by Lolita Lopez
“You know how Stig is about Cora.” Ignatius brushed by him. “The moment he was assured you two were safe, he ran back to her.”
Mad didn’t blame the old Viking for wanting to get back to his beautiful mate. After spending so many days with Ivy, Mad couldn’t imagine being separated from her. Thankfully the university she attended was less than two hours from his home, but his stomach twisted painfully at the idea of being even that far away from her.
Griff’s massive hand squeezed his shoulder. “You’re looking better this morning.” His cousin’s gaze skipped to the bed, and he grinned. “And so is she.”
He shot Griff a warning look. His cousin had always had a way with women, but he wasn’t in any mood to watch Griff flirt with Ivy this morning. “She’s strong. She’ll recover.”
“You should feed her more.” Griff studied her as she spoke with Niko, who had presented her with a tray laden with high-calorie foods. “She’s a tiny little thing.”
“I like her just as she is.” Shifting the topic away from Ivy, he asked, “Are you going home to Avani today?”
“If you don’t need me,” he said, pretending to be nonchalant about it but clearly champing at the bit to get back to his sultry new mate.
“She needs you more than I do.” He decided not to ask if the couple had been successful in their attempt to make a baby. It was probably too soon to know one way or the other. If their first try hadn’t been successful, it was likely to be a sore topic, especially considering how much Griff obviously loved her. After hearing Stig tell the story of Avani saving and protecting a wounded Griffin, it was clear she loved his cousin just as much.
“Then I’ll be leaving soon,” Griff decided. “I’ll, uh, make sure to check in on your house.”
Mad’s lips settled into an annoyed line. From the description of the battle that had taken place at his home, he supposed he was lucky there were still walls standing. The gas explosion his brothers had faked to cover up the skirmish was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with once he returned.
Griffin wanted to change the subject. He turned his attention to Niko and Ivy. “There’s quite a resemblance between them.”
“They’re blood relations. It’s only natural.”
“She’s remarkably calm about all this. Most people would be in hysterics after what she’s experienced.”
“She’s a survivor,” he remarked proudly.
“She’ll make a good mate, especially for someone in our line of work.”
“We’re not there yet,” Mad said carefully. “She needs time.”
“Not too much,” Ignatius interjected as he came to stand next to them. “The longer you two avoid sealing the deal, the more the risk increases. To her, to you, and to all of us.”
Mad frowned. “How’s that? We got her away from the Seer and the Knights—”
“And her mind is still an open book,” Ignatius replied. “They know her identity now. She’ll never be safe as long as she’s on their radar. They’ll come after her until they capture or kill her. Until she’s one of us, completely one of us, she’s vulnerable. She must be made wholly dragon—and soon.”
Pivoting to face their one-eyed leader, Mad lowered his voice so Ivy wouldn’t overhear as she continued her discussion with Niko. “She’s not ready. She’s twenty-one years old. She’s got the rest of her life ahead of her. We’ve already flirted with danger, but I’m not going to mate her and start a process that can’t be stopped. You saw what happened to Cora when the dragon blood was awakened within her.”
“This is her destiny,” Ignatius argued matter-of-factly. “This was always her path, Madoc.”
“She chooses her path, Ignatius. She isn’t a pawn to be pushed around your chessboard.”
“She’s alive because of us. She owes her life to the Brotherhood. If she’s useful in the fight, she must be persuaded to do her duty.” Ignatius stepped into him. That one eye of his had taken on the onyx shade, a warning that the ancient dragon was hovering just beneath the surface. It was a sign that their leader was under an immense amount of stress and unable to control the beast within him. “When the time comes, you must do yours.”
After delivering his parting shot, Ignatius left the room, nothing but tension in his wake. Mad had a mind to go after their leader and ask him what the hell he meant by that, but Griff’s calming hand on his shoulder quelled the urge.
Griff shook his head. “He’s been on edge since the night we were attacked in your home and we discovered you missing. The entire weight of our future rests on his shoulders. It’s a terrible burden to bear.”
“I sympathize with his position, but I won’t allow him to threaten my mate in that way.”
“She’s not your mate until you claim her and bind her to you forever.” Before he could lay out the same issues he had presented to Ignatius, Griff raised his hand. “I know. It’s not ideal—but this isn’t a game, Madoc. She’s in danger. You’re in danger. We’re all in danger as long as that gifted mind of hers is transmitting everything she learns every time she touches one of us.”
“She has to be the one to make that decision.”
“Mad—”
“It’s a risk, I agree, but she’s incredibly strong, Griffin. Think of how long she lasted in that prison without breaking. We’ll get her healthy again, and then we’ll train her. We’ll ask Reynard to teach her all his mind magic tricks. She’s already very good, a natural even, and with Reynard’s help, she’ll be great.”
Griff stared at him for a long moment. “You’re a good man, Mad.”
He sensed his cousin wanted to say more. Griff ended the conversation by making his way to the bed and introducing himself to Ivy. Her eyes widened as she tilted her head back to take in all of Griffin. Considering she called him Beast, he could only imagine what name she would give to his cousin. The man outweighed Mad by fifty pounds and stood half a foot taller than him, easily hitting seven feet. Of all the dragons in the world, Griffin was only outmatched in size by Reynard.
