Blood for blood. If one dragonling may kill another in noncombat, whether with claws or poison, the fallen's next of kin may take up arms against the offender. Once they murder in unfair battle, their life is forfeit, as is their next of kin should they fall before revenge can be enacted.

This is Our Law.

~ From the Dragonling Grimoire

I opened my eyes, wrapped in warmth. The blankets were fluffy and the mattress was soft, but that wasn't what was so wonderful. Pressed against my back was my mate. Solid and real, not the hallucinations I had been experiencing ever since my eggs-

Actually, that was too painful to think about.

Humming, I rolled over to see my mate's face for the first time.

And promptly screamed, pulling away from him. I was close to the edge of the bed so I fell off in a tangle of limbs and blankets.

My mate's eyes flew open and he shot up. "Anita?! What's wrong?" He scanned the room, an ever-diligent mate trying to protect me.

I recognized the fyn immediately and my blood ran cold. Ebony-colored eyes that shone with brilliance and matching coal-colored hair. Strong features, long lashes, a shirtless body hard yet lean with muscles.

And that fucking scar.

Dmitri Ralov.

He was the cousin or whatever of Kirill Ralov, the damned bastard that murdered my children. I kicked off the blankets and shifted, wanting to feel the strength and power of my drake side.

"What the hell?" I snarled, allowing curls of fire to lick my teeth in an attempt to look more menacing. "You! You- when- how- why the hell was I the only one naked?" My mind blanked out on the last few words as my mouth stumbled in an attempt to keep up with my racing thoughts.

Dmitri shifted too, but he nervously swayed on his feet and eyed me. He was only a little larger than me, but scars covered his shoulders and muzzle. He'd been in plenty of fights before. "Ani, let's talk. Calm down and-"

"Calm down? Calm down?!" I roared and lunged at Dmitri, biting his shoulder. My teeth clicked off his scales, but I was too angry to think straight enough to actually cause him harm. "You abandoned me, then let your fucking prick of a cousin attack my eggs and shatter them!"

Dmitri turned his shoulder to take the brunt of my blows before curling his neck around to lick my cheek. I returned the gesture with a sharp nip to his nose. "Ani, I'm sorry. Just let me explain-"

I snarled and slammed my snout into Dmitri's jaw to shut him up. "Explain what? That you had something more important than me? Than our eggs?" Slashing my claws at his face and shoulders every few heartbeats, I continued my assault on him viciously.

Dmitri must have gotten irritated by my attacks. He snarled and shoulder-slammed me. His sheer size and weight caused me to reel backward and slam into the wall. Even though all the breath was knocked out of me and one of my ankles bent painfully under my body, the worst pain came from the simple fact that my mate had done it.

Dmitri looked just as horrified. "Ani, I'm sorry." He stepped closer, maybe to comfort me, then stepped back. "I'm... sorry." He repeated. His eyes held regret, like he wanted to tell me more but simply couldn't think of anything to say.

I scrambled up to my feet and shifted back to my human form. Crossing my arms, I lifted my chin and tried to retain some dignity.

After taking a few deep breaths, I glared at Dmitri and tried to still my shaking body. "You're- you're not surprised. When did you know about... us?"

Dmitri shifted as well, fiddling with his fingers in an unDmitri-like way. I had never seen him so anxious - I almost enjoyed making him squirm. Almost. The pain and frustration from the past weeks were finally boiling up and threatening to spill over. "I mean, I didn't know at the time. I had to leave you there because I didn't want to get you hurt by dragging you into my world-"

"Oh, that worked out great, didn't it?" I interrupted. Dmitri flinched but continued.

"- and when I got back I looked through the records to see -"

It hit me then. "That's why you wouldn't let me read the records?!" I shouted. "You were that desperate to make sure I didn't know who you were?"

"Ani-"

"Don't you dare!" I snarled, clenching my hands into fists of rage. My breathing started to turn into ragged panting, but I hardly noticed. "You knew for moons? You knew I was in danger for that long and didn't bother to come to me?!"

Dmitri reached out to me, but I flinched away. Something dark clouded his eyes and he turned away. "I did what I had to." He said lowly. "I'd prefer to lose two eggs than my mate."

Oh hell no. With a cry of fury I jumped at Dmitri. I'm not sure what I intended to do, but before I could do anything Dmitri had me held down on the floor. I was used to being the strongest, the fastest, the best, but I had never seen Dmitri fight. Now I knew why he was the head of the Ryns of the estate.

Dmitri moved like quicksilver, fluid and uncatchable. In less than a few heartbeats, I was face-down on the hard wooden floor, his deceptively heavy body on mine. One hand was on the back of my neck and the other was on my lower back, successfully securing me in place.

"Ani," Dmitri said, his voice full of resignation in place of the anger I had anticipated, "please don't make me do this. I don't want to hurt you."

