Page 2 of Consort of the Dragon King

The human mage turned around at the sound of his name. His panic temporarily abated when his younger brother rushed toward him. His heart overflowed with love as he hurried to meet Sephen halfway, giving him a crushing hug with a sob.

Sephen clung to his older brother. “I can’t believe I saw you come through Fate’s Gate with my own eyes! Your letter was actually real.”

It was a relief to hear Sephen had received his letter, although it felt like Auslin had sent it a lifetime ago. “I missed you so much! There are so many things I need to tell you.” Auslin pulled back without letting go of Sephen. “Are you okay? Did anything happen to you while I was gone?”

“I’m fine. Everything is great now that you’re back.”

Auslin was about to ask another question when he heard Kio yelling in the glen below the temple, “If that’s all you’ve got, I’m going to live forever, fucker!” The clang of swords meeting rocketed Auslin’s heart into his throat. There was only one person Kio would fight in Valzerna, and it was who Auslin most needed to see. But what could he possibly say to Kitsuki to make abandoning him for six hundred years okay?

“Sorry, I have to stop them,” Auslin told Sephen. “Stay here. I’ll come back once I’ve spoken with King Kitsuki.”

Sephen’s eyebrows furrowed. “King Kitsuki? Why do you need to talk to him?”

“I’ll explain everything later. But I have to go before it’s too late.”

“Before you leave, promise me one thing. Don’t go back to Kio.” Sephen’s fearful expression made Auslin’s heart twist with guilt.

“I swear to you that nothing in the world would make me get back together with him.” Auslin moved his jacket and shirt collar to the side to show Sephen his claiming mark that bound him to Kitsuki for life. “Alotof things have happened while I’ve been gone.”

Sephen’s eyes went wide. “You were claimed by a shifter?”

“I’ll explain everything when I return. Just know that I love you, and I’ll come back after I’ve been able to talk to King Kitsuki.” Auslin gave his brother another hug before he went to confront the consequences of his own foolish actions.

When he reached the top of the staircase that descended to the forest glen below, his heart hammered with complicated emotions as he watched Kitsuki violently attacking an already profusely bleeding Kio. Auslin rushed down the stairs as fast as he dared and ran into the field, crying out the only word he could think of that would stop the fight.

“Kitaro!”

Chapter 3

Kitsuki

Kitsuki felt like time stopped when he heard his old name being shouted out in the present. It was enough to halt his attack as he turned in disbelief to find Vanra standing in the clearing, looking exactly as he had the day he had disappeared. Kitsuki would have thought it was a mirage, but the claiming mark that had lain dormant for over half a millennium roared back to life. He faltered in his shock.

Kio saw the opening and tried to take it, but Kitsuki hit his younger brother with enough force to send him careening into a distant tree. He collapsed unmoving onto the ground with a loud groan.

Using his shifter speed, Kitsuki raced over to Vanra. He gathered him in a tight embrace, missing his other arm for the first time in centuries. Kitsuki buried his nose against the human’s neck and inhaled deeply, taking in not just the scent of Vanra and his claiming mark but even the smell of his long-dead father, Tatsuki. “Vanra,” Kitsuki whispered, still terrified that somehow his appearance wasn’t real. Had Sophina finally returned Vanra to him?

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking, and Roltan was hurt, so I did what I always did, and I never wanted to leave, but—Kitaro, I mean, Kitsuki, I’m so sorry?—”

Kitsuki interrupted his rush of words. “Vanra, you have finally returned to me.” He refused to let go of the human for fear that he would disappear again.

He could feel his heart thawing when Vanra hugged him even tighter, while looking up at him with tears in his beautiful violet eyes. “I love you, and I never meant to leave you, and?—”

Kitsuki released Vanra to wipe away a falling tear. “My love, I have waited so long for you to come back to me.”

“I never meant to disappear. Kitaro—Kitsuki, how can you ever forgive me for being so stupid?”

Rather than answering, Kitsuki captured Vanra’s lips in a hesitant kiss, afraid he might be rejected. But Vanra tugged him closer, filling Kitsuki with a complicated rush of emotions as he familiarized himself with his lost love once more.

Vanra passionately kissed Kitsuki back, pressing as close to him as possible, as if they could merge into one. He whimpered when Kitsuki traced his claiming mark and activated his magic. The echoing thrum in the tentative bond between them was the most reassuring piece of evidence that his Vanra really had returned to his side at long last.

It was perfect and everything that Kitsuki had been dreaming about for centuries as he lost himself in Vanra. However, Kio rudely interrupted them. “What the fuck is going on?”

When Kio came storming over to them, Kitsuki defensively stood between him and Vanra. “Leave,or Iwillkill you.”

“You’re making out withmyboyfriend, andyou’rethreatening to killme?” Kio incredulously demanded as he came closer. “Auslin, what the fuck do you think you’re doing? Have you been gone so long you’ve forgotten which of the two of us you’re actually with?”

Vanra touched Kitsuki’s back in silent reassurance before replying. “Kio, a lot has happened since I left and?—”

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