“Hey,” I whispered. “Did you say there are twin dragons?”
The question felt silly. I still hadn’t seen a dragon in the flesh. I was convinced Dad made it up to sway my opinion about being on the show.
Alaric sighed. “Yes, of course. How do you not know that?”
Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. “I don’t really watch TV.”
“Oh.” Alaric stared at me like I’d picked up a video game controller for the first time and didn’t know how to move the character in any direction. “Well, that’s new.”
His reaction stung, but at least he bothered speaking to me at all.
Poppy was nicer about it. “There are twin golden dragons, Saffron and Aurum,” he explained in a hushed tone. “But they can’t both be the bachelor, can they?”
“They’re dragons. They can do whatever they want,” Alaric said bluntly, examining his manicured nails.
The fresh names tumbled in my mind. Saffron and Aurum... What were they like? And were they going to show up before I baked to death in this heat?
Gaius’s booming voice cut off all the whispering. “That’s right—I said two! Because this time, the Dragonfate Games will feature not one, buttwobachelors. Come on down to the stage, boys!”
He swept his arm across the empty stage. No one appeared. Was this a planned joke, or were the so-called twin dragons actually late?
Then the sky glinted. I blinked, raising my head.
I sucked in a breath. Two gleaming shards of gold descended from the sky. As they plummeted towards the stage, they got bigger and bigger until my bamboozled brain recognized what they were.
Dragons.
Two sleek, shining dragons landed on opposite sides of the stage with Gaius dwarfed in the middle. They were mirrored in appearances and motions—a pair of perfectly identical twins.
But I was still busy wrapping my mind around the fuckingdragonthing.
As they hit the stage with heavythuds, a gust blew out into the crowd. I was still shocked, and the blast of air caught me off guard, toppling me backward. I yelped as I landed on my butt. When a few people chuckled, my face went beet-red.
“Are you all right?” Poppy asked, offering me a hand.
I let him pull me up, but I felt very conscious of my weight.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
When I looked back at the stage, I noticed the dragons staring directly at me.
The blood drained from my face. Oh, gods. I could die from embarrassment. Not only did I fall on my fat ass in the middle of a huge crowd, I did it in front of a pair of rich alpha dragons.
And it was being filmed for TV.
Awesome.
I clenched my eyes shut, taking a second to exist in the reprieve of total darkness, then faced the world when I was ready.
One dragon lost interest in me and looked away. But the other glared at me.
Not just staring.Glaring.As in, narrowed eyes that were clearly pissed.
Could this day get any worse?
Yet I couldn’t tear my gaze off the dragon. He was breathtaking, a giant piece of living jewellery. His scales gleamed like fragments of the sun. The long arch of his neck reminded me of a swan, but more beautiful and elegant. His huge leathery wings folded over his back, and the talons jutting out of his paws put expensive kitchen knives to shame.
Did I mention he was a freakingdragon?
