Tristan raised hesitant eyes to him. “How much?”
“Just that they mate in pairs usually,” Xander said. “But since you’re always a spoilsport…”
“You’re just trying to get to me,” Tristan said, stroking a hand gently over Kelsie’s back.
“About time you see that,” Xander muttered, pulling his cereal back in front of him and taking a huge bite.
“Besides,” Tristan said, “in those triads, they don’t have sexual contact with each other. They simply both love their mate.”
“Huh,” Xander said. “Can’t imagine it. Nope, don’t want to.” He shook his head. “Those douchebags can fuck however they want.”
“If they’re douchebags, why do they get more rights than you?” Kelsie asked. “And why do they get to make your life so hard?”
“They were just born right,” Xander said, finishing his disgusting cereal and dropping the bowl in the dishwasher. “Lucky, I guess.”
“Have you talked to them?” Kelsie asked. “Really talked to them or this oracle person?”
Tristan froze around her, and when she looked up, his face was pale. “No,” he said firmly. “I’ve heard enough about her to know it wouldn’t end good.”
Kelsie’s body felt tight and nervous. “But if I’m with you, if you start going out more, isn’t that risky?”
Tristan tilted her chin up for a kiss. “I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes. I can’t let you leave my side.”
“Well, that’s my cue to leave,” Xander said, propping his hands behind his head as he walked past them. “Think I’ll shoot some hoops for a while before my nap.”
“Did you even go to bed?” Tristan asked, exasperated.
Xander just ignored them, disappearing down the hallway toward his room.
Tristan sighed as he pulled out a stool for Kelsie and helped her onto it. “Why did you get up without me?”
“I wanted to make you breakfast,” she said. “But then Xander was in here.”
“Well, I trust my brother, despite his poor taste in jokes. But next time, wake me so I can make breakfast for you.”
She squinted at him. “That would defy the point. I wanted to make breakfast for you.”
He’d already been rummaging in the cupboards, and he looked genuinely stunned by her words. “But why?”
“Because I like you, Tristan. Because any dragon group who didn’t want you around is stupid. Because the oracle is an idiot if she thinks a dragon like you isn’t worthy.” She grumbled to herself as Tristan set a muffin and cup of yogurt in front of her. “I’d like to meet her and give her a piece of my mind.”
“Since she’s the leader of the whole shifter world, which you aren’t supposed to know about and I’m not supposed to be involved in, I hope you never do.”
She took a bite of her muffin and chewed thoughtfully. “But, Tristan, what’s going to happen? If I stay here, if we keep… pursuing things, won’t it potentially go bad?”
“Maybe,” he said. “But the truth is…” He trailed off as he faced the counter. “The truth is…”
A loud knock sounded on the door, making both of them jump.
Suddenly, loud footsteps shook the ground, and Xander was jogging out to join them.
“Dude, they’re here.”
“What do you mean they’re here?”
“I was changing, and I saw them land. You’re not going to like it.”
“Who?” Tristan’s face was white now, his blue eyes vivid and stark. “Which pair?”
“Purple and gold.”
Tristan swore. “The leaders. Just my luck.” He turned to Xander. “I’ll get the door. Get Kelsie somewhere safe, then come out.”
Xander nodded. “I got you, bro.” He took Kelsie by the wrist and pulled her away from the kitchen, though she wanted to stay by Tristan’s side.
“No, wait. We were talking—”
“No time,” Xander said firmly. “Tristan’s going to have a hell of a time talking his way out of this one. He can’t do it if he’s worried about you.”
He shoved her into Tristan’s room, ready to shut and lock the door behind her.
“Wait,” she said. “What if he needs me?”
“He needs you to be safe,” Xander said. “We both do. You’re changing everything, Kelsie, but you have to be careful too.” He shook his head. “You really are a dragon heart.”
She sighed. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I just want Tristan’s heart.”
Xander’s eyes were soft as he looked down at her. “Exactly why you need to stay here and safe while we work this out. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with this.” His blue eyes were pleading. “Stay here, please?”
She finally nodded. “Fine. I’ll stay here, but don’t let him get hurt.”
“Of course,” Xander said. Then he shut the door, and once Kelsie locked it behind him, she heard his footsteps fade away as he left down the hall.
Chapter 18
It was all of Tristan’s worst fears coming true at one time.
Being discovered. Being found at his residence. Having the top couple of the dragon group come after him, the ones who communicated most directly with the oracle.
And having Kelsie, the most important person in the world to him, in the same building, where Tristan wouldn’t be able to protect her if a fight broke out.
He focused hard on staying calm to keep the sweat from breaking out on his forehead.
If he showed any weakness to these assholes, it would only be worse.
When Xander was back in the room and gave him a nod that Kelsie was safe, Tristan opened the door to stop the insistent knocking that was shaking the whole frame.
The men in front of him were about what he had expected.
The purple dragon had a calmer bearing about him. He was wearing a navy-blue down parka, and his clean, close-cut brown hair was shaved on the sides and short on the top.
His purple eyes were friendly behind glasses that perched on his nose, looking more stylish than useful.
