Mara’s throat was tight, her stomach churning. “His only wish is to conquer. According to him.”

  “Has he tried to mate you?” Troy asked gruffly, and then he made a noise like he’d been elbowed by Jack.

  “Stop it,” Jack muttered. “That’s personal.”

  “Most dragons want to mate,” Troy said. “My read on him was that he wasn’t too bad of a dragon, only angry. I wouldn’t have left you with him otherwise.”

  Mara pressed her lips together nervously, trying to think how to respond. “I suppose he has asked me to be his mate,” she said. “But more in a ‘give me your power so I can conquer the world as revenge’ kind of way.”

  “That’s no way to have a mating,” Jack said, irritated. “This stupid dragon, why can’t he see what’s right in front of him?”

  “I heard from Felix that he threw an ax at a shifter.”

  “You know Felix?”

  “He got in touch with me when he wanted to open a Club Crimson chain here in Dallas. His partner, Lock, thought it was time to expand.”

  “Ah, I heard something about that,” Mara said. “Well, they seem like nice people.”

  Troy laughed hard and somewhat meanly at that, though Mara had no idea why.

  “Anyway,” Jack said lightly, clearly irritated by his friend. “Mara, we want you to extend a job offer to him.”

  She went quiet. “He’s never going to take it.”

  “He’s here,” Troy said. “And he may not know this, but he has nowhere to go back to. Though, it would seem whoever sent him here sent him here permanently, so I doubt he ever planned to return. On his world, dragons of his type died out from being too aggressive to each other. He was probably sent away to save him from a similar life, not because he needed to conquer more.”

  “Died out?” Her face blanched. Sure, he’d left his planet behind forever, but did he know that there was no one left?

  “His race of dragons was so aggressive that they wouldn’t stop killing and conquering. This led to other dragons who could cooperate teaming up against them, and—”

  Mara got the idea. No one wanted to sit around and wait to be conquered. “But I thought he was strong? Stronger than Earth dragons.”

  “He probably is,” Troy said. “But there were not many of his kind, and since they destroyed each other until few were left, they were easy to destroy by dragons with greater numbers.”

  Mara’s heart fell. How was she going to tell Konar?

  “I know he’s upset,” Troy said. “But he needs to understand there’s no way to go now but forward—”

  “He lost a hundred years,” she said.

  “Still,” Troy replied.

  “Think of it this way, Mara. He has a chance for a new start, with you. That’s not nothing.”

  But it would be for Konar. And his ax.

  “I think… it’s not going to work out,” she said, looking at the mark on her hand. “Do you have any idea when the thing hunting me is going to show up?”

  “We don’t,” Jack said. “Only that it’s coming, according to our specialist.”

  “And he’s the only one who can protect me?”

  There was silence. Then Troy spoke. “I think it’s good for the two of you to be together, but if you wanted to come to our mansion, I’m sure we could also protect you.”

  But he didn’t sound excited about it.

  “But you’re busy,” she said. And her heart really did hurt at the thought of leaving Konar.

  “Yes, but if he’s treating you badly, then we need to step in, and we will,” Jack said gently.

  “He isn’t treating me badly. It’s just—” She was going to fall in love with someone who could never love her back.

  Someone who had every right to hate her world and would have conquered it even before he hated it.

  Her hands pressed into fists, her nails biting at her palms, and she forced herself to relax.

  “Mara, it’ll be okay,” Jack said. “He’s a dragon, so there must be good in him. Try to reach it.”

  “I can’t,” she said. “I mean, he treats me so well, but…” It was hard to explain how stubborn he was.

  “Will you just at least talk to him? Offer him our apologies and the job?”

  “If the job is protecting the human world, I’ve already asked him.”

  “And?”

  “He hates everyone,” she said. “And now I know he has every right.”

  “I mean, he’s still a conquering dragon that was invading our planet. The only difference, had we known he wasn’t a chaos dragon, is the oracle would have spoken with him first. Gotten a read for herself.”

  “Ah,” Mara said.

  “Anyway, we’ve gotta go. Phone call,” Troy said as a beep sounded on the line. “Let us know what he says.”

  “Good luck!” Jack said.

  Then the line went dead.

  Shit. What was she going to do now?

  22

  Konar considered his mate’s words as he paced in his library, staring up occasionally at the ancestral ax he’d longed to hold all his life.

  Why wasn’t it already his? If he hadn’t lost a hundred years, surely it would be.

  Though, he supposed she wasn’t going to be his mate, since she hated him thinking that way.

  He put his hands on his hips, unable to remove the disappointment in her eyes from his mind.

  She wanted him to help her world.

  When it went against his very nature.

  Well, he was helping it, more than it deserved, by protecting her so a much worse creature didn’t absorb her power.

  Her power should be his.

  But her disappointment… that stung.

  Not sure what to do, he wandered over to the books at the back of the room, stopping in front of a large one that had its own stand.

  It was huge and leather, and he recognized it as a book of records.

  As he reached forward and gently lifted the aged cover, memories of his father writing in the book rushed forward.

