He wanted to run to her. To hold her and kiss those lips. But this, right now, was between her and her brothers, so he stayed out of it.
Pale and standing on unsteady feet, she had one arm braced against the wall nearest her.
“Xyn? Is it really you?”
She gave Falcyn a wan smile. “Greetings, brother.”
His own limbs shaking, he crossed the room to gather her into his arms. “How?”
“I don’t know. One minute, I was frozen and then I was here. Wherever this is.”
Falcyn fisted his hand in her long flame-red hair that parted to show off her pointed ears.
Urian couldn’t move or breathe as her translucent, vibrant green gaze seared him. She was still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen.
Her presence staggered him. He fell back and leaned against a stone for support, because he didn’t trust his legs to hold him. Not right now.
She pulled back to stare at Maddor. “Falcyn is your father, Maddor. Just as Blaise is your son.”
That sucked every bit of the air from the room and had the same impact as a nuclear bomb detonating in their midst.
Blaise stumbled back. “W-w-w-what?”
Xyn nodded. “I was there when you were born. Your mother was furious, thinking your albinism had to do with Max’s curse.”
“What curse?”
Falcyn winced. “I never told Blaise the truth, Xyn. He had no idea about that.”
Her jaw went slack. “I’m so sorry. I assumed he knew.”
Falcyn shook his head. “By the time I learned about his birth, he was grown. I didn’t have the heart to tell him then. Thanks, sister. You were always good at ratting me out.”
Maddor sat down. “Blaise is my son? How?”
Xyn sighed. “Ormarra. She hid her pregnancy from you and was hoping to parlay Blaise’s birth to her advantage.”
“When I was born deformed, she tried to kill me.”
Brogan moved to hold Blaise. “You’re not deformed!”
“And I killed her for her actions against you, Blaise.” Xyn said. “You were still wet from cracking open your egg when I took you to be raised by your adoptive father. The only truth you knew was that your father was the leader of the mandrakes.”
He’d just assumed it was the mandrake before Maddor because only a tiny handful of fey knew Maddor was the first of their breed.
Another lie told that was meant only to wound and hurt, and divide a family.
Damn those who sought only to make mischief for mischief’s sake. They were the root of all evil. Not greed or money.
Maddor growled at Xyn. “You should have told me about him!”
“I was planning to once I knew he was safe, but I was trapped here before I had the chance.”
With a fierce roar, Maddor started for Xyn, only to be stopped by some unseen force.
“You can’t harm her,” Brogan reminded him. “I haven’t given you her name.”
“I hate all of you!” he roared.
Falcyn glared at him. “How dare you! Feel free to hate me all you want. I deserve it. Blaise, however, has never done anything to deserve your animosity for him. He’s your son. One you’ve treated like hell and mocked over the centuries for no reason whatsoever. You owe him an apology.”
Maddor gaped at Falcyn. “You’re daring to lecture me on parenthood? Seriously?”
“Yeah and I’ll bust your ass, boy! Don’t ever think I can’t take you in a fight. I promise you, I’ve eaten much tougher hides than yours and used their scales for shoes. If you want to act like a child, then I’ll treat you like one.”
The real Crom made a noise deep inside the dragon’s body.
“What’s going on, Brogan? He about to spew?”
She shook her head. “It’s the strife between the two of you. It feeds him. Makes him—”
The Crom dissolved all the bonds that held his dragon’s body and stood up.
“Stronger,” she finished with a squeak.
Blaise took her hand and pulled her behind him. “What’s he doing now?”
“Not sure.” Falcyn put his hand out to stop Medea from engaging the beast as she moved in for an attack.
Because the Crom wasn’t the only dragon rising.
All of them were and he wasn’t sure what that signified. But with their luck, it wasn’t a good thing.
“Maddor?” Falcyn glanced to his son. “You want to return to your real body?”
His whip sizzled as he turned a slow circle to survey the number of original dragons who were now a little more than just plain pissed off. And since they had no other target, they were circling the only enemy they found in the room.
