Prince Verrian: Dragon Echoes Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 4)

by Rinelle Grey

  The Mesmer bond was strong. She knew that. She’d experienced it twice now.

  What if Verrian was confusing it for stronger feelings for her?

  What if she was?

  It was all so overwhelming, she wasn’t sure what was right and what was wrong anymore.

  Not in her life.

  But she wasn’t going to let anyone rain on Chase and Wayrian’s parade.

  Lisa carefully avoided Verrian’s searching look, crossed her arms, and glared at Ostrian.

  “Ostrian,” Taurian snapped. “You have no right to comment thus on my brother’s mating. Do I need to speak to you about your attitude again?”

  Ostrian glared at Taurian. “I will continue to comment on issues that I think could be detrimental to this clan. That’s my job. I will say it again, stop sending humans to wake the princes and princesses. It will only lead to our bloodlines being permanently mixed with humans.”

  “Is there a problem with that?” Karla demanded.

  Ostrian drew himself up, and stared down his nose at Karla. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

  “I don’t understand,” Taurian said flatly. “How about you enlighten me?”

  Ostrian’s expression changed so quickly Lisa found it hard to believe. The haughty, angry man was gone. He looked almost reasonable. “We’re dragons,” he said quietly. “Although we’ve spent so long hiding in human form that it’s easy for us to forget, we’re different from them. We are more than they are. I’m afraid we’re going to lose that if we keep mixing with them.”

  There were a few sympathetic murmurs from the crowd.

  Lisa winced. This was not good.

  It had never even occurred to her that her mating with Verrian could upset the dragons. That it could be bad for them. She’d been so busy worrying about what she felt and what she wanted. Some princess she’d make.

  Not that Ostrian was doing any better. He just didn’t get it, did he?

  “It doesn’t matter if you think dragons are ‘more’ than humans,” Lisa said flatly. “It doesn’t matter how much ‘more’ each one of you is, the simple fact is that there are far more humans in this world than there are dragons. We outnumber you a thousand to one. Probably a million to one. You think that doesn’t count for something?”

  Ostrian looked down his nose at her. “Numbers do not equal superiority, only that you breed like rabbits.”

  Lisa would have been offended, except that his condescension combined with his attempt at an insult was so ridiculous it was funny. She laughed.

  The sound was loud in the cave. Other dragons stared at her in surprise, and a little awe.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” she said to Ostrian. “You’ve seen what our weapons can do in battle. How can you still think that you’re superior?”

  Ostrian stared at her, his eyes wide. Then he pointed a finger at her, shaking slightly. “This,” he said. “This is what Verrian has brought into our midst. A human who thinks we would be easy to destroy.” His voice rose until it was almost a shriek. “They don’t need to destroy us, they’re slowly invading us from the inside. Within a generation, there will be no full blood dragons left.”

  “That’s enough,” Verrian said flatly. “I will not brook your insolence to my mate. If you wish to challenge me, I will fight you now.”

  “You can’t challenge me.” Ostrian’s voice shook. “I am a clan elder. You should show me some respect, youngster.”

  “My brother is a prince,” Taurian said softly. “He can challenge anyone he feels is a threat to his authority.”

  Lisa stared at both of them. Did they really feel that a fight would solve this? Was that how dragons solved their differences?

  If Ultrima was anything to go by, probably.

  Lisa’s heartrate sped up. Verrian had never won a fight against another dragon. True, he’d only gone up against Ultrima, and there was that fight Raven had mentioned, she hadn’t had a chance to ask about that. But still.

  That he would even attempt it.

  For her.

  Was it because he was bonded to her now? Did the mate bond include some sort of… need to defend her? Somehow, she knew he would have done it even without the mate bond. Questioning her was questioning his choice. A dragon prince couldn’t let that go.

  Whether he cared for her or not.

  Even if he was doing it for his own reasons, Lisa couldn’t help feeling warm at his defence. She’d never be an outsider while she was mated to Verrian. She belonged now, with magic ties, stronger than even family.

