Dragon Desire

by Juniper Hart

  “You look pleased with yourself, brother,” Owen commented, and Lennox’s smile widened.

  “I feel pleased in general,” was his reply. Owen carefully studied his face.

  “May I ask why?”

  For a fleeting second, Lennox was tempted to respond, to tell him that he had found the woman whom Lucia had prophesized, the one that the pharaoh had said would come. But he did not. And he wouldn’t until Gia had explained to Allegra what was happening. He had promised her that much, and he wasn’t about to go back on his word.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” he asked instead. “I am filthy rich and revered. I have everything I have ever wanted both in the Hollows and in Sunside. I would say my life is good, wouldn’t you?”

  “Some might say your life is too good,” Owen countered. A flash of alarm slid through Lennox, but in his state, his brother could not bring down his good mood; not when he had finally found his mate. Nothing would ruin it for him, much less some petty jealousies.

  “And to that, I would say that some are seething with envy.”

  Owen nodded slowly, a bemused smirk on his face. “And some would say you are delusional. What’s that line that the mortals use, that line from their holy scriptures? Pride comes before the fall?”

  Lennox bristled. “What is your problem, Owen? Are you threatening me?”

  His brother chuckled dryly. “I don’t need to threaten you, Lenny. You’re going to fall all by yourself.”

  “Why are you such an ass? What have I ever done to you?” The smirk on Owen’s face only grew as he stared dubiously at Lennox.

  “You can’t be that oblivious, can you?” he snickered. “It must get cold up there in your ivory tower.”

  “I’m a dragon. I’m never cold,” Lennox snapped back, folding his arms over his chest. It was strange having such a conversation with his brother when he and Owen had always been close. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d had an argument before Mira had granted the wish. Now, all of a sudden, Owen appeared to hate him.

  Almost as much as Lennox himself had hated Wilder before.

  The realization made Lennox’s blood run cold. Could his brothers hate him as much as they had once loathed Wilder?

  That’s impossible! he thought. I don’t treat them anything like Wilder treated us! I’m cool and understanding and—

  “Close your mouth, Lennox. You might catch fairies in it,” Owen chimed, spinning to walk away. Lennox reached out to grab his arm before he could leave.

  “Wait!” he implored, not wanting to leave the discussion on such a note. “What is going on?”

  Owen’s amber-brown eyes flashed, wrenching his arm away as if Lennox’s touch had injured him. “It’s like I said, brother. Your longing for power is going to be your undoing.”

  Defensiveness flared through Lennox, and he advanced on Owen before he could stop himself.

  What longing? I have more power than anyone, anywhere!

  Whatever joy he had experienced with Gia in the library had faded away, replaced by fury.

  “Who’s going to undo me?” Lennox hissed, emerald eyes flashing dangerously as his skin began to scale. How dare his brother imply that he was some deranged, fascist dictator? I’m not like Wilder. I let them do business however they want—as long as it doesn’t interfere with Amarok.

  In his anger, he was beginning to shift, but Owen seemed unperturbed by the outburst.

  “I don’t need to be a wizard to foresee what is going to happen here, Lennox. You will undo yourself, just as all narcissists do.”

  “Narcissist?” he screeched in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind?” Of course this idiot doesn’t realize how good he has it with me! He doesn’t remember what it was like when Wilder was running the show.

  Lennox was hardly aware that their conversation had found an audience as their pitches increased. He was aware of little else than the fact that his blood was boiling and his tail was tearing through the seat of his pants. There was a dull throb at his shoulders, where his wings threatened to sprout, and Lennox knew he was seconds away from a full-fledged transition.

  “You should calm down, Your Highness,” Owen chortled. “You wouldn’t want your loyal subjects to see your ugly side, would you?”

  It was a mocking statement. There was no one in the Hollows who hadn’t seen what the dragons could do, but it had been many, many years since they had to use intimidation to achieve respect.

