Kyzen #2
Not the reaction I was expecting, but I greatly appreciate it.
If I get a chance to pull Caspian to the side alone, I may take him up on that offer.
Tillman grunts beside me as his eyebrows draw down. I drop my grin and deepen my mental thoughts.
Don’t.
His gaze continues to scan me, searching for something he isn’t going to be able to find.
“Secrets among brothers will only weaken your relationships, not strengthen them.”
My body flinches. The last fucking thing I expected was a response.
“Did you forget to mention you could also communicate mentally?”
“Forget? No. Just didn’t have anything to say privately, yet.”
“Have you been communicating with your Primary this whole time?”
“Yes, and my brothers.”
I roll my shoulders out and subtly suck my teeth. I hate to admit I’m highly impressed with that ability. And jealous.
It’s actually pretty damn convenient.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but my brother finding out he wasn’t the only one marked will do nothing but hurt him.”
“I’m not saying that it is my business, but I’m almost two hundred and sixty years old. I’ve learned a thing or two about honesty in my time.”
Yeah, I can’t deny that’s more than likely the truth.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to listen at this very moment.
He shakes his head and rolls his eyes before focusing back on the other six.
Their conversations have drifted into a mildly heavy silence. It isn’t laced with any sort of animosity or anything like that, but the focus on Riven’s marks definitely broke up the laid-back direction we were heading.
“So how long are you all staying?” I ask.
“Too fucking long apparently,” Caspian grumbles, cutting his glare to the side.
“As long as Willow needs. The shorter, the better for everyone, though,” Corentin says, holding Caspian’s stare the entire time.
“There’s a significance to you being here, aside from Willow knowing how and helping Thayla retract the corrupt power from her body, but it hasn’t been addressed yet. Why is that?” Amick asks.
“How do you know it hasn’t been addressed yet?” Corentin retorts.
“If your Primary had told my Binder something realm changing, the four of us would’ve known immediately. Seeing as her emotions are as level as they can be given what’s happened today, nothing has been shared with her.”
My brothers and I cast a glance toward Thayla, while the other four men do the same to Willow. As if our looks have weight to it, they both peer over their shoulders.
“Fuck, that’s the best feeling in the realm, isn’t it? Feeling the love of your life’s soul and emotions. It never gets old,” Draken says, winking and blowing a kiss to his Primary.
“It’s still a fairly new sensation, but I’m more than fond of it. Back to my original question. Why hasn’t the purpose of your arrival been discussed yet?”
I bite back my smirk. “There’s a time for everything, Amick.”
“You always say that, but that can’t be the case in this situation. It’s already been stated they can’t linger, so why is everyone lingering?”
“Are you not fond of our company?” Corentin asks with an arched brow.
“Fond? No, that wouldn’t be the word I’d use. I’m intrigued but also concerned about the timing being so aligned. How could you all have possibly known to show up at the exact moment you did without being told?”
“Are you worried that someone in your realm is keeping an eye on you all?”
Amick pointedly frowns at Corentin.
“Always, and I don’t appreciate your deflection.”
They hold each other’s gazes. Where Amick is waiting for an answer, Corentin is deciding what he does and doesn’t want to say.
“There’s a lot Willow can’t explain to Thayla, and there’s just as much we can’t tell you four.
No one here warned us of what would happen today.
Willow’s known for years. How and why that is, is none of your concern right now.
Like Kyzen said, once the time is right, Willow will share what needs to be known.
Until then, our job is to get along with you four. ”
“And get along we will. We’re going to be best buds,” Draken says, earning himself a glare from Caspian.
“What happens after that?” Creed asks, to which we all glance at him. “He said, until then, their job is to get along with us. Are we not going to get along after their Primary drops some shit we don’t want to hear on us?”
“However you all receive what she has to say will be on you. We’ll be leaving after that,” Corentin says.
“Are you always so quiet and gruff?”
“Draken,” his brothers bark.
“What? That’s the most I’ve heard him speak since we’ve been here. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he’s a shifter the way he just growled that question out.”
“Does it matter?” Creed asks.
Draken shrugs. “I suppose not. I mean, I love to talk.”
“We can tell,” my brother grunts and I sneer at him.
“All I’m saying is, I just figured you all would be peppering us with questions with the way Willow prepped us before we came.”
“Well, dragon, I got fussed at for my question,” Riven says, huffing at Draken’s smile.
“Why do your souls fully connect to hers?”
It’d seem they weren’t as prepared for questions as it was just indicated they were. Their feet slam to a halt as their gazes bounce between Creed and Willow.
“Are your souls not connected to Thayla’s?”
Corentin’s question has my mind growing fussy. An inkling I’ve had for quite some time now anchors in my chest as my eyes roam over them.
“No. Just hers to ours,” I say.
They nod.
“She owns our souls just as we own hers. That isn’t metaphorical, but literal. That’s the way of a true Nexus,” Caspian answers with nothing but pure conviction in his tone.
“We are one. It’s the best…” Draken trails off as his eyes shift into another form that have mine widening. His face grows slack and his mouth parts. “Elementra, look at them.”
In a blink, he’s sprinting full force forward, ignoring the three others as they call his name. My heart pounds in my chest when I realize what—who—he’s running toward.
“Don’t approach them like that!”
Riven’s and my shout goes ignored as Draken continues to barrel toward Verlet and Seismet.
My power shoots out, surrounding me as I sprint to intercept him before he reaches them.
“Don’t stop him, Kyzen,” Verlet orders and I slam to a stop.
He and Seismet rear up on their hind legs and neigh loudly as their power pulses through the meadow in waves. A responding…
Fuck.
The roar that blasts from Draken rattles the ground beneath my feet. My pulse thunders in my ears as I suck down a breath and stare at the bows our Veilatara are presenting to him.
“What in the actual fuck was that?” Riven asks as he and the others catch up to me and form a line.
“Are you referring to Draken’s roar or whatever it is those…what are those? Horses?” Caspian asks.
“Veilatara. Aside from the Vedarya—who until V we believed to be extinct—they are the most revered creatures in our realm. Put some respect in your tone when speaking about them,” Riven breathes, taking a step forward.
Creed and I grip his biceps and tug him back.
We continue to gawk, confused and shocked as Verlet and Seismet headbutt, nudge, and playfully huff at Draken as he runs his hands through their manes. He laughs and scratches them as though he’s known them forever.
“Man, you gods are lucky,” he says as he and our Veilatara join us, breaking us out of our stare. “Granted, those fucking locks around their wings make me want to burn this place to the ground, but I promised I wouldn’t set anything on fire today.”
“Or bite anyone or anything,” Corentin adds.
Fuck…I thought all those eating people comments were jokes.
“Verlet, what is going on?” I ask.
“Just because he’s a dragon, he’s special? I don’t like this,” Riven grunts, and Verlet huffs.
“Don’t be so possessive. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to meet a creature such as this.”
“A creature such as what? A dragon? We know there are dragons in other realms,” I say.
“Realm, singular,” V hoots. “Dragons are native to Essemist Keep, and Draken isn’t just a dragon. He’s the one and only natural-born dragon shifter. All creatures recognize that.”