Page 34 of Beautiful Beast

“Erryn?” I asked as we approached another set of large double doors. “Who am I meeting?”

“Our leaders.”

“Yes, but who? If you’re not allowed to tell me, that’s fine, but I have no idea if I’m walking into a meeting with the rulers of all dragons who are one breath away from burning me alive.”

Erryn laughed softly. “No. The Elders reside elsewhere. You will be meeting with dragons in human form. Three of them. They are the Heirs. The dragons who will replace the Elders once they fade from this world and return to the stars.”

“Oh,” I said. “All right.”

Not unnerving at all. Not the current rulers of all dragonkind, just the future leaders.

She knocked softly on the door. I heard nothing, but she must have, because she opened the door and gestured inside.

My mouth fell open as I entered. There was a small, curtained foyer, but the curtains were sheer, revealing that we truly were at the peak. Or a peak. The ceiling vaulted into a dome with another circular window open to the sky. It let out the smoke from the fire burning merrily in a large raised pit in the center.

There were other rooms that branched off, but there were also walls of nothing but air, with platforms clearly used to fly from.

Low, curving couches circled the fire. The colors of the space were warm and comfortable. On the whole, the space was both more grand in scale and less grand in luxury than I had expected.

But that was all I had time to notice, because I was noticing the three men spread through the room. Endre was one, and two men I didn’t recognize. They were handsome in the same way Endre was—brutal and harsh, like they’d been carved from the mountains themselves. I couldn’t help wondering if smiles softened them at all.

Along with ignoring the surge of awareness now that I knew what Endre’s body felt like pressed against mine. Lips on my skin. Things I shouldn’t be thinking about or wanting.

One of the dragons I didn’t know sat on another couch, and the third by one of the large windows.

“Please come in.”

I pushed through the sheer curtains, fully entering the space. The weight of their gazes on me was almost enough to make me retreat.

Endre was here, and he was one of the ones who’d taken me from Rensara. There were three of them.

“It was the three of you that attacked the palace?” I asked.

The man on my left turned toward me. His skin was a bit darker than the others, hair somewhere between red and gold. Like an autumn leaf in the midst of its change. I’d never seen a human with hair like it. Then again, most people I’d encountered found my hair strange. No one had commented on it here, which maybe meant it was more normal.

We locked eyes, and I felt it. His eyes were a mixture of brown and gold and other things, and it wasn’t the dragon shining through, but I still recognized him. “You’re the one who carried me.”

His gaze held as much fire, darkness, and intensity as Endre’s did last night. As Endre’s did right now.

“Yes,” he said. “I am.”

The third dragon observed me with cold eyes. I pressed my lips together, my nerves not disappearing now that I was here. He slowly walked toward me, but in an arc, as if he were circling me like prey. Swallowing, I spread my hands. “I have been at court my entire life, and yet I do not know what to do. Are there protocols I should observe?”

I saw Endre’s mouth move for a moment into that same hint of a smile he’d shown me. “After our last encounter, I would think that protocols aren’t necessary.” My face flushed red, and he continued. “I thought your first question would be if you’re about to die.”

“On the off chance politeness has any sway toward you keeping me alive, I want to make sure I’m abiding by the rules.”

The one on the left chuckled at that. “You’ve met Endre. My name is Zovai.”

“And I am Sirrus.” The dragon coming closer. Cold eyes and icy blond hair.

“Katalena Isabel Arslan Savea,” I said. “Crown Princess of Gleira. Though I suppose that hardly matters anymore.”

“That’s quite a name,” Zovai said.

Twisting my hands together, I took a risk. “I prefer to be called Lena.”

“Very well, Lena.” Sirrus neared my shoulder. I didn’t turn to face him. Turning to face him meant turning my back on two dragons.

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