Vaughn frowned. “Why would it be anything else?”
“Need I remind you that Varek was taken from our world to Zora?”
“That worked out.”
Con snorted. “Barely. The fact of the matter is that someone on that realm can reach through and take one of us.”
“They’ve never done it before.”
“That we know of.”
Vaughn squared his shoulders. “I know the risks. So do you and Rhi. It isna stopping either of you, and it willna stop me.”
“The woman you seek might no’ be on Zora.”
“She might no’. I doona even know if she’s the reason I feel the overwhelming need to go. Right now, it doesna matter why.”
Con reached for his whisky and tossed it back. “Who knows when we’ll get a taste of our whisky again? Come. Zora awaits us.”
Vaughn walked out with Con, a smile on his face. Whatever happened, whatever awaited him, this was his path.
His destiny.
Chapter Two
Zora
Eurwen gasped as she sat up in bed, sweat covering her. Her breaths were ragged and loud to her ears. And her body pulsed with an unquenchable hunger.
She drew in a shaky breath as she held the sheet against her bare chest. With her lips parted, she stared at the wall across from her bed, but her mind drifted back to the dream. The beautiful, erotic reverie.
And Vaughn.
Just thinking about him made her skin flush with need. It didn’t matter how much time had passed, or how many worlds away they were, she couldn’t forget him. And she had tried. So many times.
Just when she thought she might be able to, he found her in her dreams. She knew it was him because she didn’t have that power. She could block him, but her heart wouldn’t let her. Neither would her body.
Eurwen lay down to stare at the ceiling, even as her eyes filled with tears. Soul-deep loneliness kept her reaching out to Vaughn time and again. It would be easy for her to return to Earth and seek him out, but she hadn’t. Partly because of her twin, Brandr, but also because she feared the intense feelings Vaughn stirred within her.
A violent pounding sounded on the door, jerking her gaze to it. Then her brother shouted her name.
“I’ll be out in a moment,” she called.
Thankfully, he walked away without saying more. There were many wonderful things about having a twin. However, others caused strife—especially when one twin tried to hide something from the other.
She and Brandr had ventured to Earth numerous times. Sometimes, it was to spy on their parents. Other times, it was to learn about the inhabitants of the realm. Eurwen kept the times she’d gone alone to herself. While she assumed that Brandr had likely done the same, she never brought it up in case he hadn’t gone alone.
Her brother had very strong feelings about their parents. She had felt the same for a long time. Eurwen wasn’t sure when things began to change for her, but once they had, she hadn’t been able to turn them around. And she didn’t want to.
What happened between their parents was between them and shouldn’t involve her or Brandr. Especially since so much had been out of everyone’s control. Erith had explained that to both of them dozens of times. The goddess and leader of a group of Fae called the Reapers had raised them. Erith, also known as Death, had done her best to convince Eurwen and Brandr to get to know Constantine and Rhi. At the time, Eurwen had been just as adamant as her brother about refusing to let Con or Rhi know of their existence.
That secret had weighed heavily on Erith. The goddess could have ignored them and told Con and Rhi anyway, but she had respected their wishes. Though Eurwen knew that it was mostly because Erith had a difficult time accepting her role in things.
Eurwen drew in a deep breath and released it before sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She rose and snapped her fingers, using magic to right the covers. She walked naked to her wardrobe and opened the doors to stare at the garments within.
Things on Zora were vastly different than on Earth. When she had secretly followed her mother on a shopping spree during one venture, Eurwen had picked up several items herself. She didn’t particularly like shopping alone, though. It had been hard not to call out to Rhi and meet her mother for the first time.
It made her think of the doorway she had created for her parents—and any Dragon King who wanted to come through. A few days had passed since she’d opened the portal between their worlds. Eurwen had expected her parents to have already come through, and she was a little disappointed in their hesitation.
Then again, she and Brandr had kept them out for a long time. Maybe this was their way of getting back at her and her brother.
“No,” she said aloud. “They aren’t like that.”
Eurwen carefully chose her outfit for the day as she had for the past few. She wanted to look her best when her parents arrived. She wasn’t sure what she’d say to them. Or even how to talk. She and Brandr had known of them for eons, while Con and Rhi had only recently discovered their existence.
Once dressed, Eurwen walked out of her dwelling atop the mountain and breathed in the warm morning air. The sky was clear around Cairnkeep. In the distance, she saw a group of dragons flying. Birdsong mingled with dragons’ roars. It was a sound that always gave her peace.
Zora was a realm full of breathtaking scenery and beauty unmatched in the universe. And Cairnkeep was an area that she and Brandr had created for themselves. It was perfect. Dragons were always near. It was similar to Dreagan, though different in one key element. But it was her home, and she loved it dearly.
While Zora offered a safe place for dragons, a species of humans had unfortunately come once again. Eurwen didn’t want to think what could’ve happened had she and Brandr not already been here.
She had seen firsthand what the mortals of Earth had done to that realm and the dragons there. Neither she nor Brandr would allow that to happen on Zora. It was why the realm was divided. The humans had their space, and she and Brandr had been generous in allotting them territory.
“I can no’ believe you’ve jeopardized our peace.”
She briefly closed her eyes at the sound of her brother’s angry voice behind her. Eurwen didn’t turn to him as she said, “I want to know Con and Rhi.”
“Then visit them on Earth,” Brandr stated.
“You do understand that everything that happened to us isn’t their fault?”
He snorted in derision. “I beg to differ. I can pinpoint exactly where it all went wrong.”
Eurwen blew out a breath. “You can’t blame Con for everything.”
“I bloody well can.”
“You’re acting like a petulant child.”
Brandr moved to stand beside her. “I remember a time when you felt as I did.”
“I matured.”
He turned his head to her. “Something changed you.”
“Change is constant. We all change every day.” She looked at him, their gazes clashing. He had the same black eyes as their father and the same midnight hair as Rhi. Brandr wore his straight hair to his shoulders and pulled back in a queue. The smile that had always come so easily to him was gone. “For instance, you’ve become more bitter.”