“I would like to stay and get to know you better, but my mate is waiting for me. When you’re feeling better, Avani and I would like to have you over for a weekend. And Mad,” he added glancing back at him, “there aren’t many in our tribe, but they’ll all welcome you when it’s time.”
Her brow furrowed. “What time?”
“When you’ve properly sealed your bond as mates,” Griff explained.
“Oh.” She pushed scrambled eggs around her plate with the tip of her fork. “I see.”
He must have seen the blush creeping along Ivy’s cheeks because Griff turned to Niko. “Loan me a car for the trip home.”
Niko eyed him over the rim of his teacup. “What’s wrong with your wings?”
“Don’t be a jackass. It’s a long flight back to Houston, and it’s daylight. I’d have to wait until dark to return to Avani. Let me have the Aston Martin.”
The Greek dragon took a slow sip of his hot tea. “Try again, James Bond. You can borrow one of the SUVs, but if you break it, you buy it.”
Griff rolled his eyes. “Yes, Father.” He smiled at Ivy. “If you have any trouble keeping my cousin in line, call me. I know a few tricks that you’ll find useful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Do.” Griff whacked him on the back as he strode toward the door. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“We’ll get back to Houston as soon as possible.”
Griff looked back toward the bed. “Take your time, Mad. You’ve earned the right to a vacation. So has she.”
It was a tempting thought. He remembered his silent promise to take her to a beach so she could worship the sun. Maybe…
“Griffin,” Niko called out before he exited the bedroom, “I hope you receive happy news when you return to Avani. We all do, especially Ignatius. A new dragon child—the first offspring of our Brotherhood—would be a blessing deserving of celebration.”
Griffin’s expression displayed his deep
love for the woman who had brazenly propositioned him only a few weeks earlier. “Thank you, Niko. If it’s good news, I won’t be able to contain myself. You’ll know before sunset, I’m sure.”
Alone with Niko and Ivy, Mad slid back onto the bed and picked up the tray of food that had been brought to him. He was pleased to see that Ivy had eaten almost half of the dishes brought to her. Though the restorative and nutritional fluids Niko had pumped into her via IVs had done their part, she needed to take in real food.
“Ivy told me that you explained the situation with her biological parents and all that happened before and shortly after their deaths.” Niko ran his finger along the rim of his cup. “Ignatius and I looked into the house fire that claimed your adoptive parents, but we never found evidence that pointed to anything other than a tragic accident.”
She relaxed with apparent relief. “After I was taken in Mexico and Mad found me, I started to wonder if maybe the Knights hadn’t had something to do with their deaths.”
“It was something I feared as well,” Niko confessed. “We always knew there was a risk they would realize you hadn’t been killed that day or that one of the Knights might stumble upon you by accident. When you were adopted by Susie and Miguel, I wove a very intricate and powerful protective spell around the three of you. After their deaths, I worried the magic would disintegrate but it appeared to hold so we chose to hang back and give you space.”
“Because you didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to me,” Ivy rightly guessed.
Niko playfully touched the tip of his nose, using the charades gesture to confirm her suspicion. “Do you have any idea how they might have tracked you down?”
She had just taken a bite of toast smothered with blueberry preserves so she answered by motioning toward her head with the tip of her fork. After a sip of orange juice, she explained, “The dreams changed when I started the fall semester.”
“How?” Niko leaned back in his chair and rested his ankle atop his knee. As always, he was barefoot. He swore his formative years on Greek beaches had spoiled him for shoes of any kind. Whenever he could avoid them, he did.
“Until then, the dreams were always about death, carnage, and battles.” She stabbed a grape and a mandarin orange segment. “Lots of battles,” she added. “Toward the end of the first week of classes, I started to dream about a beautiful young woman and a very handsome man who were in love. They were wearing the types of clothes I would expect in a movie about ancient Rome.”
“Drusilla and Sixtus,” Mad interjected even though Niko didn’t need the confirmation. “She saw the night of their deaths.”
Niko seemed truly interested now. “Really?”
Ivy didn’t seem to want to go into the awful details. Instead, she said, “They weren’t the only couple I dreamed about either. There have been many others.”
“From the past?”
She nodded. “And the present, I think. There was a woman a few years older than me who baked cupcakes and this blond guy with old-school Viking runes on his arms. They felt…newer.”
Mad met Niko’s gaze. “Stig and Cora.”
“Yes.”
Ivy glanced between them. “Wait. Isn’t he one of the dragons who rescued us?”
“He was. Cora is his new mate, and she owned a bakery. If we had been able to speak more openly back at the prison, I would have figured out you were talking about my friends when you described the couples from your dreams.”
Niko set aside his teacup. “Why do you think you began to dream of couples? Why do you think everything changed last fall?”
She tore her last slice of toast into pieces. “I started to feel different after Mom and Dad died. I felt more…aware.”
“Of?”
“Smells, tastes, sounds,” she said. “I told Mad that I had always suspected I was different—”
“Because of the dreams and your ability to push people’s thoughts?” Niko interrupted.
