Winter's Dragons. Melting Ice: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Soulmates of Seasons Book 1)

by Eva Brandt

  His voice was both fierce and soft, and I knew he was trying to convince himself more than me. “Nobody is always right, Kerryn. You know that. Not even females. She might be strong, but she isn’t invulnerable. And I think that if we’re here now, it must be for a reason. We promised to stay by her side, and technically she agreed. How can we do that if we’re separated?”

  “She agreed, but she didn’t mean it literally,” Kerryn answered. “You know that, Raijin.”

  Yes, I did know. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been here to begin with, and I’d have followed her back to her palace instead.

  “I wanted to ask to go with her as her escort,” Emmerich admitted tentatively. “I doubt that capturing this sole male is a mission that needs all of us, and the two of you could’ve easily found him without me. But... I didn’t get the chance to offer.”

  None of us had. She had left so quickly after the conversation with the hydra, still troubled about the news of Jack Frost’s behavior. We really should’ve done more.

  “It’s too late now. We’ll have to talk it over with her once we get back and explain our concerns.” After all, what was the point of the three of us having agreed to pursue a shared relationship with Cheimon, if we didn’t do our duties as her males? Respecting her wishes was all well and good, but she still needed protection.

  Motion from the door of the brothel forced us to set our conversation aside. A lone bleary-eyed satyr emerged from the building and flicked the sign from closed to open. “Finally,” I mumbled. “Let’s get this done already.”

  Together, the three of us emerged from our less than ideal hiding place and dashed toward the brothel. By some sort of miracle, we managed to not get hit by any hail stones, although dodging the projectiles reminded me an awful lot of the games we used to play as hatchlings in Terra Dracones.

  We were not hatchlings any longer, but males attempting to keep a promise to our would-be mate. This was not a game, since if it had been, one of us would’ve probably found a way to cheat, just so that we could return to Cheimon’s side sooner.

  We didn’t have the benefit of any shortcuts, though, so we proceeded with our original plan. Emmerich knocked at the door of the brothel, and it slid aside smoothly, allowing us entry. So far, so good.

  The first thing that hit me upon gaining access to the establishment was the strong scent of alcohol. This did not surprise me, as everything in this settlement—and possibly, this entire realm—appeared to be about two things alone, wine and rain.

  The brothel itself couldn’t have been more different from the structures I’d seen in Tou Cheimóna if it had tried. Decorated in rich shades of red, brown and gold, it was a lavish space that practically screamed “come here to indulge.” The tables overflowed with ripe fruit and freshly made meals. Each individual settee probably had the same amount of furs and pillows our entire ‘room’ in Cheimon’s palace had been equipped with. The only thing that felt familiar was the way the tapestries on the walls glowed with magic. It reminded me a little of the ice engravings I’d seen in the corridors of Cheimon’s home.

  Somewhat reluctantly, I had to admit that I liked it. In fact, at a different time, I would’ve very much enjoyed coming here as a patron, and possibly looking into liberating some of the golden works of art from their current satyr owners. The thought appealed even now, since we’d yet to find something to gift Cheimon with. But we could not provide for her that way, and hunting for treasures was not why we’d come here.

  I took a quick look around, scanning the receiving room of the brothel for any signs of the missing Jack Frost. Predictably, he was nowhere in sight, although the establishment already hustled and bustled with activity. That didn’t surprise me, even if I hadn’t seen anyone come in while we had waited. Lerna had already told us that satyr brothels catered heavily to customers who stayed overnight or longer. Judging by the intoxicated appearance of many of the patrons, she had been correct.

  Despite the high number of people already present, a satyr appeared by our side instants after we came in. He did not seem in the least bit taken aback by our wet to the bone appearance. Then again, he was probably used to travelers in the same condition visiting his establishment.

  “Welcome,” he said, his lecherous gaze raking over our sodden forms like a physical and somewhat disturbing touch. “What can The Dancing Satyr do for you handsome gentlemen?”

