“Finlay Boaz—he’s the second-year royal protocol teacher. You’ll meet him today as the person in charge of the cursed egg chamber,” Klauth explains, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.
I glance between my father and Klauth, noting the tension radiating from both of them. “Are you two okay? I mean, being back here?” The level of unease between them is as plain as the nose on their faces.
“Yes, and no. Until I was freed and your mom brought me here, I never knew this place existed,” my birth father admits, and Klauth nods in agreement, both of them carrying the weight of hard memories.
“Twenty,” echoes down the hall with crystalline clarity.
“That’s me,” Lily says with excitement that seems to bubble up from nowhere as she drags her father down the hallway with her, their footsteps fading into the distance.
“Called it,” Mom says smugly, stretching her hand out toward Vaughn, who slaps money into her open palm with resigned acceptance.
“You bet on my sister?” I level my mom with a look that could melt steel.
“Of course. I knew she would take her birth father,” Mom says with no shame whatsoever, leaning back against Ziggy’s supportive presence.
“How many people can I take with me?” I look at my birth father since he runs the school now and would know the protocols.
“Two,” he says simply, tilting his head as he studies my expression. I look over at my mate, and he nods—we already discussed this last night in the privacy of our bedroom.
Lily emerges from the chamber carrying a white egg in her arms, and she smiles with such tender love that it takes my breath away. It’s then that I see it clearly—there’s pure adoration in her eyes as she gazes down at the opalescent surface. “He’s yours, isn’t he?” I whisper, moving closer to my sister.
With tears filling her eyes like liquid diamonds, she looks up at me and nods. I smile with genuine happiness for my sister as matching tears track down both our cheeks. I pull her close and wrap my wings around us both, creating an intimate cocoon while purring softly in comfort and celebration.
She introduces me to her mate through the shell, telling him not to hurt me when he eventually emerges. His name is Icarus, apparently, and even through the egg, I can sense his ancient power waiting to unfold.
“Twenty-seven.”
I hear my number called with the finality of fate, and I open my wings to release my sister. I kiss her temple gently, then rest my hand on Icarus’s egg, feeling the warmth and life pulsing within. “I will protect both of you.” The egg pulses with acknowledging power beneath my palm. “Rest, Icarus. Your time will come.” I nuzzle my sister once more before turning to face my birth father and nest father.
“Dad, Father, will you two accompany me into the egg chamber?” Thauglor and Klauth look at each other and nod with solemn understanding.
“You don’t want your mate?” Mom asks with obvious surprise.
“We talked about it last night. I want to take my dad and father with me.” I make it a point to touch Klauth’s scale embedded in my forearm, and Mom nods with understanding.
A tall man with a clipboard stands outside the ornate carved door like a sentinel. He’s absolutely beautiful in an otherworldly way—his eyes are the color of golden honey, and his hair is a striking mix of orange and red like living flames. His scent reminds me of the honeysuckle that grows in Mom’s garden — sweet and intoxicating. I can’t help but stare at him as my wings twitch behind me with nervous energy.
Blinking to clear my head, I hand him my card while being careful not to let our skin touch.
“Who will accompany you into the chamber?” he asks, and his voice is like silk sliding over my naked skin. My dragoness falls completely silent, listening to him with rapt attention.
“My birth father, Thauglor. Also, my father by ascension, Klauth.” The male called Finlay’s honey-colored eyes widen and shift, revealing themselves to be the eyes of a bird of prey—sharp, intelligent, and predatory.
I pull up my sleeve and show him Klauth’s red scale embedded in my forearm, the proof of my lineage glowing faintly in the torchlight.
“Your Highnesses,” he says with a bow that speaks of perfect breeding and ancient manners. I lower my head slightly in acknowledgment, noting that there’s something enigmatic about Finlay—something that speaks of powers I haven’t encountered yet.
He opens the chamber door with reverent care, and we step inside. The air is thick with ancient power and the weight of sleeping magic.There on individual pedestals sit the remaining four eggs—gold, green, blue, and orange—each one pulsing with its own rhythm of contained life.
“Gentlemen, please stand on the crystal pedestals in the back of the room. Thauglor, since you are the headmaster here, I will leave your progeny in your hands,” Finlay says with another perfect bow before leaving the room and closing the door behind him with a sound like a closing tomb.
“Raven, from what your mother showed me, you need to stand on the crystal block in the front. Either you or your dragon needs to call to the eggs,” Dad explains, and I look back at Klauth, who nods his encouragement.
Stepping onto the crystal block, I feel power thrumming through the ancient stone beneath my feet. I look at the eggs arrayed before me and allow my wings to hang open in a gesture of vulnerability and invitation. I concentrate on allowing my dragoness to surface, feeling her presence fill the chamber like smoke made manifest.
Closing my eyes, I let a lilting song escape my lips—a melody that seems to come from somewhere deeper than conscious thought. My dragoness adds her voice to mine, our combined tones filling the chamber until they echo and reverberate, coming at me from all directions in a symphony of ancient power. It begins as a song of family and heritage, telling the story of bloodlines stretching back to the dawn of dragonkind.
The melody morphs into something stronger, a song of power and loyalty that speaks of bonds forged in fire and blood. I sing of my two mates and the promise of a future filled with love and protection. When we finish our song and the last haunting note falls into silence, I open my eyes slowly, afraid of what I might find.
