His scales reminded me of rocks. Stone-like until the sun hit them, making them seem more golden. There were also several splashes of blue that stood out against the earthy color.

  Eyeing the rest of his body so I could figure out the best way to climb onto his back, I noticed small spikes along his neck that became larger at the top of his head, but not as big as the ones on his tail.

  Staying at the center of his back where my feet could rest on his wings was probably ideal, but before I jumped on, I walked toward him and rubbed my hands over his chest.

  The scales were smoother than I’d assumed, more polished and less…snakelike. Though, I wouldn’t be telling him that was what I’d expected.

  His body rumbled beneath my touch, and he lowered his head. I moved my touch to his face, and his eyes fluttered closed.

  “You’re magnificent,” I whispered to his dragon, eliciting another echoing rumble.

  He appreciates your…appreciation, my wolf said, making my entire body stiffen.

  You can talk to his dragon? I’d known that fated wolves could talk to each other, but I didn’t think that same notion applied to those not created by the Moon Goddess.

  We’ve been mated before, she reminded me. I still have a connection to him even though you don’t.

  That made me mildly jealous, but more than that, after everything we’d been through this last week, I was thankful she had that with him.

  I gave his face one more gentle rub, then moved over to where his front leg was beneath his wing. Reaching up, I grabbed the edge of his left wing and stepped up onto his leg, pulling myself up.

  He stayed perfectly still, and the rest was easier than I expected. Within a few seconds, I was seated in the middle of his back, the tips of my toes resting on his wings and my hands holding onto the slight humps down his spine.

  It wasn’t the most comfortable spot in the world, but I felt safe there.

  He flapped his wings and pushed into the sky. As soon as we were off the ground, I leaned forward, pressing my stomach against his back and wrapping my arms around him.

  This position wasn’t any safer—it was probably worse, given I didn’t have much to grasp onto around his sides—but as the wind came at me, lower just felt better.

  Calm down. We’re fine, my wolf said.

  How the hell do you know that?

  Because if we fall off, they’ll catch us.

  I gaped. That’s supposed to make me feel better?

  That’s up to you.

  If I could choke her, some days, I was certain that I would.

  As much as I wanted to see Cillian’s world from this vantage point, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. My stomach churned every time I tried to peek.

  I didn’t think you were afraid of heights, my wolf chided.

  This is not a heights thing. Not even fucking close.

  This was like the world’s worst roller coaster.

  I sensed her amusement but did my best to ignore her, especially when Cillian’s dragon dipped quickly toward the ground and the previous day’s dinner tried to come back up.

  Mother shittery shit.

  The landing was smooth, at least, and I took a steadying breath before getting off his back. I didn’t want Cillian to know that I never wanted to do that again.

  Once I felt solid enough, I jumped to the ground, stepping away from his dragon so he could shift back.

  Before I could turn around to watch, his arms were already circling around my back and hugging me from behind. “How was that?”

  “Fun,” I answered, glad I wasn’t looking right at him.

  Liar, my wolf goaded.

  Shut it, wolf.

  “We’ll go out again for a longer ride once it’s safe,” he promised, and I selfishly hoped that it was never safe. I was officially a terrible person.

  “Come on, lovebirds,” Lykem called from the trees. “We need to update the others.”

  I tensed, knowing that I not only had to tell Cillian that he had a brother, but also that his Nannio was a psychotic traitor.

  It was a conversation I wasn’t looking forward to.

  Cillian glanced back at his friend. “I need to talk with Dawsyn first. We’ll be there shortly.”

  Lykem nodded once, then disappeared into the side of a snowy mountain.

  “Where’s he going?” I asked.

  “Inside the caves of that mountain,” Cillian answered. “It’s where those who are left have been living for the last few weeks.” His eyes searched my face. “If you don’t want to talk about what happened yet, you don’t have to.”

  I knew that, which was why I needed to. He deserved to know what I did as soon as possible.

  “It’s okay, but we should probably sit.” It was colder toward the mountain, so I moved in the direction I sensed the heat that had been sweltering near the town.

  We walked nearly a minute and found a flat enough rock. I sat on the top and turned to face him. My heart yearned to feel the bond, searched for the tether that was no longer there.

  Cillian grabbed my hands and squeezed. “Whatever happened, we’ll figure out a way to make it right.”

  I decided to start with the easier subject. “I broke our bond. I mated with another dragon shifter.”

  His thumb rubbed over my palm. “I know. To save River.”

  “He’s okay, right?” If I’d done all that for nothing, I was going to lose my shit.

  He nodded. “As far as I know, yes. Justine was with him, and he’d texted me while I was still looking for you, warning me about your family.”

  My hand covered my mouth. “Oh hell. My parents.”

  “Are furious and we’ll need to see them tomorrow,” he said. “Beatrix was also with them when I went back to Earth to let everyone know that I hadn’t found you yet. She has everything we need for the spell. She also said she knew how to break a bond. So, whoever you had to bond with to get into Drago, she can remove the connection.”

