Princess Lyrian: Dragon Breeze Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 7)

by Rinelle Grey

  She’d never understand humans, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the sacrifice he was prepared to make.

  Even though she wasn’t going to let him.

  “There are other ways we can be safe,” she said, blinking away the tears. “Verrian has another plan, to use the tunnel to escape and call for the Trima life dragon’s help to lure the humans away from the lair.”

  It was a good plan. A sensible one. And more importantly, one without risks to anyone.

  But Brad was still frowning. “I’m not sure the police will give up that easily,” he warned.

  “That’s because you haven’t experienced a life dragon’s powers,” Lyrian said with a forced smile.

  Brad’s eyes searched her face. “Do you really think this is going to work?” he asked, his voice soft. “Because… because I couldn’t handle it if they hurt you or Anarian.”

  His eyes caught Lyrian’s and held them, earnest and determined. His expression almost took her breath away. He’d mentioned her first. This wasn’t just about their daughter.

  He cared for her too.

  Why? Why couldn’t they just make this work? It hurt so much that they felt this way about each other and yet they couldn’t be together. It just wasn’t fair.

  “We’ll be fine,” she said, with more confidence than she felt. “We’ll be safe here with the clan.”

  Brad didn’t look so convinced. “I’m staying until I’m sure of that,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

  Lyrian didn’t even try. “I’m glad,” she said softly.

  Brad stared down at her, his expression intent. For a moment, Lyrian thought he was going to kiss her, and she held her breath, her heart thudding.

  But Anarian started fussing in his arms, her little face screwing up and her hands waving around. She wanted a feed.

  The moment broken. Lyrian held out her hands for the baby, and Brad handed her over.

  They sat in companionable silence while Anarian fed. Lyrian wished it could always be like this, peaceful and quiet, just enjoying the connection between them with no need for words.

  But peace was fleeting right now, a fact only emphasized by the raised voices outside the cave that caught their attention.

  “The Trima dragon is to remain here, where I can see her. I don’t want her to have any chance to telegraph our location to those humans outside.” The voice was one Lyrian was quickly coming to recognise as Ostrian’s, whiny and imperious at the same time.

  “She wouldn’t do that.” Nate’s voice, hot and indignant, was just as easy to recognise.

  “Nate,” Kyrian’s protest was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

  Lyrian held out a hand to Brad for him to help her up. “I’d better go sort this out,” she said with a sigh.

  But as Brad pulled her to her feet, another voice entered the conversation, one Lyrian didn’t recognise. “You need to get over yourself,” a woman said. The voice was older, confident, and more than a little derisive. “Are you so old you don’t remember what it’s like to be young and in love? To be willing to give up everything, even your family, for the chance at it?”

  Ostrian was so startled, Lyrian could hear his splutter even before she stepped into the doorway of the cave. “How dare you speak to me like that. The follies of youth should be discouraged, not encouraged. What foolishness is it to think that love could overcome a war that has been raging for three centuries? You are too young to possibly understand.”

  Lyrian followed his eyes to see the woman who had challenged the elder.

  She was probably old enough to be Lyrian’s mother, and the way she stared angrily at Ostrian, her hands on her hips, only added to that image. As did the neat bun her auburn hair was coiled into, and her no nonsense, dark blue skirt and shirt.

  A human, that much was clear. One not afraid to stand up to a dragon.

  Who was she? Lyrian liked her already.

  The woman looked back at Ostrian, her indignant expression matching his own. “Young? You’re saying I’m too young to understand? I’ll have you know I’m forty-three years old. More than old enough to understand what’s going on here. And what’s bothering you is that the princes and princess are back, and suddenly you’re not king pin anymore. Well, all this fuss might help you regain the limelight, but it isn’t going to make anyone like you.”

  She glared at Ostrian, who was staring back at her, his mouth hanging open.

  Lyrian hid a grin.

  Everyone else was staring slack jawed at the couple too. Even Nate seemed to feel no need to add anything to the woman’s tirade.

  All except one young human woman. “Aunt Mary,” she said nervously. “I don’t think you should be speaking to one of the elders like that.” She pushed her glasses back up on her nose and looked around the room. At everyone staring at her aunt. Her face went bright red, and she looked to a young dragon man for help.

  Feeling sorry for her, Lyrian stepped in, Anarian still attached to the breast. “Just what is going on here?” she demanded, though she spared a smile for the young woman to let her know her ire wasn’t directed at her.

  “Someone needs to defend this young couple,” Aunt Mary said firmly, not giving an inch.

  “Well, I’d say that’s my job,” Lyrian said firmly.

  She turned to Ostrian. “My brothers and I have spoken. Kyrian is to be accepted as one of the clan. There is no dispute in this matter. She can go wherever she likes in the lair.”

  Ostrian glared at her, but it was to Aunt Mary that he gave his most mutinous look. To Lyrian’s surprise, he didn’t speak up in dispute.

  “I’m sure there is some clan business you could be attending to.” Lyrian looked at him sternly, and to her surprise, he immediately ducked his head and took a step back. “As you wish, Princess.”

  That had been easier than she’d expected. But then again, the damage was done. Everyone had heard Ostrian’s words. Lyrian looked around at the crowd.

