“What do you want?”
“A piece of that to start,” he turned his grin on Marli, “and a bit of a chat. That’s all.”
“Right.”
“Honest.”
“Talk.”
Stenlen sighed, “So blunt. My boss sent me to work things out. We know where your island is now. We can take it anytime we want.”
Marli snorted, he ignored her.
“And our Heir.”
“What does that have to do with us?” Marli snapped.
He shrugged but didn’t elaborate.
“It means they’ll be more openly aggressive,” Odson said.
Marli glanced at him, his face drawn. This wasn’t good. Fear rippled down her back. If Odson was worried about this, it was serious.
“Yeah, thanks for that, Old Man. You brought him right to us, made things a whole lot easier.”
“Son of a bitch!” Odson exploded.
Marli could feel his magic shimmer, “Don’t—not here!” she shouted, as Stenlen dropped into a defensive position, preparing to shift. “You’ll destroy the town.” She held her breath as Odson reined himself in.
Oh, this is bad. Very bad.
She needed to find Kymri.
Kymri and Jori watched Carson and Lirikai drive away in his jeep, leaving them alone in the back alley.
Alone.
Jori slid his fingers along her palm. Hers curled over his and he pulled her to him. It felt so good to be in his arms again. Her heart thumped as he looked at her parted lips. He kissed her with all the gentleness and longing of an absent lover. She was nearly lost, melting into him.
Her hands slid around his torso, pulling his shirt up so she could slide her hands over this skin. Her tongue swept over his, pressing her body to his so that he backed up to the wall behind him.
His hands wandered down her back to grip her bottom, pulling her against him. He was hard and ready for her. He felt amazing and she couldn’t get close enough to him.
Reluctantly freeing her lips, he sighed and rested his forehead on hers.
“Jori?” Her voice was soft as her fingers reached up to his cheek. He’d been so distant since they left the coast. Troubled and agitated.
He swallowed hard. “She’s alive—my mother. All this time.”
Kymri leaned back to see his face. “Elora’s alive? But why…?”
“They have her.”
Her heart stopped. She watched the minute expressions shift across his face as she processed the meaning of his words.
“My father—” he cleared his throat over the lump growing in it. He started again, “Dad told me she made him promise to keep her secret for my sake—my safety.”
They would have come for him, if they knew he was a dragon.
She nodded. “She’s in their lair?”
He released her and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Possibly. He didn’t know for sure.” He walked away from her a few feet and turned back. His face was twisted, “Jesus, Kymri, it nearly destroyed him to finally tell me the truth. I haven’t seen him like that since she—since she disappeared.”
“Does Odson know?”
Jori shook his head, “Mom explicitly told Dad never to let him know the truth. He’d end up dead.”
Kymri reached for Jori’s hand. The contact seemed to give him focus, and he calmed. “She was right. He would. Knowing him, he’d go after her.”
“I doubted him, Kymri. I thought my dad didn’t want me around all this time. I don’t know how he could have kept a secret like that and done nothing.”
Jori’s eyes were haunted as he looked at her, Jonathan’s truth naked in them.
“He did what he had to in order to protect you.”
“I’m not even his blood.”
“You’re his son. That was clear on the Coast Guard boat. Very clear.”
No wonder he’d been so distant since they left the coast.
“He said she was going back to the island to ask the queen for permission to return with us. And that she was going to ask the queen to initiate me. I was of age.” He drew a deep breath. “And then she called him, told him to keep me safe and that it was important they never find out about me.”
“Never?”
He shook his head.
Usually they were frantic to find the male dragonlings as children, to do the initiation themselves to establish dominance and loyalty. They lost some interest once that time passed. There was less value, less effort, put into finding the offspring. Unless they were important. Very important.
“Jori, did your mother tell your father who your sire was?” Kymri’s heart began to hammer in her chest as her stomach dropped.
“No, but Dad said she was terrified they’d find me.”
It couldn’t be what she was thinking. It just couldn’t.
And yet, Elora was going to ask the queen to initiate him, rather than just do it herself, or ask Odson to do it.
The queen might have decided to have him executed instead.
Kymri’s breath stalled. She still might.
“Jori, you can’t go home with me.”
“I know, you said I wouldn’t be welcome.”
“They’d very likely kill you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re their enemy,” a voice said.
Kymri whirled around. They were so focused on their discussion; she hadn’t heard anything else. She hadn’t heard the approach of the two men blocking the mouth of the alley. One looked like a boxer who lost a lot of fights, the other was so average his eyes nearly slid right past him.
“Who the hell are you?” Jori demanded.
“Friends, lad. Just friends come to take you home.”
“Fuck.” Kymri said, gaining a startled glance from Jori. One of the men took a step forward and she darted between him and Jori with a snarl. “Get back.”
She called on her magic, preparing to shift.
“Oh no, you don’t,” the other male said, running forward faster than she could gather her magic. An iron circlet closed over her left wrist as the other male enclosed her right with its match.
She groaned with strain as her magic dissipated. “Jori, run,” she panted.
“Too late for that, lass.”
The last thing she saw was the heel of a heavy boot before her world went dark.
“Kymri!” Jori roared, “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
“Come on now, lad, just stay calm, it’s best for all of us if you just come along.”
“Fuck you,” he spat, bringing his fists up as he stepped closer to Kymri’s inert form on the damp ground.
“How sweet, he’s defending his little dragoness,” the other said, “She must be a good rut.”
“Be careful, lad, you’re going to get yourself hurt.”
Jori’s fist swung, connecting with the jaw of the man reaching for Kymri. “I told you not to fucking touch her.”
The man straightened and grinned. “He’s got spunk. His sire will like that.”
“Hmm, he’s going to be trouble, more like.”
“Just knock his head, we don’t have time to dick around.”