“Where are we going? The edge of the realm is the other direction. It’s our only escape.”

“We aren’t leaving the realm.”

My heart lurched. “Then where exactly are we going?”

ChapterFourteen

Ian

Scotland

“Ian! Ian! Wake up.”

I jumped from my bed at the urgent whisper of my mother on the other side of the door. I turned to Cordelia, who’d barely cracked a sleepy eye.

“Go see what she wants before she wakes up the babe. I need more sleep.”

I smiled back at her. The swell of love I had for her ached in my chest. No matter how much time passed, it never dimmed. Not even a little.

“Go back to sleep my little omega. I will see what’s going on and take care of it,” I whispered back.

“Good,” she mumbled, turning to her opposite side and practically shoving her backside in my direction. Good Goddess, but those curves of hers tempted me. It was enough to cause a rumble to roll through my chest “Don’t even think about it. I need sleep.”

I bit back a laugh and reached for my trousers. We both knew that it would take little encouragement to get her onboard. A little growl here, a purr there and my mate would be panting for me. The intensity of desire I had for her went both ways.

However, I’d seen the shadows under her eyes the night before and agreed that she did need more rest. Besides, the frantic pleas of my mother at our door had to be addressed.

By the time I slipped into the hall, my mother had begun a frantic pace back and forth in front of my door.

“What is it?” I asked, feeling the dragon surge to life as I opened my senses to the rest of the house. He sensed danger and his automatic response was to go into protective mode.

“It’s Isaac,” she gasped, clutching at the neckline of her gown. “Your twin is in trouble.”

I groaned, shaking my head. Not this again.

“Mother.” I growled, letting some of the irritation I felt slip into my voice.

“Don’t try and use that tone on me. I am still your mother and as such I will not be heeled like some errant dog.” Her eyes flashed with anger, and I checked my emotions. She was right. And tired of this conversation or not, I owed it to her to listen.

“Then tell me what has happened this time.”

“I had a dream.”

“Which we both know doesn’t necessarily mean anything. We’re all tired from the new babe. It makes us susceptible.”

“To what?” she demanded. “Stop being so stubborn about your brother and listen for once.”

I crossed my arms and shut my mouth. She was right. The least I could do was listen. Like it or not, she could be right. Her gift of sight wasn’t to be easily discounted. Without it, the course of our lives might have been very different.

Of course, taking her dreams seriously might mean that I’d have to take mine that way as well. Isaac had been on my mind more than ever lately, and I hadn’t quite figured out what to make of it.

Under my mother’s constant barrage, my conviction of Isaac as our father’s murderer had begun to soften.

“There is a great deal of dark magic surrounding your brother right now. I don’t know how to explain it, but its deadly.”

“Where? Because he’s been nowhere to be found since I watched him fall from that cliff. Believe me, I looked. For a very long time.”

“And yet, you never found his body.”