  “We’d like a private room with availability to a bath, please,” I replied, studiously ignoring the fact that the satyr was naked and already seemed to have an erection.

  The satyr licked his lips and nodded. “Will that be a private room for each of you, an apartment, or one sole individual room?”

  I mentally gauged the provided options, then took a wild guess and answered, “An apartment.”

  “Of course, Sir.” The satyr grinned and his erect dick twitched at his enthusiasm over having new and wealthy customers. “We will prepare an apartment for you at once. While you wait, please feel free to sample any of our wares. We have an excellent selection of foodstuffs, beverages and companions you can pick from.”

  He was probably telling the truth, but neither I nor my fellow dragons had much interest in his products. We had originally intended to ask about Jack Frost outright, but Lerna had warned us against doing that too. Satyrs had very specific rules about client confidentiality. Not only would they refuse to answer our questions, but they’d also make it difficult for us to track Jack down by ourselves.

  Since Jack had already been gone for a good couple of days, it stood to reason that he’d be in the private section of the brothel. Once we managed to gain entry there, it would be easy to find him. Or so I hoped.

  There was, of course, a chance that Lerna could’ve been wrong. I hadn’t been able to get a good feel of Jack Frost’s magic before we’d left The Bridge of Frosted Leaves, so I couldn’t be sure. I’d have to ask Kerryn to double-check.

  I waited until the satyr led us to a table and brought us some hot, mulled wine, and then did exactly that. “Anything?”

  “He’s here all right,” Kerryn replied. “I can smell him. In the upper section of the brothel, like we expected.”

  “So far, so good,” Emmerich mused. “Do you suppose there will be additional guards at that level?”

  “There’s a good chance of that being the case, yes. We’re going to have to find a way to deal with them inconspicuously.”

  Dragons were not exactly known for our ability to be inconspicuous, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t do our best anyway, for our female’s sake. We had promised Cheimon that we would be discreet, and we had to keep that promise.

  The satyrs moved as quickly and efficiently as they had claimed, and before long, a suite of rooms was prepared for us. Like I had hoped, the apartment was in a more exclusive section of the brothel than the smaller rooms, and that already brought us closer to our destination.

  We ran into a small hiccup when it became obvious that the satyrs had recruited a group of nymphs to encourage us to... sample their wares. The females in question were waiting for us in the bathing chamber of the apartment, completely naked.

  “Oh, hello there, gentlemen,” a slender, blue-eyed blonde said as she glided up to us. “I hope you don’t mind us inviting ourselves to your little party. My name is Cyrrha, and these are my friends, Dodone, Bretia and Aora. Welcome to The Dancing Satyr.”

  “I hope you’ve been enjoying your visit so far,” the curvaceous red-head Cyrrha had identified as Dodone continued. “We do apologize for the presumptuousness, but we just had to make sure you had everything you needed.”

  A little while ago, I would’ve embraced the offer the nymphs were making with both hands, and maybe other, additional appendages. However, that was before I had met Cheimon. No woman, no matter how beautiful, could compare to her.

  “Err... Thanks,” I said, “We’re really flattered, but there’s actually someone else.”

  “Someone else?” Dodone repeated
in disbelief. “Another woman?”

  I mentally backtracked, remembering every single time my mother had told me to never piss a female off. Redheads were said to be particularly dangerous. But how in the name of the gods was I supposed to let a nymph down without denying my connection to Cheimon?

  Before I could come up with something to say, Emmerich spoke up in my stead. “She is actually our betrothed, you see. You are all lovely, and if things had been different, we’d have been very happy to give you pleasure. But it wouldn’t be right, not when we have her.”

  That was not completely accurate, as we hadn’t spoken about commitment of any kind with Cheimon. We knew what we wanted, but at the same time, we could not expect her to accept us overnight, without having proven ourselves to her properly.

  Still, the whole story would’ve been convoluted and too private to share with a random nymph, so that explanation was as good as any. It also didn’t suffice to calm down our unwanted guests.

  “Why come here at all if not seeking companionship of the sexual kind?” the brunette nymph introduced as Bretia asked, narrowing her eyes at Emmerich in visible suspicion.

