Page 44 of Dragon Awakened

"If it isn't Fury..." My voice breaks, and my eyes sting. Blinking back angry, frustrated, miserable tears, I look to each of my mates in turn. "Then my last mate has to be Storm."

STORM

It's ten o'clock at night when the knock sounds on my door. I blank the screen of my tablet and shove it in a drawer. Unconsciously, I flick my gaze at the corners of my room. I scan the place daily for cameras and bugs, but there's always a chance that I missed something.

No one can know what I've been doing here.

Or who I've been doing it with.

Once I'm sure everything is secure, I move to the door. I tug it open a crack to find three guards standing outside. One Air Dragon and two Shadow. My stomach turns over, and I glance in both directions down the hall. For better or worse, the three of them have come alone.

"Sorry to disturb you, Prince Storm," the Air Dragon says. "But there's a situation."

The urgency in the guard's voice gets my attention. Stepping out into the hall, I close the door behind me and gesture for him to continue.

He leans in. "His highness, Prince Fury, has gone missing."

Alarm bells ring in my mind. "What do you mean, missing?"

The guard clears his throat. "The prince left the mansion as usual earlier this evening. Half an hour later, we received word from Ms. Jasmine that he had not arrived at his anticipated destination."

So he was heading off to his girlfriend's house and never showed up. That's weird, but not unexplainable. I raise my brows. "I assume attempts have been made to contact him?"

The guard nods. "The prince's phone has been turned off."

My heart jumps inside my chest. Domineering asshole that he is, Fury is my brother, and I'm worried about him.

But familial concern isn't the only thing raising my pulse rate.

Swallowing hard, I flex my hands at my sides, trying to keep my cool. "Do we have any additional information? Security footage?"

One of the Shadow Dragon guards steps forward, brandishing a security pad. "This image was captured by one of our cameras positioned outside the gate of the mansion."

He taps at the screen a few times before turning it so I can see.

The image on the screen is blurry and pixelated, clearly zoomed in to the maximum. My brother is striding away from the camera.

And behind him are two figures. Tall. Male.

My breath catches, and it's all I can do to maintain my composure. I point at the two men. "Is there video of them actually attacking the prince?"

"No," the Air Dragon says, "but we're unable to identify them." He shakes his head. "They're not citizens of the kingdom."

"Or of ours," one of the Shadow Dragons agrees, a sharp darkness glinting in his gaze. Like he's a predator who's just found his prey.

A buzzing starts up in my abdomen, a jolt of adrenaline hitting my system.

"Why are you bringing this to me?" I ask.

The guards glance among themselves. "Your father is...indisposed," the Air Dragon tells me.

So he's either got some young dragon in his bedchamber or he's communing with the Shadow King.

The one who showed me the security pad in the first place huffs out a breath, brimming over with impatience. "We need royal sign-off to activate the troops."

That he does. My father made some shitty decisions when he decided to team up with Erembour, but he wasn't a fool. Shadow Dragons can't use force within our borders without the approval of someone in our family.

"Just give us the go-ahead," the other Shadow Dragon tells me, his voice sharp.

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