King Beast - Vicious Flames

Chapter 25

I felt a throbbing on my mark. An icy warmth invaded me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I swallowed as I slowly turned around, already knowing who would be there.

Zerberus was sitting lazily on the platform where one of the dragons, apparently the one I had scared away, should have been. One leg dangled, one bent towards him, an arm casually resting on the knee.

He stared at me without blinking, in his usual way.

"Hi," I waved at him then resumed picking up garbage.

I didn't hear him come down, but my body did. It felt him at my back.

The group dressed in red had volatized. My mate could be intimidating.

"What did you do to my dragons?" Zerberus glared with predatory eyes, scaly arms crossed. I noticed half of one was missing at the elbow.

I rubbed my own elbow without even realizing.

"Nothing," I mimicked his pose, "they all left after..." I shivered remembering the screams and mauling sounds.

"This is going to cost me some gold, you headless rat!" He growled as he shot flames to my right. I heard scream and burnt flesh. I didn't dare to turn and give him my back.

"If you find me such a nuisance, you can bring me back," I shot back, although I was scared on the inside.

He scoffed. "As if I could, little mouse."
I began to understand his usage of the word rat, correlated to his emotions.

Mouse was a sweet endearment. Rat when he was enraged.

"And why not? You abandon me for weeks!"

"Do you enjoy breathing?" He retorted.

I tilted my head at the change of topic. "Not particularly."

"You have your answer." He deadpanned.

I blinked. What?

"That didn't make sense."
He sighed. "Will I have to explain everything? All the time?" he asked the sky before he tapped my head twice. "Sometimes I forget you are a low being."
"And I forget what a cold-blooded creature you are."

He didn't say anything.

"Nothing to say?"

"What should I add to that? I am cold blooded. Just as you are an inferior race."
I rolled my eyes. Pointless to specify it was an insult among humans.

"Where have you been for so long?"

Zerberus arched his eyebrows. "So long?"

I clenched my hands. "Days have passed!"

"Days..." he seemed to think, eyes not leaving mine, "Mmh, I seem to forget you are a mere mortal. A day for a dragon is a minute for a human, my rat."

"Oh," I pouted, ignoring the rat part, "so where did you go?"

"Not your business; you're just my mate," he uncrossed his arms and craned his neck, which released a pop that hit my heart as much as his words.

"Just your mate?"

"Don't meddle in affairs and stay good and quiet. Buy what you want, go wherever you please, just don't leave the kingdom and talk to males."

Sure, if someone tried to touch me or even look at me, they'd burn alive anyway.

I rolled my eyes. "Big talk."

"What did you say?"

"Not your business; you are just my mate." I mocked him.