Dalton, Tymber - Fire and Ice [A Triple Trouble Prequel] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Tymber Dalton Read Free Book Online Page B

of powers saving them all, but ripping her apart without the dragons’ supporting energy to feed her.
    He ignored the tears rolling down his cheeks as he gently cradled her in his arms, rocking her, brushing the red tresses from her forehead.
    “Zaria,” he whispered, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her forehead. “Zaria, my sweet, beautiful Goddess. Please don’t leave me.”
    Her eyes fluttered open as more pain rent him from the inside out. He ignored it as he stared into her gorgeous green eyes. “Did we do it?” she whispered.
    He nodded. “ You did it. You beat them. You saved everyone.”
    “Not everyone.” Her eyes teared up. “I could not save…”
    He choked back his sob. “They sacrificed themselves to save you. To save us all. You saved our people, Zaria. My sweet, beautiful Goddess. I love you.”
    A faint smile curved her lips. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his lips, kissing it.
    “I love you, too, Zachary. I always will.”
    He tearfully nodded. “In every life.”
    “In every heart.”
    “Forever,” they whispered together.
    Zachary saw the shadow fall across them both but didn’t look up from Zaria’s face. He didn’t want to miss a single breath.
    “Well done, my children,” Baba Yaga’s matronly voice softly said. “Rest, Zaria. Your job is done. For now.”
    Zaria nodded and saved one last smile for Zachary. “Forever.”
    He nodded, this time sobbing aloud. “Forever, Goddess.”
    Her eyes fluttered closed. He was aware of crowds of cheering warriors running across the battlefield toward them, yet already he felt the end coming soon for him.
    Baba Yaga knelt beside him as he couldn’t take the pain and grief anymore. With Zaria clutched to him, he fell to his side on the ground, screaming Zaria’s name as his tears flowed unabated.
    “Zachary,” Baba Yaga soothed, “do not fret. This is not the end. This is only the beginning. From now until the next prophecy is fulfilled, she will be yours in every life. You are still, and always, her Watcher.”
    He listened, but couldn’t quit crying. The agony in his heart and soul crushed him under its weight. How could he ever live without her?
    He didn’t want to live.
    “Shh,” Baba Yaga soothed, pressing a comforting palm to his brow.
    He was vaguely aware of the King, bloodied but not mortally wounded, running up and pushing through the crowd with several of his knights. He pulled up short when he saw Zaria’s still form and Baba Yaga kneeling beside them.
    “Is she…”
    One of the knights placed a staying hand on his king’s arm. “Aye, Sire,” he sadly said. “She is at peace. I suspect brave Zachary joins her and her dragons soon.”
    Zachary’s vision swam, colors fading as he stared at Zaria’s closed eyes. Sounds from the crowd faded out of his awareness until only Baba Yaga’s voice filled his ears.
    “Fret not, Zachary. In every life until the next prophecy, she will be yours until she is reunited with her dragons. Even then, she will still be in your life. You are always her Watcher. I swear it.”
    He was vaguely aware of Baba Yaga pressing his and Zaria’s hands together, as she had when they were babes. “You will always remember, in every life, although she will not until she is reunited with her dragons. So fret not and rest now, child…” He felt the warm tingle between his palm and Zaria’s as the last breath left him and his world went black.

Chapter Seven

    Six years later

    From the deep shade of the willow tree, Zachary watched the little red-haired girl playing by the creek. He knew her name to be Zarina, even though he’d never met the redheaded child. He knew her age to be the same as his—five.
    He opened his right palm and stared at the faint lines embedded there in his flesh. He also knew the little girl bore the same markings, only on her left palm.
    When he felt the presence behind him, he didn’t need to turn to see who it was. “Hello, Baba Yaga.”
    “Hello,