Page 55 of Burned

“Why the fuck would you want to do that?” Nico rumbles.

“Is that even possible?” Dempsey asks, his voice full of more curiosity than judgment or horror.

Understanding seeps into Alrick’s expression though, and I can feel a sense of broken resignation pouring off of him. Unable to restrain myself another second, I pull my mate into my arms and nuzzle into the crook of his neck, squeezing him as tightly as I can and pouring every warm, happy, longing feeling I have into our bond.

“That was before, treasure. I was going to tell you, and I was going to beg you to stay, to be my mate, to let me spoil you and love you for the rest of our long, long lives.”

He trembles in my arms and squeezes me back just as tightly.

“You all know I love a good heartwarming moment, and I hate to break this up, but we do still have a situation,” Lake chimes in. “We didn’t come this far for the croissants, though we must get some before we go.”

“We’ll talk about this later?” I whisper, and my mate nods before we release each other and turn back to my family.

“Yes, what was so urgent that you needed to fly all the way here and barge into our hotel room? Is there a real emergency or is it just too foreign of a concept to any of you that I might want my privacy for a few weeks?” I huff.

“There’s very much an emergency,” Tino confirms.

“And you left the tiny tyrant in charge,” Montrose adds. That earns him the middle finger from Lake, and he blows a kiss in return.

“If I wasn’t in charge, half of you might already be dead,” Lake points out.

“What?” I bark.

Hem rolls his eyes. “He’s exaggerating.”

“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” My usually even tone is strained, which has all of my brothers and their mates eyeing me with surprise.

“Dragon slayers,” Dempsey says, and my blood runs cold.

ALRICK

My pulse thundersin my ears. I must have misheard them. They can’t have said what I think they did.

“Breathe, treasure.” Lord rubs my back soothingly and I try to do as he says, pulling oxygen into my constricting lungs.

Finding out that Lord and I are somehow already mates is enough of a mindfuck, I’m not sure I can handle this right now.

“Where?” I rasp. “Did they hurt you? One slice from a cursed blade will poison a dragon’s bloodstream. There’s no cure. Were any of you cut?” I look around the room frantically, terror swirling inside of me.

“They haven’t gotten that close. They have been testing our wards though,” Hemingway says.

“One of them came to my shop yesterday and told me that if we don’t give their brother back, they’ll torture us before they kill us.” Dempsey shudders as he relays the information and Hemingway roars, wrapping his arms around his small, fragile looking mate.

The man in the chair with the flowing red hair—Montrose, I believe—cocks his head and narrows his eyes at me.

“How do you know so much about a dragon hunter’s blade?”

I open and close my mouth, but I can’t quite form words to answer. This can’t be happening. How did they know? How did they find Lord’s family?

My mind floods with images, memories mixed with panicked predictions. Fire and blood, loud roars shaking the sky and pained shrieks following. The world quakes and the floor becomes unsteady under my feet. Is there an earthquake?

“Breathe,” Lord says again, his voice firm and grounding in my ear as he wraps his arms around me to hold me steady.

Oh, it’s not the world that’s shaking, it’s me.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” I gasp between ragged gulps of air.

“They won’t,” Lord growls, his voice full of certainty that I wish I could believe.

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