Valentine (The Dragon Kings Book 3)

by Kimberly Loth

  Hazel gasped when they stepped outside. The icy air hit her, burning her lungs. Rowan wouldn’t survive in weather like this. Her dad threw the suitcase in the bed of the truck, and Hazel climbed up in, hissing when her legs hit the cold leather. Her wimpy sweats were no match for the sub-zero temps. She’d need to dig out her winter gear when they got home.

  “What do they think happened?” Hazel asked when her dad shut his door.

  “Honestly, no one is sure.” He ran his hand through his hair. “He’d been doing so well. He was making friends and going out.”

  “Rowan?” Her brother had been a loner since they were young children. Her parents had worried about it, but she always just accepted that Rowan never left home. He’d helped her cover up her sneaking out on more than one occasion. Now she felt awful for taking advantage of him. But if his behavior had changed recently, maybe that meant they were looking at his disappearance wrong.

  “Do you think his new friends had anything to do with it?” Hazel wondered what had changed in his life.

  “No. They were all Aspen’s friends. In the last few months they’ve been inseparable.”

  “Aspen and Rowan?” Now that was news. The last time she’d talked to Aspen she’d been lamenting the loss of Tori because of her new boyfriend. Hazel didn’t like Tori anyway. Hazel should’ve kept up with Aspen more, but between school and hitting the waves, she didn’t talk to her family very often.

  “Surprised? So were we. But it was nice seeing him happy.” Dad paused for a few seconds. “I’m afraid I’ll never see that smile again.” His voice cracked.

  Hazel reached over and grasped his hand. “We’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

  He turned on the windshield wipers as wet snow began to fall. “There have been several deaths over the last few months. That dragon. Even Aspen has admitted it’s a possibility. Sis, I’m afraid he’s dead.”

  “No way. Look, even if Rowan has been acting differently the last few months, he wouldn’t go out in the woods. That’s not like him at all.”

  “The dragon isn’t just eating hikers. He got one boy just off the road. The military has come in. There’s talk of taking out the dragons. Aspen is furious.”

  Hazel shook her head. Only Aspen would be more worried about the dragons than she was about her brother. Dragons were always Aspen’s downfall. Hazel hated to think her sister was out fighting for dragon rights instead of looking for Rowan.

  The rest of the drive went by in silence. Hazel didn’t want to think about Rowan, so she stared out the window and thought of Val. The kiss. By the time they got home, it was nearly ten. Her mom’s truck was in the driveway, but Aspen’s jeep was missing.

  She hugged her mom, who squeezed her tight. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.”

  There were dark lines under her mother’s eyes. Her dad sat down on the couch and hung his head. They both looked utterly exhausted.

  “Have they been searching at night?” Hazel asked, sitting next to her mom.

  “The first couple of nights we did. But between the cold and the dark, it’s nearly impossible. We have a better shot at finding him in the daylight. Besides, we need to rest. Not that we’ve been sleeping well.”

  “Of course not. I’m going to go shower and hit the sack so I can get an early start tomorrow. I’d like to visit with Aspen first. Where is she?” Hazel wanted to find out what Aspen knew. She was smarter than all of them put together. If anyone knew about Rowan’s disappearance, Aspen did.

  “She spends most nights at Sid’s. She and Rowan had been staying there before he disappeared because the park was shut down. I think it’s easier for her to stay there than to come home.”

  Hazel’s chest tightened. “Did she know I was coming?”

  “Yeah. She said she would see you in the morning.”

  Hazel felt absurdly annoyed. It should be fine that she waited until morning to see Aspen, but maybe she was just feeling off because she wanted her whole family together.

  Hazel half expected Rowan to be waiting on her bed when she opened the door. When he used to cover her ass when she snuck out, he never threatened to tell their mom and dad, but he did have a price. He wanted her to tell him stories of her adventures. So he was always waiting for her when she got home, and she’d regale him with her exploits. He was a fantastic listener, and they’d often lay awake for hours laughing at the trouble she could get in. She’d offered to take him with a few times, but he always turned her down. He said it was safer to live through her.

