Chapter 8 #2
“Bron, are you going to allow—”
“He’s fine, Mother. Cullen knows his own son.” Bron’s voice was calm, sure, and absolutely unconcerned.
It must be good to be a dragon.
Tisi flittered about while Elliot stomped right up to Evander’s family and pointed back toward the picnic. “Time for lunch.”
Father looked at Evander, nodding, and he nodded back. “Welcome, Father, Brother, and all of you. I want you to meet my lethean.”
“Hi, guys, it’s good to meet you.”
They shifted suddenly, and while they were not in court robes, they had obviously come well-dressed for a picnic. They’d no doubt heard what Calla was up to.
His father swept a bow at them. “Well met, Corbin of the Third.” He grinned at Elliot. “And what is your name, little rock dragon?”
“My Elliot. Hungry.” Elliot held up his arms, and Father lifted him, grunting a little at the heft of him. Ev had to laugh at that because his father was wickedly strong, but Elliot was unique.
“That’s our little gargoyle dragon. He’s solid.”
Elliot grinned at Father. “Like a rock.”
“You are. It’s very nice to meet you. And you, little flyer—” Father smiled at Tisi. “I’m glad my son found you.”
“So are we.” That was Bron.
Tisi whinnied and then zoomed to his sister and then zoomed back to Father, then zoomed to his sister, and then zoomed back to Father.
“Tisi, dude, chill. Come on. Let everybody get settled.” Cullen snapped his fingers, and sparkles flew from his fingertips.
Little Tisi came hurrying over to his dad to see what was what.
Corbin walked right up to his father and held out one hand, completely unafraid. “I’m so happy to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m so glad he’s okay.”
“I am as well. My heart was broken when I thought we would lose him.”
“Then why did you not come and take him back?” Calla asked, her tone snappish.
“Woman!” Bron looked at her, stepping right into her space and looming over her. “You will not be rude to Evander’s father. We can all be civil to one another. Now let us all sit down and have some food together.”
Some of the flowers around the edge of the picnic area wilted, but she simply pressed her lips together and nodded. He had seen her glance at her grandchildren, and he had a feeling she didn’t want to upset them more than anything else.
They all settled together with courtiers that Corbin’s mother had brought with her sitting on the outside, while the family came together on the center of the blankets.
“This is my father, Lord Archer. These are my brothers,” Evander told Corbin. “Alyster, Gregor, and Kristofer.”
“What a very great pleasure to meet you,” Kristofer said, bowing his head deeply to Corbin. “And these are your brothers, Cullen and Cosmo, yes?”
Kristofer could have a mesmerizing voice, and he saw Corbin have to shake it off a little bit, his eyes clearing as he moved his head from side to side. “They are. It’s good to meet you too. Cosmo is the pink one, and Cullen is purple.”
“And you are most decidedly green,” Alyster pointed out, and Corbin nodded.
“I most decidedly am.”
“I’m glad that we’re all together because I have something to tell everyone.” Evander was looking around, chin up. “We are with child.”
Of course, his brothers knew that, but there was a rush of excitement from both sides of the family, excitement and possibly a little bit of fury. There was really no way to know.
“A baby. More grandchildren!” Bron looked over the moon. “How wondrous!”
Gregor’s nose wrinkled the tiniest bit. He had issues with the dragon blood that his mate had, but his father beamed with obvious joy.
“My first grandchild. Honestly, how wonderful.”
Corbin nodded and leaned into his side. “I’m very excited. Evander and I both are.”
“Does that mean you’ll be coming back home to stay, to take your place?” Gregor asked, tension in his voice, and he shook his head.
“No, my place is at the portal with my mate, protecting all of our lands.”
Gregor relaxed somewhat, his shoulders lowering from being up about his ears.
Yes, he thought his brother rather liked having taken over the mantle of the heir to the hunt.
That was very well with Evander. He had a whole new purpose in his life, and now that Corbin was going to have a baby, he knew exactly where he needed to stay.