“Yes. I had always been sensitive to my surroundings, but this was totally different. Three weeks after Mom and Dad died, I woke up drenched in sweat. My heart was racing. I couldn’t catch my breath. I could hear bats flapping around and squeaking like they were in my bedroom, but the closest bat colony was all the way across campus at Kyle Field.”
“It was a full moon?”
“Um…yes.” She seemed surprised. “Why? Is that important?”
“You were born under a full moon. Female dragons have reproductive cycles that match the moon phase of their births. It’s the reason why I treated you from full moon to full moon to suppress the supernatural side of you so you could live among the mortal human world without incident.”
“What you’ve described is the way we all started to feel as teenagers.” Mad hoped to set her at ease. He could only imagine how confusing all of this was for her. To go from living a mostly typical life to finding out she was the forbidden offspring of a dragon female and a Knight? It couldn’t be easy for her. “It’s the first shift toward embracing the beast within us.”
Her winged brows arched. “So now I have a beast inside me?”
Thinking of her nickname for him, he bit back the flirtatious reply that burned the tip of his tongue. His mouth slanted with amusement. “Basically.”
She issued a noisy humph and took a drink of juice. Niko picked that exact moment to ask an outrageously personal question. “Do you menstruate regularly?”
Ivy choked and sputtered the brightly colored liquid into a napkin. “Did you really just ask me that?”
Niko shrugged. “It’s a biological function. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and this is something you would discuss with a doctor.”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“Actually—”
“You’re not my doctor,” she cut in snappily. “That’s my personal business.”
“So I’ll jot that down as a no,” Niko replied.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’m family. Get used to it.”
“Wow.” She said sarcastically. “Way to make me feel welcome.”
Mad’s first instinct was to jump to her defense, but he held back and waited to see if the two could mend things on their own. Looking guilty, Niko sat forward. “I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean to upset you. I can be difficult sometimes. I simply wanted to gather as much information as possible so I can help you.”
“Do you always interrogate the newbies in your family then?”
“Only the ones I like,” he said with a smile.
Her angered expression relaxed. Picking at the sheet draped across her lap, she admitted, “I’ve had problems. Mom took me to a specialist, but they couldn’t find anything physically wrong with me.”
Mad felt the waves of shame radiating from her and reached for her hand. She let him entwine their fingers and cast a grateful look his way. He couldn’t begin to understand how difficult it would be for her to seek help for a problem that was beyond her control and that modern medicine couldn’t fix. “It’s normal, Ivy.”
“For a dragon girl?”
“Even a half-dragon girl,” he replied with a squeeze of her fingers.
“You’ll only be fertile twice every three years.” Niko leaned back again and got comfortable. “It’s one of the reasons we have such low birth rates. It’s also why your doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with you.”
“Except that I’m having night sweats and dirty dreams all the time,” she interjected. “That’s not normal.”
“It is when you’re a dragon approaching her first heat phase,” Niko insisted. “It’s probably how they were able to find you. When your dreams became more pronounced and when you started subconsciously seeking your mate, the Seer was able to lock on to your signal, for lack of a better description. She traced you. The Knights tailed you. Once you decided to go to Mexico for spring break, it was all over.”
“But they didn’t get what they wanted,” she said with
a proud smile.
“No, they didn’t,” Niko agreed. “You’ve proven to be incredibly adept at psychic warfare. You outmaneuvered a Seer, who has decades of practice, with little more than instinct to carry you through the crucible. That’s quite impressive, Ivy.”
“Not really,” she downplayed her skill. “The Seer is growing weak. She’s dying. I think that’s why they were doing everything they could to level the playing field by denying me food and water.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Why?”
“Because Griff’s mate said the same thing about her dream encounter with the woman, but Avani’s interaction with the Seer was many years ago,” Niko clarified. “Whatever illness is affecting her must be taking its sweet time in ending her life.”
“It’s probably cancer,” Mad guessed. At Niko’s curious look, he motioned toward his nose. “Her scent was familiar to me. We have a client at our gym who has been fighting the disease off and on for years. He’s in the final stages of it now. When I last visited him, the smell was very unique and one I wouldn’t forget.”
“If the Seer is dying—and we have every reason to believe she is—that’s a huge blow to the Knights. Her brother—your father—was the last of the first family. He chose to dilute the blood by mating with a dragon. It’s as if—”
“The story of Drusilla and Sixtus repeated itself,” Ivy murmured nervously.
It was the first time Mad had framed her circumstance that way and it sent a shot of panic through him. The story hadn’t ended very well the first time. The hybrid child Drusilla had carried had died with her the night her own father had slit her throat. Ivy had survived the attack that killed her parents, but she was on the Knight’s radar now.
Niko began to gather up the dirty dishes and placed them on the tray. “The Knights let you live. They could have easily killed you during the first few weeks of your captivity, but they waited. They had a reason for that.”
“Me.” Mad drained the last of his juice and handed his tray to Niko. “They wanted me there because we’re so intimately connected. I think they were hoping to use that connection to get their grubby paws on all the information stored up here.” He tapped his temple.
