by Starla Night
"Not frustrated, seething." She bared her long fangs and snapped the air. "Once my dragonlets were born, I could never leave the Outer Rim. Even though I could never keep them, I could never leave them either."
"Why did you keep me?"
Her mother snorted in surprise. "As opposed to dropping you off at the orphanage?"
"Like my brothers, yes."
"Because your grand dragon wouldn't dare threaten a female dragonlet." She sniffed. "Even though she wouldn't recognize you as an aristocrat — she wouldn't validate my marriage even though it doomed our line to illegitimacy — she would never live down threatening her only grand-heir."
"Our grand dragon threatened my brothers?"
"For what other reason would I ever deny them?"
Amber studied her claws. "You wanted to be the matriarch."
"Me? Ha!" Her mother laughed hard and hot, smoke curling from her nostrils until she realized Amber was serious. "Aristocracy? I preferred your father and his low caste friends. I ran away with him for years of our early marriage. My first and only mistake was believing your grand dragon had changed."
"Why?"
Her mother sucked in a deep breath. The red of the sky seemed to intensify, and she drew up to her full dramatic height.
"Your grand dragon learned that I had produced my first heir. She hunted me down and recalled me for the first-birthday recognition ceremony, and in my foolishness, I presented my little Malachite to be recognized as an aristocrat and have my marriage validated.
"Instead, the foul wyrm chomped my baby dragonlet in her teeth and demanded I return to the estate and live as her heir or else she would eat him right in front of me."
Amber's gut lurched. "No."
"Oh, yes." Her mother shuddered. "I begged, pleaded, promised. Anything to save Malachite. She chewed him a few times — he still bears the scars, although I have never told him why because this is, quite honestly, the most horrific memory of my life — and spit him out into his father's arms. I did as she wished and cast my husband and dragonlet aside."
"You did it to protect him. But you still had more dragonlets afterward."
"Well, I was never an obedient daughter, even before I met your father. After I met him, Amber, we were destined to be together. We were. Your grandmother prevented us from living in the estate, but she could not prevent us from embracing our happiness."
Her mother's dreamy expression made Amber's own heart ache.
She blinked and finished the story. "Anyway, every dragonlet I presented was an insult to her control, and every presentation ceremony she used as a reminder of our agreement."
Amber touched her body searching for chew marks.
"She didn't dare touch another of my dragonlets." Fire crackled from her mother's clenched fangs. "I presented you from a safe distance, believe me. And she knew better. Agreement or not, by the time you, Alex, and Flint were born, she was ill. At the first excuse, I would have challenged and killed her myself. There were many times I wished to...but, I also always wished for you to be recognized. In the end, no matter how horrible she acted, she was still my mother."
Her mother's scales shimmered with pain. Regret for the awful mother she'd had, sadness that she'd always wished for a different version of her mother that did not exist.
That same regret had passed over Darcy's face earlier today. And the other days he'd apologized for his mother's tests. He said human mothers didn't test their daughters-in-law like dragons. Amber hadn't understood him, but the sadness on her mother's face mirrored his sadness.
...Had she misunderstood?
Darcy had canceled their wedding on Monday and asked Amber to leave, but was there more to the story? Had Darcy lost something or had his mother threatened something unforgivable?
She needed to ask him.
"Thank you, Mother. I understand more now."
"Yes, my darling." The fire extinguished and her mother blew smoky rings. "If your father had been an adventurer then perhaps we would have settled somewhere far away like on Earth. Malachite gets his spirit from me, of course. Your father was much steadier in temperament and practical like you and Jasper." She squinted. "Where are your brothers, by the way?"
"Standing in the doorway, peering through the splinters."
Her brothers broke the door the rest of the way open and piled into Mal's office. Mal's shirt had shredded during their earlier argument. White markings on his chest could be teeth.
"My life ended yours." Mal's voice was rough. "Yours and Father's."
"No, Mal." His mother smiled with tears in her eyes. "You are my life. You always have been."