Calla looked devastated. He thought her lips quivered and her face went a pale, almost shell pink color. “Corbin, are you sure this is what you want?”
“That depends on what you mean, Mom. I mean, yes on both counts—being with Evander and having his baby. But if you mean the baby, it’s a little bit late now to stop it.” Corbin stared at her, his brows lowering over his beautiful green eyes, and Evander reached out to put a hand on his leg.
“I know there are those on both sides of our families who are worried or who disapprove of our union,” Evander said. “But I would hope that no one will take that out on our baby. They are innocent of any sort of disappointment or choice in this.”
“I would never mistreat a child because of their appearance. And I love my son, and I am proud of him.” Calla sighed. “I simply worry. I mean you no offense, Evander. I really don’t, but you were harmed by vampires and that leaves a stain on a fae’s soul.”
“But he was healed by unicorn blood, Mom.” Corbin shook his head, his other hand clenching, the one holding Evander is also tightening down. “He’s fine.”
“But…”
“I said he was fine.” Corbin’s voice was serious, low. “He went out to do what none of you did. Now you’re going to fuss because he’s a hero. You’re going to complain because he managed something that none of you did. I will not have my mate disrespected.”
Evander couldn’t be prouder of his mate. No one had ever loved him so well.
Father smiled, nodded once as if he were well satisfied. “I like him, Evander. I like him a lot. He’s a warrior like we are.”
“He is not. He’s a—he grows things!”
Cullen blinked at his mother. “Mom, what do you think the three of us did out in the human world? We fought vampires, we rescued people. All the time. That’s all we did.
Literally, that’s what we do now. We go out, the three of us, sometimes just two of us.
And we rescue people and dragons from vampires. He’s not a goddamn gardener!”
Cosmo nodded, and then the pink dragon’s eyes turned white.
“Oh no, not now,” Corbin said. “Damn it, Cosmo, stop it!”
“Take care, someone here is infected. A stranger. Who’s the stranger here? Someone who is a stranger to you is infected and trying to further his kind.”
All eyes turned to Evander, Corbin’s agonized, and he shook his head. “It’s not me. I am no stranger to the Land of Summer or to anyone but the group you brought with you, Lady Calla.”
“None of my party are strangers,” Father growled. “They’re my sons.”
Bron frowned, the scowl deep. “Love? Your people?”
“They were all sent to me.” Lady Calla’s expression was stunned, and she searched her party, frown deepening.
Suddenly, Bron was a dragon, huge, green, pointed on all ends, eyes blazing. “Get away from them, children!” he roared.
Cullen and Corbin also immediately shifted, and the grasses began to grow, creating a barrier between Cosmo and the children and the fae, an illusory fire popping up.
We have to get the children to safety. Corbin’s voice was deadly, quiet.
The problem was that Tisi and Elliot were still with his father on the other side.
Evander went Wild Hunt form, and he ran, leaping over fake flames, antlers ready to gore anyone who was trying to hurt the little ones.
He bugled, and his father answered, herding the flying children back toward Cullen, who was throwing every illusion he could at the party of fae envoys.
Bron had Calla and was moving her toward Cosmo and Cullen.
Cosmo was on the ground, writhing, and he could see Cullen just slap the shit out of his brother. “I need you to cope, man. I need you to cope now.”
“Papa!” Elliot screamed. “Papa, I’m here!”
Corbin seemed to be focusing on the envoys, his eyes sharp, glowing an unnatural green. He was growing things—vines twining up only to be immediately cut down by the others.
His lethean was not capable of fighting this group of fae—they were born to grow things too.
You worry about the babies. Get Elliot and the babies inside. Corbin’s voice was absolutely unafraid. I love you.
Suddenly, Cosmo was standing next to his brother, and Cullen was there too, and they stood there—three identical dragons, their only difference the color.
Their tails linked together, and they opened their mouths, a fierce cry sounding, and with it, a blinding light.
It shocked him—the light was something so powerful that not one of them could have made it alone, but together, the three of them, working in unison seemed to be in complete control. It was stunning.
