by Rinelle Grey
What would he do if his brother didn’t find his message?
What would he do if something had happened to Nate?
It couldn’t have. Brad refused to believe it.
If he thought hard enough, he could almost imagine he could hear his brother’s voice.
The phone rang loudly in the silent night, startling him.
Brad jumped up and raced to answer it, his heart thudding. “Yes?”
“Hey, bro, what’s up?”
It was a relief to hear Nate’s voice. “Everything,” Brad said with feeling. “But first, where are you, and why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
There was a pause. “I’m the one who should be asking that,” Nate said. “What the hell happened?”
Brad felt guilty for the conversation he’d left half finished. “I did try to call you back, but you weren’t answering.” He hesitated. There was so much to say, so much to explain. And it was going to be hard to get Nate to believe any of it.
It would be so much easier if he were here. If Brad could show him.
“You know when you asked if I needed help? Well, I do. Can you come up here?”
“I’m already here, bro,” Nate said quickly. “I’m at the pub in Mungaloo. I came up straight after that call. But you weren’t at the house, and I couldn’t find you. I’ve been looking everywhere.”
His brother’s voice was worried. And… something else.
Why was he at a pub? Why wasn’t he here at the house if he’d come up to Mungaloo?
Things just didn’t add up.
What was Brad thinking? This was his brother. Hanging around dragons must have messed with his head, if he was doubting Nate. Brad was sure he had a reason for choosing the pub over Henry’s house. Turning up here and finding everyone gone after that phone call must have been a shock.
It would be a bit creepy to hang out here after that.
“I’m sorry,” Brad said again. “Things have been a little… crazy.”
“Yeah, so I gathered. Do you want me to come out now?” Nate said immediately. “I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
Brad did. He’d feel so much better as soon as he saw his brother.
Yet, something held him back. “There’s no rush,” he told Nate. “The morning is fine. It feels better just knowing you’re here.”
It felt weird, not trusting his brother. But somehow, Brad would feel a whole lot better if Nate arrived in daylight. It would be safer for his brother too, he told himself. But it didn’t convince him. For some reason, something just felt wrong.
If it was just him, he wouldn’t hesitate. But Anarian was here too, and Lyrian. Both hopefully sleeping soundly, trusting Brad to keep them safe.
They’d be fine here until the morning. Then, when Nate arrived, they could all plan their next move together.
Despite his concerns, it felt good knowing that in the morning, he’d see Nate.
That he wouldn’t be doing this on his own anymore.
Chapter 11
Lyrian stared nervously at the big, dark car that pulled into the driveway.
What would Brad’s brother think of her? What would he think of Anarian?
And most importantly, would he agree to help them?
The man who climbed out of the car looked so much like Brad it was uncanny. Their faces were so similar, Lyrian wasn’t sure she could tell them apart.
But unlike Brad, who wore a button up shirt with a collar, Nate wore a casual grey t-shirt. His hair was more untidy, more rumpled than the always neat Brad.
And for some reason, when he smiled, it had no effect on Lyrian whatsoever.
The smile Brad gave though, when he saw his brother step out of the car, made her stomach do flip flops. He seemed so happy, so carefree.
Something he certainly hadn’t been with her last night.
Oh, he’d tried to hide it. Tried to be cheerful and happy, and play with Anarian, but she could see that he was hurting. All because of her.
She never would have imagined, back when he’d visited the first time, that they’d end up here. Of course, because of that, it hadn’t occurred to her to explain the whole story to him.
If she’d known it would come back to bite her now, she would have told him everything.
Or maybe she wouldn’t have slept with him at all.
It was all too hard, and right now, she needed to focus on finding her brothers. Maybe once that was taken care of, she’d be able to figure this out.
Or maybe it would be too late, and she’d just have to accept what she had.
“So this is the mysterious Lyrian.”
Brad’s brother walked up the stairs, Brad just a step behind him.
Nate smiled at her, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Instead, he seemed to be searching her face, as though looking for something in it.
What was wrong?
Lyrian began to feel a little uncomfortable.
“Yes, this is Lyrian.” Brad’s voice was a little short too. Probably because he didn’t want to answer questions about their relationship right now. But it didn’t help Lyrian feel any better.
He didn’t seem to notice that his brother was acting weird.
“And this is Anarian?” Nate stared down at the baby, then across at Brad, as though comparing them.
It hit her what he was doing.
She was so surprised she blurted it out before thinking. “You don’t think she’s Brad’s baby.”
To his credit, as soon as she said the words, Nate’s face reddened, and he immediately stammered an apology. “No, that’s not it at all…” He trailed off.
Brad was looking just as upset as she was, Lyrian was relieved to notice. “Why on earth would you doubt that?” he demanded. He put an arm around Lyrian’s shoulders, and she was grateful for the support.
Grateful that it was automatic, even after the last few days.
“It’s not…” Nate trailed off. He looked from Brad to Lyrian and back again. “How about we go inside, and I’ll explain.”
Explain what? What was his brother up to? Lyrian felt uneasy.
