Guilt nearly knocked the breath out of him. Amos’ mother was his father’s fated mate; the king’s perfect other half. She was everything good in this world, and his father was everything bad. Amos peered up at Sasha.
“Alright.” He paused. It felt as though he was missing important pieces to a puzzle. “Most people are terrified of Sasha because of who she is to my father. They don’t trust her. Why do you?”
Ruth wiped at the sweat gathering on her forehead and averted her gaze. “There are things we can’t tell you either, but just know you can trust all of us to do what’s best for Clover.”As if I have a choice, he thought bitterly.
“Clover won’t agree to leave for her protection,” Ruth warned. “As your back can attest, she’s stubborn.”
He grinned at the memory. “She hits hard for a girl.”
“She hits hard for anyone,” Ruth responded coolly. “We’ve taught her well, and she has a lot of pride. Being sent away to hide is not in her nature.”
An admirable trait if it weren’t interfering with her safety, Amos thought wryly. Would Amelia have been this stubborn if they’d tried to hide her when she was older?
Amelia.That’s it!
He grinned wide at Ruth, who looked at him like he was crazy. “Would she agree to leave to protect someone else?”
Ruth squinted at him. “Who would she be protecting?”
Realizing his mistake, all the blood drained from Amos’ face. A lie wouldn’t come to him fast enough, and Ruth picked up on his panic like a shark to blood in the water. Before he could stop her, she whistled twice.
“No!” Amos pleaded, looking back as Rainer opened the back door and ran down the steps. He lowered his voice. “Ruth, youdon’tunderstand.”
Rainer approached them and stood at Ruth’s side. “What is it?”
To Amos’ horror, she filled Rainer in on everything, and they both turned to Amos expectantly. “Who are you hiding in the Human Kingdom?” Rainer asked quietly.
Amos shook his head, refusing to say anything else. He’d already dug himself into a hole, and if they wouldn’t help him send Clover to the Human Kingdom, he’d use his backup plan and kidnap her.
“I will tell you a well-guarded secret, and if afterwards you still don’t want to tell me who you’re hiding, you can leave and forget you ever met us.” Rainer responded and stepped back a few steps. “You’ll make up a name for a mate and tell your father you don’t feel the bond. He’ll assume your mate is dead. You’ll forget about Clover and never come back.”
“The hell I will,” Amos snarled. He’d never give her up.
“Don’t worry, prince.” Rainer started to unbutton his shirt. “I’m confident you’ll come around.”
Amoshatedhim.
Rainer’s eyes glazed over for a moment, a look Amos had seen on his late grandfather and father many times. He shook his head, sure he was seeing things.
The boy pulled open his shirt, revealing a dragon tattoo on the left side of his chest. Amos’ brain slowly connected the dots, and when a dragon slightly bigger than Sasha with midnight blue scales landed behind Rainer, it finally clicked.
“That’s not possible,” he breathed.
Rainer walked to the waiting dragon and rubbed a hand over its nose. Sasha walked over and bumped the other dragon as though they were old friends. “This is Ember. Myfamiliar.”
Something pounded at the door in the house as a foreign sense of worry and anger flared in Amos’ chest. They weren’t his emotions.Clover. He started for the house, but Rainer’s voice stopped him. “Your mate can feel your distress. Clover isn’t one to sit idly by, but Marcus has been instructed to keep her inside.” He snorted. “I imagine she’s pissed.”
Amos smirked to himself.
Rainer stepped forward. “You owe me a secret, prince.”
Amos ground his teeth together. “You owe me an explanation,secretprince.” It was the only explanation. Somehow this boy was an heir, but… Amos’ eyes almost bugged out of his head. “You’re Phoebe’s son.”
“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” the jerk responded. “Yes, your dear old dad murdered my mother for trying to take her rightful place on the throne.”
“I didn’t know she had a son,” Amos commented dumbly.Obviously, you idiot.
“That was by design. No one knew except my father, Ansel, and my stepmother.”
