Page 41 of Fate of Draga

“Precisely,” Sozav said. “We all saw it. And then rumors started to spread. We heard what she was doing and how she was accomplishing it. Drozer’s reports to the king brought some of us hope, but we had to hide it and plan.”

Varan burst out laughing. “This place?”

Sozav nodded gravely.

“But how could you have known a cycle ago?”

The Neprijat shrugged again. “We originally thought it would be Princess Giselle who would deliver our salvation. We were very wrong.”

Varan looked around in wonder, suspicion, and surprise. “So you hid this place in the Hai System for your salvation. For what? For us to take and use against your own people?”

“Many of us do not agree with our king and his fanatics, but there is nothing we can do. True royals command us and we have to obey. It’s in our genetics. Refusing is not an option. It’s why we slit our throats. One day a royal will find us and command our lives again. A taste of freedom would be torture when we have to go back to that life. The others…the ones truly loyal…that is how they retain their honor – nothing given to our enemy.”

Varan flipped his knife again as he absorbed this information. If this Neprijat was right then it could turn the tide of this war. If he was wrong and this was a trap, then it would be their downfall. Varan couldn’t decide this on his own.

“Are there other places like this?” he asked.

Sozav nodded.

Bright, terrible hope flared in his chest. “I need to call in my mate’s husbands. This is not something I can do alone.”

Those endless black eyes no longer seemed empty to him. Varan could see warmth there. He could see that same dangerous hope that he had.Thatmore than anything was what convinced Varan they should trust Sozav.

“And you would rather I end your life after we’re done with this conversation?” he clarified before calling in the others.

“What would be the alternative, king?”

They shared a look and both knew the answer. But this creature needed to hear it. “Why not join us?”

That desperate hope flared in his black eyes and then died. “They would not accept me. The other two will not agree. Especially the Corinthian.”

“And if my queen overrules him?”

Sozav narrowed his eyes and studied Varan. “Then I will consider it.”

Varan was playing a dangerous game. But they needed the information this male had. And he was exactly what Varan was hoping to find.

A sliver of hope in the darkest of places.

A few quick taps on his gauntlet and the door slid open.

Nash was the first to storm into the room. Kaiden came next, his wings flared as wide as they could go in the space to make him look bigger – more frightening.

“Anything of use from this monster?” Nash snapped.

Sozav looked to Varan as if to say ‘I told you so.’

“Yes actually, but I need you two to weigh in. I cannot present this to the queen without your support.” Varan flipped the knife again, so sharp that if he missed it would impale his hand or leg to the bone with little resistance.

The words and the tone instantly put the other two males on edge, but they didn’t argue. They simply waited, wary eyes fixed on the Neprijat.

Varan explained what he’d been told and the information regarding the purpose of hiding away the factory…and supposedly others. Nash and Kaiden’s eyes widened with each revelation. Varan knew they believed, but they were also careful males. This would take some doing.

When he finished he eyed his mate’s husbands – even if they were not official that was what they were. The three of them were brothers now. Closer than any other males – closer than blood ties even.

Kaiden understood this better than Varan had, until this moment. Until he’d realized he was no longer the only one holding the weight of the king’s crown. Even if he was the only one wearing it.

Nash and Kaiden’s hands were holding the crown up so it did not crush his head and neck into his chest. And in turn he held Adelina’s so she was not lost beneath its weight.

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