  An air of uneasiness still hung about the cave. One or two dragons glanced after Ostrian. A few more looked towards the mouth of the cave, as though they thought the police below might suddenly appear there. Which they wouldn’t unless they’d figured out how to grow wings. Lyrian was pretty sure that the human helicopters were too big and awkward to even get the right angle to see there was a cave there.

  The young human woman was still staring at Aunt Mary, not looking happy.

  Everyone was on edge. And that didn’t bode well.

  It would take at least a day to finish digging the tunnel, and Lyrian really wasn’t excited about spending that time breaking up fights. She had no illusions that Ostrian would choose to behave, and she wasn’t too sure Aunt Mary would either. The older woman was staring after the elder, her lips tight.

  And even if she kept them apart, the uneasiness would lead to other disagreements. Being cooped up in a small space for an unknown amount of time always did.

  But what would provide a distraction? A feast would soon grow dull, too much singing and dancing had the risk of being heard, and there wasn’t room inside the caves for any dragon games.

  She stared around the room, then her eyes fell on Nate and Kyrian, holding hands, looking even more on edge than anyone else in the room.

  An idea blossomed in her mind.

  Chapter 30

  Brad could tell from Lyrian’s narrowed eyes that she had an idea in mind.

  One that probably didn’t involve him. She apparently thought he couldn’t even distract the police from the dragon caves. He really was useless around here. And since they were trapped inside until the police left, he couldn’t even go back to America where he could be useful.

  He bit back a sigh.

  He had to admit, the idea of bringing someone from Trima clan to help them out had merit. If this life dragon really could somehow convince the police to leave, then everyone could return to their normal lives.

  For a while at least. Things here were only going
to continue to get more and more interesting for the dragons now that the police were aware of their existence.

  But none of that was his problem. There was nothing he could do to help. He’d be miles away.

  Besides, Lyrian didn’t want his help anyway.

  “Do you think Nate and Kyrian would be willing to get mated now?” Lyrian’s beautiful, haunting dragon voice filled his head.

  Brad stared at her. Was she waiting for him to answer? He wasn’t sure how, or even if he could.

  “Scratch your right ear if you think they would,” Lyrian added, realising his difficulty.

  Brad stared over at his brother as he bent towards his dragon mate. Despite asking for the reassurance of Brad’s presence, Nate seemed more than ready. He appeared to have no doubts that he was making the right choice.

  Then again, Nate always had been more impulsive than he had.

  It usually worked out for him too. Brad suppressed a sigh. Sometimes he thought it would be nice to just leap first and look later. But he had seen that the ocean below held a dangerous reef of jagged rocks far too many times.

  He looked over at Lyrian and scratched his right ear, wondering even as he did so, why she wanted to know. Mating seemed like the last thing to be worrying about right now.

  She nodded, her face determined, then looked towards Nate and Kyrian, her forehead furrowed.

  Was she talking to them? Hopefully not to Nate. For a moment, sharp jealousy flared in Brad’s heart at the thought of his twin hearing Lyrian’s dragon voice. But he took a deep breath, and let those feelings go. Nate was his brother, and passionately in love with Kyrian besides. He was no threat to the feelings Brad couldn’t even admit to himself.

  Brad was the only threat to those.

  His talk with Karla had eased some of his fears and jealousies, but not all. Brad suspected they’d never all go. But he’d have to learn to live with them. And have to realise that he had no right to be jealous.

  Nate stepped forwards, holding Kyrian’s hand, his expression determined. The Trima dragon looked nervous and reluctant.

  “Princess,” Nate said, his voice raised slightly, “since it will take time for the tunnel to be finished, do you think there is time to hold our mating now?”

  The dragons around them stared, their eyes widening. A few glanced towards Ostrian, as though expecting the grumpy old elder to object. Brad did too.

  But though Ostrian’s lips tightened, he glanced towards Aunt Mary, and said nothing.

  Lyrian pretended to consider, her head on one side, but Brad suspected she’d already made up her mind. He was pretty sure this was all her idea.

  “We understand if now isn’t the time, of course,” Kyrian added quickly, ducking her head in deference.

  She was so worried about alienating the clan. Brad felt sorry for her. At least that wasn’t a concern he shared. He couldn’t care less what the dragon clan thought about him. He only cared about Lyrian.

  His princess wasn’t looking at him, she was staring at the dragons around her. “Yes, I think now is the perfect time,” she said with a smile. “It will give us all something to look forward to while we wait for the tunnel to be finished.”

  “And it shows that life goes on, that there are things to look forward to, even when it seems like all is lost.”

  Lyrian’s voice in his mind, for him alone, held a note of sadness at odds with her words.

  Brad wished he could answer her.

  Wished he could pull her into his arms and tell her that they had so much to look forward to, that this current problem was just a blip on the radar, to be long forgotten in the bright lights of their happy life together.

  But he couldn’t.

  He couldn’t take that leap. The jagged rocks peeped through the bright lights, dark and menacing. What if he regretted it? What if Lyrian did? There was just too much that could go wrong.

  At that moment, Lyrian’s brothers returned from examining the tunnel.