“Oh, wait. The dogs. I’d better let them out of the car.”
Nate turned and headed back down the stairs towards the car. First he opened the back, and out jumped Luna.
Any bad feelings Lyrian had almost disappeared at that. “You had Luna!”
Nate scooped a puppy out of the back seat, and walked back up the stairs. “Yes, I arrived here yesterday morning and found her all alone. I couldn’t leave her here. I figured you guys must have left in quite a hurry to forget her.”
There was no judging attached to his statement, but it made Lyrian feel bad anyway. She shouldn’t have forgotten about Luna.
It shouldn’t have been up to Nate to rescue her, especially not since he apparently already had a puppy of his own. A very cute puppy too.
He set the pup down on the ground, and she looked around at the three people watching her. Lyrian braced herself for the barking. Luna had barked like crazy when she’d first seen her, even in human form, but the little puppy barely reacted. She sniffed Brad’s feet, then Lyrian’s, then wandered back to Nate.
It was almost as if she’d smelled a dragon before.
Lyrian glanced up at Nate, only to find him regarding her with the same suspicion.
What was going on?
“Let’s go inside and have that chat,” Brad said pointedly.
Lyrian followed him inside, but she made sure to take a seat at the table as far from Nate as she could. If he weren’t Brad’s brother, if he didn’t look so like him, she’d be asking him to leave about now.
“So what’s going on?” Brad asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother.
Nate looked at him for a minute, then at Lyrian. “How about you tell me what’s going on? What happened that night?”
It was obvious he was avoiding the question.
Brad must be able to see it too. But he let it slide.
�
��We were attacked,” he said quietly.
“By what?”
He didn’t say by who. It had to be because he knew. Lyrian could only think of two possible ways he might know about dragons, and she was pretty sure that if he’d met one of her brothers, they’d be here with him.
She leaned forwards across the table, not even caring that her eyes transformed into dragon eyes as she glared at him. “I don’t care that you’re Brad’s brother, if you lead her to us, I’ll…”
“Woah,” Brad said, putting a hand on her arm. “How about you let him explain before you jump to conclusions, Lyrian.”
“No, she’s right,” Nate said, his voice soft. “I almost did lead her to both of you. I had no idea…” his voice trailed off, and suddenly he looked tired and defeated. And a little sad.
He’d been taken in by the Trima dragon.
Staring into his eyes, Lyrian suspected he’d been taken in in more ways than one.
She almost felt sorry for him.
Or she would have, if the dogs didn’t suddenly start barking.
If she didn’t hear a flap of wings.
If she didn’t smell Trima dragon.
The sharp, tangy, slightly burnt smell stung her nostrils, and set her adrenaline racing.
Nate had deceived them. Distracted them while the Trima dragon got close enough.
Lyrian sucked in her breath.
There was no avoiding this battle any longer. She was going to have to deal with the other dragon if she was to have any hope of finding her brothers. If she was going to be able to raise Anarian in peace. This dragon needed to go.
She hesitated only a moment before handing Anarian to Brad.
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.
“Don’t trust him,” she said shortly.
Then she headed to the front door, beginning the transformation as she went.
Chapter 12
Brad stared after Lyrian, watching her hands turn into claws and grow blue scales as she ran towards the door, ripping it open.
He’d never seen her like this before. It was quite a shock to see his beautiful, gentle, happy Lyrian changing into a dragon warrior. Brad wanted to rush after her, to see her complete the transformation.
To see her as the dragon she truly was.
But first he had something else to deal with.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded, looking at his brother.
Nate was white as a sheet. “She must have followed me somehow, the other dragon,” he said. “I swear I didn’t lead her here deliberately, Brad. You have to believe me.”
Of course he did. He’d no more believe his brother had set out to intentionally hurt him than that the sky was falling.
Or dragons existed.
He caught a blur of blue as Lyrian flashed past the open door, fully dragon now, launching into the air.
Brad swore.
He stared at Anarian, who Lyrian had handed to him so trustingly. How could he help her while he was holding the baby?
What could he do against a dragon anyway? He didn’t even know where to start. He had no plan, no strategy at all.
What he wanted was to grab the gun, rush out the door, and make it up as he went along.
He glanced over at Nate, but even before the thought had formed, he knew he couldn’t hand the baby to his brother. Lyrian would be furious, and rightly so. She hadn’t known his brother for as long as he had. In her mind, all the evidence pointed to a conclusion not to trust him.
And Nate wasn’t exactly volunteering anyway. Not to hold the baby. His face was panicked and he stared at Brad for a moment, then ran out after Lyrian.
What was he doing? What reason did he have to rush out into a dragon battle? Yes, he might feel guilty about having caused it, but what could he do? His brother had always been the more daring one, but what did he really hope to accomplish with this? It was sheer stupidity.
Especially since he didn’t even know to take the shotgun.
Brad swore again.
This was like that first fight all over again. That dragon was going to attack Lyrian, and he could do nothing. This time, he couldn’t shoot, even if someone had handed him a gun, because he was holding the baby.