He might have looked more human than dragon if not for his height of about six feet four and his musculature that couldn’t be hidden by a parka.
His partner, however, was dragon through and through.
The gold dragon had medium-length dark-bronze hair that grew over his collar, a little longer than Tristan’s. His exotic golden eyes glowed, and his skin was tan and smooth-looking.
He was also bigger than his partner, closer to Tristan’s own height of around six feet six.
He wore a black wool coat over khaki chinos that barely fit his huge thighs.
He glared at Tristan. “What are you looking at?”
“You came to our door,” Xander said, stepping in front of Tristan protectively, blocking the way into the apartment. “Now tell us what you want and move on.”
The purple dragon stepped forward, and his tone was mild but firm. “I believe you know what we want. Since it smells like human in here.”
Tristan tried to hide his reaction, but Xander merely scoffed. “I can get action when I want to. There’s no law against it.”
“Not in the human world,” the purple dragon said, poking a finger into Xander’s chest and moving him backward into the apartment.
Xander had no choice but to allow him if he wanted to avoid a fight.
The purple dragon backed Xander up until both he and his partner were inside the apartment, and then the gold dragon kicked the door shut behind them.
“Nice,” the gold dragon said, looking around. “Better than I expected for a couple of turncoats.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “Turncoats?”
The purple dragon took out his phone and tapped it a couple of times, then held it out for Tristan and Xander to look at.
There was a photo of the pile of cars being held up by nothing at all, seemingly hovering around a human woman.
How someone had been fast enough to take the shot, Tristan didn’t know.
The gold dragon leaned against the counter. “We talked to the humans at the site. They said she was with someone who looked just like you. You think we don’t investigate in our own territory?”
“Not well enough,” Tristan said. “I met her because you weren’t doing your job.”
“We can’t save everyone,” the gold dragon said, though he looked miffed by it. “And we don’t need help from useless dragons who turned their backs on their own kind.”
Xander made a sound of pure rage and frustration as he got right in the gold dragon’s face. “Turned our backs? Useless? Your type keeps chasing us from town to town, breathing down our necks.”
“I’d heard of you two,” the purple dragon said calmly, pushing his glasses up his perfect nose. “There were rumors of a pair of red dragons. I didn’t know you were real. Why are you avoiding the oracle?”
“Ha!” Xander said. “Like we’d let you trick us into going to see her.”
The gold and purple dragons looked at each other, perplexed.
Then the gold dragon stepped forward protectively in front of his partner. “If you’re an enemy of the oracle, you’re an enemy of ours. That means we have to take you in.”
“No,” Xander snapped, blocking the way to Tristan. “We aren’t going anywhere. We’re not doing any harm, and it’s none of your business.”
“We saw you in the alley,” the purple dragon said. “We were about to intervene when you stepped in. We were willing to give you the benefit of the doubt at first because you did help someone. But then we realized it was all part of a plan to steal one of the dragon hearts in our area, and we can’t let you do that.”
The gold dragon’s hard features tightened, the gold in his eyes gleaming dangerously. “We don’t let anyone fuck with our potential mates.”
“This is stupid,” Xander said, almost shouting now. “No one is stealing anything, and we aren’t doing any harm to anyone. Now just—”
“Not doing any harm?” The purple dragon’s tone was soft but deadly. “Your mistake caused quite a stir on Instagram. You should know how important it is that most humans don’t know of our existence. Even if you aren’t trying to do any harm, you’re a danger to our territory. I’m afraid we need to take you in.”
Xander shook his head. “No fuckin’ way. You won’t take us. Not without a fight.”
“Ha, a red dragon taking on a gold?” The gold dragon lifted his chin haughtily. “I’d like to see that.”
“There is one other option,” the purple dragon said, interrupting them. “You could simply disappear. Move on and make sure we never hear from you again. But you’d have to leave the dragon heart behind. Have no more contact with her.”
Tristan didn’t know how to imagine a world where he had to be without Kelsie. Had to leave her behind. Wasn’t able to protect her.
“What would happen to her?” Tristan asked. “Would she be safe?”
“Of course,” the purple dragon said. “We’re in the business of protecting dragon hearts, not hurting them. In fact, I see no reason to go after her at all. Unless she knows about us.”
Tristan hoped that just this once, he could tell a convincing lie. “She knows nothing. She’s just someone I saved a couple times. A human I’m fooling around with.”
The purple dragon tilted his head, eyes narrowed, but the gold dragon didn’t look convinced.
“I say we make him bring her to us,” the gold dragon said. “Then we keep her with us until he leaves town. Besides, if she’s a dragon heart—”
“She isn’t,” Tristan said, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. He was trapped, painted into a corner from which there was no return.
His heart felt like it was disintegrating in the most painful of ways, but right now, all he wanted was to protect Kelsie.
“She doesn’t know anything,” Tristan said, feeling Xander watch him. “If you leave her out of this, we’ll just go. Disappear and never come back.”
The purple dragon nodded. “As long as she’s not a dragon heart.”
