Page 90 of Dragon Unleashed

“Hi,mi mami.” I bend down and kiss her on either cheek, giving her a proper hug before helping her settle back into her chair.

“You’re back late for Solstice,” she scolds. “Lottie’s been like a bear with a sore head. She misses you, you know.”

“Where is she? I need to hear something, from her. Something I think I’m not going to like.”

Mi mamifreezes, halfway to wheeling herself to the living room. She regards me over her shoulder.

“What is going on?”

Her warning tone is lost under the high-pitched screams of my teenage sister. Lottie launches herself down the stairs and into my chest. I let her bear hug me for a few seconds before I hold her at arm’s length. She’s all arms and legs. And incessant noise.

“Enough, Scarlet.”

Using her proper name is enough. She stills in my arms, and I set her down on the tile floor.

“I need the truth. Tell me you had nothing to do with what’s on the news.”

Lottie flinches and I growl. She cowers back, a shocked expression on her face. From behind,mi mamismacks my legs with a tea towel.

“Stop scaring your sister, Chano. What is this about?”

I take the towel from her hands, then switch on the TV that takes up much of the opposite wall.

In silence we watch the news, Lorelei’s face plastered up next to Professor Allegra’s.Mi mamicovers her mouth with her hand. I flip to another channel, and another. Each shows the same thing. Finally, I tune to NewShift.

“NewShift ran it first. Sold the story to the others.” I turn back to Lottie. “Why?”

Her fists land in the middle of my chest, taking me by surprise.

“She’s bad for you, Chano—she’s a damn royal! Can’t you see?”

I grab her by the scruff of her neck, giving her a shake.

“She is my fate-given mate. You helped the Virrey launch an attack on myAeternum. Not just that, you are feeding her to the P.I.G. Maveriks do not do that, Scarlet. Lorelei is my family now. If you go against her, understand you are choosing sides against me.”

I give her a final shake and she scrambles into the next room, a trail of tears and swearing in her wake. Her words are garbled; none of them make sense. I groan and lean my head on the marble worktop. When did my lovable little sister turn into this monster?

There’s a tug on the leg of my sweatpants.Mi mamioffers me a crystal glass with bourbon sloshing over the side.

“Come, Chano.” She leads the way to the living room, where my sister’s muffled sniffling is still audible. A magnificent tree stands entirely naked in the corner, decorations stuffed in a cardboard box beside it.

Mi mamisighs. “Lottie insisted we wait for you to decorate. You know she hates Lorelei, for coming between the pair of you, for betraying you…not just for being a royal.”

“I hate her too.” I sigh, slugging the bourbon. “But she’s my Aeternum. Lottie can’t pull shit like this, not without talking to me.”

The bundle of blankets at the far end of the sofa sobs, andmi mamiscowls. Not one of her fake cross looks, a proper dark-faced glower.

“Your mate really cares for you. Perhaps if you pulled your head out of the past, you’d see that. Both you and Lottie.”

I step back in surprise. I was expectingmi mamito be one hundred percent camp Lottie.

“You know she had me out at the amethyst mine with her?”

Our thesis. Lorelei’s been in touch withmi mami? “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t trust her with my boy. Wanted to feel her out myself. But this…” she pauses in front of the shuddering blanket heap, poking it with a skinny finger “…this little girl of mine is framing someone for murder. We don’t do that.”

Lottie’s head pokes up, hair on end. “I'd do anything to protect my brother.”

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