The Rebellious Mate

13 (ii) The Deathly Secret

The languid grace that defined his brother disappeared. He stood tall and straight. "I swear on Basilisk, I'll bring her here, but to keep her is on you. Only you can win her over for you. I'd manage the rest, my brother. Organize the celebratory feast, design the nursery, and watch over your hatchings... you have one job. If you fail, that's on you and I'll return her to whence she came from. Do I have your word? You won't impregnate her against her will or-"

"Have I fallen so low in your estimation?" Drach asked.

"I'll hold you to that promise, meus seigneur. There are some lines we cannot cross. Attor?"

Drach's throat ached as his dragon uttered a low growl. Plumes of fire blew out of his nostrils and his pupils dilated. He managed a jerky nod as scales erupted all over.

Calek got up and poured them both drinks. He set the tumblers on the table and laid his hand on Drach's sizzling neck.

An icy wave seeped into Drach's tense muscles. Steam rose from his cooling flesh.

"She might perish-" Calek whispered.

Drach pushed his brother's soothing touch away. "She most certainly will not."

"If she does, you will move on," Calek insisted.

In silence, they sipped the cognac. "No-" he repeated, refusing to entertain that dire possibility.

"For Hydra's sake, she might, which is why arranged mating within our subspecies is safer. But it's unfair to expect you to give her up. I've never seen you this shaken. Never. I'm unsure if I should be glad for you or concerned." Calek rubbed his palms; snowflakes fell into his lap. "You're all fire and brimstone, huffing and puffing, itching to rain destruction. How would that help? You cannot be involved-"

His duty to his weyr forced Drach to agree with Calek's logic. "Nor can you."

"Worry not. I have a lot of experience circumventing the laws. You scorn my underhand dealings, but they'll ensure no suspicion taints our name, especially yours. Let me handle this. Once she is here, inform her of the facts, and the space to embrace her rank. If and when she comes around, even after taking every precaution... Dracos cannot lose the leader of the largest weyr. You aren't accorded the luxury to go to pieces. Prepare for..."

Drach pinched the bridge of his nose. He struggled with the role reversal. But Calek would extract Asena under the cover of darkness without leaving a trail, unlike Attor. His dragon itched to swoop down at the Eros estate, rip apart the roof, slaughter those who stood in his way, and take flight with her. Maybe he had lost his marbles after all.

He scowled at the pile of correspondence and files, awaiting his approval. The beeping light on the phone indicated urgent calls begging for his attention. Except he couldn't work, only pine and neglected his various responsibilities.

When he strode to the fireplace and stroked the cedar logs piled in there, a blaze roared, consuming the wood.

He scoffed at the trophies of glorious conquests on the mantle. The wreath of crowns of human kings who dared to hunt within drakon territories offered him no joy. Nor did the weapons, ancient and modern, that couldn't best his kind. He'd curated every item here as a testament to their lengthy existence. Despite the humans and shifters' persistent attempts, they never succeeded. But he'd discovered the biggest, baddest beast; the king of the forest had a fatal weakness.

He observed the skulls of ascendents' dragons that watched over him from the wall behind his desk. Three of them perished after their mates' demise.

His pride in restoring his ancestral stronghold and heirlooms had vanished. These were trinkets of a dead and buried past. All that interested him now was a future with Asena.