Them.
The whole group. And that included their leader that they couldn’t identify as a dragon since he was in the Crom’s body and had no head.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Urian couldn’t blame him there. Judging by the mood of the newly animated dragons, anything not one of their scaly clan was about to get eaten.
Lombrey rose up in an effort to block the dragons, but they passed right through his noncorporeal form.
Urian rolled his eyes. “Good to be a shadow, huh? Makes me wish I were one.” He lifted his sword and shield and prepared to attack.
Just as Falcyn renewed that stupid incantation that had gotten them into this mess, a bright light flashed near them. It was intense and searing. So much so that it temporarily blinded them.
Until Acheron’s demon companion Simi jumped out of it.
Dressed in her short purple skirt, black-and-red-striped leggings, and a matching corset, she drew up short as she surveyed everyone around her. Her red horns sprouted on top of her head as a tail came out from underneath her short skirt. A set of leathery bat wings sprang out, letting Urian know the not-so-little Charonte Goth demon meant business.
He laughed. Yeah, they had no idea what they were dealing with. Hide your children. Hide your wife.
Hide your pets.
Urian smiled at her. “Simi? What are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “Akri done told the Simi that you’d be acting all weird and funky lately, and that the Simi should be keeping her eyeball on you, akri-Uri. So … your heart rate was picked up during my commercial break and it got my attention. Since I knew you wouldn’t be with no heifer cowlike red-headed goddess creature doing things that make the Simi go blind, I thought you be troubled. So then I thought, Simi, you best be checking on that old ex-Daimon to make sure he okay and not about to get et by something not friendly.”
Simi scowled as she put her finger to her cheek to consider her words. “No, that be wrong. Be in trouble.” She grinned widely, flashing her fangs. “You in trouble, akri-Uri? Can the Simi eat your troubles? ’Cause I don’t think these dragonlies be on the Simi no-eat list. Pretty sure akri won’t mind if the Simi eats them up.” She bit her lip with a childish enthusiasm that made Urian smile. Especially as she reached into her coffin backpack and pulled out her lobster bib and bottle of barbecue sauce to prepare.
The moment she did, the dragons backed away.
And that made Maddor nervous as hell. “What’s going on?”
Xyn laughed. “Oh, hon, no one is dumb enough to tangle with a hungry Charonte. Don’t you know?”
Simi gasped. “No! Say it no so! The Simi so-o-o-o-o hungry! It been a whole twenty minutes since the Simi ets her last diamond …” She pouted as she turned around, looking for a meal.
More dragons shrank away.
“Yeah!” Urian blustered at them. “That’s right! I’ve got a Charonte here and I’m not afraid to unleash her. Hah!”
A dragon sneezed beside him, blowing out fire that came a little too close to Urian.
Urian dashed to Simi’s side, putting her between them. “Are you fireproof, Sim?”
“Bombproof, too.” She belched and shot out a stream of fire that caused several dragons to scramble for cover. “See!”
“Ah, you bunc
The moment the Crom was himself again, he picked up his whip and went straight to Brogan.
Brogan held her hand up to let them know that it was all right. After a few seconds and a few whispered words in his ear, she nodded. “Peace to you, Crom.”
With a curt jerk of his coat, he flashed himself onto the back of his horse and vanished.
“What did he say?” Blaise asked.
She smiled warmly. “That he never wants to be a dragon again. You can keep your smelly old body.”
Urian scowled at Brogan. “That all?”
An evil light danced in her eyes. “I might have given him the name …—Morgen.”
Medea cleared her throat to remind them of the other dragons who were still glaring at them.
Xyn yawned. “How long have we slept?”
“Centuries,” Blaise and Falcyn said simultaneously.
An unhappy murmur ran through the dragon horde.
“Simi eat them now since they all grumbly?” Her wings twitched with expectation.
The dragons quieted immediately.
