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  I tense instantly, but Lucas holds his hand up to me. I know how this works. He’s the voice of the two of us. He’s the only one that can be reasonably trusted to speak in a non-inflammatory way. I learned my lesson years ago. I’m no good at diplomacy.

  “They are not to be trusted!” says another ancient-looking dragon.

  “If the king does not have the right, who does?” says another.

  Now I’m getting the gist of the argument that was happening when we first walked in.

  Trylor holds up a hand and the bickering all stops in an instant, but the heated glares don’t go anywhere.

  “My council would like to hear from you in person, what your plans are,” he says, looking at Lucas with an expression I don’t fully understand. He knows why we’re here. We had the same purpose in finding Eva and getting her to safety. So why this farce now? We should be coming up with a plan to move forward, not still looking at the past to examine it in excruciating detail.

  “If the council decides you cannot be trusted, I will have no choice but to send you back to Earth.”

  “You can’t do that!” I shout, jumping to my feet. It’s not that I don’t want to go back to Earth and get off this accursed planet, it’s just that Eva’s here and I need to know she’s okay. I need to be near her. It’s nothing I can explain, because I surely don’t actually understand it, but I know it’s there. I know it’s real. And I know I can’t ignore it or pretend it’s going to go away. Whatever it takes to stay near Eva, I’ll do it.

  “Morgan, please,” Lucas says calmly, addressing the words more to the room than to me personally. “It’s perfectly reasonable for these fine gentlemen to have their concerns. I’m happy to do whatever I can to ease your minds.”

  Under the table, my hands ball into fists. I’m clenching my jaw so tight just to make sure I don’t say anything else to get us into trouble as Lucas continues.

  “We originally sought out Eva because our clan seers foretold she would be the one to create the weapon to destroy the evil. Our numbers have been decimated in the last centuries and if we don’t do something, it’s very likely that our kind will be wiped from existence entirely.”

  I glare at the red-faced man who has an expression that clearly says he sees no problem with that outcome. I want to rip his head from his body, but instead, my fists just tighten and my jaw clamps so hard that it’s making my head throb. But I manage to hold my tongue.

  “We expected Eva to know her role in all of this. We expected to find a woman prepared to take on her sacred duty, but it’s clear that Eva has been by herself for a long time. It’s obvious that she’s innocent…and very beautiful. It complicates things for all of us, I think, but I still believe in the prophecy even if she has no idea what she’s up against.”

  Trylor nods. “I’ve had the same concerns about her. It seems unfair to ask so much of her when she doesn’t know what any of it means.”

  Lucas nods as well. “There’s no denying that Morgan and I both have a bond with her. And after our shared vision, I think that the bond goes both directions, at least with Eva and me. I’m not sure the prophecy can be fulfilled without us. But I’m also convinced it can’t be satisfied without you and your brother. So it seems we’re at an impasse. We work together, or we fail.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Trylor

  I frown, looking around the conference room. My advisers look taken aback. Most of them anyway. But that’s because they’re from another era. They’re mostly holdovers from my father’s reign, and since the positions are for life, I’ve hardly had a chance to replace any of them with my own people. So this is going to be tricky. But I can see that they’re not convinced, that most of them are still ready to send the vampires away even though they’re our only real hope for success.

  I hesitate to put my foot down though. Of course, I could issue a decree that none of them could argue with, but going above them like that would only paint a target on my back and invite a coup. The last thing I need to be worried about right now is my grip on power. I’ve got plenty else to keep me occupied.

  “For those of us who may not know, why is it that the vampires have become a target for the evil?” I try to phrase the question as placidly as possible. I know some of my advisers would have added that they assume the evil and vampires to be allies. That’s a common perception here on Desergan. Perhaps if Lucas can quell that, they’ll have a chance.

  Surprising almost everyone in the room, it’s not Lucas that speaks, but one of my newest advisers, Charles. He stands, smoothing the front of his clothing and clearing his throat.

