“Want to,” he finished smoothly, smiling when Lance laughed. “Want to more than you want that beer.”
Yes, I did. The part of me that was my father wanted to muscle in, take over, claim Fern as mine and leave the scraps for everyone else, but I was more my mother’s son than his. My family, my wing, it was finally starting to come together, and it killed me to sit here and just wait for it to happen. Was Lorien doing right by Fern? He wouldn’t rush her, would he? And he had to make sure she was having a good time, too.
Your mate is very happy right now. Slate sounded both smug, tired, and slightly irritated.She is sleeping in Lorien’s arms after he mated her very thoroughly.
Right. Well, that was a good thing. Lorien had been the one to save the day and?—
“Who the hell do those dragons belong to?”
Billy sat up straight, shielding his eyes as the strangers approached, but I was on my feet and so were my brothers.
Slate—
I know.
Muffled roars indicated that they were climbing out of the cave, the other men’s dragons joining the fray. We had an impressive cluster formed at the entrance to the village, ready to meet these interlopers the moment they landed. A black dragon, a purple, red, blue, and dark green, did just that, their riders slipping from their backs moments later. Helmets were pulled off, and that was when Lance and his friends’ expressions changed.
“Draven…?”
“Draven?” I snapped. “Who the hell is Draven?”
The only man with that name I was aware of was the former king. Hands on sword hilts, Dain and I followed the others over to meet the strangers.
“Heard you had a little trouble up at the keep,” a blond-haired man said, walking up to Lance and shaking his hand.
“Could’ve done with some backup,” the lieutenant said in reply, his eyes narrowing.
“We were working our own angles in the background,” a man with close-cropped hair said.
“Looking for the same outcome, just achieved a little more circumspectly,” another man with long, dark hair said.
“Not sure if that would get you the result you were after.”
All eyes turned my way, but it was one set that had me pinned to the spot. I knew exactly how I was responding, because I was sure my look of surprise was mirrored on this man’s face. Those blue eyes, that dark hair, I’d seen them every time I looked into my shaving mirror.
“Oh, this is going to be a problem,” the blond-haired man said, wagging a finger in both our directions.
“Damn right it is,” a gruff man said. “Draven?”
“You’re Draven?” I asked, looking my doppelgänger over more closely. “The Draven?”
“Draven of Deepacre.” My twin thrust out his hand. “And if I’m not mistaken.” He inspected me closely. “You’re one of my uncle’s by-blows.”
“Kael.” I jerked a thumb my way, then turned to my brother. “Dain?—”
“The son of the late Lord Corven,” Draven said, then nodded.
“Apparently you know Lance,” I finished.
“What the hell are you doing in Dragon Rest?” the lieutenant asked.
“Every Harlstonian noble is being called to the capital to decide who the new duke is,” he replied. “We arrived early to get the lay of the land. The king has said the lords must settle on a candidate, or he will appoint someone.”
“Nothing to do with us,” I said with a shrug.
“It’s everything to do with you… Kael,” Draven said. “A fight is about to break out between some powerful people to determine who gets to rule one of the largest duchies in the country. You, those siblings that Barry squirrelled away near the border.” I sucked in a breath, ready to demand how he learned about my family, but he forged on. “Are all pawns waiting to be picked up by the big players in the duchy.” He turned to Lance. “I came to ask you to return to the keep.”
“No, Draven,” Lance said. “I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but it’s not there.”
