  "Not that I care one way or the other," Thor drawled, "but when a Valkyrie dies, they don't come back from the Shadow Lands, do they?"

  Frigg gritted her teeth. "You know they do not."

  "Well, make sure it isn't you or your ladies who he sinks his teeth into next."

  Frigg lunged at Thor, sword raised. He laughed and brandished his hammer.

  "Do you really want to play, General?"

  "We haven't time to argue," Ava spoke up, her voice more confident than before. "We must travel to Earth."

  Titus nodded and moved to the door, but Loki stopped them before they could leave. "This necklace will help you cross realms, but you cannot use it too often as the power needs time to regenerate."

  He put it around Ava's neck. "Make sure you are touching her, or else you will be left behind."

  He tapped the red jewel at the center and it began to glow. Ava felt it warm on her skin. "How do we use it?"

  Loki told her, "Say where you want to go."

  Titus wrapped an arm around her. He was still holding his leather breeches in one hand.

  "My apartment on Earth," she whispered, and then they were gone.

  Continued in Dragon Kings Book 2: Jord

  Read on for a sneak preview of Jord.

  Sneak Preview

  Quin's wings unfurled and he sat along the mountain ridges of the Rockies, thankful for the cover of night. He had been on Earth for a total of seven hours and, already, he was missing his home in the West Seas.

  Quin, Dragon King of the West Sea, formally named, 黃龍 Huánglóng, spent many hours within the depths of the seas. As a water deity, Quin controlled all the creatures in the sea. His twin brother, Cane, had a stronger grasp of weather than Quin did, but they both had some talent in manipulating it.

  Known as the amiable brother, or the one without the giant stick up his ass, Quin wondered what his brothers could possibly be thinking. First, Cane goes and makes a complete idiot of himself when he fell for Zoe, and then Titus does the same damn thing with Ava.

  Quin didn't get it. He liked to fuck as well as the next dragon; in point of fact, he needed to find a woman to slake his lust. He had been instructed to meet with Titus and Ava in the human world, but upon arriving, he wasn't able to locate them.

  A twinge of unease rippled through him, but he tried to push it away. He had never loved coming to the human realm. They were greedy, hateful beings who took whatever they could get.

  A wide smile broke upon his massive dragon face, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight and fire flaming as he laughed at his thoughts. A dragon was greedy and hateful, and not only took whatever it could but often found the way to take all.

  The truth was that dragons didn't like humans because they thought they were inferior. Perhaps that is why this mission chafed so much. The Valkyrie, Gemma, might be a famed warrior, but she was only a human who had been transitioned to the Valkyrie armies. It was almost insulting that someone such as himself, a Dragon King, should be reduced to chasing after her.

  He had important things he could be doing, namely the mermaids on Trimble Bay.

  The sun began to peak its head over the mountaintop, and Quin huffed, knowing it was time to head back from where he came. Titus' mate, Ava, had an apartment in the city of Denver, Colorado. He needed to get back and see if Titus and Ava had finally arrived.

  A searing pain in his left wing sent Quin spiraling out of the sky. He flapped furiously with the right, but the damage sustained was too much for the one wing to compensate for. The earth was hurtling toward him at a rapid rate.

  When he crashed, the sound reverberated through his skull. He knew that despite his protective covering, he had been gravely injured. Consciousness swam around him and he tried desperately to stay coherent.

  "You are bigger than I thought you would be," the woman's voice was a matter of fact.

  Quin rumbled out, "That's what she said."

  But in his dragon form, it was difficult to decipher. "Who are you?"

  A small woman with large almond-shaped eyes and creamy skin appeared in his line of vision. Her hair was either a dark blonde or light brown and was surprisingly curly.

  Her eyes narrowed as she took in his wing. "Someone tried to kill you. We aren't safe out in the open; can you shift to move?"

  Quin tried to concentrate on shifting, but the pain and loss of blood were starting to take their toll.

  There was a distant sound of men's voices, and the woman turned to him, cupping his giant dragon face in her small hands.

  "Dragon Warrior, I am sworn to help those who are less fortunate. But if you do not help yourself, I cannot move you."

  First of all, he was a king, not a warrior. And second, where did she get off calling him less fortunate? He was nothing of the sort. Quin's indignation was enough to force him to concentrate and he shifted into his human form.

  The woman's eyes widened. "Well, you are a big boy."

  Quin laughed, but it was difficult. His dragon's body would heal in his human form. But it didn't mean he would be saved from the pain.

  "I don't suppose you would be the Valkyrie, Gemma?" Quin rasped.

  Gemma cocked a hip, her brow rising. "Who's asking?"

  "Quin, Dragon King of the West Sea."

  Gemma scoffed, "Right, and I am the Queen of Sheba. Look, I don't have time for autographs. What are you doing out here? We need to get you into a safe place before those hunters are upon us. Do you think you can run?"

  It was Quin's turn to scoff as he rose to his full height.

  Gemma wasn't a very large woman, although she was muscled and had a distinct air of aggressiveness to her. She had never found the form of a naked man to be so arousing. Her eyes kept darting to the massive cock that lay flaccidly against his thigh. At his full height, his cock was right near her fingertips. She was tempted to touch it.

  Another snap of a twig and the man grabbed her arm. "Run!"

  They raced through the forest, the man following in Gemma's footsteps. She led him over a stream and around an abandoned mine. It seemed like they were running for hours or perhaps that was just because he was so exhausted from the wound.

  When at last they settled in a dark cave, Quin slumped against the wall. His body had been covered in a fine sheen of sweat and was now starting to shake from the chills.

  "You will catch your death," Gemma muttered. "We need to get some food into you."

  Quin shook his head. "It's too late for that."

  Gemma scowled, "What do you mean? You aren't dead yet."

  Quin coughed. "My fire, it's having a hard time heating me. I need to build up some reserve."

  Gemma blinked. "Well, go ahead."

  Quin laughed again, but this time it ended on a nasty cough. When he was able to, Quin informed Gemma of the truth about dragons. "We need sex for fire. So, unless you are volunteering to take the duty on, I am in bad shape."

  Gemma gasped loudly, but Quin was starting to feel dizzy and couldn't focus on her.

  "Yes," Gemma said softly.

  "Yes, what, cupcake?"

  Gemma shook her head. "You really are stupid."

  Quin smiled, but his eyes were turning glassy.

  Gemma marched up to his naked body and yanked it hard against her own. In seconds, Quin was as hard as a rock.

  "Rule one, you aren't the boss," Gemma said, licking his neck and then biting down gently on his ear. "Rule two, this is only to save your life. I have no intention of being a dinosaur ba
by mama."

  Quin coughed. "Dragon, we are dragons."

  "Whatever."

  Quin rolled his eyes.

  "When we are through, nobody speaks of this day ever again. Are we agreed?"

  Quin took one look at her deliciously curvy body and said the first thing that came into his head. "Fuck, yeah!"

  The End

  S. Cinders

  S. Cinders is a multi-genre author with over thirty titles ranging from sci-fi romance, historical romance, new adult romance and fractured fairy tales to paranormal romance. She has been featured as #1 new release in multiple categories. S. Cinders lives in the Midwest with her husband and two teenage sons who keep her on her toes. Known as the naughty romance author, you will remember her for her banter and engaging characters. Once you start, you won't want to stop!

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