  Even if she didn’t deserve it.

  “The elders do not support you in this attack, Ostrian,” Mesrian said quietly. “You’re on your own.”

  Ostrian visibly wilted at that. He tried one last time. “You support our princes mating humans?” he asked Mesrian, but his voice was a shadow of its former demanding tone.

  “I support our princes mating anyone they choose,” Mesrian said firmly. “I trust their judgement without reservation.”

  Her words made Lisa feel even more of a fraud. Verrian hadn’t chosen her. He’d had no other choice.

  Apparently he wasn’t going to admit that though.

  And Lisa couldn’t either. In love or not, she was a dragon mate. She might not be sure about caring for his whole clan, but she had no hesitation in supporting Verrian. She stood next to him and glared at the surrounding dragons as fiercely as he was.

  No one voiced any other protest. Not even Ostrian. “I give up,” the old man said tiredly. “This will be the destruction of our clan, mark my words. When we’re no better than humans, don’t forget that I objected to this.” Then he turned and walked away.

  Lisa wasn’t fooled by his dejected appearance. She didn’t think they’d seen the last of him.

  Chapter 52

  “You both must be exhausted,” Karla said firmly. “I’ll show you to your room and you can get settled in.”

  Verrian knew exactly where his room was. Or rather, where it had been. In three hundred years, he supposed it might have changed.

  He inclined his head politely, but before he could say anything, Taurian spoke up. “While I appreciate that you’ve had a strenuous night, I’m sure my brother can spare a little time for us to talk, brother to brother. If that is okay?” He looked at Lisa as he spoke the words, and Verrian was touched by his deference to his mate.

  Taurian knew the truth, or guessed it at least, and yet he gave Lisa the honour and respect due anyway. His heart swelled with love for his brother.

  Lisa nodded, but her face was tired and strained. It was almost enough to make Verrian tell his brother he’d speak to him in the morning.

  “We have things to discuss that cannot wait until the morning.” Taurian’s voice in his head was apologetic, but firm.

  Verrian couldn’t argue with it. He’d been away for so long and the situation was urgent. He couldn’t ignore his responsibilities just because he was tired and his mate was upset.

  He’d make it up to Lisa later.

  “Of course,” Verrian said out loud. “I’ll be with you soon,” he said to Lisa.

  She just nodded with the same tired expression. “Don’t rush. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll look after Lisa,” Karla said, her words comforting Verrian. He liked his brother’s mate already. She’d care for his mate and see that she understood.

  He followed his brother into a small, private cave.

  As soon as they were alone, Taurian said quietly, “It is good to see you, brother. I was not born to rule this clan alone.”

  His rueful expression amused Verrian. “It does seem as though you are having a few difficulties,” he agreed. “Is it just the elder, or does he have a following?”

  Taurian shrugged. “A small one, but not enough to be a concern. Most of the elders have thrown their support behind me, though it was a bit of a challenge to win them over. Karla has helped.”

  Taurian smiled. Verrian could see the love shining in
his brother’s eyes and he couldn’t help being a little jealous.

  He wanted what Taurian and Karla had.

  Did he have any hope of getting it?

  “She seems like a kind and caring woman,” Verrian said.

  “She’s amazing,” Taurian said frankly. “I would not be here if it wasn’t for her. Nor would the clan.”

  “Lisa has saved my life on more than one occasion too,” Verrian said quietly. “I think an alliance with the humans can only be to our benefit.”

  That earned a wide smile from Taurian. “I’m glad we’re in agreement on that one.” He was quiet for a moment, then said, “Want to talk about it?”

  He didn’t say what. He didn’t have to. Verrian knew.

  He heaved a sigh. “What is there to talk about? We mated because we had no other choice. Now I’m not sure if I’ll ever know if she really cares about me, of if it’s just the mate bond.”

  Taurian frowned. “You care about her?”

  “I…” The words stuck in Verrian’s throat. Why was it so hard to admit? He took a deep breath. “I love her.”