  “Our betrothed is in some trouble and we’re helping her with it,” Kerryn explained. “We ran into The Dancing Satyr while we were trying to get to where we need to go.”

  It was true, in a way, although it was also very vague, and the nymphs couldn’t have possibly missed it. I dreaded the possibility of them pushing for more information, since I had no idea what we were supposed to say.

  Fortunately, the nymphs didn’t ask. Perhaps they realized we had our reasons for being vague. “You know what?” Cyrrha commented. “I think I believe you.”

  Dodone collapsed dramatically onto Cyrrha’s naked back. “What a shame. I was excited about having some variety on the menu too.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about being identified as part of a ‘menu’, but I decided to let it go. The last nymph—Aora, if I remembered correctly—let out a disgruntled sigh. “Didn’t I tell you? All the good ones are either homosexual, taken or both.”

  “Yes, yes,” Cyrrha offered. “Well, let it not be said that we don’t respect the wishes of our customers, or their commitments. Come on, ladies. I’m sure we can find some patrons who have not been fortunate enough to have such fulfilling love lives.”

  With that, the nymphs all grabbed their abandoned dresses and soundlessly slid out of the bathing chamber. As the door closed behind Aora, Emmerich let out a sigh of relief. “That was close. I thought I’d made a mistake when I mentioned the betrothal thing.”

  “I thought they’d find it suspicious that we’d all be betrothed to the same woman,” Kerryn replied.

  True. It hadn’t occurred to me, but Emmerich had slipped up a bit when he’d let that detail out.

  Well, anyway, it didn’t matter, as long as the excuse had worked. “Maybe betrothals are different here,” I said, shrugging. “It’s beside the point. Let’s just start looking for the Jack Frost male. We’ve wasted enough time here already, and Cheimon is waiting for us.”

  “I think he’s close by,” Kerryn answered. “Follow me.”

  * * *

  Emmerich

  After all the convoluted nonsense we’d been forced to deal with just to sneak into the brothel, finding Jack Frost turned out to be breathtakingly simple. He was two doors down from us, in an unguarded room hidden behind a gold curtain.

  Of common accord, we all stopped three feet away from it. “This isn’t right,” I said. “It can’t possibly be this easy.” If Lerna was to be believed and the satyrs were so keen on protecting their patrons’ privacy, they would’ve made more of an effort at making sure no one with hidden intentions got in.

  Raijin tilted his head and peered closer at the door. “There’s some kind of enchantment on the curtain, but I think I can unravel it. Just give me a minute and keep an eye out for any security.”

  Kerryn and I complied. Magic of a more mystical nature was Raijin’s specialty, so hopefully, he’d get this done quickly. He had a lot of incentive. We all did.

  Time ticked past at an almost excruciating pace. Any moment now, I expected someone to burst into the corridor and force us to resort to methods we had already decided to avoid. I sighed, a part of me still wishing we could’ve turned to the long-standing tradition of evisceration as a tool in our quest. “Things really would’ve been so much simpler if we hadn’t been forced to play nice,” I murmured.

  “Get used to it,” Kerryn replied. “Cheimon is a queen. We can’t go blowing things up like we did in Terra Dracones.”

  I briefly entertained the thought that it would’ve been nice to have Cheimon as a female back at home. My parents would’ve liked her, even if they weren’t keen on us mating outside our species.

  Then again, that would’ve involved Cheimon meeting everyone in my clan. I could already imagine the fight that would’ve broken out over such a female in Land der Drachen. No, it was so much better that we were here. It felt right to have this agreement with Raijin and Kerryn, but I didn’t think I would have reacted as well had anyone other than them dared to approach Cheimon. Absently, I wondered why that was.

  “I got it!” Raijin whispered behind us. “I’ve unlocked the door.”

  I was still a little wary of what could be waiting for us inside that apartment, since Cheimon had acknowledged Jack as a powerful magic user in his own right. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. He was indeed inside the room, lying in a bed almost big enough to hold me in dragon form, but he was completely unconscious.

