Free Portia by Christina Bauer Page B

unmoving skin. I suck in a rasping, horrified breath. My poor Tempest. How could anyone do this to a child?
    Chimera’s heads all tilt in unison. “Are you lost?” they all ask in a hissing, sing-song voice. My skin crawls at the sound.
    The grown Tempest balls his hands into angry fists. “Not at all,” he growls.
    The boy on the floor twitches. On reflex, I kneel at his side and start casting healing spells. Like always, the words get tied up on my tongue, but I’m able to see some of the terror seep out of his eyes, at least.
    Chimera inhales a long breath and keeps staring at the grown Tempest. “I know your scent. You’re Firelord, like me.” He sniffs again. “And you’re close to my bloodline.”
    Tempest’s features stay still as stone. “I’m your son.”
    “You’re him?” He gestures to the paralyzed boy. “The one I call the little teapot? He’s so fragile, he could be made of porcelain. Somehow, I never tire of breaking him, though.” The trio of heads lets out a sinister laugh. “And that’s you?”
    My hands clench into angry fists. When I want on patrol before, I’ve always shied away from killing demons. But killing Chimera? That wouldn’t be a problem.
    “I’m Emperor now. And my name is Tempest.”
    “Bah, I don’t believe it. The little teapot? Never.”
    It takes everything I have not to launch into this guy and kick him in the head. Tempest looks at me, his features bright with held-in rage. He shakes his head. It’s the barest motion. I know the meaning, though.
    I got this, Portia.
    Tempest rounds on his father. “You were a sorry excuse for a dragon before you took the crown. Spineless and weak. Becoming Emperor changed you into a greater demon and a bully to boot.”
    Chimera’s heads flick backward in surprise. “Who told you that?”
    “Mum. You don’t remember her, but she remembered you all right. Before your change, you barely had one head, let alone three.”
    Chimera’s heads swivel, looking between the frozen boy and grown man. “It’s not possible.”
    “Why is so hard to believe that I would change when I accepted my role as Emperor? All it takes is a few short words.”
    My gaze falls to the skinny boy lying immobile and terrified on the dungeon floor. That boy accepted his role as emperor, and then he became a greater demon. But instead of gaining extra heads like Chimera, Tempest will add body mass and magical powers. I shake my head in awe. No one would have thought this boy would become the man who stands beside me.
    Chimera’s many mouths frown at once. “So you’re called Tempest now, is that it? Becoming a greater demon got some magic to you. Added a few pounds and inches, too. And now, you’ve come to fight your old man.”
    “Something like that.”
    I stand closer to Tempest and lift my chin defiantly. “He isn’t here alone. Tempest has friends.”
    Chimera’s heads chuckle darkly. “A friend? I’m quite sure that’s all you are.”
    “Leave her out of this,” growls Tempest.
    “Then don’t waste any more of my time, boy. Say your piece and go.”
    “I will. With relish. Know this. I’ve undone every act that you deemed important. There are no more blood purges. No more destroying Furorling in a race to create a world of purebred dragons.”
    Chimera points straight at me. My throat tightens with a mixture of fear and rage. “Is that why you bring this mouthy Furorling wench before me?” His heads sniff the air wildly. “Why, you haven’t even claimed her! In my day, I’d have rutted her first and killed her second.”
    It takes everything I have not to gasp in shock and fear. Still, I’m somehow able to keep my head high. Whatever happens, I won’t let this freak know that he got to me. Tempest deserves that from a friend.
    “Your day is over.” Tempest gestures around the room. “And these very dungeons where you tortured me? They now overflow with your old followers. Anyone who worshipped the extremes of lust and