I could have him too if I wanted. I could have all of them, I pointed out.
Indeed. But you said that you only wanted one lover this time.
A woman can change her mind.
But then I saw Sin, and I knew that this wasn't the way I wanted to start our relationship. Whether or not we became lovers, I didn't want my general to see me making out with men I'd just created mere moments before. I eased away from Viper and moved out of the grasp of the other men.
“You are freshly born,” I said gently. “It's too soon to dive into desire. After you're more settled in your skin and you truly know what you want, then we can talk about such matters. But right now, we must introduce ourselves to our army.” I held a hand out to Sin. “General, care to go for a flight with me?”
Sin grinned broadly and stepped through the mass of Star Gods to take my hand.
“Hold on tightly,” I whispered to him.
Sin didn't need any encouragement; he wrapped himself around my body and clung to me like a lover.
“Take the elevators downstairs and meet us in the courtyard,” I said to the Star Gods.
Then, with a great flap of my wings, I lifted off the balcony and dove toward the ground.
Chapter Nineteen
Sin whooped excitedly the whole way down. I laughed at his antics and even let him kiss my cheek before I let him go. Then he got a good look at our army.
“Holy fucking shit!” Sin exclaimed.
Monsters; that's what most people would call them. But to me, they were strong and beautiful. I loved their curving horns and clawed hands. I admired their thick, resilient skin, covered in scales, and their agile tails with barbs on the ends. Their wings resembled mine; leathery and tipped in talons. In fact, they were very similar to the way I looked in weredragon form, just thicker, more muscular. It was their faces that differed from mine; more dragon than human. Long snouts with lizard nostrils at the ends. Mouths full of sharp teeth. Glowing eyes with slit pupils. Horns sweeping back from jaws and temples. Nothing human about them except for the fact that they stood on two feet and wore armor. They were true weredragons. I sighed in bliss.
I had made myself a Dragon Army.
Don't get attached to them, Star warned me. That was the point of creating them without souls. They have no emotions, only basic needs and the imperative to obey you. They were born to kill, nothing more.
If you wanted me to look at them as nothing but weapons, you shouldn't have made them dragons.
They are not dragons. Not like any who have ever existed anyway. Look at them; this is their most human form. They can be such or they can take the shape of a full dragon. That is all. There is no humanity, divinity, or feyness inside them. They are not people, they are weapons. Use them, Vervain. Direct them. Lead them.
Oh, I will. But there is no reason for me to be cruel to my creations. People or not. Souls or none. I will treat them with the love a goddess has for her children.
Fine, she huffed. Don't say I didn't warn you.Again.
The Star Gods strode across the castle bridge and stepped up behind me. I glanced back to see their approving expressions. They saw the potential in these soldiers and in my leading them. I transformed into my full weredragon form then; body covered in golden scales, horns in my hair, both hands and feet sprouting claws, and a sleekly dangerous tail. I turned my fiery, dragon eyes on Sin, and he jolted back in shock.
Oops, had I just lost Sin's interest? Was my weredragon form monstrous to him? I nearly laughed out loud. His reaction immediately put him out of the running for the position of my new lover. I didn't want a man in my bed who couldn't handle every aspect of me.
One look at the Star Gods showed me that not only could they handle this form, but they also adored it. Their eyes traced my shimmering, golden body eagerly, visually stroking every curve until coming back to rest on my face. Unlike my army, I didn't have a dragon face in this form. I looked the same as I did in my human body with exception to my fiery eyes and the tiny scales that covered my skin. I could even cover my hair with scales if I wished, but I had left my long, dark locks out to stream around the horns that crested my head. I wanted my army to see the starlight strands; the mark of the Dark Star.
Despite the difference in our faces, my army responded to the similarities between us. They saw their goddess in my claws and horns and scales. In my slit-pupil eyes and barbed tail. Just like humans, they needed that connection to me; the proof that they were mine. That I had made them in my image. Unlike humans and their gods, it was true for us. I hadn't tricked them into believing I was a goddess and then allowed the sacrifice they gave me to change me physically. I had created life to resemble me. I was a true goddess at last.
“My children!” I shouted. “My beautiful dragons! Welcome to the world of Gods and Men. Welcome to life!”
They roared; dragon cries that my own beast responded to. I screeched with them, wings spread wide and arms open. When we finally settled into silence, the humans around us were on their knees. Not in fear—Star had made sure that the soldiers wouldn't be afraid—but in awe.
“Soon, we will go forth and conquer the world,” I went on. “We will fight to end all wars and bring everlasting peace. My Star Gods,
