Skirting the Scales

Clarissa's life has never been her own, and she was beginning to think it never would be. Coming out on the other end of withdrawals, Clarissa finds herself in a strange city. Dazed, confused, and now quite obviously pregnant, Clarissa is at the mercy of her captors: a former lover and his new beau. Her master had given his permission for her to be used as a brood mother, never intending for her to carry them past a week or two but here she was chained to a bed with no idea how long it had been. She barely has time to register the gravity of the situation when the trio is discovered by the tireless hunter dispatched from the Dragon Kingdom to collect her. Ousted from the relative safety of the outlaw city they'd taken refuge in, Djinn and his lover gather her up and flee into the unforgiving wasteland known as the Crystal Desert with the goal of reaching the top of a dormant volcano and beseeching help from the group of harpies that live there. Along the way, Clarissa is forced to come to terms with the reality of her situation. If she survives the pregnancy, her options for the future are bleak, consisting of being a runaway slave or handing herself over to the Dragon Kindom--who wants her for the magic held within her blood. Clarissa had always prided herself on being prepared for anything during her time spent training in the Elf Kingdom, but nothing could have prepared her for this. This is book two of a trilogy that has several single-character standalone novellas released between the main story. Because of the topics broached within, this series is for adults only, 18+. Tropes: Unwilling hero, Female MC, Love Triangle (of sorts), Every shade of grey morals, On the run/ Race against the clock/ Being hunted, Marked for greatness Content Warnings: Enslaved race, Oviposition repercussions, Death/Near Death experiences, Discussing harm/murder of adults and children