"Is that why you left me to fend for myself? Do you know what it was like to listen to them insult me? To hear all those stupid fucking rumors!?" I spat, letting the acid that had built up in my system from the weeks prior bubble up and spill over like a full bucket of water caught in the rain. I couldn't stop them even if I wanted to.

"You could have avoided hurting me by not leaving me!" I continued, starting to thrash around under Dmitri. No matter how hard I tried to dislodge him, Dmitri simply pinned me to the floor like some sort of immovable boulder. "You could have, you could have done... s-something!" My rage turned to tears, much to my shame, hot and burning like smoke in my eyes.

I felt Dmitri's grip on me relax and he slowly sat up, as if testing to see if it was an act or not. I wish I could say it was, but I was really bawling my eyes out like a draggie who just lost her favorite toy. Pathetic. To my utter surprise, he pulled me against his chest and just held me, silent and strong. A rock in a tempest.

Quickly my sobs turned into whimpers and then faded away completely as I listened to Dmitri's heartbeat. It was soothing for some inexplicable reason.

Too soon for my tastes, Dmitri stood up and set me on my feet. "Can we talk now?" I nodded stiffly, wiping the tears from my cheeks. He sighed and sat at his desk, interlocking his fingers to rest his chin on as he stared at me. I couldn't help but stare back, feeling the strength drain away from me as I sat on the bed.

It was a few candlemarks before Dmitri spoke. "I'm sorry. That's all I can say, Anita. There's nothing I can say that will make that any truer, and there's no way I can fix what's already happened. If I could turn back time, I would. If I could die in their place, I would."

I turned my eyes away from Dmitri then. "No. Don't say that." Dmitri made a distressed sound but went quiet. We stayed in growing silence until he cleared his throat.

"I see. But my statement stands, Anita. Please, look at me." I complied, only to see Dmitri's eyes were reddened too. My breath caught in my throat and for the first time since the accident, I could see my own pain reflected in someone's eyes.

It broke something inside of me. "I'm sorry," I whispered back. "It's my fault." The guilt dripped into my heart again like icy poison.

"No, it's not," Dmitri said immediately. "Don't say that." He sighed heavily. "And... I have a plan." He stood and handed me a small stack of papers, most of it in messy scrawl I recognized as Dmitri's.

"First things first. We're leaving. Don't," he warned as he noticed me about to argue, "even start. I want you far away from her."

Though my thoughts whirled, that sentence caught me off-guard. "Uh, who?" A strange bit of jealousy welled up within me. Who was this other wyk?

I shouldn't have worried. There was nothing but contempt in Dmitri's face when he spoke next. "Lady Mariya. I have a suspicion she was the one to send Kirill after... the eggs." He seemed to have as much trouble talking about them as I did.

For a moment, my heart soared. "So... you want to leave with me?" I could barely imagine being with my mate somewhere, anywhere, else. Then reality crashed back in and I sighed.

"Aren't you forgetting the contract I have with Lord Edik?" I asked, fidgeting with my fingers. Dmitri sat beside me, gently taking my hand. He had a warm, calming aura about him that I suspected was present because he was my mate.

"I've thought about that." Of course he had. "While you were asleep, I was planning it out. I've dug through all of the Laws and found one that might help-"

I snorted, feeling my old self begin to return. It felt nice, after a moon of misery and isolation. "You looked through that old Grimoire? Really? That thing is-"

Dmitri cut me off with a dramatic sigh. The barest reveal of his true nature sparked a hint of curiosity in my heart. The sternness had faded from his face, leaving a mixture of kindness and... playfulness. It was endearing. "Ani, do you want to hear this or not?"

"You're right, sorry." I took a deep breath and put on a show of covering my mouth, which made the rest of my words muffled. "Go ahead. Continue."

All I got for my theatrics was a roll of the eyes and a restrained smile. "Anyways, it states that I am, as your mate, allowed to kill the mate of whoever destroyed our eggs." Dmitri gave me a pointed stare.

It took a few moments for it to click. "Lady Mariya was Kirill's mate." I started slowly, and Dmitri gave me an encouraging nod to show I was on the right track. "And as the heir, Lord Edik wouldn't want anything to happen to her. You're going to blackmail him."

Dmitri shrugged but had a smug look on his face. I wasn't sure if it was hot or irritating. "Maybe. It will get you out of here. I might not be able to set you free yet, but this will have to do for now. Don't interrupt." He added, just before I was about to ask a question. Rude. "We're heading to Queen Dominika's city."

Now that was interesting. Queen Dominika was our colony's leader, and as vicious as they come. The story goes that during the fight for the throne, she killed her own father and two of her clutch-mates. However, her city, D'zastava, was renowned across all colonies for the schools and academies, of all things.

Not much place for a Ryn.

"So." I began slowly, waiting to see if Dmitri would stop me. He didn't. "Do you have a plan? We're just going to show up and hope for the best?"

Dmitri rolled his eyes. "Of course I have a plan. I'm not you."

"Okay, rude-"

"It's true, not rude."

"You barely know me-"

"I've been in charge of you for long enough to know you rarely have a plan."

