Chapter 24 The Royal We
Flint
“You ready for this?” Jaxon asks two weeks later as he straightens my tie for the fourth time.
Who could have guessed that when the day came, he was going to be so much more nervous than I am?
“I was born ready,’” I answer, quoting some old Western my dad likes to watch.
“Oh, really?” Jaxon raises a brow in that way that always makes me want to kiss him. Then again, nearly everything he does makes me want to kiss him. “That wasn’t you I heard hyperventilating in the bathroom in the middle of the night?”
Except call me on my bullshit… When he does that, kissing him is definitely not the first thing on my mind.
But just because he’s annoying doesn’t mean he isn’t right. Sort of. “That was middle-of-the-night Flint.”
“Is that so?” A second brow joins the first. “And early-afternoon Flint has all his concerns on lock?”
“He does when he’s standing next to his mate,” I answer, grabbing onto Jaxon’s black tie—like it would ever be any other color—and pulling him in for a quick kiss.
Make that a quick, unsatisfying kiss, because he pulls back the second our lips touch.
“Get back here,” I tell him, wrapping an arm around his waist and trying to pull him close. Trying because he’s definitely resisting. And when my man puts his mind to something, there’s pretty much no moving him.
Today being a case in fucking point.
“Your mother was very clear about there being no PDA today,” he shoots back. “She wants everything to be perfect.”
“Yeah, well, so do I.” I waggle my brows at him. “How shocking that my mother and I have a very different definition of that word.”
Jaxon rolls his eyes, but then he leans forward and gives me a slightly more satisfying kiss, so I decide to call it a win.
The door to the conference room starts to open, and suddenly the giant butterflies that had me nearly puking in the middle of the night come roaring back with a vengeance. To combat them, my gaze goes directly to Jaxon’s.
“You’re going to be there with me, right?” I ask, because I’m not sure I can do this without him.
“I thought you weren’t nervous,” he teases.
“I’m not, unless I think about what happens next.”
“What happens next is the same thing that will always happen.” He slides his hand against mine, tangling our fingers together. “We’ll go back to our room and do all kinds of things that are a hell of a lot wilder than a little PDA.”
“In that case, why don’t we skip the whole thing and head on up to our room now?” I ask.
“Because your parents would disown you, that’s why.” He straightens my tie again before moving onto his own. “Plus, we’ve got a bunch of friends up there who’ve come a long way to see this happen.”
I shrug. “You’ve seen one coronation, you’ve seen them all.”
Jaxon laughs. “So why don’t you go up there and give them something they’ve never seen before?”
“I’m already bringing a vampire prince to sit next to me on the dragon throne—what else could they want?”
“Grace already did that.” He snorts. “If you’re going for originality, I think you’re going to have to dig a little deeper.”
“To be fair, I’m not sure anyone can top Grace’s coronation—defeating hunters, naming Hudson as the gargoyle king, creating democracy from a plutocracy…”
“No one can say the gargoyle queen doesn’t believe in shaking things up…”
The question is, what am I going to do to shake things up?
Not today, maybe, but during my time as king?
I’m already struggling with the knowledge that in about an hour, I’ll be in charge of this whole place.
Yes, the Circle has already started organizing the first paranormal election ever—one where everyone gets to vote for representation in the newly created House of Magic, the body that will make the laws in a fairer way than the Circle ever did.
“I thought I’d have years to decide what kind of king I want to be.”
I don’t realize I’ve said the last out loud until Jaxon gives me a look that I feel in my soul. Even before he says, “I’m pretty sure you already know.”
“You’re going to be there the whole time, right?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to hear it.
“The whole time,” he agrees. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m going to be up there on that stage with you.”
“How could I forget?” I shoot back. “Seeing you in a dragon crown is the part I’m looking forward to the most.”
“Ditto,” he tells me. And this time he’s the one to pull me against his chest and kiss me like he means it.
I should pull away—the clock is ticking—but when Jaxon’s holding me, it’s impossible to worry about that…or anything else.