  Is he goading me? The thought popped into Lennox’s head out of nowhere, and just as quickly as his shift had come on, he willed himself to calm down. In seconds, he was back in his charming, unflappable form, eyeing Owen with contempt and concern.

  “I don’t know what’s going on here,” Lennox told his brother. “But you and the others better step into line before you do something you regret.”

  Owen grinned humorlessly. “Gods forbid, Your Highness. Excuse me.”

  His brother pivoted away, leaving Lennox shaking his head in disbelief. It was only then that he realized that a small crowd had gathered to watch the commotion. Forcing a smile on his face, he waved away his guests.

  “Why are you looking at me like I’m a crab cake?” he demanded. “There’s nothing exciting happening here. Go, enjoy the party.”

  Embarrassed at being caught, they shuffled away. Lennox didn’t immediately follow; he needed a few minutes to collect himself. Why was this bothering him so much? He must have known that he would endure some envy with his wish.

  The truth was, Lennox had not given the situation much thought. He had figured that he would just absorb Wilder’s companies and not be a jerk. His hope had been that all else would fall into place.

  And he had obviously been completely wrong.

  There has to be a way to make the others see I’m not their enemy.

  “There you are!” Lennox turned at the sound of his advisor, Vextor, whose face burst with relief when he saw the prince. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

  “Here I am,” Lennox agreed. “What’s the problem?”

  “Come with me.” Vextor hurried through the party, leaving Lennox to stare after him. The demon advisor paused to glance over his shoulder, gesturing him with a huge, pale hand. “This is private,” he insisted. “Come!”

  Sighing, Lennox turned to look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Gia, but he could not see her in the sea of guests.

  “Lennox!” his advisor called again. “This is important!”

  Lennox swallowed his annoyance and started after him, wondering how such a magical evening had taken such a turn for the worse. Vextor shuffled toward the staircase, and Lennox frowned.

  “This can’t wait?” he called as he hurried to join the advisor’s side.

  “You couldn’t!” Vextor snapped, his eyes flashing with irritation. “Now it can’t!”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lennox said as they made their way to the second floor, stealing through the candlelit shadows of the corridors toward the royal suites.

  Vextor stopped and whirled to look at him face-on.

  “What did you do in the library?” he growled before turning back toward Lennox’s chambers. A warm flush filled the dragon as he recalled the feel of Gia’s skin on his fingers, the scent of her vanilla shampoo in his nostrils.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” he lied, unwilling to tell. Vextor waited as Lennox used his retinal scan to enter his suite and slammed the door closed, folding his arms across his chest as they peered at one another.

  “You don’t?” the demon screamed. “You don’t know what I mean?”

  “You sound like you need a drink,” Lennox said. “Do you need a drink?” Is everyone determined to be pissed at me tonight? This is such a weird evening. Maybe I should call an end to the party—

  “I don’t need a drink!” Vextor yelled, his unusually pale face reddening. “Who were you screwing in the library?”

  Well, that’s crass, the dragon thought, but he sh
ifted his eyes down guiltily. “I don’t know what you’re—”

  “Talking about, yeah, yeah,” Vextor scoffed. “Have you forgotten that you screamed at two of your guests… while you were naked?”

  Lennox had forgotten about that, and a combination of amusement and ire flooded his bones. “They complained that I was naked in my own house? They weren’t supposed to be in the library! That room is off limits!”

  He hated that he was explaining himself to his advisor, but the one thing he had learned in the past month was that he was not alone upon his pedestal. Every action he took, every move he made had repercussions, hence the small team of advisors monitoring him. They claimed it was for the good of the crown, but Lennox sometimes felt as if it was simply a way to make him feel like a chastised toddler.

  “Who were you screwing?” Vextor asked again, his words low. “Was it an employee?”

  Lennox’s brow furrowed as he suddenly realized that Vextor was not merely interested in his love life. There was an unmistakable note of worry in his voice. “What the hell difference does it make?”

