Page 72 of Beautiful Beast

“Yes.” Sirrus nodded. “And this time I am unsure how long it will take.”

I slid down to the floor. “I’ll go exploring or back to Mesene.”

“We’ll find you later,” Zovai promised, taking my mouth in a kiss every human in the world would consider sinful. It told me without words how he felt about leaving, and that only the Elders themselves would be able to pull him away from me.

Sirrus took my hand and kissed it, and Endre seared me with his gaze before they went the fastest way they could—directly out the window. Their dragon forms burst into existence, jewels shimmering in the sun and dropping from view.

I stayed against the wall, clutching the towel. It was the first time I’d been alone since we’d…

What happened now?

There was no way to know. Even if there had been relationships like this in the past, it was centuries ago. This world didn’t approve of us, and they wouldn’t. What did that mean? I was also mortal, and they were very much not.

All of it was too big to contemplate, and I wasn’t going to solve it by leaning against the wall in a towel. Padding my way back to Zovai’s bedroom I found my clothes and put them on. And beneath them, laying on the next dress along with my necklace, was my thigh sheathe and my missing blade.

I strapped it on and smiled at the gesture of trust. Now I was ready to find out what Skalisméra had to offer all on my own.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

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ENDRE

We dropped.

The bastion had no windows, but there was a landing room one floor above, where clothes were kept for modesty. It was one of the jobs in Skalisméra to keep all the public landing rooms supplied with the shared clothing.

I pulled on a pair of loose trousers, tying them off and doing nothing more. The Elders held Idroal’s mind, and that wasn’t a good thing. It was obnoxious at best, painful at worst. Behind me, Sirrus and Z did the same, pulling on just enough not to have our cocks out for the majority of the city.

Dragons didn’t hold to modesty so tightly that anyone would care. We’d all seen more than enough bodies for a hundred lifetimes. It was just courteous.

And given we were walking into a meeting with the Elders, if they looked out through Idroal’s eyes, I’d rather have the conversation clothed.

I pushed the door to the bastion open hard enough that it echoed. The room went silent and stayed that way as we passed through. Idroal was entirely still when we entered their small space. It was easy to tell they weren’t in control of their body. The eyes that looked out from their face were cruel, while Idroal was anything but.

“Kind of you to make an appearance,” Idroal’s voice said, but it wasn’t them.

“Mizyn,” I greeted them. “When you hold someone captive, it makes us move faster.”

A short laugh. “Fast enough to run down some stairs, but clearly not fast enough to return to Doro Eche.” The eyes dragged up and down my body. “You don’t look in dire need of rest and relaxation.”

“You don’t usually care what we do,” Sirrus said, stepping up beside me. “Why are you involved now?”

“We’re all involved now,” Mizyn hissed. “We sent you to do a job, and you have yet to tell us if it’s been completed.”

“We will tell you everything in due time.” I kept my voice as calm as I could. “If you are so concerned about the status of our task, send someone else to Rensara.” Then I smiled. “If you have someone you trust not to make things worse, or get carried away.”

The Elders fed the hostility between humans and dragons like a fire that needed kindling. Most dragons now couldn’t be near humans now and not feel the urge to kill. There were plenty who felt as we did, but just like the human world where those who felt any sympathy must hide their sentiments, it was the same in the dragon realm.

I barely kept my temper and my face in check. Even now, there was far more that humans and dragons had in common than different.

Mizyn surveyed the three of us with disdain. “How is it that after four centuries you have not yet learned your place? Or how to offer the respect we are due?”

Rage roared inside of me, and I stepped forward with aching slowness. “How is it that after a millennia the Elders have not learned that actions have consequences? You want me to do your bidding? Then return my power and allow me to do so as you were supposed to two hundred years ago. You want respect? Then fucking offer it instead of gripping so tightly your claws leave nothing but shredded remnants of both your Heirs, your subjects, and the world you inhabit.”

I felt Sirrus and Zovai bristle behind me. It was treason to say such things. But the Elders knew how I felt. They’d known forever, which was exactly why they kept my power bound as it was. Because they knew if I was unleashed they might hasten their own end.

My brothers felt the same, and we’d spoken of the changes we could make countless times. But never where others could hear and never in the faces of the Elders. If Idroal could hear what we said, I knew they would not disagree.

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