Chapter 6
Eurwen wasn’t sure what had just happened with Vaughn.
She had taken to the sky to try and clear her head after her conversation with her parents.
Then, she’d seen Vaughn. It had been impossible for her to put off talking to him even a moment longer.
She couldn’t remember a time when she had been so nervous and edgy.
Finding him naked had shifted her emotions to something more…wanton. After the dream she’d woken to that morning, she needed release.
And she needed it with Vaughn.
Unfortunately, everything had gone wrong the minute she opened her mouth to talk. No matter what she said, it’d come out nearly the opposite of what she wanted to say.
Eurwen thought about following him, but she was too upset. First, her talk with Con and Rhi had gone sideways, and then the same had happened with Vaughn. She was no longer sure of herself or her thoughts.
With one last look at where Vaughn had disappeared into the forest, Eurwen turned and jumped into the air as she shifted.
She started toward her cottage at Cairnkeep, then realized she didn’t want to be alone.
She needed to talk, and only one individual would truly understand what she was going through—Brandr.
She changed directions to look for her brother.
The problem was, he hadn’t wanted any Dragon Kings here.
Especially their father. All Brandr would do was tell her, “I told you so,” and that wasn’t what Eurwen needed, either.
She started to turn around to fly back to her home when she spotted Brandr with the generals.
Curious, she continued toward them to discern what her brother was up to.
By the time she reached the group, the four dragon generals were gone. Brandr stood in human form with his arms crossed over his chest, his long, black hair pulled back in a queue, his black eyes watching her.
“I’m surprised to see you,” he said when she landed. “I thought you’d be cozied up to Con and Rhi.”
She ignored his smirk as she shifted to her human form and flicked her long hair over her shoulder.
His eyes narrowed, the movement identical to their father’s. “You’d better no’ be here to try and convince me to talk to them.”
“I’m not. They’re having a look around.” Eurwen wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell her brother the rest of it. Maybe because she wasn’t in the mood for his smugness. She needed someone to lean on, and he was all she’d ever had.
Erith had been amazing and did her best while raising them, but the goddess had her hands full with leading the Reapers.
While Eurwen got along with the other dragons, it wasn’t easy being friends with those you ruled.
She was never sure if they were friendly because they genuinely liked her or simply because of who she was.
“Sis?” Brandr asked with a frown as he dropped his arms and walked to her. He studied her face as he put a hand on her arm. “What is it?”
Eurwen shrugged in an attempt to brush off his question, but the concern in his eyes caused the dam to burst and the tears to fall.
He pulled her against him and held her as she cried. “Did they hurt you? What did Con say? I know he must have said something to make you cry. Or was it Rhi? Bloody hell. I knew they should no’ have come. I’ll force them out right now.”
“No. No,” Eurwen said as she lifted her head from his shoulder and sniffed. “That isn’t it. I mean, we did have words, but they didn’t hurt me.”
Brandr gently wiped the tears from her cheek. “Then who did? Tell me so I can kick their arse.”
“I could do it myself, thank you very much,” she said with a smile.
His lips softened into a grin as he gripped her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “I know you can. That doesna mean I can no’ get my own hits in.”
“I have to tell you something.”
He grew serious as he nodded. His arms dropped to his sides. “The cliff?”
“Yes.”
They flew together to a cliff near Cairnkeep. It was the spot where they had landed the first time they came to Zora and shifted. It was the spot they used to settle arguments, plan, and talk about anything important.
Eurwen landed and shifted before lowering herself to the ground. Her legs dangled over the side as she gazed out at the vast mountains where the varied greens of the trees and grass met the vibrant blue of the sky. Even after all her years on Zora, it still managed to take her breath away.
Brandr settled beside her. “You’re leaving.”
“What?” she asked in shock as her head jerked to him. “No.”
Relief swept over his face as his shoulders sagged. “Thank the stars.”
“You thought I was leaving?”
“You brought our parents here, then came to me crying.”
She pressed her lips together and glanced at the mountain range. “I am upset about my conversation with them, but I’m disappointed in myself. I thought I was past the anger that ruled me for so long.”
“You mean my anger.”
She cut him a dark look. “It was both of ours.” Eurwen sighed. “What I need to tell you doesn’t involve our parents.”
“Just say it. Whatever it is, it’ll be all right,” he said, squeezing her hand briefly to show his support.
Eurwen lowered her gaze to the ground. “Do you remember when we first began visiting Earth?”