  The room itself had probably seen better days. There was broken glass and spilled wine everywhere, and I could’ve sworn the tapestries seemed scorched around the edges.

  “Was there someone else here?” I asked, trying to get a feel for any alien presences, but failing to find anything at all.

  “Probably, yes,” Raijin answered.

  “I don’t think so, no,” Kerryn said at the same time.

  Well, that was incredibly helpful. Not. Also not at all confusing. As much as I appreciated having Raijin and Kerryn around to aid me in my quest, this was one of those times when I was reminded why we never used to get along, before Cheimon. “I suppose the only thing that matters is that they’re not here now. Come on. Let’s just grab him and get out of here.”

  I might have pretended otherwise, but I was as antsy about being away from Cheimon as Raijin, and every extra second we spent here added to that burden. I didn’t know if I’d be able to hold onto my composure should we be stuck in this place for much longer.

  Without bothering to wait for a reply, I made a beeline for the bed and reached for Jack’s unconscious form. There was no reaction from the man himself when I picked him up, but the moment I draped him over my shoulder, all hell broke loose.

  The door burst open once again, and the nymphs we’d spoken to earlier rushed into the room. “I knew it,” Bretia said with a smug smile. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

  “And here I had hoped that you would prove us wrong.” Dodone sighed, as if she truly was disappointed by our deception. “How foolish. I can’t begin to understand how you thought you could hide your ulterior motives from us.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but we’ve actually already explained what our ulterior motives are,” Raijin pointed out, not sounding in the least bit shocked by this development. Truth be told, I wasn’t either. The nymphs had given up much too quickly earlier.

  “Please.” Cyrrha sneered, her full lips curled into a disdainful smirk. “As if we could believe that foolish story about your... betrothed. No man, no matter how dedicated he is to his partner, can resist the beauty of a nymph.”

  The implied insult to Cheimon was impossible to let slide. “That’s actually very arrogant. You’re not that special. Just because you’re beautiful doesn’t mean everyone will necessarily be attracted to you. And for the record, compared to our female, you might as well be a harpy.”

&nb
sp; At my words, Cyrrha’s lovely face twisted into a mask of rage. “You dare mock us? Die now!”

  Magic exploded from her fingertips, a jet of water manifesting out of nowhere and rushing toward us. The other nymphs did not even bother with uttering vocal threats. They simply mimicked their blonde friend and attacked. The floor opened up and vines erupted from beneath our feet, slashing through the air like thorn-covered whips. Massive snakes crawled out from the corners of the room, hissing as they responded to the call of their mistresses.

  How cute.

  Raijin twisted his fingers, and Cyrrha’s water magic stopped mid-air and turned around, back toward its source. Kerryn took one step forward and let out a hiss of his own. It only took him a second, but it was more than enough. The snakes rethought their course of action and scrambled to hide, acknowledging the superiority of the far stronger reptile in the room. I decided to take out my anger on those ridiculous vines. Clenching my fist, I summoned my elemental powers to my aid and threw a massive fire bolt at the far too mobile vegetation.

  The flash of fire that followed also ended up shattering all the windows in the room and was probably overkill. My companions might have been able to deal with the vines in a way that caused less property damage. However, the nymphs were in the way, and both them and their little tricks needed to be neutralized at once.

  Obviously, we had failed in our mission to stay discreet, and that frustrated me, since I hated breaking a promise to my female. At this point, we could do nothing but go along with it and end the battle as quickly as possible.

  Kerryn seemed to have the same idea, because he opened his mouth and blew a gust of green-tinted air toward the nymphs. They didn’t realize the danger, and two seconds later, they dropped to the floor, their magic nullified by the poison in Kerryn’s breath.

  “Just so you know,” Kerryn told their unconscious bodies, “I’d have preferred to not hurt you. But you only have yourselves to blame for this.”

  I extracted the money pouch from my pocket and set it down on Dodone’s chest. “To cover expenses?” Kerryn asked, arching a brow at me.