“She’s not,” Tristan said because it might be the truth.
The gold dragon just glared at him. “I still think we should take them in. They could be an experiment, using one of our friend’s blood. They could be working for the other side. If we let them go—”
“As long as he’s willing to never see the human again and promises to move on, I don’t see the problem.”
The door to the bedroom slammed open, and Kelsie came striding out into the living room, staring them all down.
She was in a gray sweater and black leggings, and her curls were gloriously falling out of her bun.
Her fists were clenched as she stormed over to them.
“No,” she said, jabbing the gold dragon in the chest as he stared down at her, wide-eyed and nervous. She glared at both him and the purple dragon, utter rage in her eyes. “You aren’t going to hurt my friends. Or chase them. They’re good people. Uh, dragons. You leave them alone.”
There was silence for a moment, and then the purple dragon smiled. “So you do know about our world, then.”
She blinked. “Uhh…”
“Brave too,” the purple dragon said, stepping forward and reaching for her chin as she jerked away.
Tristan was there in a second, wrapping his arms around Kelsie and pulling her back in against his side. “She’s not part of this.”
“Oh, I think she is,” the gold dragon said, smirking. “And look at the way she charged forward to save you losers. A dragon heart indeed.”
Tristan felt his stomach drop. “You can’t do this.”
“We have to,” the purple dragon said calmly. “You know the rules. No human can know about our existence. The oracle will have to decide what to do.”
Kelsie’s mouth dropped. “No.”
The purple dragon gave her a perplexed look. “You do not wish to come with us?”
“No,” she said. “I want to stay with Tristan and Xander. My place is here.”
Xander and Tristan formed a protective wall around her.
“We don’t want to do this the hard way,” the purple dragon said. “But the truth is your friends have no hope of beating us. And we’ll take you with us either way. There’s no telling how they’ve been manipulating you. Or what kind of monsters they are.”
“They aren’t monsters,” she said, breaking away from Tristan to argue. “If you just got to know them—”
The gold dragon’s hand shot out, grabbing Kelsie around the wrist and jerking her over to his side, pushing her behind him.
“You don’t understand,” the gold dragon said. “They have no honor.”
“Let her fucking go,” Xander said. “I’m about done being nice right now.”
Tristan felt his dragon building fire, ready to kill everything that stood between him and Kelsie.
The gold dragon turned to face Kelsie. “If you go with us, we’ll let them go. They can disappear back to the filth where they belong.”
“Why do you hate them?” Kelsie asked. “They’re not what you think they are. You’re evil—”
“We’re evil?” The gold dragon glared at Tristan. “So you’ve been brainwashing her, then? Brainwashing dragon hearts in our region? A truly dastardly plan. I hadn’t even expected it.”
The purple dragon was quiet, then nodded. “Regardless, I think the most important thing is for Kelsie to come with us. As long as that happens peacefully and the two of you disappear, I see no need for a fight.”
Kelsie turned to Tristan and pinned her eyes on him. I don’t want you to be hurt. Ever.
He wished he could send her his thoughts back. That he didn’t care if he was hurt. He didn’t care if he was safe and healthy for the rest of his life if she wasn’t in it.
“I’ll go with you,” she said, walking over to the purple dragon. “If you don’t hurt them.”
Xander pounded his fist against it to no avail. “Let her go! That’s my brother’s mate.”
The gold dragon raised an eyebrow. “Dragons like you don’t have mates. Worthless.”
He put an arm around Kelsie’s shoulder, leading her to the door as she tried to look at Tristan.
I’m sorry, her thoughts said. I just can’t let them hurt you. Not when you’ve been saving me all along. Don’t worry. I’ll tell them all about you. I’ll help them understand.
Tristan simply tried to yell back to her, pounding on the shield, though it wasn’t going to give.
She should never have come out. She could have been safe. He didn’t want to live without her.
He pounded on the shield dome around them, desperate to get to his mate. To kiss her one more time. To pull her out of danger.
But she simply gave him a bittersweet smile and let the others lead her outside.
When the door shut, the shield fell, but by the time Tristan got to the door, they had already vanished.
“Fuck,” Xander said, looking up at the empty sky. “What do we do now?”
Tristan didn’t know. The other dragons were inevitably stronger than him. Backed by the oracle’s power. If he and Xander went to take her back, they would probably be hurt. Maybe even killed. They might have to fight all six dragons.
Xander huffed angrily as he paced, hands on his hips. “I warned you about this, Tristan. You were both so reckless. You just didn’t—”
“Does that mean you aren’t going to go help me get her back?” Tristan asked his brother flatly.
Xander just stared at him, shocked. Then he shook his head, a defiant expression tightening his features. “Hell no. Let’s go kick some dragon ass.”
“It will be risky. We might not make it out alive, but we can at least save Kelsie. But I know that’s not fair.” Tristan’s eyes were guilty as he met his brother’s. “I’ve always pressured you to stay in the shadows with me, hiding. And now I’m the one who’s in danger, and I’m forcing you to—”
Dragon Next Door: Forgotten Dragons Book 1 Page 12
