Page 40 of Gift from the Stone

She doesn’t want this, she doesn’t want this responsibility, but she’s going to own it because the consequences are too great for her not to. She’s afraid to fail.

Same, baby. Same.

“One way or another, the E.F.’s been going after them for over twenty years. I would’ve been a part of the fight no matter what. I hate the thought of you being involved. I’ve seen what they do to people they kidnap. I don’t want you around it. The thought…” Tillman pauses, pulling her closer and shaking away that train of thought. “But at the same time, you’ve unraveled more about them in the time you’ve been here than we have in two decades. I don’t think we’ll be able to do it without you. Whatever capacity that proves to be.”

“I wish it weren’t you, little wanderer. I wish for this to be put on anyone else in the realm. But I’m going to be here for you no matter what and do whatever I need to do to keep you safe,” Draken tells her sincerely.

Since the moment she arrived, he’s been ready and willing to do whatever it is she wants. If she were to say, to hell with the realm, let it burn, he’d be the one to start the fire. Or better yet, he’d probably tell her to burn it down herself, then he’d dance with her in the flames.

“I would’ve been ready and willing to sacrifice anything. This realm, my life, whatever, to get what’s owed to me. But you? No. Fuck this and fuck that.” Caspian pushes away from the table, pacing back and forth.

In the last two days, I’ve seen a shift in him I never thought I’d witness. He may not think I can see that black, icy armor he has cracking, but I see everything. There’s not much any of them can hide from me.

I knew it’d take time for him to come around to the idea of a true Primary, and it’d really take some work for him to be willing to get close to Willow, but over the last forty-eight hours, none of us having any idea if or when she’d pull out of this pushed him right over the edge quicker than I thought possible. He went from avoiding her to obsessing over her in a matter of days.

Now the thought of something happening to her has him fighting back his demons. His shadows swirl and wither around him in purposeful, sharp movements, casting him in a disoriented blur of black clouds.

Willow stands and slowly walks to stand in his way, stopping his pacing. He doesn’t embrace her, though. He turns away from her, placing his hands on the edge of the table, and bows his shaking head.

“I’ll be okay. She said I may face obstacles and sacrifices, never that I’d be sacrificing myself.”

“Why do you have to sacrifice anything? You’ve done enough of that already.” Caspian slams his fist on the table so hard it slides a few feet from him, causing Willow to flinch and jump back.

The three of us are up and out of our seats in seconds, ready to pounce, but we don’t have a chance to reach either of them as he shrouds her in his shadows.

“Caspian, I fucking swear—” Draken’s cut off as Caspian drops his shadows enough for us the see him holding her.

“I’d never hurt you or lay a hand on you. I’m sorry for scaring you. Don’t fear me, little Primary.” His eyes are nearly pitch-black as he looks down at her with a strained but soft face.

His words are gentle whispers, something I didn’t know my brother was capable of, but he’s letting us hear and see this, so we know he didn’t mean to lose his shit.

“I know. I know you wouldn’t. It was just a reflex. I’m okay, you’re okay. But you can’t let your fear and anger overrule us doing what’s right, Caspian. We can’t turn and hide from it because this may be dangerous. We know they’re dangerous. We’ve both experienced it already. We can’t continue to allow them to do it to other people because we’re afraid,” she says sweetly as she traces her fingers down his face in a calming gesture. Something I’ve noticed they both do to one another in high-stress situations.

Taking a few deep breaths, he nods and kisses her forehead, then turns her to face us. Draken snatches her from him, and his dragon lets out a threatening growl.

“Don’t you dare.” Me, Tillman, and Caspian stand shocked at the rumble leaving Willow’s chest. We watch as her eyes shift to purple slits, her dragon surfacing to meet his threat to one of her men.

“He scared you. Could’ve hurt you.” Draken’s deep, darkened voice argues back, clipped from the restraint he’s using to hold his dragon at bay.

“He would never. None of you would,” she says, stepping closer to him. Wrapping her arms around Draken’s waist, a soft purr vibrates through her chest, and I gape in amazement as his eyes shift back to normal, his shoulders slump, and he returns her hug. She doesn’t pull her dragon away until he’s completely subdued.

“That was impressive. How did you know to do that?” Tillman asks Willow as he comes to stand behind her.

“Just did what my dragon told me to do. But I got to warn you, it probably would be best not to threaten each other in front of me. My bond was on the verge of freaking the fuck out, not knowing who to go to, while my dragon told me to dominate Draken until he submitted to me.” She shoots Draken a sly grin, a playful challenge in her eyes.

He throws his head back, laughing, not the slightest bit offended, then lifts her by her thighs and attacks her mouth. I sit here, staring as my dick grows painfully hard, watching them feast on each other.

“My dragon likes the thought of that challenge, little wanderer.”

“I wouldn’t mind watching that,” Tillman grunts.

Caspian hums in agreement. “I will be watching that.”

Fuck me.

Shaking the images from my mind, I pull her out of Draken’s arms and sit her in a seat. As much as I’d love nothing more than to spread her across this table and devour every inch of her with my brothers, we have things to discuss. I pass her a fresh cup of coffee to make her focus, which does the trick instantly, and I center myself.

“Uh-oh, I know that look. You’re about to tell me something really upsetting or something that’s really going to piss me off.” I let a small smile cross my lips.

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