Medea laughed. “Nice to know you don’t just scare Daimons, Simi.”
Simi pressed her finger to her lips and cocked her head in an adorable expression. She scowled, then smiled at Medea. “The Simi knows you! I’s seens you lots and lots. You’re the evil princess who libs with the Simi’s akra in Kalosis!”
“She’s also my sister.”
Simi gasped at Urian’s words. Then caught herself. “Oh yeah. I should have … but wait. Your daddy is fake-akri.” She pressed her hands to her eyebrows. “The Simi is so confuseled!”
Urian laughed. “So am I most days.” Sobering, he gently pulled one of her hands down until she opened her eyes to look at him. “Just remember that I was taken out of my mother’s womb before I was born and put into the belly of another. So the Apollite who birthed me wasn’t really my mother. And Stryker wasn’t really my father. Styxx is my father and Bethany is my real mom.”
“Ah! Like Simi you’re adaptable!”
Urian’s grin widened. “Yeah.”
“Wait …” Brandor scowled. “Does she mean adopted?”
“No, silly!” Arms akimbo, Simi rolled her eyes. “Even though we both were adopted, the Simi meant adaptable ’cause akri-Uri had to libs with people not his people. He not really a Daimon, he a demigod. Which is better. Sometimes, anyway.” She tsked as she looked back at Urian. “I’m sorry, akri-Uri. That why you have sadness besides Phoebe-sadness?”
His eyes darkened. “No, Sim. Mostly I just have Phoebe-sadness.”
She held her barbecue sauce out toward him. “Wanna eat a dragon? Make you feel all better. Give you warm and fuzzies in the belly.”
And that succeeded in driving the dragons toward the shadows and Lombrey into a fit.
“No! No! No! You’re not to hide in my domain! Get out, mangy beasts!”
Brandor cleared his throat to disguise his laughter. “You know, with all this noise, Morgen is bound to realize what’s happened. We might want to think about getting out of here before she sends something or someone to investigate.”
Falcyn nodded to his sister. “Granted, she should be a little preoccupied with the Crom after her—you still should take them to my island. Just to be safe.”
She arched a brow at his order. “All of them? You really plan to tolerate us in your personal space?”
“It’ll be the safest place for them.”
Xyn kissed his cheek. “Love you.”
“You, too.”
She scoffed at his response. “I live for the day, Veles, when you can say that word without choking on it.” And with that, she gathered the dragons and left through the portal.
Urian followed Xyn to Falcyn’s island home, which was absolutely breathtaking. Open and airy, and yet technically a cavern, it was large and spacious with a stunning ocean view. The enchanted walls were crystal clear, so that he could look out but not be seen by anyone else. The transparency of the walls made them shimmer and sparkle from the daylight that burned the eyes, but not the skin. He could see why Falcyn had chosen it.
However, that was the last thing Urian had on his mind.
“Xyn?” He reached for her hand and pulled her into a dark alcove, away from the others.
Finally, they were alone.
And now that they were … he was lost and unsure. Did she even remember him? She hadn’t acted like it.
Maybe she’d suffered a head wound that had left her with amnesia. What did he say to her after all these years?
Sarraxyn trembled as she looked up into the bluest eyes she’d ever known. She’d forgotten what a huge, overwhelming beast Urian was. Which was shocking really, given that she was used to dragonswains, who were even larger and yet somehow he made them seem smaller.
Weaker.
There was an innate power to him that the others lacked. And at the same time, he was sexier than anyone she’d ever known because for all his power and ruthlessness, he would never harm her. He was a protector unlike anyone she’d ever met. He kept that vicious strength restrained and under control.
This close, you could feel the lethal killer inside him. The demon that salivated for blood. Yet he’d made love to her like a poet and touched her with the tenderest of care.
That was the beauty of her Daimon.
Love and happiness rushed through her and set her heart to pounding. But it wasn’t enough to drown out her fear that he’d rebuff her after all this time.
