by Abigail Owen
Finding it difficult to reconcile the crude, bald brute of a dragon shifter—one missing a tooth that hadn’t grown back after a fight—with the total teddy bear snuggling his daughter, Skylar couldn’t hold back a grin. “No worries, Dopey. We were just getting acquainted.”
“What does quainted mean?” Rukiya asked in her tiny voice.
Given how long shifters and phoenixes lived, the phase of life spent that small was relatively short. Skylar had forgotten how precious, how vulnerable, a child could be. How had her mother gotten all four of them through it while still dealing with her own grief and learning her own powers? “It means we’re getting to know each other.”
“Oh. Should we shake hands?”
Duncan grinned, the gap in his teeth even more obvious. At the same time, Skylar laughed and held out her hand. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
Only Rukiya didn’t shake. Instead, she placed her other hand over their clasped hands. “Mama says the longer you shake, the more you want to be friends.”
“My mate is from Tanzania. Or Zanzibar when she lived there,” Duncan explained. “That’s a tradition of her people.”
Brought to weak-ass emotions like sentimental tears by a mite of a dragon shifter. Skylar had to clear her throat. “I like that. People I lived with a long time ago tended to use food as a greeting. The first thing they said wasn’t ‘hello’ or ‘how are you.’ Instead they’d say, ‘Would you like something to eat?’”
She exchanged a grin with Kasia. “Remember?”
“I do,” Kasia murmured. For once the memories didn’t bring a pang of bittersweet sorrow.
“Where did you live?”
“With a few tribes in North America.”
As expected, Rukiya’s eyes rounded with awe. “Wow,” she whispered. “Did they shoot things with bows and arrows?”
Kasia and Skylar chuckled. “Some did. Not all.”
Duncan shook his head. “Let’s go find Mama.”
“Okay,” Rukiya said, though with obvious reluctance.
Skylar waved at the child as Duncan carried her away.
“You’d better pray for boys when you and my brother have children,” Arden said as she joined them, her gaze fixed on the departing father and child.
Skylar’d had a little time to get to know Arden. Kasia and the other girl had apparently become close, and Skylar found she couldn’t not like Arden. She respected her spunky determination to join her brother’s guard as a warrior, despite the bias she fought against as well as her size. Not to mention Ladon’s protective instincts.
Anyone who did her own thing and be damned to the obstacles like that deserved respect.
“Is it difficult?” Skylar asked. “Being a female-born?”
Arden made a face, though she only shrugged. “It’s not easy. Only one in a hundred births result in a female-born. My parents were lovely…supportive, never making me feel less than. Being schooled with chauvinistic little princes wasn’t exactly fun. Plus, it was made clear from an early age that I was expected to do little more with my life than be a very involved auntie to whatever offspring Ladon whelped.”
Even the idea of that chaffed at Skylar like rough wool over her skin.
“Knowing I’ll never have a child is awful in a way I can’t even put into words,” Arden continued, her voice softer. “Knowing I can’t mate for love…” The she-dragon’s gaze drifted toward the group of men gathered around Ladon. “That’s even harder.”
It’d taken less than a day for Skylar to see the connection between Arden and Reid. She gave Arden’s arm a squeeze. “I say, if you love him, then fates and traditions be damned. Mate the man.”
Arden cast a furtive glance his way, but Skylar knew they weren’t paying them any attention, because Ladon wasn’t paying her attention. She could feel his focus, like a physical touch almost, even when she couldn’t see him.
“I can’t,” Arden whispered. “Other than being the sister of the king, which gives me a little political leverage, I wouldn’t contribute to his career or his life. I’d take away any chance at children and continuing his line. He’s an only child. No brothers.”
“But he’d get a woman who loves him,” Kasia pointed out.
Skylar wasn’t nearly so sentimental. “He’d get you. Period. Why don’t you give him the respect of deciding what that means to him?”
Arden frowned. “You think not letting it happen is disrespectful?”
“I think he knows all the implications. Not letting him have a say in the matter is not respecting the strong person he is. Wouldn’t you want to be involved in a decision that impacts your life in a huge way?”
Before Arden could answer, the men stirred, a low murmur pulsing through the room.
“Won’t be long now,” Kasia murmured, then made a face.
“What?” Skylar prodded.
“I’m not a huge fan of flying on dragons. It’s easier now, but…” Kasia gave another grimace.
Right, that whole falling off and slicing her hands on the tips of Brand’s spikes thing. Skylar had seen the crisscrossing scars on Kasia’s palms. She didn’t blame her sister. “How can you tell it won’t be long?”
Kasia smiled. “I can feel Brand.”
Skylar made a silent vow to avoid acting anywhere near that sappy. Not that she and Ladon had a relationship remotely like her sister’s. But still… “Feel him?”
“Like he’s inside me, part of me.”
“Mr. No Emotions?” Arden snickered, and a pair of dimples showed as she allowed what might be her first real smile around Skylar. “What’s that feel like?”
“Brand has emotions,” Kasia defended her mate. “He just doesn’t like others to know.”
Skylar shivered at the thought. Having someone in your head like that sounded disturbing. “Isn’t that weird? And intrusive?”