  Now he was out on his own adventure. Hazel hoped he was having the time of his life. She imagined him off with his own friends, road tripping to Washington or something. She wanted him to be doing something stupid because that meant he wasn’t dead.

  She dumped her bag in her room and dug out a pair of thick sweats from her dresser. Then she opened another drawer and pulled out her long underwear. She’d hoped she would never have to wear those again. But she was glad her parents left her room intact even though she didn’t come that often.

  In the bathroom she stripped down quickly and stepped into the shower, hoping the hot water would warm her up. After she shampooed her hair, she grabbed her razor out of habit. When she leaned down to run the razor over her left calf, she saw a flash of black on her ankle.

  What the hell?

  She stretched out her foot. An intricate black tattoo encircled her ankle. She had a dolphin tattoo on her shoulder, but that was on purpose. This was new.

  She turned off the water, her razor forgotten. She dressed quickly, her sweatshirt sticking to her wet skin, sat on the edge of the tub, rested her leg on her knee, and studied the beautiful tattoo. The pattern was a mixture of crisscrosses and loops, a couple of inches wide. In the middle of the loops were several words in a strange language. There was only one word she could read, and it made her blood run cold.

  Valentine.

  VAL LOOKED UP at the enormous house and hesitated. Most of the humans in his area had small homes. This looked like it could house a hundred humans. It made him feel incredibly insignificant, which only added to his nerves.

  He was about to meet Obsidian. The dragon king. Though Val knew he was a king as well, that reality hadn’t quite hit him yet. He wondered if he’d ever feel like a real king, since he would always be the second king. He’d defer to Obsidian.

  He wiped his palms on his jeans and knocked on the door. He couldn’t stay out there much longer without his eyelids freezing together. He missed Hawaii already. Though he did like watching the snow fall. At home he would sometimes fly up to the tall peaks and play in the snow.

  Obsidian opened the door. Even as a human, he looked kingly. He was tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

  Obsidian smiled wide and waved him inside. “Come on in.”

  Val dragged his suitcase into the house and gave Obsidian a small bow.

  “Hello, Your Majesty.”

  Obsidian clapped him on the back and let out a laugh. “I should say the same thing to you. No need for formalities here or anywhere else for that matter. You’re a king. You bow to no one. Also, call me Sid. Everyone else does.”

  Val took a deep breath and moved farther into the house as Sid shut the door behind him. Sid took his coat and hung it on a rack by the door that held several wool coats and had boots scattered around underneath it.

  “Do you ever get used to it?” Val asked.

  “What?” Obsidian replied, staring him straight in the eyes. It was difficult not be intimidated.

  “Being king?” Val looked past Sid to the massive stairway that took up most of the foyer.

  Sid shook his head. “Not yet. But I wasn’t expecting to be a king either.”

  “But I thought all kings were trained.” Val scratched at his chin. He was not expecting Sid to be like this. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but not someone who openly admitted they didn’t know what they were doing.

  “Oh, I was. But I never tho
ught it’d actually happen to me. But let’s talk about that later. I’ll let you get settled in for the night. We’ll start training tomorrow. Did you have a nice flight?”

  “I did, thank you.” He should tell Obsidian about Hazel and the man who tried to kill him, but he was still a little unsure of his place.

  They walked into a kitchen where a pretty blonde girl stood by the counter. She looked at him with bright green eyes that were eerily similar to Hazel’s.

  “Meet my queen,” Obsidian said with a grin. He pulled her close and kissed her neck. She wiggled out of his grip and stuck her hand out. “Hi! I’m Aspen.”

  “Nice to meet you, I’m Val.”

  She seemed eager to meet him. He instantly liked her.

  “Are you tired? We had a room made up for you.” Aspen bounced around on her feet. Was she just as nervous at meeting him as he was of her? He’d never met a queen before. Or a king for that matter.

  Val shrugged. “Not really. Hungry though.”

  Obsidian laughed and pointed to the stove. “None of us cook well. Skye did when she was here, but we haven’t seen her since the testing. There’s some fruit in the fridge. Help yourself. I’m going to put your bag in your room. I’ll be back in a second.”