  “What diff—? Are you crazy?” the demon howled. “Do you even care about ruling the Hollows?”

  “What are you losing your shit over? Since when does my love life affect my rule? This isn’t the fourteenth century, Vex. I can marry whomever I want.”

  Wait. Had he just said “marry”? He had just met the girl and he was already thinking about such things. Gia was definitely the one.

  “Is something amusing to you?” Vextor cried out.

  Lennox noticed that a soft smile had touched his lips, and he tried to swallow it, sensing that the advisor was on the brink of having a coronary.

  “Vex, take a deep breath and explain to me why you’re having a fit,” the prince offered reasonably, adjusting his tone to show compassion. “What is the big deal if I was having sex in my own house at my own party?”

  “Your Highness,” Vextor began, “please tell me that you’re being coy with me and that you know what will happen if you are caught bedding an employee.”

  Lennox’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t a clue.

  “It is in the bylaws?” Vextor asked, trying to help. “In your contracts?”

  “I’m drawing a blank, Vex.” At Lennox’s perplexed look still on his face, the demon held his head and let out a frustrated sigh before inhaling sharply.

  “If you’re caught disrupting the morals clause of your rule,” he said, his hands dropping to his sides, “you forfeit the right to hold absolute power in the Hollows.”

  “And the morals clause dictates who I can fall in love with?”

  Vextor studied his face pensively, as if he could not believe the words that had just come out of Lennox’s mouth. “You may choose whomever you please—as long as they are not employed by the palace.”

  Lennox was bemused by the revelation, but he knew that Vextor took the contract very seriously.

  “And what if I violate the clause? Who is going to do what?” he laughed. He hadn’t meant to sound so flippant about it. He just couldn’t help himself. His nonchalance, however, seemed to create even more stress in the advisor’s face.

  “Then you are to be immediately dethroned and your title bequeathed to one of your brothers.”

  The smirk fell off Lennox’s face. “What?” he demanded. “Who the hell made this stupid rule?”

  “It’s been in the bylaws for eons!” Vextor exclaimed. “I have no idea who brought it about, but it can only be changed with a majority vote.”

  Lennox took a sharp breath before plastering a smile on his face.

  “Well,” he said brightly. “There’s nothing to worry about. I was alone in the library.”

  “Your Highness—”

  “Unless you can prove otherwise?”

  Vextor shook his head and stared at his feet. “Your Highness, you need to be very careful. There are beings who want you overthrown. You must know that.”

  Beings like my brothers, no doubt, Lennox thought grimly. He wouldn’t give them a chance to steal what was rightfully his; not when he had spent ages being Wilder’s whipping boy.

  Had Mira known about the morals clause when she granted him his wish?

  “Your Highness, whoever this girl is, you must not see her again,” Vextor warned him. “There will be no trial, only immediate reversion of title.”

  “Only if she works at the palace!” Lennox cried suddenly, his eyes brightening as the solution became obvious. Gia had come with Allegra to the party, which meant she was not an employee. There was nothing to worry about.

  You can’t get rid of me that easily, he thought, the taut grin returning to his face. I’ll still have everything I want, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

  8

  Through the palace they ran, Allegra’s hand clasped firmly around Gia’s, like she was worried the fairy would run away.

  “Allegra, please!” Gia gasped breathlessly. “Please tell me where you’re taking me!”

  “We have to get you out of here!” her friend told her urgently.

  “But—I can’t! Lennox is—”

  “Don’t finish that sentence!” Allegra growled while they burst into the chilled air outside the palace walls.

  “I don’t understand why you’re doing this!”

  “I’ll explain when we get away from here. Damn that beast to hell!” Allegra cursed as they continued down the steps of the south entrance. From the direction she was running toward, they were headed into the mushroom forest.

  Four hundred years earlier, someone had read Gia a new story called “Cinderella,” about a servant girl with a glass slipper running from a castle at the stroke of midnight. Gia felt very much like Cinderella at that moment, except the stroke of midnight had been replaced by her wicked stepmother, pulling her away from her Prince Charming.