He looked down at the baby in his arms, frustrated. The loaded shotgun was under his bed, ready to go.
But Lyrian had trusted him with their daughter. Told him to protect her.
Brad’s resolve hardened. The best way to protect her was to be out there, defending her mother.
His decision made, Brad raced into the bedroom and laid Anarian down, then raced back to the other room to grab the shotgun, his heart racing.
What was he missing? Would the fight be over before he could even get there?
*****
Sunlight glinted off silver scales, setting Lyrian’s blood boiling, spoiling any enjoyment she might have had at taking flight in dragon form for the first time in many months.
If that Trima dragon thought she was capable of defeating a princess, then she had another thing coming, lightning dragon or no lightning dragon.
Lyrian quickly reviewed all her possible attacks while creating a wall of air around her, hoping to at least prevent some of the Trima dragon’s lightning from reaching her.
The lightning dragon touched down in front of her and folded her wings. She had no wounds at all, it was as if Brad had never shot her. Someone had helped her heal, and Lyrian was pretty sure she knew who.
The Trima dragon’s stance was rigid and stiff, but she didn’t move to attack. She didn’t even take a step towards Lyrian.
Lyrian hovered just above the ground, glad of the reprieve. Glad of the chance to prepare.
But why was the Trima dragon giving her that time?
“I don’t want to fight you, Princess,” the Trima dragon said into her head, confusing Lyrian even more.
Lyrian also lowered herself to the ground, keeping the wall of air between her and the other dragon. “Why are you here then?”
“Where is the human?”
What? Lyrian’s heart skipped a beat. Was the Trima dragon after Brad? But why? He had no connection to dragons other than her.
She heard running footsteps behind her, and it took all her willpower not to swing around and look.
She knew it wasn’t Brad. She’d recognise his footsteps. So they had to be his brother.
Was the human trying to distract her? To get her to look away from the Trima dragon and give it a chance to attack?
She certainly wasn’t going to be caught out by that. She had nothing to fear from a puny human, even if he intended to attack her from behind.
But no, Nate didn’t attack, or come up behind her. In fact, he jumped in front of her, standing between her and the Trima dragon. “If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me.”
Lyrian would have laughed at the absurdity of it, of a human, thinking the Trima dragon might be afraid of him, if she hadn’t been so touched.
She’d misjudged Brad’s brother.
Whatever had happened before they’d arrived, whatever mistakes he’d made, he was obviously determined to make up for them now.
She was glad he was behind her wall of air, even though he couldn’t see it. She didn’t want to see the other dragon hurt him. Brad was going to need him.
Especially if she didn’t survive this fight.
*****
Brad raced out to stand beside his brother in front of Lyrian, the shotgun ready. It might not kill the dragon, but it would help distract her, make her weak, and easier for Lyrian to attack.
But the enemy dragon wasn’t attacking. Neither was Lyrian. They were both just standing there staring at each other.
“Stand aside, humans.” A loud voice boomed in Brad’s head, making him wince. It had to be the enemy dragon. “This is between the princess and me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“No,” he shouted back. “I won’t let you hurt her.”
&nb
sp; He pointed the gun towards the other dragon, his finger on the trigger, ready to fire if she so much as moved.
But before he could even aim properly his brother lunged for the weapon, trying to push the barrel down, away from the other dragon. “Don’t shoot.”
The movement jerked Brad’s hand, and even though he hadn’t intended to, the weapon fired. The bullets hit the dirt in front of the dragon, ricocheting back up and peppering her legs.
What the hell?
Brad glared at his brother as the dragon gave a screech of mingled pain and anger.
Nate stared back, just as defiantly. Just as desperately. His eyes flicked towards the dragon as she cried out, her pain reflected in his eyes.
Had Lyrian been right? Was Nate on the wrong side of this dragon war?
If so, what was he doing standing in front of Lyrian? Brad shook his head. He couldn’t figure it out, and now wasn’t the time. That dragon was angry now, and he had only one more shot before he reloaded.
He lifted the gun again.
“Don’t hurt her,” Nate said desperately. “Please.”
Had the other dragon bewitched his brother somehow? Was that even possible?
Brad remembered how he’d felt about Lyrian, from the first moment he’d seen her. It was entirely possible, even if it hadn’t been her intention.
“She’s trying to hurt Lyrian,” Brad said firmly. “I can’t let her do that.”
He glanced over at the other dragon, searching for any sign that she was taking advantage of Nate distracting him and moving to attack.
But she hadn’t moved. She just stared at them, as though she were waiting to see what would happen too.
“Let me take care of it,” Nate said desperately. He stared at Brad for a moment, then across at the Trima dragon. “I can take care of it,” Nate repeated. Then he let go of the gun and turned and walked towards the other dragon, his hands out as though he could somehow keep her calm.
It seemed to work. The other dragon just stood there, watching him, making no effort to attack him or Lyrian.
Lyrian watched him go, her sky blue dragon eyes whirling. Her expression looked stony, but then again, Brad had no idea what dragon expressions looked like. That could be her happy face.