  Aspen opened the fridge, and Val stared at all the food. Bright green and red fruits. A carton with a white liquid. Some containers with who knows what inside of them. The airplane was easy; he just ate what was given to him. Before that Theo made all of his choices. From the clothes he wore to the movies he watched. There was hardly any time for him to get used to being human. Theo told him it would be easier if he just did as he was told.

  Before he turned black, Val had never expected to even be in the presence of royalty, let alone be one of them, so he listened to Theo.

  Then at the airport he let Hazel make decisions for him. His heart squeezed at the thought of her. That sparkle in her eye and the way she cocked her head when he took her by surprise. He wanted to have her here with him. He didn’t think it was possible to feel so strongly for someone in such a short amount of time.

  “What’s good?” he finally asked Aspen.

  “Still getting used to being a human, huh?” She pulled out a few pieces of fruit. “The apples and bananas are decent. Make sure you peel the banana though.” She pulled the bright yellow skin off the fruit.

  “Thank you.”

  They sat at the table. “How was your flight?”

  He smiled. “Interesting.”

  “This must be weird for you, huh? Are you coping okay?” She leaned back in her chair as he took a bite of the banana. The texture was strange, but the flavor was sweet.

  Val was surprised by her concern. “It is a little strange, but so far I’ve found it to be nice.”

  Obsidian came back with a tiny dragon in tow.

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?” The little dragon landed on the table with a crash and glared at Aspen. “I wanted to meet the new king.” She was a rainbow of colors, from her green head to her yellow wings. Her body was a swirl of pink and purple. He’d never seen such a dragon. Then again, before a week ago, he’d only seen his own kind.

  Sid shrugged. “I didn’t mean to wake her up, but she heard me putting the bags away.”

  Aspen offered the tiny dragon a piece of banana, which she gobbled up. “I’ve been taught to never wake a sleeping dragon. Besides, he’s tired and doesn’t want to be bothered.”

  “Nonsense.” The dragon bobbed her head up and down in front of him. “I’m Runa. Can you take me to see the ocean? I’ve been asking everyone for weeks, but no one will take me.”

  “No one is going to the ocean for a while. We’ve got too much going on,” Aspen said with a roll of her eyes.

  Runa stuck her tongue out at Aspen and settled on the table in front of Val. He wasn’t sure what to make of her.

  “What kind of dragon are you?” he asked.

  “Underground and river.” She studied him with yellow eyes.

  “She never shuts up. Kind of makes me wish she wasn’t river,” Aspen said with a laugh.

  “Hey,” Runa started, but Aspen shoved another piece of banana in her mouth.

  Obsidian sat down across from him. “As Aspen said, there’s a lot going on. There’s a war coming. We need to bring you up to speed on the prophecy and train you for battle. But the priority is finding you a queen.”

  “Already done.” Val sat a little taller, glad he’d done something right. Maybe being a king wouldn’t be so hard.

  Obsidian creased his eyebrows. “How is that possible? She has to be a human.”

  “Oh, I know. Theo explained it to me. Then, I met a girl on the airplane.”

  Aspen laughed. “It’s not quite that easy.”

  Val’s confidence fell. He wasn’t quite sure if he knew what he was doing. But he did know that Hazel had sealed herself to him, so it couldn’t be that bad.

  Runa popped her head up. “Is she pretty like Aspen? What color are her eyes?”

  Val smiled at her. “She is pretty, and she has green eyes like Aspen. She lives here in Gardiner. Look.”

  He pulled off his shoes and peeled away his sock. Aspen looked down and then shot back up. “That says Hazel.”

  “Yeah. She’s pretty amazing.” Val thought briefly of the kiss and had to fight to keep a silly grin off his face.

  “I have a sister named Hazel.” Aspen’s eyebrows creased.

  Val didn’t think much of her comment. “Lots of Hazels in the world, right? She’s beautiful and smart and kind. She’s perfect.”