  That’s not fair! Gia chided herself, looking longingly over her shoulder at the disappearing palace. Allegra is my fairy godmother, not my wicked stepmother! Why is she acting like this?

  Finally, Allegra stopped running, trying to catch her breath. Their eyes shone with the ability to see in their dark habitat, unaided by moon or sunlight beneath the towering mushroom trees.

  “I should have never told him who you were!” Allegra choked, regret coloring her face. She was panting, doubled over to place her palms against her knees. Sweat had formed on her forehead, and Gia stared at her in confusion. Allegra almost seemed to be scared. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Nothing seemed capable of scaring her.

  “He loves me!” Gia heard herself say. The look of pity on Allegra’s face almost made her sick to her stomach.

  “No, honey, he doesn’t,” she told Gia. “Lennox Parker only loves himself.”

  Gia bristled. “You don’t know him!” she cried. As the words left her mouth, though, she realized how pathetic they sounded. Did she herself know anything about Lennox?

  Against her expectations, Allegra didn’t laugh mockingly at her. Instead, she gestured to a lone stump nearby and spoke softly to Gia. “Sit down, Gia. I’ll tell you about Lennox.”

  Gia didn’t want to hear anything that Allegra had to say about the prince, but she recalled what an amazing friend the blonde had been over the past weeks. She didn’t deserve to be dismissed, and even if what she had to say were all lies, the least Gia owed her was to hear her out.

  Reluctantly, Gia took a seat on the stump, and Allegra rose to her full height, pacing around as she began to talk. “Lennox is a playboy, Gia. He has a long line of lovers he’s left behind, women he doesn’t think twice about after he uses them.”

  Gia was not ready to believe the revelation, especially because of the way it made her stomach churn. The connection they had experienced in the library had not been some cheap, sordid affair.

  I was the one who brought up a one-night stand, and he denied it, she reminded herself.

  “I can tell by your face that you don’t believe me,” Allegra continue
d. “And I know he is charismatic and convincing, but he is the ruler of the Hollows. In eons, he has never settled down, not once.”

  Gia stared into Allegra’s eyes and read the sincerity there. Her friend was not tricking her. She was not lying to her. In thousands of years, Lennox had never had a relationship. He was not going to start with Gia, a nobody.

  “I know this is hard to hear—”

  “No,” Gia interrupted, swallowing the bile that had streaked up her throat. “I’m glad you told me. I just… I just feel like an idiot for buying into it.”

  “No!” Allegra cried. “You are not an idiot! You are unlike anyone else from the Hollows. You are good and pure. He’s the idiot for being such an ass.” She leaned forward to squeeze Gia into a hug. “Don’t feel bad about it, Gia. Just don’t get sucked back into it, okay? Focus on yourself and on being happy. You’ll find your mate one day, but it’s not Lennox Parker.”

  Gia pulled away to look at Allegra, who smiled warmly at her.

  “Are you a sorceress?” Gia asked. Allegra blinked and chuckled.

  “I’m a high priestess,” she answered. A shiver coursed through the fairy, and she nodded slowly, lowering her head. “You never knew?” Allegra asked softly.

  It seemed ridiculous that Gia hadn’t known. It made total sense: her radiant confidence, her infinite knowledge, and the extent of her magic.

  She was telling Gia the truth. Now Gia had to let Lennox go.

  It was incredible, the sense of loss which accompanied the understanding, as if a piece of her had been removed. It was ridiculous. Gia hadn’t known the first thing about him to begin with, why was she so devastated?

  “Come on,” Allegra said, extending her hand. “Let’s get out of the forest and find a real party.”

  “Actually, I—I should probably head home,” Gia whispered, feeling the burning of tears behind her eyes. She hoped that they wouldn’t fall while Allegra was watching, though she had a feeling that the priestess knew exactly what she wanted to do.

  “Gia…”