And on that couch sat a lone figure watching the sunset beyond the mountains in the distance. Something about his dark blond waves and the rings glittering on his fingers as he twirled a glass of amber liquid had my brow furrowing. Mia sensed his presence and yapped loudly, pulling hard on her leash.
Next to me, Leo sighed. “You havegotto be kidding me.”
Thewelcome giftcraned his neck to look at us. Familiar navy-blue eyes twinkled as he smirked.
“It’s about time,” he said, raising his glass. “Did you miss me, darling?”
45
Clarissa
“Nox Duma,” I said with a chuckle. “Areyouhere to kill me?”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting way to say ‘hello, Nox, it’s good to see you,’ after five months.”
“Hello, Nox. It’s good to see you.”
He grinned and stood from the seat, a lock of dark blond hair falling over his eyes. “It’s good to see you too, Rissa.”
I smiled as he pulled me in for a hug. I hadn’t seen the cheeky, silver-tongued dragon Shifter in months after sending him to Mysthelm as an ambassador last fall. He’d been the first Veridian to meet with the Mysthelm council on my behalf, under the condition that he stay confined to the palace. It was how we’d sent messages back and forth between Mysthelm and Veridia in those first few months.
But then he fell silent. The last I’d heard from him, he had some personal business he needed to take care of in his home province of Drakorum.
His eyes landed on Rose and Leo. “Ah, the love birds. How long has it been?”
“Too long,” Rose said, stepping forward to embrace him. Miawas still going crazy, making me stumble as she followed Rose and barked her cute head off at Nox.
“Not long enough,” Leo answered under his breath. I held back a laugh. My brother had always been a little short with Nox, but I knew the dragon Shifter had grown on him.
“We’ll leave you all to catch up,” Daelan said. He and his brother exited our hut, making their way back to the courtyard.
Nox knelt to hold his hand out to Mia. She instantly began sniffing every inch of him. He laughed when she let him pet her, her tail wagging so fast, it was almost a blur. “I have that effect on women.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Same old Nox, then.”
“Rissa, darling, why have I never met this beautiful woman?” Nox asked as he stood and faced my mother.
Mother’s lips tilted up. “You seem far too clever to know that will never work, but charming enough for me to like it anyway.” She held out her hand. “Evadine Aris.”
“Nox Duma, Your Grace. It’s an honor to meet you.” He took her hand between his and kissed her knuckles. “Your children have told me so much about you. And while I’m not old enough to remember much of yours and your husband’s rule, my parents always spoke highly of you.”
Mother’s brow wrinkled. “Duma…as in,CaiusDuma? The former governor of Drakorum?”
A small flinch passed over Nox’s face before he smoothed his features once more. “My father, yes.”
Her face fell. “Oh. I—I heard about what happened to him. I’m very sorry for your loss. Your father was a good man.”
“It was a long time ago, Your Grace.”
“Some pains do not age,” she murmured back.
Nox’s father was the governor of their province until Kane Scarven challenged him for the position when Nox was merely a teenager. And when Shifters issued challenges, it was to the death.
I didn’t know much about Nox’s life. He was captivating smiles and pretty words and loyal to the end, but he kept his past lockeddown deep. I suspected it was more in an effort to hide it from himself than others. All I knew was that he was taken from his family at a young age because of his rarity as a dragon Shifter and used as Scarven’s secret weapon. He had a much younger sister, but they kept her locked away as collateral for him to do their bidding. She was still in captivity, as far as I knew.
Having a dragon Shifter on their hands after our entire empire thought his kind to be extinct for centuries was nothing short of a miracle. One that Scarven would do anything to keep for himself.
Those of us in this room were some of the only people to know Nox’strueShifter form…the most dangerous, most powerful beast known to man.