He shook his head.
"I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished. Look at how you've united your siblings and inspired every dragon regardless of caste across the entire Empire. You run a company at the top of the intergalactic charts. You've wed a kind wife who brings out your best."
He looked at the floor.
"Only one thing could make me happier than what you have done."
He cleared his throat and looked up, his eyes moist. "What's that?"
"Of course it is give me grand-dragonlets."
He blinked. "But I have. I mean, I will. Cheryl's pregnant."
"Nine months takes too long! Ferocia Carnelian has twenty-seven grand-dragonlets right now. Every time we meet for fire tea she has new holos and I have nothing, Malachite. Nothing!"
Pyro's lips curved. "He can't speed this up, Mother."
"And you, pyrochlore! You head your own company now, with your own wife, and inspire the same question. When will you give me grand-dragonlets?"
"Ah...well..."
"These companies are successful enough. Close the building, go home right now, and gift your wife nice human love tokens so she will embrace you and produce dragonlets."
"Well, but Amy's helping her roommate bake—"
"Now, pyrochlore! Swoop in, kidnap her if you must, and overwhelm her with passion."
He hemmed. "Yes, but you see, another friend—"
"Do not make me come over there!"
He pivoted and flew out of Mal's glass tube.
Her gaze fixed on her unmarried sons. "And where are your wives, Jasper and Alexandrite?"
Both blanched.
"I thought the Empress was no longer seeking a husband," Jasper ventured.
"The Empress might be ill, but her advisers still need marriages to successful males like you two."
The brothers shuddered. The Empress's advisors were as old, crusty, ill-tempered, and dangerous as the Empress.
"And where's Flint? He is also unmarried and, I assume, lax on his duty to produce my grand-dragonlets."
"I'll convey the message," Alex promised, his two-tone eyes flashing.
"Amber, I look forward to seeing you."
"Actually, Amber should not go." Alex stepped forward, his suit perfect despite the dripping char of the hall he must have hurried down. "She's engaged to a human."
Her mother's jaw dropped. "Amber! Is this true?"
Oily fear mixed with self-recrimination. "But I scared him. I lit a rehearsal dinner on fire. I could have jeopardized the treaty. And Darcy canceled the wedding."
"So Amber must win him back, reschedule the wedding, and get to producing the many dragonlets you deserve." Alex stood at perfect posture without a single hair awry. "Jasper and I can't become suitors. We must support Amber during this difficult time."
"Why, Amber? It should be a simple matter of spraying your chosen male with lust hormones."
The males shook their heads.
"Human desires are different," Mal said. "Cheryl has never sprayed me once. She says she doesn't even know what I'm talking about."
"I've never sprayed Darcy," Amber confirmed. Her heart broke a little. "He said ... he said he loved me anyway..."
"That's strange, but even more confusing. If he loves you, why do you not carry him away to your lair?"
"I did..."
"Oh!"
Her mother clapped with delight. "If you've already performed the dragon ceremony, dragonlets will be on their way soon. Any misunderstandings will disappear when you carry his dragonlet. Alex, Jasper, prepare yourselves."
"On the contrary." Alex intervened again. "Humans care about their weddings, and the ceremonies can take so very long to arrange. We can't begin a courtship until Amber is married in the human way."
She emitted a long sigh. "Would it be too much to ask if one of you has secretly impregnated a female and she is due with dragonlets very soon? Such as in the next twenty-four hours?"
Alex and Jasper both shook their heads.
"Are you sure? You are sure?" Their mother sighed heavily. "My next fire tea is tomorrow. I would forgive delays if only you could produce something for me to share with Ferocia Carnelian."
Everyone was silent.
Alex's two-tone eyes gleamed. "You could talk to Ferocia about the activities of her son. He insists on harassing Amber. First, he wanted her to leave Earth with us, and then he wanted her to end her engagement."
"What?" Her gaze narrowed. "Little Chrysoberyl is causing trouble again?"