  I shuddered at the memory of Knox placing one of his scales in the cut on my hand. I didn’t think anything had ever felt more terrible.

  “We’ll have her do that first thing,” I said. “I would have never chosen him if I’d had another choice. I meant what I said before you left, Cillian.”

  His smile was soft and soothed some of my worries. “I know. It’s the only reason I stayed somewhat sane while you were gone. I knew you needed me still.” He paused, his gaze briefly moving to our combined hands. “Besides the bond, he didn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to, right?”

  I was shaking my head before he finished asking. “My wolf would have bit his dick off.”

  He finally laughed, and the sound filled my chest with warmth. At least until he asked his next question.

  “Who took you?”

  This was my opening. He wasn’t furious with me for tying myself to someone else as I thought he had every right to be. I needed to tell him who it was.

  “About that,” I said, looking away from him and out toward the barren land. “The person who took me…said he’s your brother.”

  Cillian’s body stiffened next to me, and I finally looked back over at him. His eyes pinched at the sides, and there was a tic in his left cheek that normally wasn’t there.

  “He was lying,” he said stiffly.

  Oh, how I wish I could let him believe that.

  “I don’t know if you share the same parents or just one, but I don’t think he was lying.”

  “Why?” he practically growled.

  “Because I saw someone else there,” I answered. “Someone that I think you’re also related to.”

  He closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, the amount of rage he had building inside seemed to lessen.

  “Whatever you say,” he said, “I won’t blame you, and I know this isn’t your fault. I can handle whatever you learned.”

  I knew he could. That wasn’t why I didn’t want to tell him. I just didn’t want to hurt him.

  “Your grandmother was there,” I said. “She brought me food most days. Spoke with Knox—your, uh, brother—in a way that confirmed he was related to her.”

  His face paled. “She’s working with him?”

  “I think so. It doesn’t seem like the best working relationship, and he called her Estelle instead of Nannio like you do, but there was no doubt that she was there willingly.”

  Scales appeared on his arms as he released the hold that he had on my hands, fisting his fingers and tightening his jaw. “You’re sure?”

  I nodded once.

  “I’d thought she was dead.” His voice was void of emotion. “That would have been better.”

  Chapter Eleven

  CILLIAN

  My Nannio, a traitor? If I’d heard it from anyone else, I would have had a much harder time believing them, but Dawsyn had no reason to lie to me. She had no agenda here, no ties to this world besides me.

  The thoughts racing through my mind weren’t good. Not for me or anyone. How long had Estelle—as I’d now call her—been working with this Knox person? Could he really be my brother? How and when would he have been born?

  What was the purpose of sending me to Mystics Academy to find something to stop Knox if she was working with him? Did she expect me to find nothing and fail? Was the trip just to get me out of the way?

  The potential answers to those questions infuriated me to no end and had more scales pushing forcefully through my skin. I tried to calm my rage, but nothing I could think about in that moment was helping.

  All I could sense was the betrayal. Had Knox killed my uncles? What vendetta could he possibly have against our family and realm that would bring him to this kind of destruction?

  Sure, if he really was my brother and one or both of my parents had abandoned him at some point, I could understand being vengeful, but bringing down an entire realm? There had to be more to this than what I was attempting to piece together.

  “Did you hear any of their conversations?” I asked Dawsyn. “Did they say anything about why they were doing this?”

  She reached for me, running the backs of her fingers over my arm that was still covered in scales. “Are you sure you want to keep talking about this right now?”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” I said. “People want to go back to their homes. We only have so much food.”

  She nodded toward the scales. “Does that hurt when you do that?”

  “It’s…uncomfortable, but don’t change the subject.”

  Her huff of annoyance was endearing. “Fine.” She began to rattle off everything that had happened since the moment she was taken. How Knox had shown up and she’d almost gotten away, but then he’d mentioned River and shown her a photo of him beaten and tied to a chair. Told her that if she didn’t choose to be his mate, then she’d be a murderer.

  A fucking low blow that wouldn’t have been true even if River had died, but knowing what I knew about Dawsyn, she would have taken those words to heart.

  Then there was the warlock that had tried to keep his identity hidden, but Dawsyn saw a tattoo that she intended to tell Beatrix about. That was my mate’s vendetta, and I’d happily support her in getting back at that warlock for hurting her best friend.

  By the time she got to the part about the hidden door in the forest, my body was shaking. The only thing that kept me from snapping was the fact that Knox hadn’t actually touched her.

  Though, keeping her sealed in a dark cell wasn’t how I suspected someone would treat their mate, even a forced one. That made me even more confused about Knox’s reasons for all this destruction.

  “There was one other person that I heard them talking to in the cells,” she said. “Knox wanted some sort of payment from him, but the man had refused.”

  Could have been another dragon with powerful scales. They existed much like mine. If used with certain energies, they could create electricity with the force of a lightning bolt. I hadn’t warned Beatrix about that. If she wanted to play with things she didn’t understand, she could learn the hard way.

  “We have to go back for him,” she added. “The man—Darius. I left him behind, but I made a promise to myself that I’d go back.”