  Suddenly, he saw his planet again, with its lush hills and small villages.

  He saw his people. His mother. His father.

  His heart burned for a moment, even remembering his father’s hard, stony eyes.

  He had inherited his father’s stone heart.

  Turning a page in the book, he saw aged pictures of other relatives, ancestors who had fought.

  He stopped when he got to the page with his parents, announcing his birth.

  “Born to a mix of dragons, this hybrid—”

  He dropped the page, remembering instantly something he had wanted to forget.

  His father had mated a non-barbarian dragon.

  Konar had been attacked his whole life for not having enough of a stone heart.

  His mother… he could remember her soft expression. Her orange eyes…

  He blinked back sudden emotion, wondering how he had left the planet and when and why.

  He’d always sensed that it was normal for dragons like him.

  But he wanted to remember the exact specifics.

  He turned a few more pages, seeing himself grow up in pictures. Himself at three, training with his first ax. Pictures of his dragon form.

  His parents had been proud of him.

  He beamed with pride, seeing a picture of his father in dragon form, so huge, so dark, so forbidding.

  The words beneath the picture read, “Kronar, Barbarian of the Shade Dragons.”

  So he was a shade dragon. That explained the smoke.

  Flipping through the pages, he quickly learned about the types of barbarian dragons.

  He’d known his powers when he awoke. That he could put smaller creatures than him to sleep and that he could shade or hide his form in complete darkness.

  He flipped through, trying to find his mother or see if there was anything about her type of dragon.

  But he saw nothing.

  He was about to close the book in frustration when he turned a page to see a note.

  “My son, Konar, is being sent to a small planet to prove himself worthy to our race. He has proved disappointing in his training, and it remains to be seen if he can conquer the weaker blood inside him. For now, I have little hope for him. He has never lived up to his potential, and should he die rather than conquer, I will be glad not to see him return.”

  Hurt crashed through Konar, making him lean forward on the stand as his vision went blurred with confusion and rage.

  This was his father? The incredible conqueror? The link to his ancestors? And he thought this about Konar?

  He walked limply over to a chair decorated in antlers from some Drakkaris animal and tried to think, looking up at the shining ax.

  Wasn’t his father right? Wasn’t he a failure?

  He hadn’t conquered anything. He apparently hadn’t succeeded in the fae realm, or he wouldn’t have come here to be trapped.

  His inner dragon paced, hurt and confused by the new information.

  And then, with a foggy feeling that overtook him, he remembered.

  The way he’d been sent away to prove himself.

  The disapproving looks all around.

  He frowned. A true failure.

  What did he have to offer Mara? Blinking, he realized it didn’t matter. He was the only one who could protect her.

  But was that even true? If his people saw him as weak, despite being the son of a king, then all she was getting was a disappointment.

  His hands clenched. He didn’t have to be a disappointment.

  He was here on this planet for a reason. He could still live up to his destiny.

  But Mara…

  A fog came over his thoughts again as he tried to hold on to his memories, and just then, he heard a knock on the door.

  He sighed, shutting the book, not wanting to ever look at it again, and walked over to open the door, his heart lightening slightly when he saw it was Mara.

  Her pretty red hair was still in damp tendrils from the spring, curled slightly from the humidity. Her green eyes were warm, but there was something in them he didn’t like.

  Something like fear.

  “What is it, mate?” He took her gently by the shoulders and pulled her into the room with him because she looked about ready to faint.

  Her small hands twisted in front of her.

  “Konar… what if it was a mistake? Locking you up, I mean. What if the oracle was willing to apologize?”

  His eyes narrowed as she sat on a cushioned chair, and he paced in front of her. “Why are you bringing this up right now?”

  “I… got a call,” she said. “From the double dragons. They want to offer you a job.”

  He snorted. “As if I would take it.” His face sobered. “Mara, you already know how I feel about your world.”

  “I know,” she said. “But the oracle would apologize, grant any wish—”

  “Can she give me back a hundred years?”

  Mara shook her head sadly. “No, but the next hundred years—”

  “Will be what? Filled with failure?” He put his hands on his hips. “Why are you taking their side and bringing it to me? Why are you taking the side of someone who we now know should never have done this to me?”

  She just stared at him, twisting her hands. “I’m not taking sides, Konar. But what’s done is done. If I truly thought it would make you happy to go out and hurt people—”

  “I won’t hurt them, just conquer them,” he muttered. But betrayal was lashing through him. This was the woman he wanted as a mate, and all she wanted was to make him a lapdog for the people who had hurt him.

  She’d never cared about him at all.

  “Fine,” he said. “I see that you’ll never be happy until you have a domesticated dragon. Perhaps you should go stay with the double dragons, then. Let them protect you.”

  She frowned at him. “Maybe I should, to be honest. Konar… I really like you. You’re kind to me, protective, strong… and sometimes I see a side of you that is different from your conqueror. I love that part of you. I love you, Konar. But I don’t think you can ever love me.”

