He was wearing his go-to black button-down shirt open at the collar, and even that was kind of ruffled.
I noticed him rubbing the ornate ruby dragon’s head pendant that had been gifted to him by his older brother, the infamous Vorzyr Titanus—something that connected them and enabled Vorzyr to feel that he was well. It had been turned from a pendant to a bracelet when Torvek had been a baby. Then in his teen years, Torvek had asked Kai—one of his brother’s boyfriends—to return it to necklace-form. Besides, he already had his black coiling wristband that he needed to wear for temperature-control here in the Ice Dragon Quadrant.
Twenty-one years ago, just before the overthrow of House Titanus and their awful totalitarian parents by my dad and grandmother, Vorzyr had been exiled when he’d turned on House Titanus for the good of the Dracoryn Realm. It had been an honorable decision, but despite that, as per draconic nature, any disloyalty was frowned upon so Vorzyr had been tainted inthe eyes of the Realm. That had been the official reason cited, anyway. There’d been a little more to it.
Fortunately, Torvek hadn’t been exiled. He’d only been a baby at the time. He’d been placed into the care of my dad and my grandmother while also being around fire dragons like himself to learn from. The two of us had grown up together right here in Vortimer Palace.
He shifted, folding his arms that were covered with black dragon markings across his chest, and his tailored black coat strained with the movement.
He rubbed his boot on the cuff of his black trousers, something he did when he was agitated. His black coiling wristband encircling his right wrist glinted in the light of my room with the slight movement. It was an enchanted band that maintained his body heat so he could withstand the frigid environment of living amongst ice dragons.
“Right about what? What’s wrong?” I asked, climbing off the bed and walking to him.
He pushed off my door and met me halfway.
And that was when I saw it, his hand emerging from behind his back.
With what I’d been looking for clasped in it.
“Nuvri!” I cried. “You found him!”
He grinned and handed my plush polar bear cub over.
I hugged him to me, his soft white fur brushing over my chest. I gazed down at his round cobalt-blue eyes shining up at me. His paws were weighted and gave him a realistic, grounding feel. Torvek had given him to me when I was little to help with my nightmares after I’d had an incident of accidentally burying myself beneath my own ice and frost. He’d enchanted Nuvri to hug me when I was super anxious until my heartbeat steadied again and my panic subsided.
“He was down in the entryway where you left your boots and coat earlier—in your right pocket.”
“Of course! I can’t believe I couldn’t recall that.”
“You’re busy and excited. You would have. And you’d clearly prepared ahead of time. You’re more organized than you think,snow cub.”
“Wow, you’re giving me way too much credit and you know it.” He was gonna miss me too.
As I placed Nuvri carefully into one of my duffel bags, I asked him, “So, what’s going on? You’re clearly majorly stressed out about something.”
“Like I said, you were right—about Fanor.”
“She made a move on you?”
“Let’s just say she made it clear she wants to take things to the next level.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’m gonna need much more than that,flame bite.”
He glared at my use of his nickname and I grinned. What? It fit him perfectly—he had a bite to him when he was provoked, a very fiery sort of bite too. Although, it took a hell of a lot to push him to that point. He was known for his control and discipline throughout the Realm.
“She invited me toIgnis Row.”
“Well, fuck.” It was a known erotic place, like several levels beyond a make-out point sort of venue, located in the Fire Dragon Quadrant.
“I’m sure that’s the idea—to fuck. She wants to… do that with me.”
“That’s a bit presumptuous.”
“Is it? Really, Evi? That place is a signal for exactly that.”
Ignis Rowhad started off as a venue for debauchery just for fire dragons, but since the Dracoryn Realm had been under my dad’s rule, ice dragons, wind dragons, and water dragons hadcome together more, as the Realm had unified into much more of a community-style state. So now, even though it was located in the Fire Dragon Quadrant, it was definitely not just relegated to fire dragons.
“Not everyone who goes there actually gets their fucking on. It’s just about sexual expression; it doesn’t have to culminate in that.”