Kasia turned to face her, taking her hands, as if this was important. “Not when you love that person. I like knowing that any time I need him, I have access to him. When we fight in battle together, I’ll be able to know he’s okay, or try to help him if I can, and vice versa.”
Skylar snorted. “Will he even let you near the fighting?”
“He will if he knows what’s good for him.”
Skylar’s gaze slid to Ladon—serious, intense, and in total control—across the room. Would he take over if he could tune in to her like that? She pulled her gaze back to her sister. “Can you hear his thoughts?”
Kasia shook her head. “Only here and there, and not on purpose. Maybe later down the road. This will happen to you, too.” She waggled her eyebrows.
Doubtful. “Let’s not even go there.”
Kasia held onto her hands as she tried to turn away. “How is it going?”
Skylar shrugged. “We mated. He didn’t die. So far so good.”
“That is my brother you’re talking about,” Arden commented drily.
“Oops?” Skylar winked to show Arden she harbored no hard feelings.
Meanwhile, Kasia huffed a laugh. “Only you could be so blasé about mating a dragon king.”
“I’ve hardly had time to think, honestly. When this merry-go-round quits spinning, I’ll tell you what I think.”
Kasia leaned forward to put her forehead against Skylar’s—quiet understanding passing between them—something their mother had started, and which all four girls had done since childhood.
When they stepped back from each other, Skylar bonked into a wall of male muscle at her back. On pure instinct, she spun, already moving into a defensive crouch, only to find Ladon standing there. He raised his eyebrows as she paused and straightened.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I don’t like to be snuck up on.”
He ignored that. “I meant with the whole forehead thing.” He waved at Kasia.
>
Skylar peered at his face more closely. Was he concerned? “That’s something we do to say we understand each other.” The explanation spilled from her unbidden.
“Ah.” Only his frown said he didn’t get it at all. That was okay. He didn’t have to. At least he dropped it. “We leave in twenty minutes.”
Brand appeared beside Kasia, snaking an arm around her waist. Always with the touching, like he had to assure himself she was there and his for the taking.
He’s your brother by blood now. Give the guy a chance.
The voice in her head had to be her projecting Meira. Skylar could easily picture her sister saying something like that. Born third of the four of them, she was the peacemaker.
The opposite of Skylar.
Still, Skylar managed not to glare or roll her eyes at Brand and considered that progress.
“We’re ready,” Kasia said to Ladon.
Brand’s perpetual glower deepened. “I still don’t think—”
Kasia turned into him and lifted her chin. “Your people need to see me. With you. I fight at your side. Got it.”
Brand stared at her sister, his golden eyes glittering with flame. “If something happened to you—”
“If something happens to me, we’re both dead, but at least we’ll be dead together.” Kasia’s lips tipped up.
“Not. Fucking. Funny,” Brand snapped.
“Yeah,” Skylar interjected. “For once I agree with Barney Rubble.”
“Barney Rubble?” Ladon asked. Was that contained laughter in his voice?
“An American cartoon about cavemen,” Skylar explained. Then grinned. “Guess that makes you Fred Flintstone.”
“I think I like Tarzan better,” he muttered.
Behind them, Maul’s unmistakable odor preceded a low whine.
Kasia turned to her pet, reaching above her head to scratch him behind the ear, which he leaned into. How the gruesome animal could appear adorable was anyone’s guess, but he did.
“We talked about this, buddy,” Skylar said. “You refuse to ride on Brand’s back, and you’ll exhaust yourself teleporting that far, that fast. Stay here and help keep the mountain secure.”
He let out a harrumph.
The beast had never liked to be far from them, even though he’d often gone off on his own, sometimes for months at a time. They had no idea where, or what he did when he was away. He’d never shown them.
Kasia patted the leathery hump of his shoulder. “We’ll be okay.”
Then Kasia’s hand stilled mid-pat, her gaze suddenly going all vague and distant a split second before her body erupted in golden flames.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Kas?” Skylar yelled. What the hell was happening?
Before she could get to her sister, Brand wrapped his arms around Kasia and held on tight. At the same time, Ladon stepped into Skylar to stop her. “She’s having a vision.”
Cool relief battled with raging concern as the vision seemed to go on and on, whatever Kasia was seeing in her mind causing her eyes to move in the strangest way. Then Kasia sucked in a rasping breath that rattled in her lungs, and her face transfigured in slow motion from concentration to terror, her mouth opening in a gaping hole. “No.”
This couldn’t be good.
As quickly as the vision came, the flames snuffed out, leaving smoke to rise to the heights of the cavern ceiling. The entire room had gone as silent as a tomb as they watched the phoenix in the throes of seeing. But seeing what? Kasia pitched forward, her hands on her knees as she breathed hard. Brand was right there, hand on her back. He knelt to whisper in her ear, calm her.
“Oh gods,” Kasia choked as she straightened with a jerk, her eyes wild. “He’s found—” She broke off, glancing around the large chamber filled with dragon shifters.
