12. Xander
Chapter 12
Xander
Four Seasons (Summer)— Vivaldi
“ M ay I be frank with you, Lord Drakos?” Francesca Hellfire says as we walk into the knee-waist hedge maze my mother loves. The night wind suddenly feels cold against my face.
“Of course, Francesca,” I say, attempting to sound like a pleasant sort of person.
She glances at me, her tanned features beautiful under the twinkling lamplights spaced periodically outside the maze. “I’ve never met anyone who’s rejected their mate before. My mother is worried it makes you a sociopath.”
I huff a laugh. “I’m not a sociopath. I care greatly for my family. I feel pain when they do. I feel great love for them.”
She stares at me with sharp grey eyes. “Truly?”
“I’ve met my share of sociopaths,” I say, patting her small hand resting in the crook of my arm. “I’m not one of them.”
“Well, that’s only one of the things that has me questioning this match.”
While I appreciate her frankness, her manner leaves a bit to be desired. She can be taught that, I suppose. “What else has made your list?”
She doesn’t miss a beat. “Your eyes,” she says. “Are they an issue?”
A fiery whip of irritation snakes into my gut, but I push it aside. “No. In fact, some would say they are an advantage.”
She nods slowly, as if considering this. As if she’s testing whether I’m lying or not. Again, I have to push that whip aside.
“And your berserker genes, when was the last time you had an episode?”
I stop and turn to look at her. “Your research has been thorough, Francesca. I’m sure you make a great lawyer.”
She tosses her length of blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’d like to think I am. I’ve had glowing reports from my seniors. I hope to make partner soon.”
“Why consider the match, Francesca?”
Her eyes search my face, lingering at my mouth. “They say you are the most powerful dragon in the country.”
“That remains to be tested.”
She says seriously, “I think you are.”
And her opinion matters why? I throw her a smile and turn around, offering her my arm. We start walking once again.
“And the Boneweaver?”
Insipid woman. “She is my captive and none of your concern.”
“If she will be sleeping in our room, she is my concern.”
Only the fact that Francesca’s family holds massive shares in the gold and cadmium mines up north stops me from tossing her out of the estate. “She is barely a concern to me,” I scoff. “The only reason I agree to tote her around is because?—”
“Because what?” She’s ogling me again, searching for falsehood. Frankly, it’s insulting.
“Because a lot of thieves and deviants have their eye on her, and I cannot let them get their hands on her.”
“She’s that valuable?” Jealousy mars the statement.
“To certain people,” I reassure her. “Not me.”
“Like Scythe Kharkorous and Savage Fengari.”
My jaw clenches of its own accord, and I have to consciously relax it to answer. “Sure.”
“Your ex-mates. The criminals.”
When I get back inside, I’m torching this woman’s biodata sheet, if I don’t torch her first. “What is your current relationship with them, exactly?”
“You overstep, Francesca.”
She snaps her mouth shut over her next sentence and purses her lips. Finally.
The crickets chirp in the night, and under my music, the rhythmic sound settles me. We finish our lap and head back towards Francesca’s parents, her mother rushing forward with her arms out as if to save her daughter from the evil dragon. “How was your walk, darling?”
Francesca leaves my arm to grasp her mother’s. “The garden is lovely, but it doesn’t hold a flame to ours.”
The heat in my orbital bones makes me sure that my eyes flash. Francesca’s mother stiffens, then forces a smile. “I’m sure the maze is top tier, darling. The Drakos Estate is the biggest in the southern hemisphere!”
“Is it?” Francesca frowns.
“Ah, that wasn’t a part of your research, then?” I smile.
She smiles back at me, missing the jibe completely. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Xander. I hope you remember me tomorrow.” I never gave her permission to use my first name. She extends her hand. “I’m sure you need to attend to your other guests.”
As gracefully as my irritation allows, I kiss her skin and bow, leaving them to their drinks and gossip.
A fucking smoke is actually what I need. Ignoring everyone else, and waving away a butler with a tray of canapes, I head for the castle. The string quartet plays Vivaldi, contrasting nicely with the Mongolian rock in my ears. I can’t believe that dragoness had the nerve to ask about my…condition. Do people have no sense anymore? No sense of self-preservation? Even Aurelia?—
I stop myself right there, shaking my head to clear that heinous thought as I enter the warmth of the castle.
But the scent of scum fills my nose, and I turn abruptly to see Lady Hyena and a retinue of three male hyenas walking down from the stairs that lead to my father’s office.
What the hell was my father doing inviting her to the estate?
The old lady passes, eyeing me with glimmering coal-black eyes. Suddenly, something in her gaze shifts. Some recognition.
She tilts her head back and cackles.
I stare at her blankly, waiting for her to finish her stupidity. The males cross their arms and look anywhere but me.
“Oh, nasty dragon,” she says, wiping the corner of her eye with a black lace handkerchief. “You’ve gone and cursed yourself for life.” She laughs again, taking hold of her cane and hobbling towards the front door.
Something dark creeps through my being and I check on my dragon. He remains catatonic. I clench my teeth and carry on to my room.