“Is Taylor—?”
“Yes,” I said breathlessly.
He gave a curt nod, then dashed to a different section of the library. “I’ll meet you there,” he called as he disappeared beyond stacks of books.
With that taken care of, I raced back to my bedroom. I hoped I hadn’t kept Taylor waiting alone for too long.
On the way back, I almost crashed into the twins, who manifested out of thin air.
“Get out of the way!” I snarled.
“Hey, don’t get mad at us,” Saffron said mildly. “Look, we got towels and stuff!”
I blinked, calming down slightly. Aurum had a huge water bottle, while Saffron’s arms were loaded up with towels.
“Sorry,” I grumbled. “This egg is stressing me out.”
“We can tell, grumpy pants,” Aurum teased. “Come on, let’s go help your eggy kitty.”
“Do not call him that. By the way, how’d you know?” I asked as we booked it down the hall.
“Thystle told us. He said you looked so anxious your eyes were bulging out of your head.”
I ignored that comment as we skidded towards my door. Thystle and Jade were already there. I assumed they were waiting for me. Cobalt stood silently a few feet away with a stoic expression. As the twins and I reached the door, I got a weird feeling in my chest.
“I’m here,” I said. “Let me through.”
Thystle and Jade both looked at me with uneasy expressions.
“The door’s locked,” Thystle said.
“What?” I snapped.
It wasn’t locked when I left, and I knew Taylor wouldn’t lock me out on purpose. The feeling that stirred in my chest got worse.
I rattled the door. It wouldn’t open. It was locked from the inside.
“Taylor, are you there?” I called.
“Crimson,” Thystle said quietly. “Just before I got here, I saw Viol go in. I asked him to open it, but he didn’t listen.”
My blood ran cold for a split second before it raged into a blazing fire in my veins. Viol was my brother. He wouldn’t dare hurt my mate or my egg. But he was unpredictable. A wildcard.
My draconic instincts bubbled to the surface. A low, deep growl rumbled in my throat.
“Viol,” I called.
My serious tone was enough to summon him. Judging by the creak of floorboards, he was right on the other side of the door.
“Crimson,” he muttered in response, almost challenging me.
I struggled to keep my temper in check. If I shifted right now, I could break the door open—but that would cause Taylor unnecessary stress. I wanted his delivery to be as easy and comfortable as possible. I had to avoid a dragon fight at all costs.
But how could Taylor be comfortable with a stranger in the room? If Viol played games with me, he wouldn’t like the outcome. My raging alpha instincts would fight tooth and claw to protect my mate and egg.
My dragon’s voice overtook my human one, turning my sentence into a growled statement: “Open this door before you regret it.”
The seconds that passed felt like an eternity. My brothers all held their breath in complete silence. Every moment that went by was a battle to contain my dragon.