  He took a step back, utterly stunned. “You love me?”

  But he hadn’t conquered any cities. He was still an utter failure. What had he done to deserve her love?

  Though in a way, she was right. He would die for her, but he couldn’t love her.

  Not without losing his warrior’s edge.

  “I told you what was and wasn’t possible, mate,” he said, hating that the word just seemed to come out whenever he addressed her.

  Like a part of his heart couldn’t let the idea go, though she’d never agreed to be his mate.

  Oh well.

  He thought for a moment, wondering if the double dragons could truly protect her.

  Then again, if she was there, he would know where she was. He could visit, and if there was trouble, he could come…

  “I just…” Her green eyes welled with tears, instantly mortifying him for being the reason she was frustrated.

  He could feel her frustration emanating from her in waves.

  But he couldn’t do anything about it.

  One hundred years taken from him, and they sent a woman he cared about to convince him.

  She wanted him to be a stooge for people who wouldn’t hesitate to lock him up again without so much as asking him a question.

  He knew deep down that it was just her good heart, but it still hurt for her to choose another side.

  To not understand his position.

  Perhaps there was a solution for both of them, if they were willing to bend.

  “My castle serves as a ship,” he said. “I was sent here from my planet, to prove myself. Perhaps I could simply leave Earth with you. This realm is falling apart quickly anyway. Together, we could find another place to conquer—”

  “Konar…” She swallowed nervously. “There is something else I need to tell you. Your people… they aren’t going to be there if you go back.”

  Coldness moved through him, and a part of him wasn’t surprised. After all, violence had been their way of life for so long.

  But if he had conquered, if he had gone back in time… not been asleep a hundred years…

  The guilt made it hard to breathe.

  But he was a warrior, and warriors accepted the truth and moved on. After all, his people had sent him away, perhaps never planning to see him again.

  “Then we can find another planet. Another realm to conquer together.”

  She shook her head, eyes wide. “I couldn’t possibly leave my world. My friends, I care about them so much. My—”

  “Even for me?” he asked.

  She shook her head slowly. “Konar, could you really never come to love and protect this world, even just for me?”

  He met her eyes, gaze hard, heart unwilling to bend. “No.”

  She let out a choked breath. “If you could love me, you would understand that you don’t love me truly if you can’t understand what I love.”

  “And you don’t love me if you want me to bow to my persecutors.”

  “Jack and Troy aren’t your persecutors! They feel bad for what’s happened to you—”

  “Now that they need my help.” He put his hands on his hips. “Tell me, Mara. How long would they have let me sleep if they hadn’t needed me?”

  She bit her lip, frowning. “It was wrong, Konar. It was so wrong. But it can’t be taken back—”

  “Right,” he said. “And the fact that they will never deserve my help can’t be taken back either.” He strode over to one of the tall windows made of plain glass and looked out. “I can’t wait to watch this world burn.”

  She made a choked noise. “You really are heartless, aren’t you? You’ll let innocent people die in your anger, just to make a point.”

  He shot her a glare.

  “I respect Troy and Jack,” she said, making him let out a hiss and turn back to her. “They are trying to make a difference in this world, at a cost to them.”

  “They weren’t put to sleep,” he snarled. He came over to her chair, putting his hands on the arms and staring into her gorgeous green eyes.

  They really were at an impasse.

  He liked her. Wanted her for a mate. Would be there to show her his warrior side when that monster finally came for her.

  But he wouldn’t grant what she wanted right now, and he didn’t know if he truly wanted her as a mate if she would demand that of him.

  No, we want her no matter what, a stubborn part of him said.

  But he wasn’t willing to bend.

  “I would do anything to protect you, but all your heart can see is what I’m not willing to do.” He closed his eyes, then opened them. “You only see the soft side of life. Love and peace. I got my hands dirty for you. I’m here to risk my life to protect you—”

  “To use my power for yourself and to conquer the world,” she said.

  He blinked. Not untrue, but that wasn’t the only reason. He knew that, in some part of him.

  The part that was shut off right now.

  “Konar,” she said softly, looking up at him. “Do you love me?”

  He pulled back, releasing the arms of her chair to scratch his head. “I’m unsure of that emotion as a dragon.”

  He saw hurt in her eyes and would have done anything to take it back, but he couldn’t.

  He couldn’t be dishonest with her. Not when she’d always been straight with him.

  Even now, her admission of love confused him.

  She swallowed, and her voice sounded thick with emotion when she spoke up again. “So you don’t love me, but you want me to give up everything, give you my power, and watch my world die for you?”

  He let out a grunt. “I want to protect you. I can promise nothing else for now.”

  “I get it,” she said, pushing out of the chair and standing. “I think I need to go stay with the double dragons.”

  “Why?” he asked, instantly panicked about the idea of her being out of his sight.

  Her voice was tight. “I love you, but you’ll never love me back. You’re strong, beautiful, and in bed, you light me up, but there’s no love in your heart, and I don’t want to fall more in love with you. It’ll only hurt in the end.”