"Honestly, Mother, I think Amber's wedding would already be finished if Chrysoberyl Carnelian didn't force the Gentleman's Society inspectors on us."
"Well! Interfering with my daughter's engagement and the future Onyx family matriarch?" Their mother grew in height and fury. "It seems I will have something to share with Ferocia after all."
Their mother closed the connection.
The silence in the office was almost deafening. Nobody looked at each other. Outside, the sprinklers had stopped. A cleaning crew had arrived and was sifting through the wet mess.
Amber rose from behind Mal's desk, opened his clothes cabinet, and pulled on a too-big shirt.
Her brothers waited.
She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I lost my temper and destroyed everything."
Mal picked up the remnants of his chair and forced it into the oversized steel refuse bin kept in his office because of the number of times they had to recycle his broken things. "Nothing is destroyed yet."
"You lasted a long time," Jasper assured her. Alex and Mal agreed. "Alex set a timer for how long until one of us attacked them. You lasted twice as long as us."
"I did?"
The males all nodded.
Mal lifted a brow. "Don't you remember the last fight in this office?"
Oh. Yes, she did, but she was so used to being the only one who remained in human form while the rest of her siblings fought. It hadn't stood out.
Jasper stood in front of her earnestly. "Please stay."
"You really want me to?"
Again her brothers nodded.
Her chest tingled with warmth. After all this time, her brothers did care. She wasn't just a deadly female they feared and tried not to anger. They wanted her to stay.
"Besides, we need you," Mal said gruffly breaking the mood. "No one else understands your budget."
"I'm using a human system. It's not hard."
They all reacted like it was hard.
She smiled. "I'll stay. But I must talk to Darcy."
"Pyro called him," Alex said. "He offered to pick Darcy up, but Darcy declined."
Jasper frowned. "Didn't Pyro say he would see Darcy soon?"
"I only heard him encouraging Darcy not to wait."
Her still-fragile heart wobbled. The memory of her mother's pained sadness meshed with Darcy's. "He asked me to give him some time with his mother. I could not win her approval, and he wanted to marry me anyway, but now he's changed his mind."
"Then you should go to him and force him to change his mind back," Alex replied.
Jasper and Mal agreed.
Amber shook her head. "Once I would have done so. But I would like to respect his wish. I must treat his request seriously."
"Darcy is rarely serious," Alex said.
"But even when he is not serious, his ideas are clever." Mal shoved the last chunk of the splintered chair into the steel bin, denting the side. "When Pyro was our Vice President, his ideas were mostly bad or insane, but every once in awhile, he offered an idea so outrageous it changed our entire business and made us the success we are today."
"Too bad Chrysoberyl does not share that talent," Jasper murmured.
"He can't even step on the planet without an invitation. We will never fill the Vice President position with a useful person."
A new idea bubbled in Amber's head. "Perhaps you should recruit Darcy."
Her brothers straightened and looked at her.
Mal frowned. "He's the CEO of his own company."
"His father is the CEO. Darcy is a client relations manager."
"He would not abandon his family's business."
"His father is seeking a buyer. Didn't you read my report, Mal? I put it on your desk days ago. He approached me during the dowry negotiation and I promised to pass it on to you."
Mal sorted through the disheveled folders. "If it's not our next product launch, it's not important."
"Gaining a boutique lingerie business could be very important."
Jasper piped up, "If he marries you, Amber, then we can offer Darcy any official position we want. Why don't you tell him the good news?"
First, she wasn't sure it was good news. His father was eager to sell, and Darcy's sisters had exit plans, but the business was very important to Darcy's mother and also important to Darcy.
And second, it was because she valued Darcy's serious request.
"I will speak to him tomorrow." She steeled herself for facing Darcy and the human wedding party after losing control so violently. "When I am an honored guest at Tara's wedding."
"Excellent. I will speak to his father," Mal announced.
"You're going as well?"
