Page 43 of The Crimson Walls Of Algorath

“Drinking water, last I saw.”

Madan rolled his eyes. Of course he was. “Lazy bastard.”

Ariadne glanced over her shoulder, then back to him, and whispered, “Madan…”

“I suppose you’ve discovered our secret,” he said, looking over her head toward Whelan and the others. His partner turned to him with raised brows. “Why don’t you come meet everyone? I’d planned to introduce you to our good friends soon, but…Kall’s ineptitude has pushed that timeline forward a bit.”

She grabbed his shortened arm as he stepped around her. “What are they?”

“Asking who they are would be a more appropriate question.” Madan covered her hand with his. “The blue is Razer. The green is Anthoria, but Oria is fine.”

Again, his sister checked the clearing before looking up at him again. She squeezed his arm a little more. “Okay. Razer and Oria. But—”

“Dragons.”

Ariadne gaped at him. She searched his face as though looking for any glint of humor, then frowned. “Dragons are not real.”

Madan sighed, his mouth slanting into a half-smile. “According to the history books of vampires, you are correct.”

“I studied fae and mage history as well.” Her cheeks turned bright red, and her voice raised to an airy tone.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

To make matters worse, she had the audacity to look affronted. “I read of dragons only in fae tales, and they did not have wings.”

Now Madan snorted, trying hard to imagine Brutis without wings and, instead, the long slender bodies of those depicted in the old storybooks. Not only would it be completely bizarre, he couldn’t help but think of how sick he’d feel riding on a beast that moved like a snake through the air.

“They’ve wanted to meet you for some time anyway.” Madan held out his shortened arm to gesture toward the clearing.

Ariadne hesitated. “I do not think—”

“Razer and Azriel are bondhearts,” Madan cut in, hoping the notion of the massive blue dragon being connected to her husband would quell her fears. “They won’t harm you.”

“Bondheart?” She blanched and looked back at the dragon.

“Not like a fae bond,” he reassured her. Rather than try to encourage her to walk alone, he took her hand in his and squeezed once. She hesitated, then returned the gesture. They started for the clearing. “The vinculum to a dragon is much more…platonic in nature than a fae bond.”

She turned round, ocean eyes up to him. “I would hope!”

The dhemons in the clearing laughed at that but stepped back as they broke through the treeline to give them both a complete view of the two massive dragons. Razer stilled, his golden gaze snapping to Ariadne. Oria, however, relaxed and laid her head back on her claw, watching them both with her onyx eyes.

“If Razer is Azriel’s—”

The blue dragon chuffed in indignation and lowered his head to stare her in the face. Ariadne wisely snapped her jaw shut. The dragons didn’t belong to anyone. Razer always hated it when someone referred to any of them in such a manner. Like pets.

“Razer chose Azriel,” Madan explained. “That doesn’t mean Razer belongs to Azriel.”

Ariadne’s already pale complexion turned a sickly green. She shifted as though to take a step away from Razer but thought better of it and stood stalk still. When she spoke next, her voice was quiet and shaky, “Alright. If Razer and Azriel are…a pair. Are you and Oria…?”

The green dragon gave a choppy rumble, like a laugh. Again, Ariadne froze and looked at her before glancing up at him with a questioning look.

“Oria is my bondheart,” Whelan said and stepped in close to the green one. He laid a hand on her neck, and she purred with contentment.

“Oh!” Ariadne tried to smile, but it didn’t stick.

“My bondheart, Brutis, is up north right now,” Madan said and searched for the vinculum that mentally connected him to his dragon. The distance, however, made it too weak.

Razer shifted forward, bringing his nose a breath from Ariadne’s hand, a single nostril the circumference of a dhemon’s palm. She watched him as though uncertain what to do next. After a long, tense moment, she lifted her hand, palm down, and the blue dragon pushed his nose against it.

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