At least until a knock sounds on the door and Jaxon’s sister, Izzy, steps into the room in a swirl of silver and sadism. She’s here on special dispensation from her school in Texas—and by “special dispensation” I mean because the gargoyle king and queen pulled rank.
Her glitter-dusted combat boots sound like a war drum as she stomps over the threshold. “Seriously? This is what’s holding us up? The fact that you two can’t keep your tongues off each other?”
Jaxon narrows his eyes at her. “Beat it.”
“Don’t confuse me with Flint,” she fires back, her big blue eyes little more than slits now.
I step in before World War Vega starts on our coronation day. “Sorry, Izzy.” I give her my most charming smile. “You know how it is with fated mates.”
She pulls a knife out of God knows where, twirling it between her fingers as she gives me the most unimpressed look I’ve ever been on the receiving end of.
“Yeah, well, my day pass is running out and the dragons are getting restless. Grace said to tell you if you don’t heed my warning, Eden’s next. ”
That gets us moving. Close friend or not, that dragon is terrifying.
Izzy’s grin is all fangs as she leads us out of the room and down a short hallway to the enormous carved doors that lead to the ballroom.
My stomach drops as I realize the room is packed. I mean, sure, I expected us to get a good crowd, but there are dragons everywhere, their magic crackling in the air like lightning.
Not to mention the fact that the entire Circle is milling impatiently on the stage, including Jaxon’s brother and Grace.
As we walk in, the orchestra starts playing “Flight and Dragonfire,” just like it has at every important event in my lifetime. I tried for something a little more upbeat—or at least a little more cool—but was shot down hard.
Sometimes my mother is a revolutionary, but other times she’s as traditional as they come. Apparently, this is one of those times, because she wouldn’t budge.
I glance at Jaxon to make sure he’s still with me, but he just grins and shoots me a look that dares me to back down.
No fucking way. One, because I’m not a coward. Two, because this is my duty and my privilege. And three, because everyone I know is here and there’s no way—no way—I’m punking out in front of Izzy and Hudson Vega. I would never hear the end of it.
So I do the only thing I can do in this situation. I take my mate’s hand and walk slowly down the center aisle before climbing the stairs onto the stage.
The other kings and queens are sitting in a half circle on the dais, except for Grace and Hudson, who are standing near the front.
My eyes move instinctively to my mother, who is sitting directly in the center of the semicircle with my father, as is only appropriate for the dragon king and queen while at the Dragon Court.
And that’s when it hits me, really hits me. This is the last time my parents will take up that spot. After today, Jaxon and I will take their places in the Circle and everywhere else. Because we will be the dragon kings.
The thought has my knees trembling and my hands trying to shake.
But I’ll be damned if I show that to anybody, so I square my shoulders and head straight across the stage to where Grace and Hudson are standing, the coronation crowns in their hands.
Because as heads of the Circle, it is the responsibility of my best friend and her mate to do the honors.
Before this moment, I thought the whole thing was kind of ridiculous. But now that I’m standing here, Grace watching me with a solemn expression and eyes that hold both power and the weight of the world in them, I can’t help but think this feels right.
More, it feels important—as important as the roles Jaxon and I are about to take on.
My breath catches as Grace lifts one crown and Hudson the other. I lower my head so that Grace can reach me, and then she’s murmuring to me in Gaelic—an old gargoyle blessing that she’s spent the last two weeks memorizing—before placing the crown on my head.
It feels heavy, I’m not going to lie, but it also feels right. Like this moment, like this crown, has been waiting for me my whole life.
I pledge my allegiance and my protection to all the dragons, including the obnoxious dragon clans, and to everyone in the ballroom. Then stand back and watch as Hudson crowns Jaxon, who accepts the crown with a pledge of his own.
Grace steps back, her eyes on mine. “For loyalty,” she says, her voice ringing out over the crowd.
Hudson does the same, his gaze locked with Jaxon’s. “For love.”
“For all of us,” Jaxon and I reply in tandem.
The room erupts with cheers and flames—we are dragons, after all—as Jaxon reaches for my hand. I hold on tight, and so does he. Because everything that we’ve been through, every wound and every fight, has led us to this moment.
We are kings now. And we will rule the way we do everything. Together.