  My entire body froze, and my voice strained. “Darius? You’re sure that’s his name?”

  Her eyes creased at the sides, likely confused by my strong reaction. “Yeah. Knox was beating the shit out of him, and Estelle told him to stop. It sounded like they were using him for something important, but he was done being used and ready to die.”

  I closed my eyes briefly and thought about every dragon I’d met over the years. Not just the thousands who had lived right here, but even those who lived further out in the mountains.

  There had only ever been one Darius, and I hadn’t seen him since I was twelve years old.

  “My father’s name was Darius,” I said. “You’re absolutely certain that was the name they used?”

  Of course, I hadn’t met every dragon in Drago, but given how tightly wound into this situation my family was… It couldn’t be a coincidence.

  Dawsyn’s face paled. “I think it’s him. Knox said something.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “Shit. What was it?”

  I waited as patiently as I could while she thought back. Her fingers pressed over her temples and then she jerked her head up. “‘It will be your blood I come for next.’ That’s what he said to Estelle. Is she your dad’s mom?”

  I nodded, both of us putting the pieces together. Estelle had never been forthcoming about her talents. She preferred to act out and let people think she was crazy, but I’d always assumed it was a façade to hide her true power. Whatever it was…Knox thought he could use it as well.

  But my father. His was fire. The fireballs being launched over the town were beginning to make more sense.

  Fuck. I thought I’d feel better knowing more about the person we’d been trying to find for months. Instead, all I felt was unfiltered ire and hurt.

  Family was important to most dragons. We stuck together, always, but somewhere along the way, one of my parents left a son behind. Now he was trying to take everything from me.

  That wasn’t going to fucking work for me.

  Dawsyn grabbed my face with both hands. “Hey. Look at me. You’re okay. Whatever he’s done can’t be changed, but we’ll stop him from hurting anyone else.”

  I couldn’t speak. The rage was too tightly wound inside me, but somehow, even without the bond, Dawsyn knew this.

  She stood from the rock, then glanced down at herself with a sneer. “This needs to fucking go.”

  I hadn’t put too much thought into why she’d been wearing a dress over her jeans and shirt, but as she ripped the fabric from her body, I had a feeling it was something she’d been forced to wear.

  Once the scraps of material dropped to the ground, she put her hands back on my face and smiled. “Better.”

  Her fingers stroked over my rough skin, thanks to the dragon inside dying to come out and destroy every inch of the dark forest.

  Her legs inched closer until she could straddle my lap, locking her ankles around my back.

  As her hands moved from my face to the back of my head, every nerve in my body ignited. I gripped her hips, holding tightly and anchoring her to me. “Dawsyn, you don’t need to calm me down this way.”

  “Who said this was for you?” she snarked. “I just spent a week in a dank cell, isolated and waiting for bad shit to happen to me. Maybe it’s me who needs you.”

  She was lying. We both knew it. But I didn’t stop her when she pressed her lips to the tip of my nose, my forehead, both cheeks, and then my mouth.

  I gently kissed her back, letting her distract the rage inside me. With every touch, my muscles relaxed but my heart still raced—only for very different reasons.

  “Your scales are gone,” she whispered against my ear before scraping her teeth along the edge.

  A shiver shot through me and straight to my balls. “They won’t be for long if you keep that up.”

  Her hips rolled over my lap, pressing her center firmly over my hardening cock. “What about this?”

  “You’re a tease.” I growled.

  She jerked back, nails digging into my shoulders and her eyes darkening. “Make no mistake, Cillian. I want you. This isn’t a ploy to calm you down. I’ve missed every aggravating moment with you. Missed the way you say my name and how it felt to kiss you for the first time.” She kissed me softer. “How you make my heart race.”

  I’d worried things with us would be different, thanks to the tie she now had to Knox, but hearing her say those words, feeling how true each of them was… It was everything I didn’t know I needed.

  “I missed you so fucking much, Dawsyn,” I murmured, pressing my forehead to hers. “Almost to the point of insanity.”

  She raised my chin with two fingers and grinned. “Show me.”

  That I could do.

  My palm pressed against her spine, pushing her closer to me, and my other hand angled her jaw just before my lips captured hers.

  She opened for me before my tongue had even slid forward. Her hips ground forward, and I moved to grip the back of her head.

  The heat of her body seeped into me, consuming every inch of my soul and more. All I could feel were her hips moving above me and her nails cutting through my shirt. Every thought I’d had before this moment was gone. All that was left was Dawsyn.

  My mate. No matter what happened next.

  Her teeth scraped over my lower lip, and she pressed her forehead against mine, chest heaving nearly as much as mine was.

  “I’m assuming there are no bedrooms in that cave back there,” she said softly, but I could hear the smile in her words.

  “Not exactly. Unless you count sheets as walls and blankets as mattresses.” I hadn’t thought that was a problem for me before, but having Dawsyn back in my arms, I couldn’t wait to truly have her all to myself.

  She kissed me again, then slipped a hand between us, her fingers rubbing over my erection through my jeans. “We’re going to have to do something about that.”