Page 31 of Beautiful Beast

Down the thousand-foot drop, spread out into infinity, was the sea.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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SIRRUS

“You did what?” I asked again, not quite believing what I’d heard the first time around.

Endre prowled across the training space, bathed in sweat. He’d barely bothered to dress, trousers barely clinging to him. Because he’d gone flying again even though he didn’t have the strength for it. And when he could no longer fly, he came here and brutalized the training dummies until he was dragging on his feet.

Or at least he had been until I found him here.

“I couldn’t—” He heaved in a breath. “I went to kill her. I meant to kill her. And now I can barely sit still because I want to go back there and take everything she… offered.” He hung over the word with a frown.

My dragon perked up in interest. Our dragons were the larger, less controlled versions of ourselves. Who we were with our humanity stripped back to instinct and power. Our dragons had morals and were tempered by our minds, but those morals were flexible. Very flexible.

There were lines we would never cross, and then there was everything else. Whether our more human and conscious minds would be in control? That depended on the day, and the level of instinct.

What Endre fought currently, I hadn’t seen in ages. He was the steadiest of us. The most controlled. His dragon’s eyes currently showed through his form, begging to be unleashed. The hold he had on the beast was short and fragile at best.

Exactly like Zovai.

“I can still scent her,” he spat. “Feel her heartbeat.”

I raised one eyebrow. “And this is a problem, because?” He glared, and I shrugged. “It’s not the first time a dragon has fucked a human. Why does it matter? Your dragon wants her. Why do you resist?”

Endre’s growl shredded the air. “I do not know.”

“Well, you better figure it out. We’re meeting with her in two hours.”

“Why?”

“I was going to tell you it was because Zovai needed to see her. But seeing you, perhaps I should meet with her alone.”

He snarled, and I smirked. I knew it would be his reaction. “Jealous?”

“Of course not.”

I crossed my arms. “So, if I told you I was on my way to fuck her?”

Endre swung at me so quickly that if I hadn’t been ready, I might have been nursing a broken jaw for a few hours. “Stop baiting me.”

“But you make it so enjoyable.”

Fire burned in his eyes, and I chuckled, despite my concerns. Two of the three of us? It was unlikely I would be immune. But where did that leave us? If I went to strike the killing blow and save my brothers, would I be taken in as well? “We must decide if she is to die. Because once the Elders find out she’s alive, if we’ve decided differently, we need arguments in place. A plan.”

He knew I was right, even if he didn’t have the conscious mind to acknowledge it.

“She’s different,” he said. “I can’t explain it. Just like Z. You’ll see.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“Don’t patronize me,” he snapped. “Two of the three of us encounter this human woman and our dragons are out of control? I don’t like it.”

I smirked and leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know. It seems like you like it a lot.”

The door burst open, one of the young runners appearing out of breath. He bowed at the waist, taking the moment to catch himself before he spoke. “There is a message, my lords. I’m told it’s urgent.”

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