The light hit the envoys. The five faces standing there were made almost see-through with the light. One of them, the one closest to Lady Calla, began to smolder, her hair lighting on fire.
He wanted to call out to the triplets, “Don’t destroy her. We have to question her!”
But there was no stopping the fire.
There was no stopping the light.
They spoke as one. “We do not suffer vampires lightly. We reject you.”
That voice wasn’t his Corbin’s. It was something bigger. All Evander could think was that perhaps that was their calling, giving voice to truth.
The vampire burned quickly, the light remaining even after there was nothing left but ash.
Bron stared at his sons, then at his wife. “It seems we don’t need to worry about our son’s mate being a vampire. Lady, go get your grandchildren. They’re frightened.”
Elliot stared at her from where he stood with his father and Evander, the little body still, heavy. “I’m not scared. That was a bad dragon.”
“Yes, it was, sort of.” Evander glanced at Bron. “I guess he has more experience with dragons, huh?”
Bron shrugged. “Well, you know, he is three-quarters dragon, and we are amazing.”
“Those three are very much amazing, that’s for sure.”
If he wasn’t so worried that somehow the triplets had mind-melded and they were never coming back, he’d be incredibly turned on.
None of the other envoys seemed to be ready to go up in smoke, but his father and brothers had surrounded them, keeping them contained so that they couldn’t get near anyone.
He worked his way back to his mate, shifting into his frame and form so that he could come close to the brothers. “I think all is well now, love.”
The three heads swiveled and they all looked at him. For a minute, he was kind of afraid they were going to set him on fire. But then they seemed to relax, their tails untwining from each other. Cosmo immediately slumped down to the ground in his human form, his pink body a little bit dull.
Elliot immediately ran to him, his little croaking bullfrog voice crying out. Isabelle struggled to get to him as well, but Bron was holding her.
Cullen shifted and went to his children, grabbing one in each arm. He gave kisses, and they were a little frantic, their wings beating at him.
Corbin just looked at him, weaving back and forth a little bit as if he were exhausted. So, Ev went and took him in his arms, letting the dragon body change into a human form. He kissed Corbin on the neck. “Are you well, lethean?”
“I think so. How did she get here, Ev? How?”
Grim rage filled him. “I don’t know,” he said, “but we’re going to find out. We’re going to have to start with your mother.”
“You don’t think she really knew?” Corbin was shaking, and he could tell that the idea filled his love with dread.
“No, I don’t think she had any idea. She was shocked.
I imagine all of the great families sent an envoy to try to back her up on whatever her play was going to be today with me.
But she’ll know what family that particular envoy came from.
” From there, they’d have to go question people.
And he wasn’t particularly good at politics.
He was much better at smash-and-grab sort of situations.
“Then we’ll ask her.” Corbin looked to where his mother was slumped down on the picnic blanket, her hands over her mouth.
Evander could see the other four envoys standing, staring at the pile of ash where the vampire had been.
“We’re taking the children back to the house,” Cullen snapped. “Will you help us, Father?”
“Of course, my son.” Bron strode over to pick up Cosmo, who was still incredibly pale, his eyes closed.
“I’ll help.” Evander’s brother, Kristofer, who had taken Isabelle from Bron so he could pick up Cosmo, also grabbed little Elliot, grunting at how heavy he was. Evander knew how that felt. “I can go at least as far as the door.”
“Thank you,” Corbin bowed to his brother and then looked at his other two brothers. “We’re going to need you to help us figure this out. I’ll stay until we decide what has happened.”
Alyster smirked a little. “Are you sure you want to do that? You three are far stronger together.”
Corbin grinned, showing his dragon teeth quite a bit. They were impressive. “If I called my brothers, they would come flying. Literally. Don’t worry.”
Gregor stared back and forth between the two of them. He looked nervous. So maybe it was time for Evander to pull him aside and find out what he knew.
He’d really hate to kill his brother. But if that’s what it came down to, he would do it to protect what was his.