  Taurian smiled. “Have you told her that?”

  Verrian heaved a sigh. “No.”

  How could he explain? Of course Taurian would think that he should just tell Lisa. It was easy for him. One thing Taurian had never lacked was self-confidence.

  Verrian had though he didn’t either. Until the fight. Until he’d realised that his sound powers were next to useless.

  He’d learned a lot about them since then. In the next fight, he wouldn’t be so useless.

  But recapturing that confidence wasn’t so easy.

  Taurian’s eyebrows shot up. “Why not?”

  How could Verrian even begin to explain? Taurian would never understand. “I didn’t get around to it,” he mumbled.

  This time, Taurian’s grin was teasing. “Well, I’m sure it’s easily solved then. Tell her.” His smile turned into a frown. “And get it sorted soon. We need everyone concentrating on how we’re going to survive this, not on their love life.”

  Verrian felt a pang of guilt. Here he was worrying about his own problems, while his brother had been shouldering the responsibility of the whole clan on his own.

  That, at least, Verrian could do something about.

  “What is the situation?” he asked.

  He listened carefully as Taurian explained.

  “Ultrima has been hanging out at the Mesmer chambers, defeating any dragons who tried to wake us. It was Jayrian’s idea to use a human, and it worked brilliantly. Karla managed to get in and wake me, and we escaped before Ultrima could cause any harm. Of course, that didn’t quite work the second time.”

  Verrian nodded. “He attacked while Lisa was waking me. I assume you were ready for that?”

  Taurian nodded. “We were,” he confirmed. “Chase, Lisa’s friend, has something the human’s call fireworks. It turned the tide in our favour. We might even have won, if that reporter hadn’t turned up.”

  Verrian knew all about that part of the story. Except for one bit. “Chase?” he asked.

  Lisa had defended the man, and his choice to mate with Ostrian’s granddaughter.

  Vehemently enough to make Verrian a little jealous.

  He’d thought his question was lightly curious, but apparently he’d been a little too vehement as well.

  Taurian grinned teasingly again. “Jealous, brother? Chase is a good man. Karla assures me that Lisa does not love him. They are close friends apparently.”

  That only made Verrian feel a little better. Not that he wanted to discuss it now, and especially not with his brother.

  “Where is he now?” He didn’t think the human male had been present, or else surely Lisa would have greeted him personally? “Will he help us wake Lyrian?”

  The question drew Taurian back into the clan’s problems. “He is on his station with Wayrian. We’ve sent for them, but I’m not sure that we can afford to wait until they arrive to wake our sister. If Ultrima is distracted, then we need to strike now.”

  “The trouble is, we don’t know what is happening,” Verrian said soberly. “The news is reporting nothing about the human’s actions. Lisa is doubtful that Rita has even given out the details we gave her.”

  Taurian nodded. “That is a problem too. Given the fact that we gave the location of Ultrima’s lair to the humans, we don’t dare get too close to find out what is happening. We’re in limbo.”

  Verrian frowned. “If we wait, we risk losing our chance.”

  Taurian sighed. “I know,” he agreed. “But how large a force do we send? Moving too many dragons around right now is risky. Sending not enough risks them, if Ultrima’s dragons are still around. And even if he’s having issues at his lair, they may not have gotten the message yet.”

  “I’ll go,” Verrian offered immediately. “Apparently Ultrima doesn’t want to kill me. If he did, he would have done it already.”

  Taurian frowned. “I heard about that. Care to fill me in on the details?”

  Verrian shrugged. “He was in Lisa’s apartment when we returned home. My attack practically bounced off him. I couldn’t do anything, but despite having all the advantage, he only wounded me. Then he did his fly over the city thing. Like he was taunting me.”

  That comment drew a half laugh from Taurian. “He seems to be into the taunting thing. Did you hear what he did to Karla and I?”

  “No?” Verrian raised an eyebrow.

  With another laugh, Taurian elaborated. “There was a massive fight, Rian clan and Karla’s friends against the Trima clan. Ultrima was wounded, but not seriously. He offered us a truce—if I mated with Karla.”