  “What will give us something to look forward to?” Taurian asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Lyrian turned and gave him a brilliant smile. “Nate and Kyrian’s mating.”

  Her brother frowned. “I thought you said now wasn’t the time…” he started.

  Lyrian interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. “I was wrong. It’s the perfect time. Kyrian and Nate are ready. The only reason we put it off is because we thought we would be waking Sarian tonight, but now that we are stuck here, we have plenty of time.”

  She must have been talking to her brother telepathically, because although Taurian stared at her, he didn’t argue further. Just nodded, and said, “That is true. We do have time now. When are you thinking?”

  “I’ll talk to Mesrian, but hopefully this evening,” Lyrian said immediately. She turned to Verrian. “Can you find a way to dampen any sound we make inside the chamber, so that there is no risk of the celebration being heard outside if things get a little… rowdy?”

  Verrian nodded. “Of course. Good thinking. We should probably do that anyway, just to be sure.” He motioned to two other sound dragons, and they walked towards the entrance of the cave.

  Kyrian’s eyes widened, and she stared at Lyrian. “Are you sure? I mean, Nate and I don’t mind waiting, really.” Her words were belied by the light in her eyes.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Lyrian said gently, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Brad winced, knowing he was the one responsible for the sadness that lurked in their blue depths.

  Brad knew exactly how she felt. He stared at his brother, at the half excited, half nervous expression on his face, and couldn’t help feeling a little jealous.

  What would it be like to be excited over his own mating? To not have all these doubts or concerns, but to just have his heart filled with love, and his mind filled with thoughts of Lyrian.

  He’d never intended to get married. It hadn’t been in his plans at all. Now he had an even more convincing reason to remain single. He couldn’t imagine being with anyone but Lyrian, so there was no point.

  Kyrian glanced shyly at Nate, who nodded, his face radiating love. She turned back to Lyrian. “We’re ready.”

  “Good.” Lyrian turned to the rest of the room and tried to keep her voice down a little as she announced, “Everyone prepare for a mating. This evening, we welcome another new member to our clan, Kyrian’s mate, Nate.”

  Everyone stared at her for a moment. There were a few, uncertain glances exchanged.

  Then the first dragon smiled.

  *****

  Lyrian and Mesrian whisked Kyrian off to prepare for the mating, leaving Brad to help his brother. Trouble was, he wasn’t quite sure where to start.

  Luckily, there were plenty of dragons around to assist them. A young couple, a human woman and a dragon male, took them aside. Brad tried to listen to what they were saying, about what the mating would consist of and what Nate would be expected to do.

  But he found it hard to concentrate. For some reason, everything felt like it was hanging in the balance. As though everything could change without a moment’s notice.

  In a way, it could. The excitement in the lair over the impending mating was juxtaposed over the very real fact that there were police outside looking for them. For him.

  In a few short days, he’d gone from a world where dragons were a fairy tale, to a world where they were real. Everything had changed.

  And nothing had. Brad had seen enough of these dragons to know that in some ways, all the ways that mattered, they were just like humans. They loved, mated, had children, and worried about them, just like humans did.

  Not everyone was going to see that though.

  If he were on the other side of this. In the hospital, watching people who’d been wounded by dragons, or in the government, watching people who were terrified of dragons, he would be thinking someone had to do something about them.

  Dragons might be very similar to humans in a lot of ways. But in others, they
couldn’t be more different. For starters, they could transform into a dragon. A huge, powerful beast that struck fear into the hearts of anyone watching it. They could heal from almost any wound with their Mesmer ritual. They also mated for life.

  And they used magic to achieve all that. Magic was even more terrifying than their size or their teeth and claws. To be able to create lightning, or fire, or manipulate sound with a thought, that was terrifying to the average person.

  Sure, humans as a race could do all that and more. Far more. But in a single individual? Dragons would win that battle almost every time.

  No, the majority of people weren’t going to react well to the existence of dragons.

  Or to the changes the world was about to face if, or when, the truth came out.

  He’d thought he would be able to return home, resume his job, visit Anarian and Lyrian a few times a year, and trust that they would be safe once she was with her clan.

  But it seemed that safety was gone along with their secret.

  Now everything was different, and Brad knew his plan had to change as well.

  He just wasn’t sure how yet.

  He wasn’t sure about him, but he was sure for Nate. Nate would be part of this, working and, if necessary, fighting alongside the dragons. He had a place with them.

  And yet, for the first time now, his brother looked uncertain. “What about Mum and Dad? Do you think they’re going to be upset that they missed out?”

  Brad shrugged. “Maybe,” he agreed. “But there’s no way they can get here. And I suspect it would take them a while to get used to the idea that you’re mating with a dragon. You might not want to wait as long as it will take them to accept it. Have another ceremony later for them, if you want.”

  Dragon mating wasn’t quite like human marriage. It was easy for humans to have long engagements, a year, sometimes two. They could still be intimate in that time.

  For dragons, if they continued their relationship, they’d be mated anyway. So it wasn’t surprising it happened more quickly.

  If Lyrian hadn’t had the willpower she did, he would have been well and truly mated by now.