Page 56 of Devoted to the Dragon

Knox

Sloan places an envelope on my nightstand and starfishes on my bed. It’s after midnight, but she’s still in her work suit.

“Ugh. You owe me so big.”She chucks her phone and lets out a sigh. “The treaty terms have been written out, and the humanitarian aid accounts are set up.”

The bag of saltwater taffy I toss almost hits her face before one of her shadows catches it at the last second.

She laughs as though I’ve said something hysterical. “It’s cute you think going to the coast for my favorite candy is going to make us even.”

A snort sounds as she ditches her heels and folds herself cross-legged to look at me. She’s tired, her eyes dull with the need to feed. This is the life she’s been raised for as the heir, and she plays it well, but sometimes I worry about her.

Sweetening the deal, I toss her the sweatshirt I lifted from Donovan. She huffs indignantly but puts it on over her suit.I swallow my smile.

She catches it anyway, rolling her eyes. “Shut it, you.”

“I didn’t say anything,” I say, playing innocent.

I return to packing because we pretend she hasn’t had a decade-long crush on my crewmember. He’s from a lesser snake family that serves one of the big six, like mine. It’s unlikely she would ever be allowed to mate him, but that doesn’t stop her longing.

“You didn’t have to. But at least mine is only a sweatshirt. You’re packing away your life.” She says it in that way only siblings seem to have of loving you while simultaneously calling you on your shit in the most brutal ways.

Her words sting, the reality of my situation hitting so hard that I need an antacid. “You’re right. I’m over here packing my ass up for an extended stay in enemy territory with a dragon who probably wants me dead.”

“As your sister, I feel obligated to point out that I think this is an awful idea that’s gonna get you killed, but in general, I get the appeal.” She plops a piece of candy in her mouth, twisting the white paper wrapper between her fingers. “Who wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth to find their soulmate? I mean, how do you beat ‘literally made for each other’?”

“You don’t.” I shrug. I’ve got a plan, but it’s paper thin and held together with wishes.

“Get Stef to make you a love potion. Problem solved.” The pile of wrappers beside her is growing, and her smile is loose. She’s teasing—mostly.

“Do you think before you say shit out loud? I’m trying to win her back, not drug her.”

My sister cackles. “I mean, Iprobablywouldn’t do it. I was just saying.”

“I’ll tell Donovan to watch his back.”

She hisses at me, but there’s no venom behind it. “Jerk.”

The truth is that even though I love my family, I can’t stay for them—not when I know she’s out there.

Until a few days ago, I was fine fucking around and half-assing shit for my family. Sure, I’ve searched for more. It’s never been anything but the same shit, different day. But seeing the dragon felt like waking up.

When my mother came to pull me into the family meeting, I knew my dragon would be gone when I returned. Even though I wanted to lock her away and keep her here forever, that’s not going to be how I win her over. I told my family my plan was to show up and beg. My mother didn’t bat an eye. She offered me a treaty with the dragon instead.

It’s time I do something that matters, even if it’s just to me. I zip up my bag and toss it over my shoulder, grabbing the treaty. My sister launches herself at me, hugging my neck as though it’s the last time she’ll ever see me. Maybe it will be, but I can’t think like that and do what I’ve gotta do.

“Show her the real you, okay? Because that guy is worth forgiving.” The tears in her voice make my stomach clench.

“You know from experience,” I joke so we both don’t cry.

“I’m proud of you, asshole.”

I hug her back, then slip into the shadows without drawing out the goodbye.

My new tether burns brightly, a blinding beacon that leads me to my mate, and I follow because, as Sloan said, who wouldn’t want the chance for that kind of love?

The problemwith a paper-thin plan is that it’s not exactly fireproof. It’s been less than five minutes, but it’s already going up in flames.

Her territory is warded. That I’d assumed. I’d intended to show up, ring the proverbial bell, and announce my intentions to beg forgiveness and make things right.

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