  His words made no sense. “Ultrima? Offered you a truce if you mated with Karla? Why?”

  Taurian shrugged. “I have no idea brother. Ostrian thinks it is an attempt to prevent us conceiving a life dragon, he was certain that my mating with Wayrian would do so. Either way, Ultrima has stood by the deal. We haven’t seen him near the lair since.”

  “You think that was why he attacked me but didn’t kill me?” Verrian asked. “Because of this… truce?”

  Taurian frowned for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so,” he said slowly. “He made it quite clear the deal didn’t extend to any of our siblings who were not yet awake. He tried to make a deal for that, but…” He broke off, his frown deepening.

  “What?” Verrian demanded, even though he could make a guess.

  “He wanted to be the one to wake Sarian,” Taurian confirmed. “Of course I refused.” His eyes were still dark, but he shrugged again. “Who knows what goes on in his twisted mind. All I know is, we need to wake the rest of our siblings as soon as possible.”

  “Then let me go,” Verrian said again. “I’m not afraid of Ultrima.”

  He meant it. Somehow, any fear he’d had for facing his enemy was gone.

  It wasn’t that Ultrima hadn’t killed him. Verrian didn’t understand why he hadn’t, and knew he couldn’t count on it.

  No, the real reason he wasn’t afraid was that he knew he wasn’t facing this threat alone. No matter whether she loved him or not, Lisa had already proved she wasn’t going to desert him. And that was before they were mate bonded.

  “Are you sure?” Taurian’s voice was gentle. He hesitated, and Verrian knew just what he was thinking.

  He hadn’t fared so well in their last fight against Ultrima. His defeat had been as quick as it was embarrassing. It was going to take him a long time to live that one down.

  However, that was in the past. He’d learned a lot since then. And he knew he could do this.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” His voice was strong. “I’ve been practicing, and I’m sure I can take out an enemy dragon. I already did when one turned up at Raven’s place. Just ask him. Sure, I can’t go up against Ultrima, but who of us can?”

  For a moment, he thought his brother was going to argue. After all, Lisa had said that he’d gone up against Ultrim
a himself. She’d also said he lost. So he’d done no better than Verrian had.

  “I suppose that might work,” Taurian said slowly. “At most, if our plan works and Ultrima is distracted by the humans, he should only have one dragon there. If not, you can always retreat. The human vehicles are good for that.”

  The thought of retreating stuck in Verrian’s throat, but he didn’t say that.

  He suspected Taurian would understand.

  But even though the fire dragon standing in front of him was his brother, and Verrian loved him like he always had, he could also see that he’d changed.

  While he’d been the only one awake to take charge of the clan, Taurian had grown a lot. The weight of responsibility on his shoulders suited him.

  He would understand, but if Verrian mentioned that he wouldn’t retreat, Taurian wouldn’t let him go.

  So Verrian kept his thoughts to himself, only adding, “The human vehicles are indeed fast.”

  Taurian looked at him searchingly for a moment, then nodded. “If you aren’t too tired, you can go tonight. I’ll round up a few dragons to go with you. Will you take your mate?”

  Verrian nodded immediately. He was sure Lisa would not appreciate being left behind just as much as he was sure she’d be a valuable asset on this trip.

  Chapter 53

  Lisa was so exhausted, she wasn’t in the least bit upset to follow Karla out of the cave instead of going with Verrian.

  It had been a long and confusing day, and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it. A sleep would probably help.

  Maybe then she’d be able to figure out how she felt, and what was going to happen next. Not that anything was predictable around these dragons. She’d probably be dragged out of sleep by another fight.

  All the more reason to rest while she could.

  She’d spent enough time with the dragons that she wasn’t particularly surprised to be shown to an almost empty room, save for the pile of furs in the middle. She didn’t even care that there wasn’t a mattress. She’d sleep on the ground right about now.

  “Thanks,” she said to Karla.

  She expected the woman to leave, but she didn’t.