She didn’t know what to say to him after all this time. She’d just abandoned him. Not out of choice.
Still, did that matter? She could only imagine the hurt and pain he must have felt, thinking she’d just moved on. Or worse, that she’d died. So she did the only thing she could think of to do.
Stepping into his arms, she kissed him.
Urian growled at the taste of Xyn’s lips. Of her sweet tongue sweeping against his as her arms wrapped around his waist. His body roared to life with a vengeance that was terrifying.
In the distance, he heard someone calling her name.
She deepened her kiss before she pulled away and nipped his chin. “Give me a few minutes?”
There wasn’t enough blood left in his brain to form a coherent thought. “Um … okay.”
Xyn laughed. “Urian?” She cupped his face and rubbed noses with him. “You’ll be here when I get back?”
“I will.” Nothing could make him leave.
“Okay.”
With a ragged breath, he leaned back against the wall as she went to help the dragons settle in. Then he glanced down at the sizable lump in his jeans.
Damn, that was really obvious and embarrassing. He wasn’t about to leave the shadows anytime in the near future.
At least you know it still works.
True. It’d been so long at this point, he had begun to wonder.
And that thought was still on his mind a few minutes later when Xyn returned as a faint whisper.
Laughing in his ear, she wrapped herself around him and teleported him from his shadows into a bedroom. “What are you doing?”
She left him to lock the door, then returned to stand in front of him. Biting her lip in a way that only further inflamed him, she ran her finger down his chest, raising chill bumps the whole way. “Can you still use your magick to conjure clothes?”
“Yeah.”
An evil grin broke across her face. “Good.”
Before he could ask her why she wanted to know, she ripped open his shirt from hem to neck and attacked him as if she were starving and he was the last steak at a banquet.
Urian couldn’t have been more floored had she set him on fire and used his balls for kindling. She ran her hands across his entire body while she licked and sucked his skin until he thought he’d go blind from it.
With her powers, she flipped him and tossed him onto the bed, then dissolved both their clothes.
Sucking his breath in, he surrendered himself completely to her fierce caresses. Never had a woman been so forceful with him. He loved it.
Xyn grazed Urian’s throat with her teeth and licked his whiskers, allowing them to prick at her tongue. “I’m so glad you followed me and the others here.”
He breathed against her ear as he tongued it and cupped her breast in his hand. His fingers toyed with her nipple in a way that had her wet and aching. “Oh, Xyn … how could I not? I’ve missed you so!”
She nipped his chin while she fisted her hands against his muscular back and pressed her bare body into his. Ah gah, his skin felt so good. She wanted to cry at the peace she experienced by exploring him again. It was truly Katateros.
And it was then that she realized what was missing. How could she have missed it?
Shocked and amazed, she pulled back to scowl at his chest. “Uri? Where’s your Daimon mark?”
He glanced down to where her hand rested over his heart. “I’m not a Daimon anymore. I was … fixed—” Not exactly the correct word, but he couldn’t think of anything better to use. “A long time ago.”
“You’re human?”
“No. I’m kind of unique.”
“But you don’t feed on souls?”
“Or blood.”
She let out a peculiar half laugh. “You eat food?”
“I do.”
Her eyes turned warm and adoring. “Oh, how I wish I’d been there the first time you ate to see your face.”
“You didn’t miss much. Other than a lot of cursing that followed the biting of my tongue.”
Xyn laughed for real then at the image she had of him trying to figure out how to chew when he’d never had to do so before. “My Urian.”
“That’s me. Ever brain damaged.”
“No. Definitely not.” She kissed him, reveling in the miracle that was her Daimon. “I could just eat you up.”
“I’m at your disposal.”
She shook her head at these words as she nibbled his neck. He let out such a sound of pleasure that it honestly startled her. “Are you okay?”
He sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth. He cupped her head in his hands. “Depends. Is the truth going to be a buzzkill or a turn-on?”
“What do you mean?”
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