"That doesn't mean you can-"

Dmitri stood up and began pacing. "Do you want to hear the plan or not? Because I can just drag you there and leave you in the dark if I need to." His words were sharp, but his voice was eager.

I rolled my eyes and sat on his - our? - bed, curling up among the soft sheets. "Fine. Continue."

"You're like a child," Dmitri muttered. He walked over to sit beside me again. There was a pleasant buzz where our arms brushed against each other and I leaned against him. He slid his arm around me and shifted until I was pressed against his chest. It was as if we had done this a thousand times. "I have a job lined up for me at Queen Dominka's castle. You'll-"

A knock at the door interrupted whatever Dmitri was going to say. He cursed and gently laid me down against the feathery pillows, making sure I was tucked into the blankets before going to the door. I couldn't decide if I felt touched that he wanted to secure me or annoyed that he was treating me like a little draggie.

Dmitri opened the door wide, letting me see who was at the door. It was a pair of Ryns - two guards I had seen around a few times. Something made me instinctively scowl at them. Where have I seen them- oh.

They were Lady Mariya's private guards. Fury surged up in me - how dare they even think about coming here when their mistress's mate was the one that smashed my eggs? - and I sat up to give them an icy glare.

The look on their faces answered my question. Shock, confusion, and fear flickered in both of their eyes. That satisfied my anger, for now. One of the guards shifted on his feet nervously, hand drifting to the hilt of his flail. Dmitri grabbed his hand. "Hey, friend. No need for that, now is there?" His voice was cold and venomous. Goosebumps ran over my skin as I heard it. I could take notes.

The other guard nodded hurriedly and elbowed his partner roughly. "Sorry, Sir. Lady Mariya sent you an invitation for tea, but I see you're busy with Miss Anita-"

"His mate." I cut in. The two guards looked over at me and Dmitri nodded.

"Yes, she is my mate. But I suspect Lady Mariya knew about this. Now, please stop bothering me." And with that, Dmitri slammed the door in the guards' faces.

"That was hot," I commented and slowly walked to my mate's side. "Sorry for speaking out."

Dmitri gave me a half-grin and slipped his arms around my waist. "You're so much cuter when you're yelling at someone other than me." He kissed my forehead but then paused. "Did they see you naked?"

It took a heartbeat for me to realize I was still not wearing any clothes. My face flushed. "This is your fault."

Dmitri's lips twitched into a smile. "Excuse me? Was I supposed to let you sleep in those filthy clothes? You probably would have complained about that too."

"I wouldn't-" I paused, "well, just give me some clothes and I'll put them on."

Dmitri cocked an eyebrow at me, his dark eyes running up and down my body. "Somehow I don't think I'll have anything that could fit you."

I bit back a snarky reply. Dmitri was right - he was broad-shouldered, nearly a head taller than me, and covered with taut muscle. Several pale scars crisscrossed his chest, though none were quite as deep or dark as the one on his face. Now that I gave him a good look, I couldn't deny he was incredibly handsome. I felt my face heat up again.

This didn't go unnoticed by Dmitri. The small smile on his lips broadened. "What?"

"Nothing." I bluffed as I sidled to the other side of the room. "I'm just wondering how you got all those scars. Aren't you supposed to be unbeatable or something?"

"No one starts off perfect," Dmitri said. He walked over to me, grabbing my upper arm and inspecting it. "You have to train constantly. And it looks like you've been slacking."

I slapped away the squeezing hand. "Well, that's your fault. Quite literally."

"Wouldn't that be your fault? You were still in training. You could have kept up your shape."

"Well- oh, and that's another thing!" I smacked Dmitri's arm. "Training! You put me with Burian on purpose, didn't you? You know I hate him!"

"You were very distracted with that fyn you trained with," Dmitri said vaguely.

I squinted at Dmitri. "You were jealous, weren't you?"

Dmitri stared back at me. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Not. A. Clue." Dmitri reached out and touched my cheek. "But you're so cute when you're mad."

"I still hate you, you know."

"I know. Love you too."

Dmitri kissed my cheek before abruptly picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing. I squealed and smacked his shoulder, but he simply carried me to the bed.

"Hey! I do not agree with this! Put me down!" Dmitri looked me dead in the eye and gracelessly dropped me on the bed. "Not what I meant, Dmitri." He just laughed and crawled over, hovering over me with a cocky smile.

"Are you rejecting this?" Dmitri trailed his fingers down the side of my cheek, resting on the hem of my tunic. I squirmed, feeling my skin heat up.

I searched for the pain, the rage, the sorrow. It had been my constant companion for almost a moon, but now... nothing. It was like the ice that had frosted my heart had melted away under Dmitri's strong summer sunlight.

So I gave in. I reached up to wrap my arms around Dmitri - my mate - and stared into his eyes. They were handsome. No, beautiful. Black as a starless night, and deeper than the ocean. "I... no."

It just made Dmitri's smile grow. "Didn't think so."