“Aye,” he said with a wry twist of his lips.
Her gaze lifted to his face. “Then we started going alone.”
A small frown furrowed his brow. “Aye.”
“We had rules.”
“We did.”
“I broke one.”
Brandr stared at her in silence for a full minute. “What happened?”
“I was in Norway.”
“Ah. Your fascination with the Vikings.”
It was her turn to flatten her lips. “With how they treated their women. How they allowed them to fight alongside the men. Another culture also did that.”
“The Celts.”
There was no heat in Brandr’s words, but Eurwen wasn’t fooled.
It was something else he got from their father.
“I watched two warring Celt clans fight one day. It was brutal and vicious. A woman led one, the clan I had been studying for some time. They won, and without any interference from me. That night, they celebrated.”
Brandr shrugged. “And?”
“Someone new arrived. Someone who wasn’t part of the clan.”
“You wouldna be telling me this if it was just a human you took to your bed. Which means, it was a King.”
Eurwen drew in a deep breath and then released it.
“The minute I saw him across the fire, I was drawn to him. Like invisible strings connected us, and some unknown force was pulling us together. I couldn’t have turned away had I tried.
But…I didn’t want to go. That night was…
everything. I knew that he would realize who I was or start asking questions I couldn’t answer once the morning came.
So, I left. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him.
Fight the urge to go to Dreagan and find him. ”
“Why did you no’ tell me this before?”
“We promised each other that we’d never be around the Kings.”
Brandr swallowed and looked out over the view. “Yes, well, that was a one-time thing.”
Astonishment jolted through Eurwen as she looked in disbelief at her brother. “Did you not hear what I said?”
“I heard that you’ve no’ gone to him.” Brandr glanced at her. “That’s all I need to know.”
“No.”
He swiveled his head to her, his brows drawn together. “What?”
“I said, no.”
“To what, exactly?”
She got to her feet. “I told you that story to lead into another, but you’ve made your stance perfectly clear.”
“We doona need the Kings. We never have. We never will,” he stated calmly.
Which only enraged her more. Eurwen fisted her hands as she glared at her twin. “We don’t need them, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be in our lives.”
“That’s exactly what it means.” Brandr slowly got to his feet and dusted off his hands before facing her. “Plenty of dragons would do anything to be your mate. Pick one.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What the bloody hell are you on about? You know we can’t just pick a mate. That isn’t how it works.”
“This is our realm. The Kings had their chance on theirs, and they buggered it all. I’m no’ stepping aside for them to come and take over. Ruin what we’ve done. Perhaps you need to think about whose side you’re on.”
“I’m on my side,” she retorted.
His nostrils flared, a sign that he was fighting his anger. “Are you telling me that Dragon King is your mate?”
“I don’t know what he is. What I want is your support, no matter what happens.”
“I love you, Eurwen. We’ve been through a lot together, but you know my stance. If your mate is a King, then you willna be ruling Zora any longer.”
Her eyes widened in incredulity. “You can’t be serious.”
“I willna give them a foothold here. And if you’re mated to one, that’s exactly what will happen. If that means I banish you, then so be it.”
“You forget we rule together. You can’t banish me anymore than I can banish you.”
“Figure out what is more important.” A muscle ticked in his jaw before he walked away.
“Why is everyone walking away from me today?” she asked herself.
Eurwen faced the view and took a deep breath, but that didn’t alleviate her emotions that had been in upheaval since the start of the day.
It felt as if everything were falling apart when she had believed this first step in a new direction was what she was meant to do. How could she have been so wrong?
It wouldn’t have mattered if she and her parents had shared an amazing conversation and bonded because nothing would change Brandr’s mind. He’d laid it out for her. She could choose Zora and him, or she could have their parents and Earth.
And possibly Vaughn.
Very few times in her life had she not known what to do. Where she felt as if she were adrift in a sea of uncertainty and doubt. But today, she was drowning in that ocean with no way out.
Zora was her home. She hadn’t had a conventional birth or upbringing. Nothing about her and Brandr had been normal. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore, and she was beginning to wonder if she had ever known anything.
She did know one thing. And that was how Vaughn made her feel.
But could she decide about the rest of her life based on one night that’d happened lifetimes ago?
She didn’t know Vaughn, and he didn’t know her.
They had physical chemistry, but that didn’t equal compatibility.
Maybe she was overthinking things. Perhaps she thought there was something between her and Vaughn that really wasn’t.
There was only one way to know for sure.