  “It is well documented that the evil has set its sights on anything it considers a threat with the aim to eliminate all competition. Each planet afflicted by their presence is subject to the same scrutiny and Earth is no different. In preparation for taking over the Earth, the vampires have been targeted. They’re old and powerful, one of the most dangerous species on planet Earth. They are clearly a threat.”

  I see the suspicion starting to wane around the room and nod encouragingly to Charles.

  “The evil has been growing rapidly every year, becoming more vicious. The vampires are humanity’s last protection against it.”

  Vaunt, the oldest and most suspicious of all my advisers’ grumbles, clearing his throat. “There are other species on Earth besides humans. The vampires aren’t the only game in town. What about the werewolves.”

  I bristle at that and shake my head. “No, not the wolves. Our enemy has infiltrated their ranks, using their cunning and deception to convince the werewolves they are like them. They’ve taken to wolf form all the time now and it would be impossible to know who was compromised.”

  Vaunt huffs, but accepts my explanation.

  “Sirs, if I may,” Lucas says, breaking in. “We have all experienced great loss and suffering at the hands of this common enemy. I know it is not within our traditions to work together, but when faced with such a credible threat such as this, I believe it is in all of our best interest to put our differences aside and find common ground.”

  I nod with his assertion, standing to get the attention of the room. “I, King Trylor of Desergan, deem these vampires to be worthy allies and welcomed guests in our palace. Any opposed?”

  There’s shuffling around the table and low mutters that no one’s willing to utter louder, but no one actually speaks out. Long moments stretch by as I make eye contact with each and every man around the table, daring him to challenge my ruling. No one does. Not even Vaunt.

  “Then it’s settled,” I say, nodding to the vampires. “You will stay here until Eva has fulfilled her duty and we are all safe once again.”

  I wait for Vaunt’s answer. Then wait some more. He’s not following protocol and it’s an insubordination I can’t ignore. I clear my throat at him pointedly and the other advisers all turn judgmental eyes on him. He squirms under the attention, but still looks petulant when he clears his throat and says, “So it has been decreed.”

  “Aye,” comes the chorus from around the room, and just like that, the meeting is over.

  Slowly, the room clears and Morgan and Lucas are the only ones left with me. I raise an eyebrow in a question, but say nothing otherwise.

  “I appreciate your support,” Lucas says finally. “It would have been a great opportunity to be rid of us.”

  I nod. “It would have been, yes. But that’s not my aim.”

  “No?” Morgan snaps, always the one to drop the facade of civility first. He and Brandt have more in common than I think either of them realize.

  “No,” I say, shaking my head. “I truly believe that we are all needed for this purpose. And I’m willing to take a chance when the stakes are so high.”

  “A wise choice,” says Lucas.

  Normally, I’d think a statement like that was condescending, but coming from Lucas, all I heard was respect and agreement. I appreciate that someone else in all of this is thinking rationally and not with a
ge-old prejudice.

  “Is there something else?” I ask, sensing that the vampires aren’t going to leave without getting what they want — though what that is, I have no clue. We’ve been providing them with a steady supply of blood to keep them sustained. Their quarters are protected from the sun and plenty big to accommodate the both of them.

  Lucas looks like he’s searching for the right words, trying to choose what he says carefully. I recognize that look as one I myself have very frequently. It’s a shame that we’re not able to speak freely with one another, but I know that this truce is a tenuous one and that it would be all too easy to break the shaky foundation of trust we have with a few careless words.

  “Eva,” says Morgan, clearly not burdened by Lucas’s concerns for tact.

  “What about her?” I ask, already bristling. I know I shouldn’t. I know I have no personal claim over her and that they’re just as much a part of this as I am, but the thought of either of these blood-suckers touching Eva makes my dragon roar with rage. But he’s going to have to get over it. There’s no way around this and they have as much a right to see her and be with her as I do.