  Aspen rolled her eyes. “Still sounds like my sister. Dark hair, green eyes, able to get whatever she wants from a handsome face?”

  Val squirmed. “Was you sister on an airplane tonight?”

  “Yeah, she was coming home to help search for my brother.”

  It was Hazel’s sister. That might make this all easier. Or harder, depending on how Aspen took the news.

  “She talked about how much you loved dragons.”

  “She hates them.” Aspen sat back in her chair with her arms crossed.

  “I know. That’s going to be a problem. But seeing as how her name is on my ankle, we’ll make it work.” Val didn’t see the problem. As soon as he realized she’d sealed herself to him, he knew this was a done deal. He’d found his queen.

  Runa jumped off the table. “I get to meet Aspen’s sister? I must go change and make myself presentable.”

  Runa flew off, and Aspen frowned. “Does she know what you are?”

  Val shook his head. Sid squeezed his eyes shut for a second, but he still didn’t say anything.

  Aspen then turned to Sid. “This is unbelievable. What are the chances that he sealed himself to my sister?”

  “About as likely as you sealing yourself to me the day we met.”

  “But Hazel detests dragons.”

  “Val wasn’t a dragon.”

  Aspen turned back to Val. “This still doesn’t make sense. What about the marking? Did you two talk about that at all?”

  “No. It happened just as our plane was landing. I didn’t get a chance to discuss it. I figured I’d find her tomorrow.” He didn’t understand why they weren’t more excited about this. One less thing they had worry about.

  “I don’t think you really know my sister. She’s not into commitment. At all. She and I made a pact the summer we both got hurt that we’d never let it happen again. As far as I know, she still hasn’t changed her mind.”

  “Yeah, she told me about that.”

  “She told you about that?” Aspen sat up straighter.

  “She told me how she got her heart broken by Teddy and doesn’t want to have anything to do with relationships.”

  Aspen leaned back in her chair and frowned. Obsidian rubbed the back of her neck. “But you changed your mind. Maybe she did too.”

  Aspen rolled her eyes. “On an airplane? Come on. Plus, she really hates dragons. I’m not sure how that happened, but somethi
ng went wrong.”

  Val rubbed his eyes. Hazel had told him that she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but Aspen made it seem like there was no way she’d love him. But that wasn’t possible. Her name was on his ankle. That meant she sealed herself to him as well. Because if she hadn’t, her name wouldn’t have appeared. It would just be a swirl of loops.

  Aspen looked at her phone. “Dammit. It’s too late to go home. They won’t let me in. Sissy’s gonna freak when she’s sees that tattoo.”

  “What do you mean that they won’t let you in?” Val asked.

  “The military. They have barricades around the park, and they close at nine p.m. No one is allowed out or in. Stupid murderous dragon.” She typed quickly on her phone.

  “What’s she talking about?” Val asked.

  Obsidian jerked his head. “Hmm. Oh, the dragon that’s eating people. They shut down the park. They think he got her brother.”

  Aspen slammed her phone down. “It didn’t get Rowan. He’s alive. I know it. We just need to find him.”

  “How do you know he’s alive?”

  “He’s my twin. I’d know if he were dead.” Her bright green eyes now burned with determination.

  She looked down at her phone.

  “Sissy said she’ll meet me at the Purple Dragon at eight. She’ll need some explanation of the tattoo. Does she know your full name?”

  “Yeah. She called it romantic.” Val wanted to go with her. He desperately needed to see Hazel again.

  Aspen tapped her foot. “She was probably being sarcastic. I’ll need to leave out the fact that you are a dragon and that the tattoo means she’ll never love anyone else. That will just scare her off.”

  “How are you going to explain the tattoo without explaining that I’m a dragon?” Val wished he had some grand plan on how to win her over, but he had no clue what he was doing.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll sleep on it. Maybe I can just play dumb. Say I don’t know anything more about it than she does. I’ll show her mine, and we can just be dumbfounded together.”

  “Do you really think she’ll buy it?” He frowned. Hazel was smarter than that. Plus, she wasn’t the type to just accept pat answers.