"Cheryl has to drop off her sign. Pyro will help Amy and Melody with cupcake transport. Jasper has acquired the rest of the ferns and Alex..."
"I will attend to interview Darcy's family," Alex said smoothly. "Perhaps there are more assets we can discover. I must meet everyone who's inherited his diplomatic and sales skills."
"So, we'll all be there?"
They nodded.
She linked her fingers. "Darcy's mother disapproves of me. This disapproval may extend to all dragons."
Jasper stepped forward and rested a calming hand on her shoulder. "Although none of us are Kyan, we are good backup in a fight."
A lump formed in her throat. "You'd risk the treaty for me?"
Alex and Jasper nodded.
Mal flexed his fingers. "I'd prefer it to be against an aristocrat..."
They all looked at him.
He dropped his hand. "Of course, Amber. You're an Onyx. We battle on behalf of the low caste, on behalf of the downtrodden, and on behalf of our family."
"Okay." She flexed her fists into claws. "Tomorrow will be a wedding to remember."
Chapter Thirty
Someone banged on Darcy's door.
He blinked. The ceiling was dingy and his eyes blurred. He'd drunk way too much last night.
The banging stopped.
No, wait. It started again.
No, no. Wait. That was the throbbing in his head.
His mouth dried out like he'd licked his pillow through the night.
A terrible urge compelled him to sit up. He had to go somewhere. There was something he had to do.
Darcy started to curl upright and then fell back. Thud. His head echoed against the floor.
Wow. He hadn't gotten this drunk since ... since ...
Nah, he'd never gotten this drunk before.
He sat up.
The room moved beneath him like a boat on an unsteady ocean. Nausea welled in the back of his throat.
He needed something to settle his stomach.
A bottle of sparkling water rested next to a half-eaten plate of spaghetti.
How nice.
His stomach rolled.
He drank the water. The fiz
z tasted strange. He set it down and tried a mouthful of spaghetti. It tasted strange too. He spat it out.
There was something he had to do...
What time was it? Where was his cell phone?
Where was he?
Oh. Uh oh.
This was the turret. He was stuck in the turret because Mom had dragged him up here. She'd been so sweet, so caring, so ... wait, no, she'd been trying to keep him from leaving. Leaving to go to Amber.
Amber!
He rolled onto his knees. Early sunrise filtered through the nailed up window.
He'd screwed up. Chosen the easy path, the path of making peace and backsliding, instead of forging ahead with Amber. Yeah, it had been because he'd cared about his mom—he'd done it out of love—but the consequences were the same. Amber thought he'd canceled their marriage. He had to break out of here and stop her from leaving. Like a romcom, go racing through an intergalactic space dock with both arms open, screaming her name...
Please let me not be too late.
Please let—
His biceps trembled. His muscles loosened.
The horizon rotated.
Darcy collapsed.
Nooo.
He'd tasted that stupid spaghetti. He'd dosed himself again. Less this time ... he hoped. Darcy bunched his muscles and kicked the plate so he didn't wake up disoriented and screw up a third time.
He just needed to lie down a little longer. Then, he'd force himself up and set everything right...
* * *
Amber steeled herself and entered the downtown hotel. The marble columns and gold-maroon carpet invited her to linger at the fountains, but she marched straight to the reception desk.
This was where she was supposed to meet the bridal party. But that was before she'd lit half of them on fire and then been jilted.
The desk staff turned to her with an impersonal smile. "Yes?"
"Excuse me. I'm looking for the rooms of—"
"Amber!" A young man she didn't know waved both hands and jumped up and down. "She came. She's here."
A crew of young males in button-up white shirts and dress slacks crowded around her. Ed emerged from the crowd and shook her hand with a smile. "We're glad to see you."
She followed him into the elevators and up to their floor. "I'm sorry I'm late. The reconstruction at our offices ran overnight and then Darcy texted I'm not a special guest any more so not to come early. Then I got Kris's text asking where I was."