  “We haven’t seen her since we’ve been here,” he says, his voice venomous.

  I nod. “There have been ongoing debates about your status here. But now that that’s resolved, I’m sure you will see her in due time.”

  “I don’t want due time, I want to see her now,” Morgan growls.

  Lucas sends him a sharp look, but doesn’t refute his demand.

  I shake my head. “I cannot deliver her to you on demand. I’m not her keeper. She keeps her own schedule and chooses who she wants to see and when. Now that you’re welcomed as a guest in my palace, no one will stop you from venturing its halls. I’m sure you’ll run into Eva eventually if she wants to see you.” I can’t resist adding that extra barb in at the end. It’s petty and goes against everything I’ve been saying about tact and diplomacy and tensely-held alliances, but I can’t stop myself from putting the jab in. I myself haven’t seen much of Eva besides the occasional meal, and it rubs my scales the wrong way that they think they’ll have unfettered access to her whenever they please. She is a person who can make her own decisions.

  And yes, part of me secretly hopes the decision she makes is to not be around them, but I find the odds of that unlikely. Still, a dragon can hope.

  “Is there a guide of some sort who can educate us on the palace’s grounds and perhaps show us where we can call on her in the future?” Lucas manages to keep his tone even and firm, not at all letting on that my words bothered him. Maybe they didn’t. I know it would bother me if they insinuated that Eva wouldn’t want to see me, but perhaps that’s my own insecurity of competing for her attention with three other men. Perhaps they don’t have any such doubts. They certainly have more free time than I do to pursue her, which hardly seems fair, but nothing about being king has ever really been fair in my opinion. It’s just the way things are.

  I sigh, knowing there’s no way I can deny them this. And I don’t want to. Not really. A possessive, jealous part of me does, of course, but that part is given no allowance. He has no place here. “Yes, I will instruct a member of the staff to give you a tour.”

  “Thank you,” Lucas says, bowing his head.

  Morgan doesn’t show the same deference, but I’m not going to get annoyed by it. We may all have to work together, but that doesn’t mean we have to get along.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Eva

  I’m in the library, sitting in the shade of a red-leafed tree, reading through a fairy tale about dragons stealing princesses and living happily ever after. Not exactly the version of things that would show up in an Earth version of the same story, I’m sure. But it’s a cute story and it has me thinking about my own dragons — not that they’re really mine, but it feels like it somehow.

  It’s been a while since I’ve seen Brandt and I know Trylor is busy with his royal duties, so he doesn’t really have time for me. I keep thinking back to the kiss with Brandt, how his lips nearly burned with hot intensity and his touch made my body come alive. He’d stopped at that one kiss, told me he regrettably had other things to do, but I haven’t seen him since and I can’t help wondering if I made a mistake kissing him. Maybe that wasn’t what he wanted. Maybe he was only saying I was perfect because I was the one meant to save them all.

  That still didn’t seem possible, but I’ve resolved to stop doubting and questioning it every free moment I have. Either they’re right or they’re not and there’s really nothing I can do about it one way or the other.

  One of the doors opens and I see Stella’s familiar halo of black curls pop in through the door.

  “Over here,” I call, marking my place in the book and setting it aside. Stella steps through the thick grass carpeting the tree-lined area and smiles at me.

  “The Prince has hopes that you’ll join him for dinner,” she says.

  “Oh! Yes, of course,” I say. “I’d love to.”

  She smiles again and stands there, like she’s waiting for something more, but I don’t know what.

  “Is there…something else?”

  “Oh, no ma’am, but the Prince is already seated.”

  In a flash, I’m on my feet, forgetting my book and brushing the spare bits of grass off my behind. “I don’t have time to change or anything?” I was lucky enough to have a stocked wardrobe in my quarters with all the clothes I could possibly dream of wanting, appropriate for royal functions and the like. But right now I’m just in tight-fitting yoga-type pants and a simple shirt. Hardly fit for dinner with a prince.