The bright copper flavor of blood bloomed in her mouth, and Skylar realized she’d bit down on her lip hard as dread had filled her to overflowing. Only one thing would put that much fear in her sister.
Pytheios had discovered one of their sisters.
“No,” Skylar whispered.
Dammit. With sheer will, she shoved away any demons of fear. “No,” she said, her voice stronger.
Ladon loosed a heavy breath and glanced at Brand, who nodded. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”
The four of them and Maul moved into one of the smaller rooms just off the larger chamber used for private training sessions.
“Who?” Skylar demanded.
“Angelika.” Kasia was shaking so hard, she had to sit down.
Needing her sister to focus, Skylar knelt in front of her and put her hands on her knees, her sister’s trembling telegraphing through the touch.
Gradually, Kasia’s breathing slowed, her eyes clearing. “Pytheios knows where Angelika is. He’s not coming for you anymore. He gave that up as soon as you mated. But he is going for her.”
Kasia unfocused, her eyes seeing something none of them could, as though she was replaying the scene in her mind. “Two days. Maybe three.”
“Why not sooner?” Ladon asked.
Kasia concentrated, still watching her vision, then shook her head. “I’m not sure. Something about sucking power. He seems…weak.”
Skylar stood and paced the room. “We need to get her out of there.”
Ladon stepped in her path. “We can’t call, or we risk the attack against Brock.”
They’d shut down all communication until this assault was finished. After the fiasco with the gold and green attack on the mountain, and the traitor who’d let them in, Ladon was taking no chances. Like going back to the Stone Age.
“Dammit. This is more important—”
He grabbed her by the arms, giving her a little shake, though not harshly. “Don’t say it,” he snapped.
Anger sparked at her from behind his eyes, and suddenly the dangerous predator that lurked inside the man became more evident. Except, at that moment, his cold fire was exactly what she needed. Skylar straightened, purpose grafting steel to her spine. “We have to get her out of there.”
“I agree.”
An image flashed in Skylar’s mind. One of a woman their age with the same ice-blue eyes, but with pale blond hair closer to white.
Angelika.
Skylar whipped her head around to find Maul. “You want to go to her?”
The dog cocked his head, ears perked, those red eyes eating up the blackness in the sockets around them. I’ll take that as a yes. If Kasia knew where the youngest of the quadruplets was, then so would Maul. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”
But Kasia was shaking her head. “It’ll take him more than two days to get to her at his rate. We don’t have time.”
“Fuck,” Ladon muttered beside her, echoing her own thought.
“Send two of your warriors…” She trailed off as he was already shaking his head. Realization struck before he voiced the reason. “Right. Gorgon will realize something big is going down.”
“Gorgon could be the distraction allowing Pytheios to get to Angelika,” Brand said.
“I thought of that,” Ladon said, his voice practically smoke now. “We weren’t planning to attack Brock this soon. Not until Gorgon showed.”
Gods, what if they were walking their people into a trap? There had to be a way to—
An idea sparked. What if…
She lifted her gaze to Kasia and tipped her head, a question in her eyes.
“What?” Kasia asked slowly.
“There might be a way…”
Kasia blinked, then scowled. “No. No way, Sky. I know that look and you’re thinking something crazy.”
“Crazy?” Ladon asked, glancing between them. “Batshit variety? Or something else?”
Skylar waved her hand. “Don’t worry. On the crazy scale, it’s maybe a le
vel two. Three tops. Somewhere between nutty and trouble.”
“I don’t like trouble,” he said.
“No,” Brand snapped.
She ignored Brand and gripped Ladon’s forearm, trying to make him see. “This is important. Just hear me out.”
As soon as she said those words, Skylar paused. When had mating turned into asking for his…not permission…but understanding? Like he was becoming important to her. “I’m doing this. With or without you.”
Maul let out a small growl. What, even the dog was against her plan?
Ladon’s eyes narrowed. Suddenly he leaned closer, lips to her ear. “I’m not dictating, we’re partners.”
Partners. An insidiously seductive idea the more time she spent with him. Only she already had partners. Her sisters. Skylar scowled at him as he straightened. “You can’t hear my thoughts yet or anything, right?”
He stared back, waiting for her to tell him the idea.
Right. Focus. Angelika. “I can teleport others long distances,” she said. “But I can’t go myself.”
He nodded.
“So, I teleport Kasia, and she pulls me with her. That way we can get there, inform Angelika so she can get away, and return quickly.”
Ladon smoothed a hand over his jaw, fingering the smoother skin of his wicked scar. “Do you even know if that would work?”
No. “We could try it over a short distance here. Then a little farther, just to be sure.”
He stared at her for a long, silent minute, considering, and, for first time in days, given he was preparing for war, she had his total focus. Her body tingled under that stare, something Skylar shut down with a mental snap of irritation.
What is wrong with me?
“Kasia?” he asked, not taking his gaze from Skylar.
Skylar harrumphed. “My word’s not good enough for you?” she butted in before her sister could respond.
“Until I get to know all levels of your kind of trouble…no.”
Disappointment tried to choke off her air, constricting her lungs. That lack of faith shouldn’t be a surprise but still hurt more than she would’ve expected.