Chapter Nineteen
Tor
I stared out the front door, fighting a mixture of emotions.
Part of me wanted Rica to come back. My blast had blown her across the driveway between the two ends of the house. She’d half-tumbled, half-angled herself out of sight, but I stood ready, lightning fresh in my hand, crackling and prepared to launch.
You aren’t the only one who’s learned a lot over the years, sister.
On the other hand, I was pissed at myself for losing control.
She’d tried to get me to do that from the start, to show her what sort of opposition I would put up.
Now she knew. True, I hadn’t hit her with my hardest blow, not by a longshot, but it told her more than I’d wanted to about my strength and what I was capable of.
“God-King,” I cursed in irritation. How was it that she was just as annoying as she was the last time I saw her? Seventeen years, and she was still an irritating bitch. Weren’t twins supposed to be, like, extremely close? Read each other’s minds, all that stuff?
Not Rica and I, that was for sure. She’d hated me since we were in the womb. I was sure of it. Dragon twins were quite rare, but they ran in my mother’s family, so it wasn’t quite as big a surprise as it might have been otherwise.
The real problem had come when she was old enough to understand that dragon law stated the firstborn son was to inherit the throne.
Ever since that day, Rica had looked at me differently, as if I were responsible for the archaic law.
Like I could control the God-King and his commands over the entire dragon realm.
It all culminated when we were eighteen, which resulted in my father exiling her to Earth.
Why couldn’t you have just killed her, Father, and saved me this trouble?
Feet came pounding up behind me. I turned to see Ty approach.
“I saw the video cameras,” he said breathlessly.
It was the widening of his eyes that alerted me.
I spun just as Rica landed on the circle of grass at the center of the driveway cul-de-sac.
She had her wings out, spreading wide from her shoulders, the smaller version of her dragonic ones.
Electro-energy cracked and sparked from every angular part of the wings while swirling ominously in her eyes.
She said nothing, but when Ty came to stand next to me, she knew it was over for the time being. The look on her face as she lofted into the air, however, promised she wasn’t done. She was coming for the throne.
“Fucking hell,” Ty breathed under his breath. “God-King, take that woman’s soul. She hasn’t changed a bit.”
“No, she hasn’t,” I said, glancing at him. “Where did you leave her?”
Ty stared at me, not comprehending. “Huh? Leave who? I didn’t know Rica was here.”
“Not Rica,” I said. “Mia.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t seen Mia.”
I stiffened in alarm. “What? What are you talking about? She was supposed to find you. You were supposed to keep her safe.”
Ty shook his head. “She never came to me. I saw the movement on the cameras when you hit Rica and came running. Didn’t Mia leave?”
“No, she didn’t. Come, we need to find her,” I said, turning to storm back inside but coming to a very abrupt halt as someone stood up at the corner.
“Hi,” Mia said sheepishly. “I’m right here.”
“I told you to go to Ty,” I growled.
My tone had the opposite effect. Instead of chastising her, it seemed to make her steel her spine. She crossed her arms. “What was all that about, Tor?”
“That was my sister,” I said but was interrupted before I could continue.
“Yes, I picked up on that much. Some family drama, it seems. No, I meant the whole flash of light. Your sister killing thirteen people. Oh, and the part where you’re a fucking prince?!”
Ah. Crap. Apparently, Mia had heard a lot. More than I would have liked.
“Seriously,” she continued, taking a step back as I tried to come closer. “Who are you people?”
I halted my initial reaction to her retreat, which was a flash of anger. She was afraid of me now? Afraid? Didn’t she know I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her?
Except she wasn’t afraid of me. She was unsure. She didn’t know, and that made her wary of everything. And I couldn’t blame her for that at all.
“That’s a more complicated question than you might think,” I said, trying to deflect any way I could for the time being.
“Right, sure,” she said, arms still crossed defensively.
“I don’t have time to do this right now,” I told her, more harshly than I ever truly wanted to speak to her.
“That was my sister. Her name is Rica. She’s kind of a bitch, and not wanted around here.
Unfortunately, it looks like she’s not going to take that advice and leave. Which makes things a bit … tricky.”
Something slithered behind Mia’s eyes. “Is she … going to try to kill you?”
“Again,” I muttered, for a moment reliving my past with Rica.
Vorgans were no joke. The shadow monsters from deep in the caverns below Storm Keep had been more myth than reality for centuries.
Until Rica had somehow managed to half-tame one and bring it to the surface, unleashing it in the middle of Storm Keep.
Thirteen dragons had died, and I had been wounded and one blow away from death before my father had appeared and shoved a lightning bolt through the thing, skewering its heart.
Not that I intended to tell Mia anything at all about that.
Judging by how she’d worded her questions, she hadn’t seen me hit Rica with a lightning bolt.
All she’d seen was a flash. And while she now knew I was a prince—or would be, once I found my mate—she had no idea it was a prince of dragons, not humans. I could run with that for a bit.
Thank goodness nobody had mentioned dragons. That secret was still in the bag, and I needed to keep it that way.
“Come on,” I said, gesturing to Mia as I walked inside.
Ty stayed behind. I didn’t have to tell him to act as a lookout until I got Mia settled somewhere safer. He knew what to do and would do it without question.
“Where are you taking me?” Mia asked, eyeing my outstretched hand warily.
“Your quarters,” I said. “It would probably be best if you stayed here for the night.”
“Am I a prisoner?” she asked nervously, her eyes darting around, searching for an exit.
“No,” I said. “But my sister is … unpredictable, at best, as you may have noticed. She should really be in a facility.”
Or dead.
“Am I … am I in danger?” Mia asked. “Is she going to try to hurt me?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “She didn’t see you. Neither of us did, so you should be safe. But that’s part of why you should stay here today. So she doesn’t see you.”
I neglected to mention how Rica likely already knew about Mia. After all, she’d fried her car, then fried my truck while I was talking to Mia the night before. Then she’d hit us with a lightning bolt today while we were driving, causing me to go through the windshield.
The key would be to keep Rica’s focus on me and off Mia.
“Am I going to be allowed to leave this place?” Mia asked nervously.
“Yes, yes, of course,” I said. “Just not today. We’ll get you home tomorrow. You’ll be fine.”
And after tomorrow, I would pay her for the work she’d done so far, then tell her never to return. Hopefully, between that and going after Rica myself, I would keep the attention away from Mia so that she would be safe until my sister was dealt with. For good.
“Do you promise?”
“I promise you will go home tomorrow,” I said solemnly, meaning it completely and totally. “Your car will be back and fixed, and you can go on your way. Now, please, let me take you somewhere while Ty and I secure the premises, okay?”
She didn’t look happy about it, but Mia was smart enough to know she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. It would happen one way or another. It would simply be better if she came along willingly.
“Okay,” she said, dropping her arms and starting down the hallway at a gesture from me. “But just for tonight. That’s it.”
“Just for tonight,” I promised.