  “I’m certain he’ll find you acceptable as you are,” Stella says warmly.

  I don’t know about that, but it’s a sweet thing to say so I don’t argue and she leads me out of the library and down to the dining hall.

  Just like she said, Brandt is already sitting at the table, casually sipping on a glass of wine. The moment I walk in, he turns to me and gives me this breath-taking smile that nearly freezes me in place.

  “Enjoy,” Stella says before ducking out, leaving me alone with Brandt for the first time since our kiss. Butterflies invade my stomach and I’m suddenly not sure what to say or how to act around him. Normally, being around Brandt is easy, he’s so friendly and easy to talk to and his smiles are so free that I melt every time.

  “I’m glad you could join me,” he says, his warm accent rolling over me and sending a shiver to my toes.

  “I would have dressed more appropriately if I had more time,” I say, feeling embarrassed as I duck over to take a seat at the table.

  “You look incredible,” he says, his eyes fierce and warm. I squirm under that gaze, my body reacting to it instantly, my nipples hardening to sensitive points, my panties growing damp with want.

  I try to push all that away to have a nice meal with him. I wonder if he has any news about the troubles. About…whatever is going on that makes my presence here necessary. It’s weird, but we left Earth in such a hurry that I was sure we’d immediately start scheming and planning when we arrived, but I’ve done nothing but try to find ways to fill my time. It actually makes me feel kind of worthless, but what can I do if neither of them is telling me what’s going on?

  “Something is troubling you,” he says. It’s not a question, so there’s no point in denying it.

  “What isn’t troubling?” I say, still avoiding the real topic.

  “Eva, if there’s anything I can do to soothe your worries, please, let me.”

  I sigh, ignoring the first course that’s brought out and set before us.

  “I haven’t seen Morgan or Lucas since we’ve arrived. They’re… They haven’t been killed have they?” I swallow, the thought making my throat constrict painfully. Surely they’re okay, right? But I can’t shake the feeling that they would have come to see me if they were able to. Which means something or someone is stopping them.

  Brandt gives me a slow smile and shakes
his head. “They are quite well, I assure you. My kind are not as barbaric as they’d have you believe. And, between you and me, we don’t possess the ability to lie.”

  I narrow my eyes, hardly believing that. “Don’t be ridiculous, everyone lies.”

  He shakes his head again. “Our dragons place great importance on integrity and honesty. They won’t allow us to be dishonest or disingenuous.”

  “Well, that’s good to know. So if I ever need to get some juicy secret out of you, I just have to ask?”

  Brandt chuckles, reaching for a carafe on the table and pouring me a glass of wine. “I have no desire to keep secrets from you, Eva.”

  The warm promise in his tone makes my face heat up and I try to hide it in the glass of wine, taking a big gulp. I’m not sure what I expected, but it’s sweet and tart and instantly makes my head feel fuzzy.

  “Wow, that’s good,” I say, taking another quick sip.

  Brandt nods. “The finest Desergan wine, aged for thirty years.”

  “Wow,” I say, feeling dumb that I can’t think of anything else to say. “I’ve actually never had wine before.”

  “Really? Well, I apologize for ruining other wine for you, but be careful, it’s quite strong.”

  I giggle, my veins feeling like they’re full of bubbles. “You wouldn’t take advantage of me, now would you?”

  Brandt’s eyes flash and the look is hungry and makes me squirm with anticipation of what’s to come. I may have never been with a man before, but I know what these feelings are. I know what wanting a man feels like. And seeing the way that Brandt’s looking at me, I think I’m starting to understand what being wanted feels like.

  “I would never do anything you didn’t want, Eva. But I don’t think that’s an issue, is it?”

  A hot flush floods my face and I try to hide it in the wine, but that just makes things worse. He wasn’t kidding about this wine being strong and already I feel loose and happy. I don’t care about dinner anymore. I just want to be closer to Brandt.